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Happy Fall from our house to yours! October 21, 2007 (view photos for this newsletter) We have been negligent in sharing with our family and friends since leaving West Yellowstone. Sometimes it is just easier to call or visit and we have had a few opportunities to do that. This year when we left West Yellowstone we went to CA and were blessed to be able to visit with Robin and Randy Fields and their sons in Grass Valley. Wanda Alger also lives there and we had a wonderful time there. They have an RV site at their house. It often accommodates their parents and they were gracious enough to allow us to use it. We also had the opportunity to tour Lake Tahoe and then to fulfill a dream of returning to Travis AFB where we met and where Butch proposed. Wanda was able to go with us there and she couldn't believe the changes in the ten years since she worked there, so imagine how we felt seeing it for the first time since 1966!! We were able to find the old hospital where I worked (replaced now by a super hospital), possibly my barracks, the flightline where Butch worked, and the theater where he proposed to me. After leaving memory lane in CA we acted like tourons as we visited Yosemite and looked for wildlife. Unfortunately we didn't see any so were disappointed in that. We did see lots of big trees and it was very different from Yellowstone. From there we went to Sequoyah and Kings Canyon. That was great as we went to the bottom of Kings Canyon and the rocks and trees there are truly amazing. The giant Sequoyah trees are unlike any we have ever seen and the rocks were breath taking. I couldn't help but think about our gang from West Yellowstone Innovators and how much they would like to climb around there. So many people were in there to hike and climb but we just looked and looked and praised God for the beauty He was sharing with us. Back on the road and headed through Arizona we blew a tire just outside of Flagstaff. It was not fun! We sat on the side of the road having that repaired for over seven hours but it could have been so much worse. It happened just after we came out of a curvy pass but we were on a long straight of way with good shoulders and actually cranked the generator and watched TV part of the time. Those big old eighteen wheelers were constantly passing us and we prayed God would keep them on their side of the road!! He did and by the time we were able to get the tire repaired and head for the campground it was around ten thirty that night. We decided it was time to try to relax so we stopped and went to the Grand Canyon the next day, seeing a part of it that we had never seen. We were also able to see a portion of the Painted Desert from there. Again God shared His glorious creation with us and sometimes all we could do was just thank Him for His goodness. After leaving the Grand Canyon we went on to Oklahoma City to spend a few days there on Tinker AFB. We did this to visit with Sam Jones, innovator 2004-2005. He is still in school at Oklahoma Baptist University and will graduate in the Spring. He hopes to be hired as a nurse in a VA hospital either in Helena, MT or Anchorage, Al. The selfish part of us hopes it will be Helena so that he can visit West Yellowstone. We left Oklahoma thankful there were no tornadoes this time and headed for AL. We have been in Alabaster since September 29 th and will be here until the end of October. We are parked in our daughter's driveway but did go to Mobile to visit our son and his family. Our little Lily Grace is so precious. (proud grandmother) She talks constantly and much of it is in sentences (short ones) and she is only 16 months old. We told her mom and dad we wish them luck with this one. Her sister, Carly, 13 years old probably helps to increase her vocabulary. She loves her sister but we took Cassie and Anthony with us and she really grew attached to “ Antni” as she calls him. We were only there for a couple of days but it took that long to get her to finally let her papa pick her up. She hadn't seen us since May so I guess that was to be expected. We will leave for Gulf Shores, Al for the winter at the end of this month. We are happy to be in Alabaster with family and friends. We visited Sunrise Baptist and were so happy to see the growth there. They have been so faithful in trying to obey God and establish His church in an area where it is much needed. We have also visited Westwood, our home church, a couple of times and it has grown so much it is hard to see the people we have known for years. We also went to 7 Hills Baptist in Mobile and were honored to hear our son preach during both the morning and evening service. That certainly fills our hearts with praise and thanks for his dedication as youth minister there and we continue to pray that God will grow him into a church when he is ready. We love and appreciate all of you for taking time to read this newsletter but even more for your prayers and encouragement as we continue to serve in the mission field. Pray that hearts might be prepared and that God will anoint Butch with His message as we serve among the “snowbirds” this winter. Pray that we remain in good health and are able to serve in a manner to bring Glory to God. Love in Christ, Butch and Vi The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself”
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