Pix & Kix

What the Heck??

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:59:00 +0000

What the heck is going on??!!

Barbara Mandrell calls Missy on her birthday......

and tonight.........wait for it...........wait for it...........

George Jones came over to visit us!!

We were told, by the neighbors, he was waiting on our front porch last night too, but we weren't home. Darn......Soooo glad he stopped back by tonight!

P.S. In case you aren't a country music fan-George Jone's nickname has always been "The Possum."

A GOOD DAY!!

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Well today was the big day we had all been waiting for-THE DAY TO FINALLY MEET OUR SPONSORED CHILDREN! Alot of people were a little nervous, myself included. Questions swirled through our heads the night before like,"What if they are shy and don't want anything to do with us?" " What if they don't like what we have painstakingly picked out to bring them?" What if.... What if....

But we got over it quickly, when we started walking to where we were going to meet them. The plan was, we were to be able to be with the children, from about 9:00am to 4:30pm But as we were walking, Dennis,who is a Ugandan working for Compassion and has been over coordinating all our stops on this trip, came up to me and said, "I just wanted you to know that there is some transportation problems for Felix, he is on his way, but it is going to be awhile. I'll have to be honest and say my first thought was "Oh no!!, I've traveled all this way and I'm not gonna be able to see him.

There was one other sponsor who's child was delayed in traffic as well. Everything worked out fine though. The other sponsor's child arrived about 1:30, and Felix ended up arriving at about 3pm. I was thankful just to be able to spend 1 1/2 hrs with him. But it turns out our tour leaders told me that since he was late, he would be able to stay and join our group for dinner at 7:30pm. So he got to enjoy soccer/football, and we went into a wading pool to WADE but Felix decided to go swimming with his clothes on. :) Felix was accompanied by his mother, his 11 month old baby brother Joshua, and his Compassion project worker, who also helped to translate what Felix was saying to me. So, he ended up getting to stay the full amount of time. His family didn't leave until almost 10:00pm

I think God had it all planned out this way for 2 reasons:

1.)Since Felix was not there yet,I was able to do what I love doing...Taking Pictures!! I got to capture all the moments of the other sponsors meeting there kids. I also got alot of shots of them playing games etc. It was an emotional time for some! Beforehand, we had kind of wandered how, everyone would be able to take pictures as we were all meeting our kids at the same time. Problem solved!

2.) I think Felix wanted to make a Grand Entrance. He was a fashion extraordinaire as you'll see in his pictures below.

Enjoy the pictures....and if you should feel led to sponsor child please click here

Sponsors were lined up on the left and children were instructed to run across and find their sponsor.

Group photo of all sponsors, children, & Compassion project workers,

No, I didn't tell him to put his right hand like that! He did it on his own. :)

This is Felix's mother, his 11 month old brother Joshua, Felix, and me.

Felix opening his back pack full of Goodies!

And enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Well, I have about another gazillion pictures, but that is all for now, the internet is painfully slow, and I have to be up early. Tomorrow we are leaving Kampala and heading north to the town of Lira. I think it is about a 5 1/2 hr. drive. We will get a break from driving as we are stopping at a Compassion Project along the way. We will be staying in Lira until Monday morning, and then heading back here to Kampala. We fly out of Uganda bright and early Wednesday morning.

I Made It!

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:27:00 +0000

Hello from Kampala, Uganda!!

After two nights of travel with VERY LITTLE sleep, our group arrived in UGANDA!! I still can't quite get over the fact, I am in AFRICA!

We arrived at 7:45am today Uganda time,-11:45pm yesterday IL time. It took us about 1 1/2 hrs to go thru customs, and then another hour to get to our hotel. After arriving and getting checked in, we had about 1 hour to RELAX, before eating lunch and heading out to experience Compassion in Uganda. We went to the Kansanga Child Survival Project which has a program which focuses on teaching new mothers family planning, prenatal care , and infant and toddler care. The project manager, started with a worship and then expained what they do here. We got to sit in on a class for mothers and their infants and learned about the home visits they do with the mothers once or twice a month to make sure they are giving proper care to their child. There are approximately 30 mothers they minister to and I think almost every one of them, and their little ones were there today. One thing I like about Compassion is how they show us everything they do. Today they had on hand the infants records, which have recorded every visit they have had with the mother to document her progress. It also has the child's immunizations, Dr. records, everything you could think of, to make sure the child is being treated correctly.

We also watched as some of the women there, made necklaces, out of strips of paper,. They sold these to help support their families. They even asked us to sit down with them and showed us how to roll up the paper on little pins, then when it was completed were used as the beads.

Lets just say that I have NO future in jewelry making! It was also neat to watch them sit around in a group,while doing this, and every once in awhile, one of the women would start singing a worship song very softly and before you knew it, they were all belting it out dancing and praising Jesus. It was almost like you had stepped back into another era in time. Things definitely move at a slower pace here, unless you are on the roadways, then its a whole different story. We also went on home visits of three different women in the program. More on that later.

Well, its really late here, and I have to be up and ready to go at 7:00am. I will leave you with some pictures from today. The kids are awesome! Always smiling and happy, even when, their living conditions are horrendous. As you will see they are big HAMS and love to have their pictures taken and look at themselves in the viewfinder. We started out with babies today, but the older kids just kept showing up.

Enjoy!

The Countdown has Begun!

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:28:00 +0000

We've had alot of strange things in our fridge before-such as forgotten leftovers that have morphed in their sealed bowls into other creatures with hair. We've also had milk that has on its own, turned into a cottage cheese like substance, but here's something I have never, ever, seen in my refrigerator before......

Missy: "Lovey, have you seen the bottle of coffee creamer that I bought at the store?" " I can't find it."

Denny:" Why sure, it's hanging out right behind the gallon of milk and the TYPHOID VACCINE dear!!"

Yes, this past 2 weeks people, in the most painful way, I have realized that in al little less than 3 weeks, I am going to UGANDA, AFRICA with Compassion International. Holy Cow! Where does the time go... it just seems like a few weeks ago that I was praying about this and now it is almost time to leave.

After having 5 different shots, I now have "peace of mind" in knowing that I am safe from the dreaded yellow fever,meningococcal meningitis, polio, hepatitis A, and, tetanus/diptheria/pertussis-the good people at the health department were kind enough to roll that last shot into one :)- instead of three separate ones. God Bless them!!

The shots weren't really that bad, the worst thing was while the nurse went to draw up the shots, she left me to read the literature on the possible side effects of each of them. Big Mistake!

The side effects ranged from the simplest of just having a sore arm, nausea, vomiting, fever to the most drastic -which was from the yellow fever vaccine-which could, just COULD, lead to TOTAL ORGAN SHUTDOWN -1 case reported per every 200,000-300,000 doses given.

Let's see the last time I checked, you needed most of your organs to stay ALIVE!! MY nurse Nan,was quick to reassure me,"Oh don't worry, I've never had anybody die from this"....with a sweet smile on her face. I was quick to follow up with," And how many have you given- 199,999 doses?" I think I would have felt more comfortable in her saying that she had someone kick the bucket in the past-just kidding. But I was quick to remember that God is in control of it all, and rather than look like a wuss, I sucked it up and took the shots.

And guess what, as you can see, I'm still here. I am happy to say that the shots are all over with now, and I just have to take something for malaria-which I will start 2 weeks before I leave and continue taking for 3-4 weeks when I return, and the "LIVE" Typhoid vaccine, that is hanging out on the top shelf of my fridge. I start taking it this week, which consists of 4 pills to be taken one every other day. The "Live" part kinda freaks me out a little. I think I would rather be putting something in me that's dead-not alive,but what the heck--there's no turning back now!

So that is what's going on in my life right now, I will keep you all (probably the 2 of you who still check in here every now and then) up to date on what is going on -btw sorry for the lack of posting in the past 2 months- As long as there is an internet connection -which, believe it or not, there is suppose to be one, I will keep you all informed of my adventure while it's happening on the old blog here.

Talk to you later...

Finding Hope Amidst Hoplessness

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Compassion's newest team of bloggers have landed in India, in the midst of 120+ temperatures, and are already writing some thought provoking blog posts. I encourage you to check out their blogs.

This trip includes bloggers: Melissa Fitzpatrick, Pete Wilson, Anne Jackson, Angie Smith,

Robin Dance

Trip leaders: Shaun Groves, Spence Smith, Patricia Jones, Keely Scott

This team has been telling some AWESOME stories! The pictures are INCREDIBLE as well!

Today, be sure your read this....blogpost by Anne Jackson and her encounter of a little girl named Lakshmi. Anne took part last year in the Uganda blogger tour through Compassion, and I have been following her blog since.

PS-Be sure you grab the tissues. :)

Global Food Crisis Day 09'

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:36:00 +0000

Today Compassion International is partnering with radio stations, media, churches, and bloggers to once again spread the word about the Global Food Crisis, and raise funds that will make a REAL difference to those impacted by it. Lots of bloggers are writing about it today.

The cost of food staples have roughly doubled in many countries where Compassion serves.

The statistics I've been reading literally break my heart, when I think of how much excess we have here in the U.S.

*Each night more than 300 MILLION children go to bed hungry.

*1/3 of the worlds population is undernourished.

*Every day over 12,000 children(one every 7 seconds) die from hunger-related causes.

By donating to the Global Food Crisis Fund, we can:

Provide food vouchers to children and families needing immediate relief.
Provide seeds and agricultural tools so that families can grow their own food as well as earn extra income.
Provide supplemental nutritional services at Compassion-assisted centers around the world.

So I ask you to please consider joining me today in giving to people who have so little resources.

I know times are tough here at home, but even if you can't give today,possibly consider giving next week or next month.

If you have a blog or website, you can post a widget to raise awareness of the crisis, and most importantly, by all means PRAY for those affected by this devastating crisis, and for those organizations like Compassion who act to provide relief.

Joshua Saves the Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:25:00 +0000

It's not everyday you have a 7 yr. old hero in your house!

Yesterday Joshua.....well, I'll just let him tell the story in his own words, and I'll type it here for you all. He asked me to post it here on my blog. He's pretty excited.

Today, I was walking from school to the babysitter's house and then there were 2 police cars and police men standing in the babysitter's driveway.

I ask Josh what he thought at this point? Josh's response: Holy Crap!

And then Josh said the babysitter told him she had accidentally locked herself out of the house, -(no kids inside btw).

I asked Josh how the policemen got to the babysitter's house.

Josh's response: A police man was sitting down the road watching around in case anything happens at school, and the babysitter seen him and told him to come to her house. He called the other policeman to help.

"Then what happened?" I asked Joshua.

Josh's response:They lifted me over the fence to the backyard. They asked one of the other girls
who had come home on the bus, to help first cause she was smaller, but she cried. So they messed with the babysitters window and got it open-and they shoved me through the window, and I went behind the couch and walked through the "boy corner" and through the house and unlocked the front door.

What is the "boy corner?", I asked Josh

Josh's response:It's where me and Jonathon play power rangers all the time Dad!

"Do you EVER let girls in there?", I asked Josh.

Josh's response: "Only Carly, because I liked her since I was three..."

ok, now back to the original story....

"I went to the front door, unlocked it, and everybody came in." The babysitter said, "You are my hero Joshua", and we started playing again...

"Did she give you any special treat for being so brave," I asked.

Josh's response: "Noooooooooooo !!!!!, that's it. I'm trying to watch Duck Dodgers now, can we please be done?"

And with that, we are apparently concluding, "How Joshua saves the Day!"

We did buy a celebratory pack of watermelon gum at W$lm$rt last night for the "Hero."

He even shared a piece with me.

Too Much Time on Their Hands

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:49:00 +0000

Wow! Its hard to believe I haven't been on this blog -o-mine for over a month. So I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and is having a Happy New Year so far. I usually don't make New Years resolutions, but one of my "goals" this year is to be a better and more frequent blogger.Maybe, by putting that out here publicly, you all can hold me accountable to it. Of course, there may not be anyone still reading this. :)

Anyway,I just have a few pix to share:

Here's our Christmas picture from 08'

We decided to wear coats instead of having to go through the pain and suffering of listening to the kids whine about having to dress up, and Missy decided to have the guys wear matching red scarves and the girls to wear white ones. We had to go purchase the red scarves and ended up spending what I thought was a crazy amount on 3 scarves. However, it was better than having to purchase everyone new sweaters. I justified the amount by thinking the kids could wear their scarves all Winter ......right?........Well, here's my 2 oldest children's ideas of wearing the scarves. --not quite what their mother or myself had in mind.

I hereby present to you 101 WAYS TO WEAR YOUR WINTER SCARVES.....

I think it's a good thing they are heading back to school tomorrow!

NEWS ALERT!!

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:32:00 +0000

My early morning quiet time has just been interupted by the repeating sounds of gunfire. I think there is a war going on. It seems to be coming from behind our house in the woods. Hopefully, far, far back in the woods. Maybe I should move away from the three windows that I'm sitting in front of while typing . It sounds to me like this hunter is a really bad shot, by the multitude of rounds being fired, or possibly someone has equipped the deer with their own guns to fire back! That would make things more interesting huh?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Faces of a Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:19:00 +0000

Joshua turned 7 yrs old a few weeks ago. Being the "always ready for a party"boy that he is- we had to narrow his original guest list down from about 30 kids to a more manageable number. :)

Here are some pictures from the party. Highlights were a game called "Mr. Fox"," Red Light..Green Light" and the always popular pinata bashing! What kid doesn't like trying to beat the tar out of something while blindfolded for a prize of CANDY! You would have never guessed that Halloween was the day before. Here is the group picture from the day and right below it is one from 2 yrs ago. Man, they sure grow up fast!! Below the group shots are just some candid shots I took during the chaos--I mean during the games and fun...

OH MY CRAP!

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:57:00 +0000

Just last week while I was driving home from work, I happened to pass one of those big septic tank trucks. You know the ones with the humongous tanks on the back and the giant hose wrapped around it 50 or 60 times. They always have the funny sayings like, "You dump it, We pump it"or something like that. Are you with me so far?

Well anyhoo, that got me to thinking about, the art of cleaning out said septic systems. My first and foremost thought was "I wonder what they do with all that shi....take', once the tank gets full, and they have to empty it. Do they take it to a city's sewage treatment plant and somehow dump it in there? Do they go out and secretly shoot it all over some poor farmer's fields. I can tell you right now that, I think thats probably what really happens to it. Have you ever been driving out on Interstate 70 or on Route 40 sometimes and smell some of those smells coming from the fields ? Holy Crap-does that ever stink.

Or I really hope that they don't go dumping it in the river or any streams.
Kinda makes me wonder about the river though, when you are entering TH on 70.

It also brought back a childhood memory that I had totally forgotten about. My Dad use to work for the city, and at one time, was in charge of the sewage treatment facilities- you know the place where all the peoples waste goes who have city sewage, instead of septic tanks.

Well every other weekend, he would have to go to the these sewage plants, and check them to make sure things were "flowing" as they should be. Sometimes as a "special treat" he would take my sister and me with him. Of course being kids we thought this was awesome! They were like huge tanks, buried in the ground, open on top, so you could see down into them. They were full of what looked like creamy hot CHOCOLATE-only you knew thats not what it was ,by the odiferous scent! The really cool thing was, they had a 3 foot wide walkway, to walk across the churning abyss. They had metal rails on the walkway, so of course my Dad, the cool guy that he was, would let us walk across them. He was right there though, to make sure we didn't fall in.

I can still remember the butterflies I would have when we walked across, thinking that we were goners if we slipped and fell. Great family fun times together!!

OK, I got off track there-fast forward to earlier this week-there's a note on our front door from a guy from Rex Vault Co. They put our septic system in when we built our house. He comes twice a year to add chlorine to our septic system and checks it to make sure it is working properly.He always leaves a note that says what he did and tells us if all systems are go. My favorite part is at the end he tells us what he sees. How cool huh.

For the past 6 years it has said "a few solids", "some solids", "lots of solids", but this time it said
TANK IS FULL -NEEDS PUMPED!

This set my mind into motion, of the above mentioned trucks and questions like, How long should we wait to have this done?, if not soon, are we going to come home to a "full house"?
"Which company should I call?" -the ones with the coolest slogans on their trucks?

So I got in the phone book, and found someone to come pump the poo!
They were suppose to come today, but of course never showed up. This really offended me,
"Did they not want my poo?" "Is my poop not good enough for them?" " Oh well", I thought, "maybe they will come tomorrow."

I had went into church about 5:50 pm this evening, when I got a phone call from Maren.
"Dad--you need to come home, the guys are here to suck out the crap!" she exclaimed while snickering. "OK, I'll be right there!, I said, suddenly feeling so much better knowing that they did want MY poo. I drove home in a hurry to find the GIANT Septic tank truck sitting in my front yard. I hurriedly showed them where our beloved tank was, and they started unwinding the mile long hose-well it wasn't quite that long-or they wouldn't had to park in my yard, and leave giant ruts in my yard.

It was dark by now, and it looked like, from what I could tell they were fastening something around the hose to hook it to the ground. I thought to myself "Is there going to be so much suction power running through that hose that it is going to flop around?" Awesome.

Now was my chance to ask my questions, that had been burning in my mind.. "I started with, "How much does that tank hold?" "Two thousand gallons",was his reply. I quickly followed it with,"So what do you do when it is full?" "We dump it." "Well, I KNEW that", I thought to myself. "Where?" At this time the guy in charge, came up and started giving directions to the guy I was talking to and the conversation was dropped. DARN!

Anyway, they finally succeeded in getting the covers off our tank and got the hose stuck into the hole. It was at this point, that I can tell you it got really UGLY! It required the garden hose with running water and a shovel at this point to be able get our tank sparkling clean. You have to know that I can honestly say, we will never tell you or act like our s#*t doesn't stink because IT DOES PEOPLE!!
I felt kind of bad at this point, and actually thought about apologizing to him for the smell. "I'm sorry sir, I know I shouldn't have eaten all that Mexican food for the last 6 years, but it just tasted sooooo good to me!" Then I got a grip and realized he's probably used to it.

At one point, during this period of cleansing, the boss guy was bent over the hose which was laying in the grass about 10 feet away from me ,and the poor guy (who had his head in our sewage tank sucking out the gunk.) I graciously held the flash light for him so he could see what he was doing. It was the least I could do.

He asked his boss, "Is that part springing a leak where the hose is coupled together. " All of a sudden, I had a flashback to the scene from the movie RV, where they went to empty the septic tank on the RV. Remember that one? I thought about running for my life at that time, but needless to say, the hose held up and the job was completed.

Josh and Maren even came out to watch the festivities a few times. But Josh has a sensitive nose, and didn't want to stay around for long.

Oh well, it just another fun evening at the Milbourn's, and by the way I never did get the chance to ask again where they dump their tanks.

The question which started this little adventure still remains a MYSTERY!

One thing I did learn is that the toilet paper we use-really does live up to it's packaging claim-that it is safe for septic systems and is biodegradable With the boatload of toilet paper, this family of 5 buys, I was half expecting to be swallowed up by a giant toilet paper man, when they uncovered the tank. But there was not a square to be found! That sure takes a big burden off my mind.

THE END!

Compassion in the DR

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:02:00 +0000

Hey everyone, They are doing it again! Compassion International has once again, loaded up a group of bloggers, and headed out to another country. This time they are in the Dominican Republic for 5 days.

This is what Compassion is saying about the trip....

"Known for its resort-speckled beaches, there's another side to this Carribean nation unknown to most vacationers. Our bloggers will visit a city dump where families scavenge for food and clothing. They'll tour a neighborhood where drugs are trafficked and children live beside open sewers. The bloggers will see first-hand how Compassion International and child sponsors are bringing HOPE to children living in these places by releasing them from poverty in Jesus' name.

I encourage you to follow along this week by clicking on the Dominican Republic button in my sidebar or you can check it out here. I pray that as you read along, you would truly see how blessed we are and that your heart might be moved to sponsor a child. It will truly change the life of the child, and yours as well. Since reading the blogs from Uganda earlier this year, and sponsoring our own child, it certainly has worked on mine! More on that soon!

Picture of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:34:00 +0000

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Genesis 8:22

Blog Action Day 08'

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:57:00 +0000

Today is Blog Action Day....In case you are wandering what that is, allow me to fill you in.

It is an annual online effort to get as many people as possible talking about one crucial issue in hopes of inspiring an action and bringing about change. Last year it centered around the environment and this year poverty is the big issue that people will discuss.

The last time I checked, over 12,000 bloggers have registered to participate. It is estimated that over 9 million people will read the posts.

I can probably safely say, that if you have an internet connection, and can read this blog, then you, like me, also have electricity, a home to stay in, food, clothing, etc.(all the modern day comforts) -then we are probably not too much affected by poverty.

However, there are millions of people who go to sleep every night hungry, who do not know where their next morsel of food will come from, or if it will even be the next day, let alone a solid roof over their head, or clothing.

I recently read a comment, in a letter from Compassion International, that said this:

EVERY THREE SECONDS POVERTY KILLS A CHILD- EVERY THREE SECONDS!!

That statistic blows my mind!! Especially when I hear things like one of our presidential candidates, this past week spent tens of thousands of dollars in a weeks time in just one television market in one city. Think of how many people that money could feed in a third world country.

For $32 dollars a month, through Compassion, you can provide a child,not only food, but a Christ centered, ministry, that teaches the children about having a personal relationship with Jesus, and what a change He can bring into their lives.

If you are interested in making a difference in the life of a poverty stricken child, whether that be to learn more about the ministry of Compassion , or if you are ready to sponsor a child,I urge you to click here.

You won't be dissapointed.

A Day in the Life of a Mexican Resort Iguana

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 04:35:00 +0000

We had a surprise when we spent our first day on the resort here in Mazatlan, Mexico.

We were greeted by IGUANAS, of all colors and sizes!

They are EVERYWHERE. I have found that even though they are reptiles, they don't bother me nearly as bad as snakes. I have not had to beat any to death yet with a bar bell! :) I usually just sit and stare at them in amazement , feeling like we have signed up for a week at Jurassic Park.

So after observing them , I thought I'd give you all an idea of a typical day in the life of a Mexican Resort Iguana.....

At least one that I've seen, started off his morning , by climbing to the highest point he could find and spent a little quiet time, worshiping , his Creator...... If you look closely you can see an iguana sitting on top of the building. Yes, climbing is not a problem for them.

After morning quiet time, they head on over to the poolside outdoor restaurant, which by the way, is named after them. It didn't take us long to figure out why it is their namesake.

While they are waiting on food, they try to blend in with the rest of the vacationers.

This ones favorite pastime was sunbathing, by the pool, ON A CHAIR. "Excuse me sir, Is this chair beside you taken?"

Once lunch is served, some "kind"people like this one, feed the iguanas. In case you are wandering ,Travis still has all his fingers! Iguanas do have razor sharp teeth, but they take the food out of your hands as gently as when feeding a dog. They like eating things like lettuce, french fries and tomatoes as seen below.....

But one of their all time favorites, is bread. Every day, at about 3pm, a older gentleman named Earl comes, walking to the grassy area, behind the pool, with a clear plastic bag of Bread. It is quite a sight. As he comes across the grass, the iguanas start coming from everywhere, shrubs, trees, etc. He is like the Pied Piper of iguanas. He always gets a small plastic table from poolside, to sit on, and proceeds to feed the "herd". He breaks the bread sharing it with all the iguanas and any birds that might come into the area.

Not only does Earl feed the iguanas, he actually pets them and rubs /pats them like they were a dog or cat. And you can tell, when watching them, that they LOVE it. If they have any loose skin, being shed from the spiny things on their back, he pulls them off as well. The iguanas sit perfectly still as Earl shows them his affection. Earl told us he has been doing this for quite awhile. He has a video on You Tube, from 2 years ago, in which he is feeding 17 Iguanas , all gathered around him. You can search for Earl the Iguana Man, on You Tube, if you are interested in viewing.

After their feeding and massages, they go back to normal iguana mischief.

Here one is,trying to decide what she would look like in Gretchen's sarong-wrap-thing, that was hanging on the back of her chair. "Do you think I would look good in pink?"

They also like to suprise people by sneaking up between them and eavesdropping on their conversations. I can only imagine the stories they could tell if they could talk!

Actually they are very well behaved, and do not bother people or steal things or anything. Once you get used to the initial shock that they live here and are pretty much everywhere, it is not really that big of a deal. As long as the ground does not start shaking....from an approaching T-REX, I'm cool with our new found friends.

Will's Excellent Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:19:00 +0000

Tonight, when we got home from work, we were greeted by our oldest son smiling from ear to ear. This was quite strange since he typically doesn't even acknowledge our presence when we walk in the door.

"What's that you're waving in your hand son?" "WHAT?? Your DRIVER'S PERMIT?!? For crying out loud, you haven't even been in driver's ed for two weeks yet!" YIKES!!!

So, we all emptied our bladders (to avoid any accidents due to extreme fear) and we piled in the family mini van to go on Will Milbourn's maiden voyage. Well, actually, we've let him drive before, but only in the cemetary. We figured he couldn't hurt anyone there :-). But this was the first REAL trip. The first time he'd driven on a real highway. With real cars coming at us. With live people in them. With steep ditches on the sides of the road. In the rain.

"How do I turn on the windshield wipers?"

"Wow!" "The turn signal goes off by itself?"

I was freaking out because he was taking the corners too fast. Missy was about to have a cow because he was so close to the edge of the road. Good thing we took that potty break :-)

All in all, he did very well. We are super excited! And celebrating this new journey with him!

It is now 9:09pm, Will just came up from the basement where he was doing his homework.

The first words out of his mouth "Do you want to go for a ride through town?" Do you? DO YOU?? Can we take the Honda this time?(which he will be driving when he gets his license)

Do the turn signals turn off by themselves in that car too?

I think its going to be a looooonnnnng year, until he turns 16.....

OOPS!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:20:00 +0000

Adorable wife who loves to weed eat! Freaky Huh?
Gotta lover her!!

+

New battery powered-cordless weed eater she just couldn't wait to get her hands on...

Honey, could you come here for a sec.....

I think we have a tiny PROBLEM!!!

PS: The really cool thing about this is thankfully, we don't have to "break" out the plywood while we are waiting to get this fixed. The window is a double-paned window and whatever it was that hit it, only broke the glass on the outside. The inside glass is still intact. Awesome huh!! That took some skills. Lovey-YOU ROCK!!--well maybe.....get it? I crack myself up. :)

PPS: Missy approved this, before being posted, so you can all quit thinking how much trouble I have gotten myself into...

I've had unfortunate household events too, that I can look back on and laugh at as well.

Hers, she had no control over, mine was due to stupidity-MY OWN...one that comes to mind was the time i tried to back out of the garage, with my driver's door open. It doesn't work well let me tell you! The door tends not to want to shut after you ram it into a stack of bricks, which happened to be sitting in the middle of the garage. It was a rather "breezy" ride to work that morning. Oh well, just another exciting day at the Milbourn house.

ISN'T IT NIFTY-SHE'S TURNED 50......+ 12

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

If you see my Mom today be sure to wish her a Happy 62nd Birthday! WOW, she is now eligible for medicare, AARP, and can continue getting those awesome Senior Discounts!!

Here's some pictures of her through the years....

P.S.-- Bet you're happy Mom, you've been giving me these pictures of you, when you were younger. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! LOVE YA!!

Denny, Missy, Will, Maren and Joshua

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:50:00 +0000

Today is Will's 15TH BIRTHDAY!!!!

Wow, that is hard to believe. He will be starting high school later this month, and will be taking drivers ed, in his first semester back to school. That does not seem possible. It seems like only yesterday he was driving his little plastic flinstone mobile around the front yard. But, I have been letting him practice driving for quite a while now-in secret locations-mind you-that can't be disclosed-and I must admit he is a pretty good driver.
He takes after me of course.. :)

Anyway, in typical Milbourn birthday fashion, we have been celebrating all week. Sunday evening, we had a cookout/birthday party for family.

Last night we celebrated with an awesome peanut butter pie, courtesy of Reba Jr. She makes one mean pie....Delicious!

Tonight, since it's his actual birthday today, he got to pick where he wanted to go to for dinner. He chose Tumbleweed, and had a nice big juicy steak.

I'm not sure what is in store for the rest of Will-o-mania, but I'm sure it will be fun.

And since none of my posts would be complete without a picture or 2 or 10-here's some of Will over the years.

Isn't She Lovely....

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:03:00 +0000

In case you scrolled down and looked at the pictures first—NO, Maren is NOT getting MARRIED!! At least ,not for the next 50 years or so, if her mother and I have anything to say about it. :)
About a year ago, Maren was asked to be in a wedding, for one of her 2nd or 3rd cousins. I’m not sure what her assignment was in the wedding, but I think it was a junior bridesmaid or something like that…. I don’t know a lot about weddings, but I’m thinking she was a little too old and tall to be the flower girl.

Anyway, the wedding was scheduled for May,2008.

Insert Maren and Missy's point of view:"What a wedding? Oh we--I mean she would love to be in the wedding! "Where are you trying on the dresses at"? "Uhuh uhuh ok we will be right there. "

Insert the sound of car doors slamming and the burning of rubber in the driveway as they head to the Midwest Bridal Dress Emporium.

It seemed as if one minute her cousin asked her by phone to be in the festivities and in the blink of an eye the dress was altered and purchased.

Father's point of view: The wedding was almost a year away. I was thinking, why the rush to buy this dress. It wasn’t cheap! Shouldn’t we be waiting until a little closer to the wedding-like a week or two before? What's the hurry people?

Well guess what??

Did you ever see the chick flick- 27 Dresses?-I think it was about a girl who was a “professional bridesmaid” and had been in a zillion weddings-well 27 to be exact- and kept all the dresses in her closet. Well er-I didn’t see it either! Maybe… :)

Where was I going with this, Oh Yeah-- the wedding was CALLED OFF!

Now we, were stuck—I mean blessed with a dress, and Maren already at age 11 has her 1st –"never worn," instead of "briefly worn" bridesmaid dress to hang in her OWN closet .

So my daughter, who never misses a chance to dress up, and me, who never likes to miss an opportunity to indulge in my favorite hobby, decided we should have ourselves a little “photo shoot”. Might as well, get some use out of the dress, that was never formally worn, before she outgrows it completely.

So a while back, we did just that, and here’s a look at a some of the shots that were taken.

And finally this picture..."She" went screaming by while taking pictures, and I had to get one of her too!

Summertime Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:20:00 +0000

Here's some pix from yesterday, hanging out around the pool, with my sister and her family.

"Scuba Tom"

"Cousins"

All too soon, it was time to go home, which never makes

Hannah happy. She cries everytime. :)

Picture of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:25:00 +0000

I took this on my way to work this morning--God was putting on a SPECTACULAR light show!
I had actually pulled the car over to try to get a few pictures- but whichever way I had the camera pointed -the lightning flashed in the opposite direction. So I ran out of time and had to head to work. This picture I actually got while driving on the interstate. I just held the camera up , pointed out the driver side window, and waited for the big flash of light in the sky and this is what I got. How cool is that?

Serpent City, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:48:00 +0000

Yesterday morning started out as any other work-day morning. I got up at 4:30 IL time to be ready to leave by 5:30am. No one else in the house was up yet. After I fixed myself a cup of coffee, I remembered that I need to put the garden hose in the pool, to add more water. It was low enough that it almost wasn't flowing into the skimmer.

No big deal, I thought, I get ready in the basement bathroom, I'll just go outside the door down there, we have a walk-out basement,-just in case you are trying to figure out how I'm going out a door in the basement. Anyway, I turn on the porchlight, still kinda dark out, and slide open the door. I quickly shut the door, don't want the "sweetness" to get outside, thats Mo our dog, who thinks she is my best friend in the mornings and follows me everywhere. Actually I hate her, but thats another post for another time.

I quickly (mind you I am still in only my undewear-remember its still dark!) put the hose in the pool and go back and turn on the water faucet, and head back inside.

After stepping over the threshold, I look down as I slide the door shut, and there lying, laying, or whatever the proper english term, on the threshold of the door, is a SNAKE. Mind you, it was only about a foot and a half long, but it might as well have been Four feet long at 4:30 am.

I don't think I have mentioned it yet, but I HATE SNAKES!! If I had been in the Garden of Eden and the snake/serpent had been trying to coax me into eating from the tree of the knowlege of good and evil, that conversation wouldn't have happened! I would have been a mile away when I encountered the snake.

Anyway, the first thing I remember was letting out what I am sure was an inhuman "girly"sounding scream, then I remember yelling "Get out, don't come in!", which of course caused the snake to immediately start slithering off the threshold and slide inside the door.

It was at that point, I remembered my mantra, about snakes--if I EVER have one get in the house that I can't find, WE ARE MOVING OUT! I was already calling U-Haul in my mind. The vision of me waking up with a snake curled up beside me in bed, also went quickly through my mind. Funny how many thoughts can fly through your head in a matter of milli-seconds.

After yelling a few OH SHOOTS! or some word similar to that :), it was all kind of a blur as I look back on it now, I decided some quick action must be taken.

That's when I saw this interesting apparatus lying to the right of the door:

OH YEAH!! I was finally gonna get some use out of these 10 pound paper weights!

So I quickly grabbed it. The snake was miraculously, still lying beside the inside frame of the door, whipping its tail around. When I picked up the weight, it instantly started opening its mouth wide and hissing at me, like it knew its time was running out. It had chosen the wrong MAN to mess with!! Funny how when you have a weapon in your hand, you get a whole new perspective on life.

Anyway, I precariously, held the weight by one end, in order to keep my hand as far away as possible from the snake, and quickly smashed the other end into the snake, about an inch or two, behind his head, pinning him up against the door frame. This caused him to hiss even louder, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood at full attention!

I quickly, let off the pressure and rammed him again and again. This was where it got a little messy, I'll just save you the gory details, but I just let the weight lay up against him for a while. I had to go and find something quickly to pick it up. I found a piece of cardboard, and even though the end of it was still twitching, I pulled the weight back, slid the cardboard under, and flipped him out onto the patio. After a quick, all over "heebee jeebee" body convulsion, I grabbed some cleaner and paper towels to clean the blood off the floor and the weight, and then it was back to getting ready for work as usual. Of course, then the dog comes back in the room. She must have been hiding. Can you imagine--What a chicken -afraid of a little snake.

Oh by the way, here's a picture of my "friend"AFTER he was resting on the patio.

And one more thing, I'm not sure what's going on around here,but this morning Missy, was in the basement, hooking up her sound system, when I heard a shriek, and her yell -"There is a LIZARD in here! Sure enough there was one, hiding against the base that our furnace sits on.

By now, I'm becoming good at finding things quickly, to take care of reptiles. This time, my weapon of choice, was alot less destructive. I used an empty VCR tape box, and trapped it. I did let it loose, by flinging it far away from our house into the woods. Little lizards, do not strike fear in me as snakes do, although this didn't look like the ordinary color striped lizards that run around outside, this one looked like it was all dark gray--kinda like a MUTANT SNAKE WITH LITTLE LEGS.

PS. We also have a mouse upstairs, that refuses to be caught with a trap. He likes to come out in the evenings and enjoys quiet time with Missy in the early morning hours. He runs like a lunatic back and forth, through our living room into our family room. We have become so accustomed to his antics, that we" affectionately" call him Stuart.

So anyone want to come over for a party? uh Michelle-you still out there?

If anyone was thinking about a trip to the zoo--don't waste your time in the reptile/rodent building. COME ON OVER. We are creating our own, right here at the Milbourn's!!

Releasing Children From Poverty in Jesus' Name

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:08:00 +0000

Earlier this year, while reading two of my favorite blogs Shlog and Rocks In My Dryer,-yes I admit it , I'm a guy and I love reading Rocks in My Dryer. :) I learned more about an awesome organization, Compassion International. I had heard of them before and how they helped feed starving children in the world.

Compassion was about to embark on taking a group of bloggers , from around the US, on a mission trip to Uganda , to “live”blog on the conditions while they were there. Some of you may remember me blogging about it in February. Anyway, since that time, God has really continued placing this organization, and these children on my heart. Our family has sponsored a child from Uganda and I have recently signed on to blog monthly on behalf of Compassion International.

The blogging part is exciting for me, because since February,it has been my continual prayer, that God would somehow "use me” in whatever way-big or small-to help these children.

Compassion’s slogan is “Releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name”, and it is my hope and prayer now that God would use my blogging, to help reach these suffering kids, who are in such great need of basic things that you and I take for granted.

THE #1 NEED IS FOOD!

Currently we are in a Global Food Crisis, the World Food Programme, has called it a “silent tsunami”. This is affecting every family in every nation. Food prices for popular items like rice, wheat and beans have DOUBLED in last year. Though these prices have affected all budgets, it’s the poor who bear the brunt of the inflation. These higher prices are forcing people who normally survive on $1 per day, to spend approximately 80% of their budgets just on food.

As a result, many people, including millions of children, are going hungry. The higher the prices go, the more people will be plunged into poverty. In Bangladesh 95% of the 11,782 children Compassion serves are affected. Many are eating only at the church based center. In Haiti, inflation rates have risen by 40%, pushing up food prices as well. All 60,000 children, served by Compassion in Haiti, have been affected as well.

What is causing the crisis, you might be asking?
· Rising fuel costs-of course!
· Rising food demand from populous nations like India and China
· Natural disasters destroying crop yields, all over the world

HOW WE CAN HELP
Compassion International has launched the Global Food Crisis Fund to bring aid to those who are most adversely affected by the rising food costs. More information is available and donations can be made at
https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/global-food-crisis.htm

Donations to the fund will provide:
· Food vouchers to children
· Seed and Agricultural tools so that families can grow their own food as well as earn extra income
· Supplemental nutrition services offered at Compassion-assisted centers around the world.

Compassion International has set aside WEDNESDAY JUNE 25TH as a day of fasting and prayer to honor the victims of the global food crisis and to pray for them.

OTHER AVAILABLE RESOURCES:
http://blog.compassion.com/a-day-of-fasting-and-prayer
http://blog.compassion.com/the-silent-tsunami/
http://www.mnnonline.org/article/11277
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080601/32614CompassionInternationalPreparesForWorldFoodCrisis.htm
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/compassion.prepares.for.world.food.crisis/19191.htm

1987 WAS A GREAT YEAR..........

noreply@blogger.com (Denny) — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:05:00 +0000

Average Income per year $24,350.00

Average Monthly Rent $395.00

Average Price for new car $10,3055.00

1 gallon of gas 89 cents

1 LB of Bacon $1.80

US Postage Stamp 24 cents

Dozen Eggs 65 cents

Popular Films
Three Men and a Baby
Fatal Attraction
Beverly Hills Cop II
Good Morning, Vietnam
The Untouchables
Stakeout
Lethal Weapon
The Witches of Eastwick
The Last Emperor
Wall Street
Dirty Dancing
RoboCop
Moonstruck

Popular Musicians
Michael Jackson with " BAD "
Lionel Richie
Fleetwood Mac
Peter Gabriel
Janet Jackson
Heart
Whitney Houston
Bruce Hornsby and " the Range "
George Michael with " Faith "
Bryan Adams
Bananarama
Aretha Franklin
George Michael
U2 with " With or Without You "

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY.....

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LOVEY