Oh, Bob. You add so much silliness to our day. Doug and Tatum went out for Daddy/daughter ice cream, and they came upon this little minion, Bob. Doug put it away until she could earn it with good choices/behavior on our trip. Well, it happened,
and now, we get the pleasure of having Bob as part of our activities.
Case in point: Tot and I practice our memory verses weekly, and today, we decided to make it into a tea party with Bob.
Bob learned Psalm 119:105
Thy Word Is a Lamp Unto My Feet and Light Unto My Path !
He lit up like a Christmas Tree! You got it! Keep it up, Bob. Keep reading, praying, and being that light.
Or, just hang out with Cooper (who hangs out at on the other chair) and the horsey.
Every night, Doug, Tot and I come together to discuss our gratitudes for the day. We write it in our journals, and then we share. We also share who we encouraged, influenced, or contributed to, and what we could have done better.
Tatum wrote a lot today.
She is grateful for her friend Teagan. I like that she is giving her grace and growing into trust with seeing a pattern she can trust. I tell her the same thing with her every day. She has to earn trust and we need to see a pattern of behaviors that show you care.
She then shared what she could do better.
Tatum desires to be a pleasing aroma. I love her heart. I love how she wants to help others and see the good in people.
I became a follower of Jesus back in 1994 when I was 25, and it was then that I was baptized. Now, fast forward 26 years, and I have a new life; a new daughter, a new husband, and new family. Wow. Hard to believe! God has definitely given me many gifts.
Now, Tatum accepted Jesus as her Savior back in July of 2018, and has told me she wanted to be baptized for about 3 years now. I hesitated for a couple of years because I wanted it to come from her and not from me. There is something magical about age 8 as an accountable age too. So, I thought we were getting closer. She also met with Karen Montgomery, the children’s pastor and wife of Neil (who married us). Karen commented that Tot is ready! I knew that anyway…smile.
Ok, now Doug…my sweet man. He was confirmed in his Catholic faith as a child, but he has never been fully immersed as a Jesus follower. He has been wanting to do this, but we figured we’d do it together. Neil didn’t feel I should be baptized again, so we decided Tatum and Doug could be together, and I would be a part of it. Neil wanted to do a big production with our family also since he knows our story.
We were all ready to do this last year in March (2020), and then COVID hit. This stopped all activity for almost a year. And, when they did start baptisms again, they had many people getting baptized at once and they stopped doing any type of public testimonies. THE TIME WAS NEVER RIGHT!! Then, we asked to meet with Neil and speak with him about our desire to be baptized as a family.
Neil commented that he loves our story, and he wanted to display it to the church. March 21st would be the next day. Little did we know that the time was becoming more right now! We also had NO IDEA that God would want us to wait a whole year, but apparently we needed another year to coalesce as a family. Also, guess what???
WE WERE THE ONLY FAMILY BEING BAPTIZED at 8am!!! This NEVER happens. God SAVED THIS DATE; THIS MORNING; THIS TIME for us. The Hay Family. Just WOWOWOWOWOW.
On our way into the sanctuary to meet Carol, our hostess, we stopped for a pic. They’d have our shirts waiting for us, so we only wore our suits.
Here we go!
Now all of us. I couldn’t stop weeping with JOY and ANTICIPATION.
Neil prepped us and told us what we should do.
We prayed and I cried.
After the second song, My honey entered the pool.
Neil shared my sweetie’s story and how we all came together. I’m sure there was not a dry eye.
Ready to be immersed, My love?
Praise Him!
Ok, I’m now really weepy (I’m standing right outside the pool).
Tot now enters.
You accepted Christ at 5? Do you believe in Jesus as your Savior, Tatum?
Here we go!
Ok, now I’m really weeping. Raised to new life!
You two will always have this to share. What a joy.
You three! Oh, you are glowing. A new life in HIM!
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for being our Savior and the one who died to give us life.
Look at this glowing family! Oh, Neil, you are so appreciated.
Afterward, my sweet mom, Eva, Sharon and Andy, Tina and Pascal, Shannon, Kellye, Melody and Maddy, and of Tot’s favorite teacher of all time, Mrs. Phillips all joined with us in a celebration. Also, the whole congregation (who knows Tatum and me from greeting) clapped like crazy. We had many come up to us and share that this inspired them and brought tears to their eyes. This is why we do this…to share the love of Jesus with others and to inspire others to follow HIM. That gives me even more joy.
Later on, I gave a little celebration for my two loves.
Tatum, you are first.
I want you to be reminded to WALK IN LOVE as Christ first loved us and gave Himself up as a sacrifice (Eph 5:2) What better way to remember this than with these! (they have little hearts all over them).
Perfect fit!
Just remember:
the front of the card….I made these a few years back. They came in handy today!
And Tot, I put this on your wall.
It’s your Bible verse!!! With the date. May you shine like stars and glorify Him in all you do. You are a light, my sweet girl. Fits perfect on your wall.
Now my other honey! My HHH. My amazing hubby.
You are washed and clean.
You have the key to my heart, and now Jesus has the keychain! I love you so much, babe.
We had apple pie for dessert and a candle. Oh, that looks soooooo good!
LET’S LET OUR LIGHTS SHINE THROUGH HIM.
Raised to Life. I love you, Jesus. Thank you for my family.
The ringing of the bell. I like to think of my honey’s life like this. He used to have a bell in his backyard.
I even drew it and gave him a poem.
Well, the bell in his life and in our lives has now been ringing loudly as one chorus! We are uniting as a family. So why not go to Bell Rock to climb it to commemorate? Plus, Doug took me to this rock when we first met.
This family….we ring!
Tot and me enjoying the walk headed up.
We met some nice girls who agreed to take our pic.
So symbolic of our lives.
Later, Daddy teased Tot about this fence. Don’t touch like this…Do as I say not do, right? Heehee
…. SO guess what she did?
Copied Daddy and got……
a good laugh.
We headed home then. AAAAHHHH Back to our own beds, our palace, and ….
COOPY! He nuzzled in my arms on the way home.
I am SOOOOO grateful for my family. For these HAYS. We have bumps, bruises, scabs too. BUT, we have Jesus as our ROCK; we have each other, and our BELL continues to ring. AMEN!
There they are at 7am! Aren’t they so cute!? Sleepily, we head to the gym across the way to get our motors going. I have a few surprises in store.
After our workout, we have coffee, bars, and beef jerky for breakfast (sigh…sorry family but we are being frugal). We pray, do our devotion, and read about St. Patrick. Who was he? Well, we find out that after his capture for 6 years, he becomes a believer. He later returns to Ireland (he’s originally from Britain), to love on the people and bring them the good news of Jesus. He uses a shamrock to explain the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. WOW!! SO, I give each of us a new shirt. We will wear the shamrock today to celebrate. First stop, Tuzigoot! This is a National Monument near Jerome. The people who built and lived in the rooms of the Tuzigoot (meaning “crooked water”) pueblo were a tribe called Sinagua (without water) around the year 650, 1400 years ago…this is when people began settling in the Verde Valley. Here we are in front.
First, don’t we look cute in our shirts?
Ok, so off we go to explore the pueblos.
The pueblo at Tuzigoot consists of over a hundred rooms; after the people left, sometime in the 1300s, the pueblo stood empty until the early 1930s, when it was excavated by American archeologists and then turned into a national monument on July 25th, 1939.
We are going to climb to the top!
Here we are Hay family!
It was a short but educational visit. Now we decided to go to Jerome to visit a mining town area. We had NO idea what to expect.
Factoid about Jerome:
Jerome is a town built way up high on the hill and was built above a vast deposit of copper. The mines helped wealth and formed Jerome’s history. It is definitely a ghost town to see! The Gold King Mining Company is one treasure trove to visit. Little did we know it is really not about the mines that make it unique. It’s all the antiques and character!
We paid our admission, and entered into a world of the past. First we were asked to drop our pants at the laundry mart.
Then we entered to wash our clothes. My grandma had to use these machines!
Doug was fascinated by this huge generator.
We came upon the oldest home in the area. This used to have about 300 people populating this space. Then down to 1.
Animals everywhere. Especially this little rooster. He must be the town gossip because he seems to be in everybody’s business.
Tatum just wanted to go to school and learn more. Look at this little room filled with old typewriters!
Later, we met the owner of this whole place, Mike, and he shared some history. He also told us how he gets his treasures. Like this car for instance. Paid $600 but it’s worth probably $5000.
His home is right above this land…built with all the wood from the property.
Oh, did I mention the animals? This poor little guy? pregnant pig? has not missed any meal or snack or dropped morsel. Nothing at all!
Then we met the blacksmith, Will. He has bible verses all over this exhaust, and I was intrigued.
He had a note about Harry Potter up there that got us sharing our common dislike for him and the glorification of wizards. Interesting man, but he loves Jesus!
We found a few funny signs. This weather rock…..holy rocking’ moly!
BAAAAA!!! Or this..
We hope we never get to this point! Later in the gift shop, we found my honey. Oh dear. What happened to you Douglas? I wonder about the person who actually purchase this beauty.
Off we went to check out Jerome and the Haunted Hotel. Seriously hard to find parking in this ladder of a town, so we skipped it in search of lunch. Back to Sedona to eat and head to the golf course.
On the first hole, Tot grabbed the flag and discovered it was made of NOT wood but fiberglass. And…. Daddy had to go fetch the tweezers. We sat on hole 9 and did surgery for a few minutes. Meanwhile, this beautiful scenery surrounded us.
After the dramatic splinter scene, I took a few shots in the last hole. Now, remember, I may look good on the swing, but the result is usually only 80 yards or so. My honey’s swing gets it much farther or at least into a tree limb, tearing it down. Quite powerful!
We headed to the pool after this even though we needed the hot tub, headed to dinner, and came back to our room to laugh, eat, and collapse.
The next morning, we’d head out after a hike if we are feeling ambitious.
Well, it’s that time again! Time to learn more about Arizona in the 7th Hay Arizona Adventure. I left it a surprise until the last possible moment. We headed out the day before St. Patrick’s Day during Tot’s Spring Break. The start is always the same: Get the coffee, pray (not in that order particularly), and then drop off Coopy. Chilled a bit, we all were a bit sad to say goodbye, but he’d be in good hands in his Sedona suite.
Off to…….Verde Canyon Railroad!
It’s a 3.5 hour round trip train ride through the Verde Canyon. We’d have a first class couch and table and a spectacular view.
Tot bought a little eagle (Stu) to join us.
We boarded the Sycamore car at 12:45 for a 1PM departure.
Champagne to greet us!
Cheers!
Row 13? Well, maybe it will bring us good luck! (although we don’t believe in luck…good cheer!)
The friends around us were all Trump supporters. There were tables of different families, and they were like-minded. We had boldness talking about God and our faith. Tatum even chatted with Jennifer, our gracious hostess, for a while.
Ok, back to cozying up:
After departure, we went out quite a few times to capture the view. Just wow!
Tatum didn’t want me to fall out.
The river runs through it.
And the rocks take on a personality of their own.
We couldn’t believe how close we were to the cliffs. At one point, turtle rock! (see him at the top?)
Tunnel…we are nearing one!
TUNNEL! Scream!
And back out.
We had so much time on board. It allowed us to soak it in and sometimes just sit and think.
Or cuddle and encourage.
Like I said, Tatum conversed with many passengers and our hostess. We enjoyed our fellow passengers talking politics and Jesus. My kind of talk!
We arrived back around 4:30 and headed to…..SEDONA! My favorite destination in Arizona.
Poco Diablo once again. I love that we can be right on the golf course and the prices are doable.
We just wanted to get a good dinner, chat, and head to bed for a full St. Patrick’s Day the next day.
Look at these views outside Chipotle. Never gets old.
Thank you, family, for making this first day grand. Thank you Verde RR for making memories for us!
Mommy, Daddy, come see my room! This was the first stage:
Not yet! First, look at the art room.. if you want to draw, you have now access.
Ok, good to know. Back to Tot’s room.
Enter.
Can I come in too?
Ok, first stop…
If you have to read or go potty, you have access now. What about if you just need a time out?
Maybe you want to play?
or sit down?
Prayer time is another station. I’m going to start there.
She sent us out so she could now update with specific prayers. You see, she has been trying to develop self-control, and she knows this requires some “think before you speak or act” time. She has created some inspiration.
Now, come on in again.
Now for the tour of inspiration and developing self-control. Her relationship with Christ continues to grow.
What does that say?
theme: Help me be kind. Time outs require this prayer and reflection.
Father, thank your for this girl. Thank you for her heart and her desire to please you. She knows her life comes from you and her heart comes from you. She must nurture time with you to develop better habits, responses, and thoughts. Her “daily bread” are her prayers to you, Dear Father.
