Team Vanuatu interview

The Pursuit in Boise is one of our awesome supporting churches.  They made this video for us this summer.

Houghton and Laura from The Pursuit on Vimeo.

Our last major road trip

I've officially left Boise behind... for a long while. We drove over the weekend to Blackfoot, ID and presented at a church there. It is a church pastored by Justin, a fellow BMW missionary, supported by his wife, Heather. We stayed with the family of Lesli, a friend of Hought and Gretch from Bible school. They were super hospitable and it was great getting to know them. Sunday evening we got to Bozeman to stay with lovely Lindsey again (our faithful friend at just the right point on I94). We got to see friends Josh and Lisa as well, always a treat! :) From there, we took off for Miles City and spent 2 day unpacking and repacking, filing paperwork from the last 3 months of being away, and preparing to be away another month. We also got to hang out with my parents. Three cheers for my AMAZING mom who fixed us all our meals for those 2 days so we didn't have to buy groceries or spend time cooking. You're awesome, mom! :)



We figured on 2 days being plenty to do everything, but it was quite crazy to make the turn-around so fast. We packed up the car Thursday morning (May 1) for our last major road trip, Lord-willing. Please check the schedule to the right to see where we are when, but this trip includes stops in: Fargo, North Dakota; Minneapolis, Minnesota (to see aunts, uncles, grandma, and some friends); Waukesha, Wisconsin (to see friends of Hought and Gretch who are instructors with New Tribes Mission); Lansing, Michigan (to hang out with teammates Amber and Brad and their kids Zoe and Piper, do some planning and team-building for about 3 weeks, then go to a wedding with friends of Houghton and Gretchen). On the way back we'll be stopping at my friend Jodi's in Goshen, Indiana (a roommate from Grace College in Indiana where I got my undergrad degree). We'll go from there to Mount Vernon, Iowa to see Aunt Kathy, Uncle Dave, and 3 cousins (and their families). Then back to Minneapolis for a night and over to Bismark, North Dakota to stay with family friends Ralph and Shari. Finally, we'll be back in Miles City as of the 29th, Lord-willing. As we stop and see people, I'll post pictures here in this post. Sorry it's boring words for now, but I promise I'll add pics when I have a chance. :) I'm not sure what our internet will be from here on out, so be patient. I hope to be getting out my newsletter in the next week or so too so watch for that. Thanks for praying for us as we travel with 3 kids now - for safety, patience, grace, rest, and opportunities to share our faith and ministry. Much love to you all!

April pictures

Time in Boise is wrapping up to a close. Here are some pics from our last month here:

Make a photobook - it's easy!

April

I had a bunch of pics posted here but I made a Smilebox with them - check post dated 2/23/08 for the updated version.

Adalaya born March 24, 2008

My new little niece, Adalaya Ann Richards, born March 24, 2008 in Meridian, Idaho! 21 inches, 7lb 10 oz.

Here are my parents with her.

March 08

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Time with friends

Many of our evenings not spent presenting in home groups are spent reconnecting with friends here and meeting with new friends. I need to have a better memory about taking pictures every time, but here are some families and friends I've been able to spend some time with. Many of my friends have generously lent or given us baby supplies and clothing for Gretchen's 3rd, soon to be born! Houghton and Gretchen are making final preparations for the new little one so Lord-willing, they'll have everything they need. Due date is March 23 so we are counting down the days.
I was able to stay with a friend, Jen, for a week, which was really nice to have a quiet house to work in during the day and a great single friend to fellowship with in the evening. She's the one in the pic with the little puppy (Bing).

Boise February small groups

We have had some fantastic small groups here in Boise. God again works through the unexpected, many of the groups I expected we would be meeting in didn't work out, but God has brought along other groups and opportunities that were off my radar. He is continually teaching me to trust His provision and His best for who He would have team with us. Here are pictures of the lovely groups we've been able to meet. Unfortunately, I forgot in numerous groups to get a picture, but here are those I remembered.

February newsletter

Please click on the image to have it enlarge. Just one page this time. :) Check out that support chart on my right-hand sidebar towards the bottom. Look at God bring it in - wow!

We made it!

We made it to Boise, fairly uneventfully, praise God! Thursday night Lindsey let us stay at her place in Bozeman, which was a nice break in the long drive. Friday we drove the final 8 or 9 hours to Boise. Gweny was sick and the kids didn't enjoy the long day in the car strapped to their carseats, but they were troopers. The passes and roads before and after them were snowy, but not very packed or icy so we were able to cruise through!

God has blessed us in amazing ways here in Boise. My friends Kara and Travis hooked us up with some great housing for the entire time we are in Boise. We are in a 3 bedroom duplex that is fully furnished and is plenty roomy for all of us. We'll even be able to host some of our home groups here, which will be so nice! Also, my past co-worker, Debi, provided us with a 2nd vehicle to use while we are here. Her husband, Adam, was kind enough to check it all over and get it running smoothly for us. It's a stick shift, so I'm having fun driving stick again! Having another vehicle to use is great. This way I can do things like visit kids and teachers at my old school where I used to work while Houghton and Gretchen can still get around to run errands and head somewhere with internet access to keep up with correspondence. Another awesome provision was a screaming deal on a short-term gym membership. Houghton is able to swim to his heart's delight while we are in town and all of us are able to get our bodies back in shape for heading over to Vanuatu.

Sunday we shared at Columbia Heights Baptist in east Boise. It is a church plant so for them to have such a huge heart and focus on missions was a big blessing. We met some fun new friends. God continues to fill out our schedule for our time here so we are excited about the opportunities. Here's a fun home group we got to attend already this week. We got all kinds of great Asian food.

Just before leaving Miles City, we shared with one last small group. They shared chili and corn bread with us afterward so that was a great treat! :) Here's that group to the left.

January Newsletter

Hi friends! Here's my January newsletter. Click on it to have it enlarge so you can actually read it. If you don't receive it via e-mail now, let me know and I'll add you to my list!