Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday

This past week, we celebrated Christmas with the rest of the world. We were blessed to wake up and find that we were going to celebrate a Colorado White Christmas. There was an inch of snow on the ground and it came down hard all day. It was a traditional DeVries Christmas celebration. Wake up and open stockings, eat cinnamon rolls, read the Christmas story, open presents, eat Christmas dinner, go out to Mom and Dad's and have the family gift exchange, eat another Christmas dinner, lay around in misery, etc.! Oh yeah; Dad DeVries hooked up the sleds to the back of the truck and pulled everybody around out in the pasture for a good time of sledding. The kids were freezing by the time it was over but wanted go out and hit it again. Ah Christmas!!! As usual, it was all great!! Matt's in laws were in from Germany so we had a lot of fun with them. Everybody got what they wanted for the most part; we definitely all got way more than we need. One significant gift was our family gift to ourselves that I mentioned on last week's blog. We chose not to get individual gifts for the kids (even though they are now at the stage where they get substantial gifts for each other!) or for each other. Instead, we had a home theater installed in our basement. 52" plasma TV, surround sound, powered sub woofer, etc. We've really enjoyed watching the Nuggets and Broncos in High Definition TV and we've enjoyed watching movies together as a family on the big screen. When you have teenagers, you think of ways to give them reasons to stay at home as much as possible; this is what we came up with. We hope to enjoy this for a long time.

Last Wednesday Michael turned 11 years old. He's doing great, and we are all proud of him. We went snow shoeing with Matt, Dad, Jason and Connie (Matt's Dad-in-law). Michael and Jason got ahead of us on the trail and almost got lost; we were all very relieved to find them walking out in the middle of a frozen mountain lake. They both received the lecture of their lives, believe me!!! Michael had 2 of his friends over for the night and had a good time with them as well.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas! Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

Your servant for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

A baby, a concert, a birthday and another driver

This past month has been a very busy one. First, we welcomed little Lily LeeAnn Esch to our church family. Lily was born just five hours after her grandfather, Bill, passed away. Ryan and Krista decided to induce Krista's labor so Lily could be born before Ryan's father passed away, but God saw fit to give Bill the chance to see Lily's birth from heaven instead. We will miss Bill but welcome little Lily to this world. She is a cutie!

The kids wrapped up their fall semester of school. Dennae and Ivy had their recital with their teacher, Malia. Dennae played an arrangement of "It Is Well" on the piano. Jami played in the orchestra concert, Ivy in the band concert, and Michael played his tuba in the 5th grace band concert. They did really well. I forgot to take the camera for Jami's concert and for the recital so I don't have any pictures. We are having Michael's tuba chem-cleaned over the Christmas break. It will cost $150! Who said raising kids ain't expensive!!!!? It's a very special tuba we recieved from Noel's grandpa who played it in his church orchestra. He is excelling at playing it (so are the girls on their instruments as well).

Noel turned 43 on December 8th. She's really enjoying real estate and is doing quite a good job. She was "salesman of the month" for the month of December. Dennae got her driver's license this past Thursday and hasn't quit driving since she got it. We were able to purchase a nice Mazda Protege for her to drive. It has some hail damage so we got it pretty cheap! Now, we have three cars! Who said raising kids ain't expensive!!!!?

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'll update the blog with more pictures after the New Year. There will be pictures of Christmas, the New Year and Monk's 11th birthday celebration. Don't forget to check out the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

Hoping Christ is at the center of your Christmas!

Clay pigeons and Goof balls!

Since the last blog entry, we've begun the holiday season. We enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal out at my Mom and Dad's; it was bittersweet since it will probably be the last one we'll have at the house in which I and my siblings grew up. They have their house on the market and are hoping to downsize within the next year. So, it was a good memory making moment for us. We had the traditional turkey dinner (my favorite part is the crispy skin - help explains my thick girth!) and thoroughly enjoyed everybody's company in the DeVries family. The cousins really love getting together; never a dull moment with our crew. Anyway, I brought my camera, but the battery was dead. Sheesh!

The Monday night before Thanksgiving, Noel and I were given box seats to a Denver Broncos Monday Night Football game versus the Tennessee Titans. The Broncos won; it was Noel's first Bronco game ever. It was great! But, I forgot to bring my camera to capture the moment! Idiot!

I did remember to bring my camera to the 2nd annual Northern Ridge Baptist Church skeet shoot, so there's some pictures of guys taking their best shots at flying clay pigeons. That was a lot of fun even though it was in the mid 20s for a temperature.

The other pictures at the bottom of the page are some goofy candids of Ivy and Dennae trying to be creative and funny! I'll let you be the judge of that!

Hope you all are having a Happy Holiday season and trust you will have a very Merry Christmas! I'm sure I'll update this blog once more before Christmas.

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

Friday night: pizza and a movie

At the DeVries household, we have family night each Friday night. Actually, we go out to eat every Tuesday night, have pizza and a movie each Friday night, have a barbecue each Saturday night, have sweet rolls and frappucinos each Sunday morning, and go out for ice cream each Sunday night after church. This blog's pictures are primarily from this past week's Friday night pizza/movie night. We got Shrek the 3rd and Amazing Grace. We are beginning the movie as I type. Hopefully they'll be worth watching.

This past week, Michael and I went with Michael's tuba teacher to a Boston Brass concert. Michael's teacher was roommates in college with Andrew Hitz, the tuba player for the Boston Brass. We had a chance to meet him and speak with him. He is an excellent tuba player and the Boston Brass put on an excellent concert. Michael was truly inspired as could be seen by his intensified practice sessions the days following. (The picture was taken on my cell phone since I forgot my camera; sorry it's not too clear.)

(So far, Shrek the 3rd is pretty good!)

I also had the chance to go down to Fort Logan National Cemetery on Veteran's Day in South Denver and visit the graves of my Grandma and Grandpa Norden; these were my Mom's parents who passed away in the late 1990s. My Grandfather was a WWII veteran; I have his WWII army jacket framed on my study wall. Anyway, both Noel and I have great and fond memories of our grandparents; it was a privilege to down and pay mine some respect in retrospect.

Hope you are doing well and that you are growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ! Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of the blog!

MJD,Sr.

A trip to Clearwater, Florida

This past week, Noel and I had the chance to fly down to Clearwater, Florida and check out Clearwater Christian College. Dr. Dave Burggraff, the VP for Spiritual Formation at the college, worked it out for us to come with a few other pastors to check out the college and see what God is doing there. It was a fun trip. We got to see the beach, the school, some old friends and teachers, and just be together. The kids stayed home with Shane and Sjanie Medhurst. They are neighbors, fellow church members and Shane is Noel's business partner in real estate. All in all, it was a great trip. Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

One prayer request: Mike's cousin, Julie DeVries, had emergency open heart surgery this Thursday night. She is goind OK considering, but she has a long way to go in recovery. She professes to know the Lord and would appreciate your prayers.

Hope you had a good week too for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

Family birthdays and family picture

We got together as a DeVries family on Friday night, the 26th, and celebrated these respective birthdays from the month of October: Mark, Eric, Dad and Simone. My Mom made chicken enchiladas (both flour and corn tortillas - corn being my favorite), Simone made the dessert, Noel brought toppings, chips, etc. and Steph made the bean dip. It was great. You can see their pictures at the bottom of the blog.

We also had our first family portrait done in years. It turned out all right; we are definitely getting older, that's for sure!

Hope you are doing well for Christ's sake.

Go Rockies!

MJD,Sr.

1st Annual World Missions Conference

We are enjoying our 1st annual World Missions Conference here at Northern Ridge Baptist Church. It has been a blessing to have Pastor Kafunga Namuhindura here from the city of Uvira in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is a choice servant of God laboring in a very difficult and distressed area. Please pray for him. It's also been great to have Steve and Jane Gibb, missionaries heading to islands of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. Steve has been a long time friend of mine since college days, and we've been able to keep in touch since then. Steve and Jane have been serving in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia for the past decade or so and have recently left that ministry to go as missionaries to Vanuatu. It has been great to have them and their family here; they will be here up through the 1st of November and leave for the field of Vanuatu at the end of December. Please pray for them.

We've had the chance to do a number of things together like go to the mountains, hike, see the wildlife and watch the Red Sox and Rockies games. Steve is from Massachusetts originally and is a rabid Boston fan. We may have to quit being friends for a week if the Rockies play the Red Sox in the World Series. Dad, Matt and I go to go to one of the Rockies games during their march to the World Series. It was great fun!

Dennae and Jami are done with softball season. Ivy scored the winning goal in their game this morning, and Michael has a playoff football game this afternoon. The kids are all continuing to work on their instruments and are slowly but surely progressing. Things are going well and trust it is the same for you.

Don't forget to take a look at the pictures at the bottom of the page.

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

The Rox and the Sox

Things have been hopping here over the past few weeks. First, I'm sure you've heard about the Colorado Rockies and their incredible and improbably run over the past several weeks. They are roaring into the World Series. One more win over the Diamondbacks, and we'll be in our first World Series! The entire state is infatuated with the team; and that includes our entire family. My Dad, my brother and I got to go to the playoff game against San Diego; maybe you read about it. It was electric! Incredible!

Also, Michael and I went on a mission trip to Boston to visit some church planting missionaries that our church plant supports: Colin and Tonia Landry. We went with two other men and two other children from our church plant. It was a great time to see some sights, help out in the ministry and just be together as father and son. We drove by Fenway Park several times while we were there. Maybe the Rockies will meet the Red Sox in the World Series this year!?

Hope you are all doing well and that you are continually tasting and seeing that the Lord Jesus Christ is good!

Have a great day for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

PS - Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of the page.

Annual Aspen watching trip

This past week, the kids were out of school on Friday, so we borrowed a friends Mustang GT convertible and went for a picnic in the mountains and a ride along the Peak to Peak highway to watch the changing aspen leaves of the Colorado Rockies. I go up to the mountains every year in the fall to look at the gorgeous colors, and this year I was fortunate enough to take the whole family since the kids were out of school. We stopped off at my Mom and Dad's on the way up, and Mom was available for an impromptu picnic too, so that was really nice. We had a great time sitting at a picnic table at a roadside site that my family has visited for 25 years. You'll see the picture of the mountain stream that runs beside the campsite in the pictures at the bottom of the blog. Monk and Jami caught snakes the whole time, and afterward the two of them went with me to ride the Peak to Peak highway in the convertible and look at the colors. We stopped off at a mountain cafe and got root beer floats too! Ivy had to get back early to go and watch the CU women's soccer team so she, Noel, Mom and Dennae went back in the van. CU was hosting Stanford, the #1 team in the nation. Stanford won 1-0. Ivy got to go out for dinner with the rest of her soccer team; they all attended the game together.

Early on Saturday morning, Ivy and I went out for coffee and watched the US Women's National Soccer team beat England in the semi-finals of the World Cup being hosted by China. It was fun to see some of Ivy's heroes win the match 3-0. Ivy's team tied their game today, and Dennae and Jami's softball team won their game 7-6. Dennae pitched again, and Jami pinch ran a few times. Monk's team has a bye this week.

Noel is gone selling houses, and I'm running the kids around to all their responsibilities. This is a fun time of life for me. I'm having a blast! Hope you are too!

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

Ho hum and deja vu!

We have settled back into the routine of a normal school year, if by normal you mean running around like a chicken with your head cut off. With soccer, softball, football, music lessons, yearbook, work and other school and church activities, we are very busy. But while we like being busy, we try very hard to have definite family times each week so that we protect ourselves from getting too busy. We have breakfast and family devotions together each morning. On Tuesday, we got out to eat as a family (somewhere exceedingly cheap!). On Friday nights, it's "pizza and a movie" night. On Saturday night, we barbecue. And on Sundays, we have sweet rolls and coffee drinks in the morning and ice cream after church at night. These weekly observances keep us all looking forward to being together and protect us from being too busy for each other. It's been a blessing for all of us.

This past week, we came to the conclusion that it would be in Dennae's best interest if we home schooled her once again; thus, deja vu! So starting this Monday the 16th, we will start that again. We are definitely looking forward to it. This past week, Noel also got her first paycheck as a real estate agent. Jami was home from school sick all week. Dennae got her name in the paper for pitching a 1-hitter in a softball game, Michael's team won their football game, and Ivy's soccer team tied. Monk and I got to go to a Rockies game on Saturday night. Our neighbors treated us and we sat 12 rows up from the Rockies dugout. It was fun to see all those players we watch each night on TV. You'll notice in the picture that our neighbor, Jonathan, is quite the prankster. Hope you enjoy the other pictures at the bottom of the blog.

Hope you have a good week for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

Games and Celebrations

This week saw the beginning of the sports season in full swing. Dennae and Jami are playing on their high school girls' softball team. Dennae is the starting pitcher. Jami pinch hits and plays some outfield. I've been helping out during practices; lots of fun. Michael had his first game of football. they got beat, but big #62 is starting to get a name for himself. At left offensive tackle, he opened some pretty big holes. Ivy's soccer team had the week off.

We had a birthday celebration for the DeVries family; I don't know how many people had birthdays, but we all got together and celebrated a bunch of birthdays at once. We also went to the White Fence Farm, a very popular family restaurant in South Denver. We met Peter and Marsha Landry, the other elder in our church plant. They have five young children, and we really enjoyed the fellowship.

Hope you had a great week for Christ's sake. Don't forget the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

MJD,Sr.

Milestones and Moving On

Friends and Family,

Just a quick blog to let you know that all is well at the DeVries homestead. These past couple of weeks have seen the beginning of another school, Noel's 25th high school class reunion, and a sports schedule for 4 children that would challenge any parent's organizational skills.

First, Noel just got back last night, August 27th, from a trip to SC/GA for her 25th high school class reunion. She had a great time and was actually very encouraged to here that so many of her class mates are now serving the Lord and raising their children to do the same. She was full of stories when I picked her up at the airport in the midst of a Colorado rain storm. I'm glad she got to go, but there's a consensus among us that we're much gladder to have her back home. She got to see family while she was down there, and she really enjoyed that. If you can't tell in the picture at the bottom of this blog, Noel is the one sitting at the left end of the 1st row. I told her I got the pick o' the litter from that bunch; that's for sure.

Dennae and Jami are playing for their high school softball team. Dennae is pitching and developing a pretty good windmill. Jami has played left field and pinch hit a couple of times. They really enjoy it even though this is going to be another rebuilding year for the program. The coach from last year had to bow out of coaching the team just before the season began because of a work conflict. We are thankful for the gentleman who stepped in at the last minute. I'm sure he'll do a fine job.

We are sad that within a few weeks Jami's violin teacher from the beginning will be moving to Southern California to continue his schooling. Tim Gathman has been tremendously patient and helpful for Jami; he will be sorely missed. He is an excellent violinist, and the future is bright for him in that arena. We pray the best for him. Hope you enjoy the video clip of Jami and Tim playing a duet.

While Tim leaves, Brian and Kayla Dare have just moved out to help out in the church plant. Brian just graduated with his M.Div. from Faith Baptist Theological Seminary; Kayla is Tom and Nancy Miller's daughter. The Millers serve on the CU campus through Flatirons Baptist Church, our former ministry. Kayla has also taught our kids piano during the summers in the past; maybe she'll get to continue now that she's back in the area. We are very excited to have them here.

We hope you are doing well and that you are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sorry for the "red eye" effect on so many of the pictures this time.

Have a great week for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

The end of vacation and life as "normal"

The last day of our St.George vacation found us in Moab, Utah. We visited Moab Baptist Church, toured Arches National Park and headed home. Boy did we have fun; boy was it good to be home. We have lots of memories and lots of pictures from the trip; it was a great way to wrap up the summer and get a good start on the impending school year. This week, Michael got signed up for football. He weighs 130 pounds at a 10-year old, so he it too heavy to carry or catch the ball during the games. The coaches have him projected as a defensive end at this point. He's disappointed that he will not be able to score touchdowns, but he's pretty excited about getting to prevent them. I also passed the last requirements for my physical to become a chaplain in the Colorado Air National Guard; my resting EKG came back normal - good to know. Now they have to pass some waivers for my age, etc. We'll see what happens; the doc said it was a "slam dunk." I may be a chaplain sooner rather than later. On Thursday, August 9th, Noel and I celebrated our 21st anniversary. We went out to eat (one of our favorite things to do!) and then sat at the mall and watched people walk by while we ate some Coldstone Creamery ice cream. We laughed about it while we were doing it saying, "We're getting old! We would have never done this 21 years ago." We went to Orlando/Disney World for our honeymoon. Now, if we were to go somewhere, anywhere in the world that we would like, it might be something like a coffee shop to read or something exhilarating like that. We're still up for fun, but we are getting more and more sedentary. Whereas I used to play lots of ball, now I watch lots of ball. Dennae and Jami start softball, Ivy soccer, and Michael football. That means we'll have lots to watch in the next several months. We'll keep you posted!

Hope you have had a great week as well. Noel is in the full swing of real estate, the kids start school, and I'm just trying to hang on for dear life. That's what "normal" means for me.

Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom.

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

St. George Vacation 2007 - Days 7-9

Thursday saw us head back to Zion National Park to hike the Narrows. This famous hike goes up the Virgin River in Zion National Park as far as you'd like. You just head up the river IN THE RIVER, and when you get tired of going up the river, you turn around and go down the river (in whatever way you deem best). Our kids are never at a loss of making the most fun of any situation so they took full advantage of the opportunity to "get wet" and spent much of their time submerged in the very dirty and silty river. Hopefully you can tell from the pictures how dirty the river is; there's been lots of rainfall up the canyon lately that has swept countless tons of silt down river. In fact, the day we hiked the Narrows, the Forest Service had flash flood warnings out. Few survive a flash flood in the Narrows, but we decided to do it anyway. We're glad! It was a great time! Friday was "hang out at the condo day" topped off by pizza at the Wright's house. The kids had an absolute blast hanging out with their kids the past week. We road their ATVs in the dunes out behind their house, hiked up a little canyon to some petroglyphs (cave drawings - Jami fell and hurt her foot pretty badly. Hope she's OK.), and Noel and I even got a chance to take a lengthy spin on the ATVs (sometime you should ask Noel what it was like to get stuck on top of the scrub bush!). It was a lot of fun! The kids are already talking about going back to St. George to visit the Wrights on a family vacation in the future. Saturday, we headed back home, stopping by Bryce Canyon on the way. Bryce Canyon was one of the sights I definitely wanted to see on the trip; I wasn't disappointed.

Hope you all are having a great week as well. Please pray that we have a safe trip home. We will visit a local church tomorrow morning, take a scenic drive through Arches National Park here in Moab and then head home. Hopefully, we'll be home by Sunday night.

Don't forget to look at the new pictures at the bottom of the blog.

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

St. George Vacation 2007 - Days 2-6

Lots has happened since I updated the sight. As you can well imagine, taking a family on a vacation that encompasses nearly 3,000 miles of road time doesn't leave too much time for web work. Regardless, I'm up this Wednesday morning while most of the family is still sleeping (it's 9:30 a.m.!), so I thought I'd take the opportunity. Last Friday we continued our trek toward St. George and visited the Pueblo Indian ruins at Mesa Verde - of much more interest to Noel and me than to the kids. Then we stopped at Four Corners monument, the only place in the US where 4 states are contiguous (don't know why, but it's been a childhood dream of mine to visit here). It was hot and barren - nothing around for miles except the landmark and some outlining booths manned by local Indians from the Navajo Reservation. We stopped by to peruse some of their wares. I'm sure Ivy bought something there. From there we went to Kayenta, AZ for the night in a Holiday Inn that left much to be desired. On Saturday, we drove through the famed Monument Valley of many John Wayne movies. I'm very glad Noel talked me into going there; the rock formations were absolutely stunning! From there to an afternoon swim in Lake Powell at Lone Rock (forgot to take pictures! Dough!) and from there to St. George and to our condo. Our condo is very nice - sleeps 6 comfortably and is perfect for our family. It was 103 degrees at 7 p.m. when we pulled into St. George. I guess that's about average for this time of year. Sunday we visited Westside Baptist Church where Greg Wright, a friend of mine from school, pastors. He planted the church about the same time we planted Immanuel/Flatirons back in 1993. Anyway, I had forgotten that he was here so it was a blessing to see his name in the phone book and surprise him when we walked into church. It was a great sermon from Numbers 11 on the flesh and its tendency to complain. Made me wanna preach the text myself. Then a lazy afternoon and back to church that night for a follow up sermon from Numbers 11 and then volleyball afterward. Lots of fun! Monday was a "lay around the condo" day ending with dinner at the Red Lobster and dessert at Coldstone Creamery. Boy am I gonna have to lose weight again after this vacation! Tuesday, July 31st, we took our day trip to the Grand Canyon's North Rim. Drove through the fundamentalist Mormon community of Colorado City on the UT/AZ border. I believe nearly everybody in this little town is polygamist - oppressive even driving through it. Then on to the Grand Canyon for some more grand views and opportunities for Monk and Jami to hunt for lizards. That evening back in St. George we had dinner at the Wright's; our kids mesh really well with their kids (plus they've got a pool and 4-wheelers!). We have really enjoyed the added bonus of being with their family on vacation. Ivy said, "Now that's a family I'd like to come back and visit sometime."

Hope you're doing well in your regular routine or wherever else you might be. I'm thoroughly enjoying my time here but miss my routine as well. We've got much to do yet; I'm sure I'll update the blog in a few more days. Don't forget to look at the updated pictures at the bottom.

Love to all,

MJD,Sr.

St. George Vacation 2007 - Day 1

We left Thursday morning, July 26th, at 5 a.m. The ETD was 4:00 a.m. MST, but I awoke at 3:30 a.m. and suddenly realized in a bit of a shock that I had forgotten to put the car top carrier on the van. So as quietly as possible, I was out in the driveway at 3:35 putting the carrier on top. That combined with loading the car put us about an hour late in leaving. But no worries! We had a safe and enjoyable trip the first leg. We arrived in Walsenburg for breakfast about 9:00 a.m. We enjoyed a Carl's, Jr. breakfast (similar to Hardees in the South) and then headed to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. It's been a long time dream of mine to visit this place in the middle of the San Luis Valley nestled up against the Sangre de Christo Mountains. There are many sights in Colorado that I haven't seen yet even though they're in my home state. It is an incredible attraction, desert sand dunes in the middle of Colorado. Nobody is yet sure as to how exactly they were formed. We headed to the top (a 650 foot elevation gain about 2 miles from the base in deep, soft sand -- very difficult hiking!), with Ivy, Jami and Monk making it with me. Noel and Dennae felt like they should stay down at the half way point in case one of us fell backward and rolled all the way back down in need of help! Yeah right! Anyway, with the wind whipping, sand pelting our legs and lightning flashing all around us, we made it safely up and down. Noel put together a picnic lunch while the kids played in Medano Creek at the base of the dunes. Then on the way out of the park we stopped at Zapata Falls, a bitterly cold snow melt stream with some beautiful waterfalls. Noel and I have always loved waterfalls. We hope to pass that love on to our kids. They made the short hike and enjoyed the freezing wade through the stream up to the falls. Jami and Ivy are rock climbers so they got the closest. Got to do some bird watching on the short hike as well. We ended the first day at a Days Inn in Alamosa; the kids went swimming at a local water park. Taco Bell and Long John Silvers for dinner. What a blessing...kind of...well, not really at all. ;-)

Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of the blog. Hope you are doing well.

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

Growing Older

This past couple of weeks have been very busy with getting older. Each passing day reminds us that we are getting older and that one day we will each meet the Lord face to face. It started off with our oldest daughter, Dennae, turning 16 years old. We had this pretty neat party planned for the occasion. Dennae invited 2 of her very close friends from church, Ashlee and Riley. I borrowed a Mustang GT convertible from a friend, drove them (along with Noel) down to South Denver for dinner at the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant (fantastic!), then to the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver for some shopping a a Starbucks (relaxing), then to a movie to watch the new Harry Potter release (not my first choice but it ain't my birthday!). We had a great time celebrating the 16th year of our oldest daughter. Also, Grandpa Fisk, a member of our church, had his hip replaced even though he is 88 years old. I took Monk and Jami along with their cousin Jason to visit him in the hospital one afternoon. He is doing really well even though he is getting older. Also, I had to do the funeral of a father of one of our church family's members who drowned in a fishing accident. That was a difficult ministry but one that provided an opportunity for the gospel to be shared with many, many unsaved people. Again, sudden death reminds us that life on earth does not last forever, and we should be prepared now to meet the Lord. Last, on Friday we went down to Colorado Springs to see our nephew, his wife, and our niece (Paul, Connie and Keirsten) who were attending a conference with their church group. We got to go out to Carino's, a great Italian restaurant (famous for their Italian nachos!). The kids had a great time seeing their cousins, and we did too.

This next week, we head out for a vacation to St. George, Utah. We hope to see the Grand Canyon among many others beautiful sights in that part of the country. I'll update the blog when I get back. Hope you have a great week as well.

Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

Family, Fireworks and Fame

This week my sister and her husband, Mark and Jenn Frederick, came for a visit for one and a half weeks. It is great to see them again along with my nephews, Sam and Joe. They brought their friend, Christie(sp?) along to help out with Sam and Joe. We've been getting together for family meals whenever we can, taking turns at Mom and Dad's, Matt and Simone's and ours. It was Jami's week for a Dad-date, and she chose to go out for buffalo wings; I didn't object. That's one of my favorite meals. Of course, this week also included the 4th of July and a great time with the NRBC church family. We had a barbecue at Waneka Lake Park. People went out on the paddle boats, some fished, played catch with the football, etc. It was the coolest day of the week (only in the low 90s) so that was nice, relatively speaking. On Thursday night, Michael had another baseball game. He played catcher and loved it. He had 2 at bats and 2 home runs! He's quite the power hitter. On Saturday the 7th we went to Olivia's birthday party, celebrated according to Korean tradition. That was very fun as well. Last but not least, we enjoyed a visit from Brian and Kayla Dare. Brian just graduated from seminary, and they are thinking about moving this direction and helping with the church plant.

All in all, a good week. Lot's of counseling opportunities, Bible studies with new believers included. Please pray for our church family as well as our own. We have much to learn for Christ's sake.

Hope you had a great week as well. Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

MJD,Sr.

Eden, the Crush and MEPS

This week started off last Sunday with Father's Day. The whole family came over to our house for a cookout. Lots of fun honoring all the Dads among us. Beginning on Monday, the three girls spent the week at Camp Eden, the church camp our church went to this summer. They had a great time and were eager to share with me what they had learned from God's Word during the week of hearing good preaching and making new friends. From all the stories swirling in the car on the way down the mountain, they had a blast! That means Noel and Monk stayed home with me all week. I surprised Monk with a trip to watch the Colorado Crush play the Chicago Rush at an Arena Football Game. Pretty impressive introduction; too bad the Crush played less than impressive. I also endured the first phase of my MEPS physical in the process of becoming a Chaplain in the Colorado Air National Guard. I passed most of the tests but have to go back for a final "weigh in" on July 23rd as well as some more blood work. When you enter the military after the age of 40, it is considerably more difficult to get in. And while there is a shortage on Chaplains, they don't seem to be too interested in "bending" the rules in my situation. So...we shall see whether or not it eventually happens. God knows!

Hope you all had a great week. Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of the age from last week's activities.

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

Dennae goes down, Jami stays down and Mom and Dad head back down

This week was a general "family week" for us in many ways. It started off with a victorious time of celebration: Dennae was baptized as a believer along with Amy Schrecengost, one of the youth sponsors whom Dennae has grown to love very much. That was a blessing! On Monday, Mom and Dad Dickson headed back down South for home in South Carolina. It is always great to have them visit. Each week, I take one of the 4 children on a "Dad Date"; this week it was Jami's turn. She has longed to learn how to SCUBA dive for quite some time; at this point she wants to major in Marine Biology when she goes to college (that's good since there aren't a ton of places to SCUBA in Colorado!). So we found an introductory course to SCUBA at a local dive shop, and she had an absolute blast. The teacher was very impressed with her water skills; maybe this is in her future? We had a few opportunities to have the cousins over; they all get along really well.

All in all, it was a good week of growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ as a family. Hope you had a great week too for Jesus' sake! Dont' forget to check out the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

MJD,Sr.

A visit from the In-Laws

This past week, Noel's parents came into town from South Carolina for a week long visit. For Noel, that meant lots of time shopping, buying and selling antiques. She and her Mom have been in the antique business for two decades now and enjoy doing that very much. For me, that means a couple of games of golf with Dad DeVries and Dad Dickson. The two Dads are "golfaholics" and go each weekday. I get to get away a couple of times during the week. We actually got to take Michael one day; he did pretty good. Hitting the ball straight and fairly far by the end of the round.

The kids finished their school year, all of them ending on a fairly strong note. While there is always room for improvement, we are very thankful for their growth and for the privilege of being parents of what we believe to be the "best kids in the world" (we would hope that all parents would like to argue with us on that one!). Next year, Dennae will be a Sophomore, Jami a Freshman, Ivy in 7th and Michael in 5th grade. They are growing up fast. The three girls went to the Denver Zoo for a youth activity for our church's teens as well.

This past week, Noel passed her tests to become a licensed real estate agent in the state of Colorado. Congrats!! She passed it on her first attempt; that doesn't happen too often evidently. Ivy tried out and made the "Premier" soccer team again for the Colorado Youth Soccer Association team in our area. And Jami graduated from 8th grade! Yeehaaw!

Another highlight is that Mikah Mae Sickau was born to Mark and Steph (DeVries) Sickau this past week. She is named after Mike and Matt, her two older brothers. We are honored and trust that our namesake will turn out OK in spite of her two Uncles!!!

Hope you had a great week for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

A week of memory and preparation

This week started off with a great series of meetings during the church services of Northern Ridge Baptist Church. Sunday morning's text was Galatians 2:20 - "I am crucified with Christ..." It was a blessing to be in God's house! It was a blessing to be with God's people on Monday, Memorial Day. My Mom and Dad hosted a Memorial Day brunch for our church family. You can see pictures of Dongjoon, Minsook and Olivia as well as some members of the Broadworth family in the pictures below. Memorial Day is a special day for me, Mike, because my Grandpa Norden was a veteran of WWII. I have his army jacket framed and hanging in my study at home. I also received good news about my application to become a chaplain with the Colorado Air National Guard. I will be going down to MEPS in a couple of weeks for a physical to see if my 42-year old body will stand up to the rigors of the military reserves. Please pray for that appointment.

This week, Ivy's soccer team played a "playoff game" to advance to next year's "competitive" level of competition. They won the game, 2-1. Ivy scored the game winning goal; she recieved a beautiful cross from a teammate and slid to kick the ball in at the opposite post. It was really exciting! She is in tryouts now for next year's team. Michael also had tryouts for his little league baseball. Michael is a very big 10-year old. His fielding and throwing skills are average, but he can absolutely crush the ball. He hit the ball at leats twice as long as the longest hit by any other boy trying out. It will be fun to watch him play this summer.

Noel has spent the last several weeks holed up and studying to become a licensed real estate agent. She passed all the preliminary tests and is now, as I write, down in Denver taking the state exam. We all hope she passes so we can get our Wife/Mom back. She is excited about a new career as a real estate agent; we are excited for her!

Trust you have had a great week for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

End of the Year activities

We are winding down the school year so we are busy with graduation open houses (we went to Mikki Smith's open house), choir concerts, district track meets and awards ceremonies. We also were privileged to have Dawn and Thomas Constantini visit from France. Dawn is Nathan Kummer's sister, and Mike has had the chance to visit them a couple of times while he's been in Europe. Nathan and April attend Flatirons in Boulder. Dawn and Nathan's parents are at Fellowship Bible Church in Denver where Nathan's Dad has pastored for many years. The whole family came up for a cookout on Friday night; that was fun. Also, our Pastor's Book Discussion Club met again this past Monday to read and discuss Ravi Zacharias's book Jesus Among Other Gods. We got a lot of discussion in although we wandered far from the content of the book. We are saying good-bye to Bernie Augsburger, the pastor at Calvary Community Baptist Church in Northglenn. Bernie has served there for over three decades and recently announced his resignation to take over the state rep position for the state associations of the Illinois and Missouri Regular Baptist Churches. We will miss his presence here in our state.

Mom gets a day, Mike a camera and Dennae a job!

This week was a very busy week in the life of the DeVries family. The kids are wrapping up a year of school. Ivy's soccer season is coming to an end. Michael's baseball season is picking up as well as Jami's basketball season. Dennae got a job in a financial investment office and started working this week. These ladies are former fellow church members from Flatirons in Boulder. I took Jami to the emergency room on Friday night because she was dehydrated and on the verge of a sinus infection. She was pitiful. I had a birthday of Monday (42!) and we all celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday. All in all, it was good week. Don't forget to look at the pictures from this week at the bottom of all the other posts! Have a great week!

The Parade of Champions and the Meeting of the Minds

This week, we wanted to let you know about a number of things that took place in our family. First, Dennae got a job working with a family friend in a tax office. She is pretty excited about the opportunities that this job affords for the future even though she's not thrilled about starting out in the "filing papers" department. But we praise the Lord for His provision. Second, Ivy's Trebol Soccer team was invited to march around the brand new Dick's Sporting Goods Stadium where the Colorado Rapids play, the local MLS team. So she was thrilled to be able to do that and afterward watch a very exciting game between the Rapids and Real Salt Lake. Freddie Adu, the teen phenom, plays for Real and scored a goal. The game ended 1-1. Ivy also scored a goal in their soccer game on Friday. Also, Noel hosts a ladies' Bible study for our church every other week; there is a picture of some of the ladies who gathered this past week. We hope you had a great week too as you served the King and kings and Lord of lords!

Dennae meets Jesus and a new church is born!

This week has been momentus for the DeVries family. The most significant events include the fact that our oldest daughter, Dennae, made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior on Thursday night. She has been struggline spiritually for some time, making very poor choices and evidencing very little of the power of God to resist sin and temptation. We have been concerned. Some of her poor choices created a need in our hearts to delve a little deeper into her heart to see what we could discern about her walk with God. (Proverbs 20:5 - Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. ) After some conversations with Noel and me, we discerned that she never had come to possess what she has so long professed: a personal knowledge of God's saving grace in Christ. So Noel and I kneeled by the couch, and Dennae confessed with her mouth "Christ as Lord" and believed in her heart that God has raised Him from the dead (Rom.10:9-10). We praise God for His amazing grace!

Also, on Sunday the 6th, we officially chartered our church plant and Northern Ridge Baptist Church became a New Testament local church organized by covenant with each other to be and do what God has called and empowered us to do. We had over 150 people in attendance, many from other churches in the area. They came to encourage us and to witness the birth of another Bible-believing church in the Front Range of Colorado. We have 58 charter members and are very, very excited about what God has in the days, weeks, months and years to come! Soli Deo Gloria!

Ivy, Shelby, new curbs and the "dump meal"

The kids had another week of school; Noel and I had normal work weeks. Ivy had a track meet and another soccer game so she is featured in this week's blog. On Friday, our family met with our "FFF" group from church ("Families, Food and Fellowship") and had a "low country boil" over at Mike and Paula Fisk's house. We've come to call this the "dump meal" since we just dump it on the table straight form the boiler. Afterward on Friday night, Jessica Terry, a single gal who used to live with us and still attends church at our old church, Flatirons Baptist, came over for a "spend the night on the trampoline" with the kids and with Shelby, our old weimaraner that Jessica now has. On Saturday, Bill, Andy and Sam, from our new church, Northern Ridge Baptist Church, put some new curbs in our backyard. We ended the week with a barbecue on our new outdoor gas grill that Noel purchased at Costco. All in all, it was a good week. And we praise the Lord He allowed us to serve Him through it all! (See below for pictures)

Winter Park mini-vacation Spring 2007

The kids had Friday, Apirl 21st off from school, so we rented a condo for a couple of nights and headed up to Winter Park. It's the off season so rates and cheap and rooms are plenty. We had a good time seeing the familiar sights of the Winter Park and Fraser area and just hanging out as a family. Here, in front of this moose, we all decided to pose because Mark Wilcox, a member of the new church plant in which we are involved, was the landscape architect behind this big fella!