Overnight at the Red Moose Lodge

Last weekend, Jay had a two-day conference up the canyon at the Red Moose Lodge. Jayson, the muppet and I were invited to spend the night with him. It's such a pretty place, I wanted you to see some pictures. One of the things I love most about Utah is that you can drive about 20 minutes and feel like you have retreated to the most peaceful, serene place in the world. Red Moose Lodge is one of those places!

The pictures of the lodge are from their website. Here is the lodge in Autumn. Beautiful!!!

And here in the winter....

There is actually a tree in their lobby. It's a small place...quaint, quiet, restful, beautiful....

What a fun, quick trip out of the ordinary! We certainly enjoyed it.

Even Muppet herself had a good rest!

Here's hoping wherever you lay your head tonight, you sleep like a dog!

Missions Luau....ALOHA!

The night after I returned home from the conference, our church sponsored a missions luau. This was a combined celebration and report from some of our missions teams. Our church has supported missions to Japan, Guatemala, Romania, Mexico, Africa, Cambodia in the past 12 months. Only 2008 trips were featured at this event. It was fantastic....great reports, fantastic spirit, excellent food, wonderful hula dancers and even a fire dancer!

Before the hulas began, Jay practiced drumming to the Hawaiian music on Jayson's back. Jayson was sporting his blue extensions for the last weekend....soon the "back to school" haircut will take over. The leader, Tau, presented leis to our Senior Pastor, Roy and Pastor of Outreach, Jimi.
Now time for hula dancing!

....and time for our pastors to hula dance....way to go Roy, Sally and Pastor Magee! (Oh yes! It does look like they are having fun, doesn't it???)


Pastor Magee presented a message. For those of you who don't remember, Pastor Magee pastored our church for 20 years, married Jay and me and dedicated Jayson when he was a baby. It is always good to see old friends!
....and more dancing....
Now for the fire dancers!

Overall it was a great night of fun and fellowship. We really enjoyed it and learned a lot about the work our missions teams have been up to this year.

Hello Dolly and Heaven!

I bet you're surprised to see "Hello Dolly" and "Heaven" in the same sentence. These two words describe only some of my recent experiences in Texas. In July, I was blessed with the opportunity to join some friends from church to attend the 2008 National Worship Leader's Conference in Austin, Texas. OH MY GOSH! It was amazing! Think about being SATURATED with worship experiences for four days straight. We heard from some of the most amazing, profound and well known speakers in the Christian community...and the music....all the big names in the business! Don Moen, Paul Baloche, Leland, Chris Tomlin, Tommy Walker, Rush of Fools, Gateway Worship (with my very own favorite Kari Jobe!)....and the list goes on and on. They really made a concerted effort to demonstrate all styles of worship music and it was FANTASTIC!!!! I wish my life was like that every single day! I can only imagine that what I experienced was just a fraction of what we'll experience in Heaven.

So now for some pictures....

Leon, our Senior Worship Pastor is not in this photo (but miraculously made it into the BBQ photos). Pictured here are L to R (me, of course), Kimber (lead singer of Just a Vapor - check her out on My Space at www.myspace.com/justavapor - and all around great girl), Charles (Asst Worship Pastor and all around great guy, fantastic husband and dad), Preston (lead singer of Jagertown - also on My Space at www.myspace.com/jagertown - and crazy funny 27yo guy - he's taken ladies! Sorry!) and Brian (singer/songwriter, 17yo hilarious roommate to Preston - um, sorry young ladies, he's taken too!). All of these folks have tremendous hearts for God and patience with me....driving....in Austin. Seriously! Whomever created the interstate system in Austin should be shot!

Leon took us to the Texas capital (yes, he drove) and it was really amazing! Considered one of the most beautiful capitals in the United States, the architecture is stunning. On the way to the capital, we saw a couple other amazing buildings. Take a look...the first is obviously a church but I never did catch the name of the second...still, we all loved it!


The grounds are pristine scattered with Live Oaks, Pecan, Magnolia and other assorted southern trees.
The floor patterns are made of terrazo and are really beautiful. A picture from above shows the entire floor...and then a couple of close-ups (I love the fleur-di-lis pattern)



Even the chairs and light fixtures reflect the pride Texans have in their great state!


Even in our downtime, we managed to have fun. A quick trip to Guitar Center landed me in a sweet spot. I got serenaded by our singer/songwriter team members.

The conference was held at Riverbend Church. The auditorium must hold about 4500 people and looks like an indoor amphitheater. There were nearly 3000 in attendance at the conference. Here's a view of the stage. We attended several great sessions on a variety of different topics like being a more effective worship leader, songwriting, vocal technique, effective communication from the stage, the heart of worship, ministry through music, etc. There was truly something for everyone involved in a music ministry at this conference. :)

We enjoyed a lot of BBQ! The food was great and we had a lot of fun enjoying ribs, brisket and sweet tea!!!!



Oh yeah...and Hurricane Dolly made her presence known with rain bands passing through Austin. I wasn't worried at all until I pulled out of our hotel and IMMEDIATELY began to hydroplane. Seriously! It was like driving on snow. I had forgotten how rain affects the roads in the South. Texas was about 98 degrees and 75% humidity nearly every day (oh, except for the day it was 100% humidity!). At last, we were on the plane headed home to loved ones (and a less humid climate). During our time away, I think we grew closer as a worship team and closer as friends. But, there's no place like home! :)
....until we meet again!