St. Louis Botannical Gardens

Day 2 in St. Louis

I am almost done with book number 1, you know, the one I always haul along with me for reading as someone else drives, or for that moment when I'm particularly bored. This time it's because I've had to keep my head buried in it so as not to be terrified by the traffic and the driving in it. Eeeek. Enough said there. I am still alive to report on the day's activities.

We headed to the St. Louis Botannical gardens. I have often moaned about the colorless days of November, but this was one splendid color filled day! It was warm (50's) enough to just have on a sweatshirt as we enjoyed the grounds of the garden. The flower picture in the center is of a camilla. It takes a full year for them to bloom. They grow primarily in asia, i.e. China and because of the amount of time for them to bloom they are compared to a woman waiting for the birth of a son. The Chinese women avoid these flowers. But let me tell you they are sensationally beautiful. There were hundreds of them in pinks, and reds, and salmons and whites. It was a wonderful day to do this and we avoided all the mall crowds and spending too much money for things our family don't really want anyway!

Related

See these two guys? Now, these guys really ARE brothers! Don't you think they look alike?

Odds and Ends

Hey I was listening to the radio on my way to work today (now there's a shock)and they were telling about this website: birthverse.com that gives you a bible verse for the day you were born. It's kind of fun! Mine is from Matt 10: 7 "As you go, preach this message,"The kingdom of God is near."

And speaking of websites Here's one that could keep you mindlessly occupied for quite awhile. Safe for the kids too! It's this is sand.com When you get there it will make you wonder if your computer has stopped working. But just click and drag and Voila! The magic of sand. You can color it too, but the directions should pop up once you click in the little gray box. Have fun
Happy Thanksgiving!

the Acapella tribute to John Williams

I loved this video and it is amazing.

COIN WAR ENDS!

At the beginning of the month we began a Coin war at church. This was to raise money for the 3 feeding centers on the central plateau of Haiti, that are run by the missionaries that we support. Four staff members volunteered to take a "pie" in the face if they collected the most coins. (we only counted coins, not monetary value)

Our Senior pastor, our Youth pastor, our Worship leader and our children and families minister volunteered! There was quite the competition. You know, that whole serving attitude that went something like this, "I'm Chuck and I really endorse Joe for this." "Vote for Lora. Signed Joe." Look who won! We won't know for certain the exact dollar amounts until tomorrow,but I am excited about the totals. The real winner in all of this are those

children served by the feeding centers! This was a wonderful, spirited competition and our "winner" was graceful and a great sport! The pie thrower was drawn randomly from a list of many who threw their names into the hat! Maybe next year we can earn extra from the pie tosser, too. And to top it all off, over 100 kids were sponsored. They will receive packages filled with fun and necessary 'stuff'.