Another Concert

Our family had the opportunity to participate in our community's outreach by giving a concert at the fairgrounds here in our town. This was our last scheduled singing date as an entire family before Daryl leaves for college. We shared a variety of selections using trio, quartet and solo arrangements. Daryl has been singing bass for us this year and doing a great job.

Daryl is singing the song that he composed entitled "Independence Day." He accompanied himself on the acoustic guitar.

Nevaeh was excited to have her face painted!

Her completed Bob the Tomato from Big Idea's Veggie Tales series.

The evening ended with another round of fireworks!
It was a blessed day.

Planting Seed

Yet again.....life is ever changing!
We planted, and we watered. Now another will nurture. And by the mercy of God, growth and increase will one day be realized.
C, our latest foster son, has been moved to a different situation and so one more time, it is just us here in the ole' homestead!
We find ourselves dealing with mixed emotions, yet we feel that we gave this little boy everything we had to give while he was here with us.
Still, it's always sad to see the little ones go and know that likely you will never witness the blossoming of their flower.
When permitted again, we will keep planting seed. We will water. As God allows, we will nurture and cultivate. Perhaps one day again, we will watch a flower bloom.
In the meantime, we never forget the precious gift of our rare flower in little Nevaeh.
She's our reminder that what we do no matter how little or much, is of great value.
And one more time, we thank God that she is a vibrant part of our family bouquet!

Take time to smell YOUR flowers today!

INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Our youngest son, Rob, is really getting involved in photography. This is one of his shots.

"INDEPENDENCE DAY"

Song composed by our oldest son, Daryl.

There were no fireworks - There was no celebration - Only the tears of a sorrowful mom - The crowds had all left Him as He hung there on that tree - To pay sin's price so you and I could finally be free.

On that Independence Day when our wrongs were made right - And we didn't have to fight to secure our life - On that Independence Day when He died on that tree - When He chose to set free evil man like you and me - On that Independence Day.

There'll finally be one day when we will have the chance - To celebrate our freedom that Christ bought for us that day - We will rejoice with loud singing and choruses of praise - thanking Him for what He did on that special day.

On that Independence Day when our wrongs were made right - And we didn't have to fight to secure our life - On that Independence Day when He died on that tree - When He chose to set free evil man like you and me - On that Independence Day. When He chose to set free evil man like you and me - On that Independence Day.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

DD....Is that........DUDLEY DORIGHT?!

Doris Day.....Dumb Dellaweese.....Snoop Doggy Dog......Daniel Daylewis.......David Ducovning.....Daphne Doowarray......Deloris Delreyo..... Dudley Doright?!????
Nope! That is definitely Dude Daryl!! Or maybe Daring Daryl!!!


As you can see, he is dressed for the "part." And that has ALWAYS been Daryl. From the time he was a little boy, if he was going to play baseball, he had to wear a baseball shirt and sneakers. If he was going to play hockey, out came the Philadelphia Flyers uniform and skates.
Switching to soccer guaranteed another clothing change.

One day, I pulled into the drive to discover Daryl in the parking lot....flying his remote controlled airplane. He was dressed to the nines in a suit and tie. Man! He looked sharp! Didn't you know that pilots dress the part?!

While Daryl, to this day, can accumulate MORE laundry than a girl, I have discovered something about him that I wouldn't change. Whatever the boy does, he does with EVERYTHING in him and more! It makes the laundry more bearable. Just think. If everybody in our world would apply themselves in this manner, what truly could we as mere mortals accomplish?


Daryl is our oldest son. He's almost 18 now. He is scheduled to leave home in August to move into the dormitory of God's Bible School and College in Cincinatti, Ohio. He is stepping out into the next phase of his life and I want you to know how proud we are of the man he has become!

Daryl turned four and started Kindergarten many years ago. When he completed his required years of education, he was still 16. He had already been working a part time job, but following graduation, he turned in a copy of his diploma and began working full time. This past year, Daryl has been holding down a mans job. Throughout the winter, he rose from sleep between 4 and 4:30 AM and his boss would pick him up before 5:00 AM. Daryl still has a Jr license so his driving times are still restricted. Many days, he would not return home until 5 to 5:30 PM.

Daryl has participated in youth camps and church functions, been sports director for summer VBS programs and has been a vital part of our family ministries. Daryl plays an acoustic guitar well and has become a wonderful song writer.

Daryl is an amazing big brother and is also an involved supporter of our foster care ministry.

Also, in the past couple years, Daryl has been involved in the Civil Air Patrol which is an auxillary of the United States Air Force. He has been permitted to fly a small plane, participated in Basic Encampment and gone through Survival Training as well as Search and Rescue phase 1. He has continued to receive training and maintained physical drills. He has gone through testing and as the testing is passed, he qualifies for ranking promotions. Currently, Daryl carries the rank of Master Seargent. Very recently, Daryl was placed in a position of much stress and discomfort.....a place where his character was "under fire." And we watched as he behaved as a real man should and was cleared. We were proud of the way that he handled himself in a real life situation.

Daryl, I hope that you know just how much we love you and that we are so proud of who you have become. We are going to miss you more than you could ever dream, but we are thrilled with your decision to seek preparation through college and we support you in any way that we can. So, dress the part and give this all you've got and more, Baby! We'll get through the laundry! We always have!!

Just in case you wondered.....

......Miss Personality and the Princess of our domain is alive and well!

Swinging with Daryl

Playing ball with Daryl

Wearing Rob's flip flops!

Learning how to set the table for dinner!

Got herself ready to step outside and "re-catch" Daryl's trout!

Pajamas, NONmatching headband, & black buckled shoes!

What a prize catch!

Helping Dad by getting in his way!

Ready for Sunday evening church!

She just LOVES her purple "rove."

"Helping" to plant the garden!

She's got enough personality for 5 little girls!

Eskimo kissing with Bubba!

Trying to make an ugly face. It's the cutest one I'VE ever seen!

Here's hoping you feel caught up for the past several weeks that we were unable to post!

GOD BLESS YOU TODAY!

His Hand In Mine

Laws are always changing and they affect the way that we live. Another time, change has taken place in our family and we have added for an indefinite time, a little fella who needs structure, care and the love of a good family! The aforementioned laws will no longer allow for us to post pictures that show the identity of the little people who live with us as well, we can no longer use any form of his/her name. So, we will refer to this new little guy as C.

A very neat discovery is that C loves music almost as much as we do!! And I believe that God brought him here for some measure of healing. He is presently five years of age and quite active. He's bright and quick learned. After a few short and jam packed full days, C discovered that Jesus loves him very much and C now insists that HE be permitted to pray for his own meals!

If you happen to be in the right place at the right time, you will have the privilege to meet this little boy. He's a sweetheart and needs your prayers as do we in our responsibility of ministering and caring for him.

"C - one more little hand in MINE!"

TWENTY YEARS!

Twenty years is a long time to be married these days and yet, in many ways, it seems as if we just got married not so long ago! To celebrate our incredible milestone, we decided to take a trip back to the place where we honeymooned as newlyweds...in the Poconoes where our favorite place we visited was Bushkill Falls, the Niagra of Pennsylvania. Twenty years ago, we hiked all the trails and enjoyed the peace of God's nature. As I am not yet fully recovered from an earlier surgery on my foot, I could only make it down to the main falls. We still enjoyed this place.

Thankful to God for the gift of togetherness, companionship, friendship and LOVE!

Fighting Fires Of A Different Variety

I thought that pastor's were supposed to stoke the embers and keep the fires burning.

Here's a pastor who puts them OUT!

Mark has been instated as the chaplain of our local volunteer fire department. In order to authorize his presence on the scene of any emergency or fire, Mark has had to train and qualify to put your fire's OUT!

Though he is not required to go through ALL of the training required of a certified firefighter, he has opted to learn as much and go as far as his current responsibilities will allow.

Our church is proud of Mark and have encouraged his involvement in our community in any way that God should present. And ANYONE who knows Mark, knows that he will NOT hesitate to move when God tells him that it is time.

Our Princess Is Three!

It hardly seems possible that our baby girl is three, but everytime we go back and redo the math, we come up with the same sum! In some regards though, I'm certain that she just turned 30! She is without doubt the sharpest knife in OUR drawer! We had a wonderful party with Nevaeh's church buddies. And Nevaeh was soooo excited!
Watching her strawberry cupcakes baking.

Ready for the birthday girl.

Pretty colors....

Pretty tables....

PRETTY Princess!

Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!

Nevaeh wanted to say the blessing all by herself and so she prayed,

"A,B,C,D,E,F,G.....Thank you God for feeding me! AMEN!

Nevaeh's favorite meal: Spaghetti made with elbow noodles, applesauce, and buttered italian bread!

YUM!

Nevaeh and her buddies...

Bre, Livie, Thaniel, Wyatt, Ethan & Ashlynn!

Checkin' out those "pupcakes!"

Look at those candles!

I'm THREE!

Ready, Set, BLOW!!

Our very happy and beautiful baby girl!

A favorite gift!

You can see what she thinks of THIS gift!! YAY!

And this gardening set is a KEEPER!

I think she loved ALL of her gifts!

Then, instead of playing FUN but rather senseless games, we decided the children would have as much fun making "Thinking of You" & "Get Well Wishes" for the 5 year old daughter of a family friend.

Tiarra Lynn Rachau was very recently diagnosed with a brain tumor which was removed only to learn that she did indeed have cancer on her spine! The children asked many questions about Tiarra and her illness and I was touched by their compassion. Look at how they are concentrating on their work! But it was soooo much fun!

Even Daddy got in on the FUN and helped Nevaeh glue her sequins on the tiara she made for Tiarra!!

She thought that EVERY little girl needed a princess crown!

Our finished loot to send off in hopes of putting a smile on the lips of a sweet little girl!

MY little princess was sooooo tired and within minutes of crawling into her bed, she was faaaaaast asleep!

Being three is hard work!

Hush-A-By...

Don't you cry...

Go to sleep little baby!

We will be eternally grateful that God chose to place you in our family!

Happiest 3rd Birthday,

Nevaeh Re' Fultz~