Taking Teri to College

We headed off last week to move Teri into college in Mississippi (William Carey University). So nice to get out of the desert! First night we stayed in Albuquerque. This is where we were when we woke up to find a lot of engine oil leaking from under the truck (a lot). Took truck to Jiffy Lube, oil changed, everything checked out. Unable to find out the problem. After that no oil leaked. Seems that someone had messed with our oil filter. Go figure. Welcome to our world. Weird things happen over and over again in our life. The second night we stayed in Amarillo. The northern part of Texas is beautiful. Long views of prairies with oak trees. Nice . . . Green is so relaxing. John and I liked Braum's in Texas the most. Real great deals on ice cream. Ummm! Teri's checking the oil level again to make sure all is well. (She's quite a capable gal.)

Drove for quite a few miles this day, arriving in Shreveport very late at night. End of our travels - Mississippi.

John and I dropped off Teri then headed down to New Orleans to check it out. Bourbon street smells. The French District is packed with bars.

Good bye to our beautiful girl. We're going to miss you so much.

Calvary Downtown Outreach

Every Saturday, Theresa Hicks leads Calvary Downtown Outreach which feeds the homeless in Las Vegas. This time, John was able to come and bring forth a gospel message in hopes that some would receive Christ.

Bear played some great Christian music that would touch hearts. It was great to see he and his beautiful wife, Gail. We've known Bear and Gail for about 6 years; with the incredible life changing message of Jesus Christ in their lives. They've teamed up with us (and others) providing music for different events in Southern Nevada.

Teri and I help out where we can. Different churches come in every week to take on this ministry. This week Crossroads Church and Canyon Ridge Church were there, along with a Methodist Church (sorry for forgetting the name). Sometimes the weather can be incredibly hot (I'm sure cold in the winter). All things used are set up, washed/cleaned, and brought back down to store; leaving the lot clean by the time they're done. It's hard work, but well pleasing to Jesus.

Meet My Family

So here's our family -

John and Deanna married for 22, going on 23 years! What a guy! John continues to pastor here in Boulder City. Deanna helps him in any way she can. Oh, and besides liking each other and Jesus, we really enjoy hiking.

Then there is our first, Johnny. He's living with some christian men in Hender- son. Definitely a great looking guy, which is why he can do some modeling on the side. He's enjoying different bible studies. So thankful that he loves Jesus. God's going to do some great things through him.

Teri's our incred- ible and beautiful daughter. She's attending William Carey Univer- sity, majoring in Elementary Education. She has been an incredible strength and help to us in ministry here; totally committed to Jesus.

Teri and Deanna Hiking on Historic Railroad Trail

Teri and I went on of those hikes that you had to do, but will never do again! Ever! Really the challenge was in the heat. We're used to heat and workouts, but that day it was 109 in the

shade, no breeze. There was no shade for us

except in the

railroad tunnels.

At Lake Mead Recreation area, there's the "Historic Railroad Trail". They made a railroad to bring supplies to Hoover Dam when they were building it. Since then, railroad has been removed, and turned into a trail (2.7 miles each way). You end up hiking through 5 tunnels. One of the tunnels had a warning??

Along the way you see large round cement "plugs" cast down the side of enbankment. These were taken out of Hoover Dam to install the large turbines.

We started off the hike laughing, joking about the silliest things. Really silly. By the time we're finishing off we're afraid if we slowed down we'd get heat stroke - no, I'm not kidding!

Hiking Mt. Charleston

We (John, Deanna and Teri) had a great day hiking up at Mt. Charleston. Just north of Las Vegas. The only "cool" place around. In Boulder City, it was a 108 (which is normal this time of year); Mt. Charleston about 80. We took the Bristlecone Pine Trail for about a 3 hour hike. Starting at about 9,000 ft. elevation, we went up to about 10,000. The Bristlecone Pines are among the oldest trees in North America. The oldest trees are found on the north facing slopes with an average of 2,000 years old, the southern slopes 1,000 year average. There have been these trees found as old as 7,000 years. Pretty amazing, huh? That means from before Abraham was born (2165 BC), this tree existed. Dating back to roughly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ was born - my Savior. This is just amazing.