The Welches...not the grape juice.

My Grandma Kay

2009-02-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my family and I celebrated the life of an amazing woman. Rebecca Kay Briones. She was my mom's mom, my grandma, my son's "great" grandma. A woman I truly loved and will love forever and a half. My cousin, Kimberly, has a remarkable way of putting her thoughts into words and has penned many incredible things about this woman on her blog, especially in the last few weeks since she got sick and then went to be with the Lord. At Grandma's memorial service I was given one of Kimberly's wonderful blogs to read aloud during the share part of the service, that pretty much summed up what most of us were feeling. (I know Kimberly wished more than anything to be at the service, but several circumstances kept her and her family from making it down... Kimberly, you and you're family are in our prayers). The essence of what she wrote was being sad is okay because we'll miss her, but we're not mourning or suffering over it because this is not the last time we'll see her. She knew Jesus Christ and is at this very moment praising Him in person. That's awesome!I was talking with my Aunt Maureen after the service and she mentioned to me how she enjoyed this time seeing the family, but was sorry it had to be under these circumstances,

and it got me thinking of one of the last conversations I had had with Grandma Kay. She said she really wanted to have the family together for a reunion and I'm sure she was including herself in that, and although she wasn't with us physically, the family was together and, I feel, it was like a final gift from that remarkable lady. Like I said she was an amazing woman and we will miss her a ton. Thank you Grandma Kay!

The Tooth Fairy came too soon!

2008-11-24T10:41:00.000-08:00

So, a little over a week ago, we had a very scary event happen. On Wednesday night (Nov. 12th) I had choir practice and Nick had Youth Group, which meant Zech was with the child care workers, like normal. After practice, Zech and I went over to youth group to hang out with Nick and the high schoolers, like normal. And like normal, Zech likes to run around like a mad man through out the auditorium, foyer and everywhere else. And even more so when someone is chasing him. One of the high schoolers was having fun with him and Zech was loving it. With a few people, including me outside, Zech came running out of the double doors, turned the corner and in the dark ran face first into a hot coal filled BBQ (the high schoolers had made smores earlier that night) It happened so fast and yet so slow at the same time. Zech turned around, and because he has a tendency to get hurt often, I waited a moment to see what reaction he was going to have. At first I thought he had burned himself, he had some black soot on his shirt, but then I saw it.... What looked like chocolate pudding coming out of his mouth was blood. And I didn't know this but he was chewing a PB & J sandwich when this happened. So, jumbled in his mouth was a real mess. I scooped him up and ran in side yelling for Nick. When we cleaned his mouth out we saw that his front tooth was just hanging on. He also hit the BBQ so hard he cut his lip open. So you can imagine the amount of blood! We gave him a frozen Gogert and I went back to the other building to see if my mom was still over there from choir practice, and Praise the Lord, she was. (She is a RDA... Registered Dental Assistant). So she took a look at his mouth and just shook her head like of course this would happen to our son. I was so glad she was still there, because she told us they had no scheduled appointments in the office the next morning. So first thing the next morning, Nick took Zech to his first dentist appointment ever. They gave him laughing gas, and numbed the area Dr. Watts would be working on. Zech was so brave. Dr. Watts tried pushing the tooth back in place, but the gums had already begun healing, so it was no use. The tooth had to come out. Zech looked up at my mom, who was assisting Dr. Watts, and said with a tear in his eye, "This hurts, when is it going to be over?" All Nick heard was a quick sniffle from my mom and a soft " It will be over soon, I promise". Zech held on like a trooper, and shortly after it was over Zech wanted to go to school and show all his friends the space where his tooth once was. (He also wanted to bring to school his bloody t-shirt and tooth, but Nick told him that will have to wait till "Share Day") Yeah right!

So Zech will be without a front tooth for about 2 years or so... we just told him he's preparing to be a hockey player. We did find a replacement tooth in the meantime, how does it look?

I could run to Disneyland, but I won't!

2008-10-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

So here's a little catch up (Not ketchup, although that is my favorite condiment... anyway that was ridiculous, sorry!) So we went to Disneyland, it has become an annual family tradition. My dad did the half marathon, while my mom and my sister did a 3 mile run through the park. They were getting into it (you know, all healthy and stuff) so Nick and I felt we couldn't be left out of all the fun, so we signed Zech up for a 200 yard dash. And what did Nick and I do? We did as any good parent did and video taped everything. It's a lot of work holding the camera up and walking at the same time, someone could get hurt. Everyone did great, all completing their races and exceeding each of our expectations of what it was going to be like. I was proud of my dad for finishing his race with a better time than he did last year, and I was proud of Zech for not being afraid and running his race so much faster than any of the other slow poke kids, but most of all I was proud of my mom and my sister for completing a race they weren't even sure they were going to run till that day. My mom made a goal for herself and my sister stuck by her till the end and they, although limping and exhausted, finished. That was exciting!

Another major moment of that trip was my husband was able to be a part of it this time. He has always had a fear of roller coasters and he was not looking forward to it much, but like the trooper he is he managed to face his fear and take on each ride one at a time, and you know what? He had a blast, he conquered his fear and went on everything the parks threw his way.

This trip had so much exciting things in it, it was my parent's 30th anniversary and they stayed in The California Grand, one of the hotels in the park. They were treated like royalty, with chocolate covered strawberries, buttons to let all the park employees know it's their special day, and sweet autographed pics of the characters. We were also the recipients of a group prize, we were randomly chosen to receive passes that got us to the beginning of the line on a select number of rides in both parks. It was part of their "Year of a Million Dreams" campaign. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

And because Zech surprisingly made the 42" requirement he was also able to join in on the fun. The only rides he was not able to do were Indiana Jones and California Screamin'. On top of all that excitement, we also received tickets to see the fire works in the VIP section, down main street at the train station. Pretty sweet! This trip is going to be hard to top next year, but it's sure worth a shot.

First Day of School... Ever!

2008-09-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

Our little boy started school last Tuesday (8/19). I cannot even believe it. When I woke up that morning all I was thinking about was getting Zech up, dressed, fed, and getting him to school on time. It didn’t sink in until we actually got him in his classroom and saw him with his classmates and his teachers. He looked so grown up and when the teacher looked at Nick she made a comment about not getting emotional and that’s when the next 16-20 years of Zech’s life flashed before my eyes. I started thinking about all the friends and enemies that are going to enter his school life and all the influences (good and bad) that are going to appear as well. Wow, I got really deep there, sorry… Zech walked right in the classroom and started playing with the toys and the other kids like it was no big deal. I wish I could have done that. Anyway, after class I asked his teacher how he did and she told me that he is a good boy, we all knew that, and that he was always ready to move to the next thing before it was time. But she said he wasn’t annoying about it, he simply asked if he could do the next thing and she would say not yet and he would say okay and that was that. I thought that was pretty funny. He does that at home too.

Well, he survived the first 3 hours of his school career and I didn’t do that bad either… and so it begins. It’ll be okay!

Our son the wise guy!

2008-08-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

So the other day Nick and Zech had some time together and out of the blue Zech asks Nick why he can't go on roller coasters. Nick said "It's not that I can't go on roller coasters it's just they make me sick feeling and I choose not to go on them. I could if I wanted to I just don't want to". Zech looks at him and says, "Huh, like me and swimming". ( Here's a little back story to that comment) Last year we got Zech to go swimming with out his floaties (water wings) for most of the summer, this year he backslid and put up quite a fight to have his floaties back on, for one reason or another he would not go swimming without them... that should make me feel safe knowing he's got them on but I would feel much safer if I knew he knew how to swim if he fell in the pool without them. So anyway, he makes that comment to Nick and Nick just looks at him and says "You think your so smart don't you? I tell you what, I'll make a deal with you. Every time you actually swim without your floaties, I have to go on a roller coaster ride at Disneyland when we go in three weeks. Deal? " Zech took the deal. Later that night we went to Nick's parent's house for some family time and swimming. Zech was excited to show daddy he could swim, until he got to the second step and he started to revert back to being afraid. But then he saw his older cousins swimming and having a good time in the pool and a bit of courage came his way and all he needed was the reminder of dad and the roller coaster and he was diving off the side of the pool before we knew it. He did it about 8 or 9 time. So Nick has to ride about 10 rides at the Magic Kingdom. I bet he's sorry he made that bet... well it worked anyway.

A girl's weekend

2008-07-28T10:34:00.001-07:00

I'm not a groupie, but...

2008-07-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

The past 48 hours have given me a glimpse at what it's like to be on tour with a band. Ever Stays Red(ESR) and This Great Escape did a concert at our church and it was Awesome! Sunday night we housed ESR. I was so impressed with those guys. I was fully prepared to have our Xbox up and going or something like that. When they came over instantly they went to work. They all had their laptops and were updating their Myspace page and responding to fan emails and working on tshirt designs etc. It was so neat to see what this job of theirs means to them. We had a chance to talk with them and get to know them a little better. The next day we just hung out. At around 2 o'clock a group of people and the band went to Library Park to hand out socks to the homeless. (Their tour is called "The Clean Sock Tour") Kayla and Kelsey, from what I hear, did a fantastic job at putting together lunches to give as well. {Good job, Girls!}

That night we met up with the guys again at Pancho's Coffee Shop in the Shasta Outlets. It was for the grand opening of our friend's sho

p. ESR did an acoustic set that was just as incredible as there plugged in concerts. Zech really took a liking to them. They were so cool with him. You can't tell in the picture, but he walked up to them and squeezed himself in between them like he's known them for years.

Later that night we housed This Great Escape. They were ESR's opening band. Nice guys as well. I have never actually seen a groupie with my own eyes but there were two girls who showed up to the coffee house that fit the bill. Two girls I know I would remember if I saw them around, that's beside the point... they were over at our place the next morning. Really nice, but extremely talkative. From the moment they came in our house, it was non stop talking. To make it even more interesting, they sounded like they were from the Valley... like, you know? It took them three hours to get here and they slept in their car last night. They have been to almost every concert of ESR's within 4 hours of their house. So that was pretty crazy. After they left, it was back to reality. I pray God blesses their tour. Who knows maybe Zech will do this some day. :)

D.W.S. Camp '08

2008-06-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

We had such a great weekend. We spent it in Dunsmuir, CA at the Railroad Park Resort. This weekend was a gift from Nick's aunt and uncle for the whole family. The "D" stands for Dorsey, the "W" stands for Welch and the "S" stands for Swain, all the families who participate. It's become an annual thing. This year was the 3rd annual. The itinerary for the weekend consisted of several rounds at a shooting range in Mt Shasta and the annual fishing tournament on Lake Siskyou and surrounding rivers, oh, yeah and food, lot and lots of fabulous food. I was really concerned about how the weather was going to treat us when we were up there. I had heard those people in the mountain areas would probably be seeing some thunder storms. But we really were blessed. Not a threatening cloud to be seen. The only real issue was the smoke but even that was nothing compared to what Redding was experiencing. We stayed inside old train cars that had been redone as hotel rooms. Zech got a kick out of staying in one. Speaking of Zech, he got to shoot his first real gun while we were up there. At first I was a little apprehensive at the thought of my little boy shooting something that real live bullets came out of ( I was having flashbacks of when I shot a 308 single shot from a few years ago, it still makes my shoulder hurt thinking about it.), but I was reassured that they had the perfect gun for Zech, with no kick. Nick's uncle is a pro and wouldn't put Zech in any danger. So I said alright and Zech was more than excited to give it a shot. He didn't do too bad a job. He just wished he didn't have to keep his earphones on all the time, they made him a little sweaty.

Nick was sad he missed that 1st time ex

perience, he was on his way up to camp from a Mexico missions trip. He had been gone for a week and had to fly up from San Diego to make it to any part of our family outing. He was exhausted but he made it up late that evening. I had taken maybe 2 dozen pictures

of Zech with the 22. So that helped ease some of Nick's disappointment.

The next day was the fishing tournament and we took a patio boat on Lake Siskyou, some to catch a fish or two, some to catch some sun, and some to catch some Z's. It was extremely relaxing. Nick was the winner of the tournament, only because he was the only one to catch a fish. It was fun anyway!

Thanks Dan and Sue for the weekend, it was great!

Almost a Hand Full.

2008-06-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

So Zech is 4 years old today. (I say almost a hand full because next year he will be five and then he really will be a whole hand full, although he is now...Oh, well you know what I mean.)

We threw him a party on Saturday with all his friends. This year he went with a Batman theme and we had the party at Nick's parent's house. The pool, the bounce house and the slip-n-slide were all hits. And the weather was perfect, it was probably high 90's or just at 100 degrees, but there was a nice cool breeze, that made it very pleasant. Zech had been doing so good last year with swimming, he was feeling left out because all the other kids had life jackets and floaties, so he decided that he absolutely needed his floaties. No matter how much we argued with him he had to have them. As Zech was backsliding

, Cru, one of the little boys, had been having issues with swimming, but seeing the other kids in the pool, he became more courageous. So that was pretty neat. Anyway, enough talk, here are the pictures...

I made this. (I know, I even wowed myself !)

Cake Time!

(Josie, Uriah, Joshua, Evan, Cru, and Zech... Rachael w/ cake and Kristen w/ Sid)

Make a wish, Zech!

(Uriah and Josie in this picture)

In the center: Brandon, Joshua ( on diving board), and Evan

On left side: Uriah, Nick, and Zech

Zech and his friends, Curtis and Joshua, catching some rays.

Can you DDR?

2008-05-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

I have never done this before, but Nick and I bought something off of Craigslist. We bought an Xbox and a few games, but the kicker part of our purchase is Dance, Dance Revolution. If you are not familiar with Dance Dance Revolution (or DDR), let me fill you in on an amazing game of skill, endurance, and talent. All of which I have not... Nick is better than me, not the greatest, but better. Okay, so it comes with 4 floor mats ( for 4 players), the music begins and on the TV there are arrows that appear, they match the arrows on your mat. On the beat you step on the arrow that corresponds with the arrow on the screen. Confusing? Well, I'm also not the best communicator. All this to say I have a new workout routine and it includes video games. Yeeeahhh! So if you are interested in showing off your sweet moves, come on over and show us what you got! We are pretty pumped.

It's a nice day to ride a horse.

2008-05-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

Nick spoke at a Youth For Christ function today. It was for their Horse Camp. They take young students, with or without experience of horses, and introduce them each to one and for a week, with a wrangler, learn to take care of it. The students loved it. At the end of the week there is an award ceremony, and each student is given a Bible and a picture with them and their horse. The leaders of YFC asked Nick to give a gospel presentation today. And at the end he asked if anyone had said the sinner's prayer with him for the first time, and a young man raised his hand and said he had accepted Christ as his personal Savior. AMEN!!! He didn't even go to the camp this week, he was a family member of one of the student's. And immediately he asked how he could volunteer ( because, he said, aren't I suppose to do that, as a Christian?) Good man. So this next week he is going to be helping with new students. Praise the Lord!

We aren't horse people, but those students sure looked like they were having a blast, even if it was raining and cold. Next Saturday, Nick is speaking again and we were told that Zech will be able to ride on one of the horses. He's pretty excited about that.

Are you connected? We are!

2008-05-19T11:24:00.001-07:00

So it is about time we became a part of this century. We now have internet and it feels great. So drop us a line, we can check it regularly now.

Mother's Day was last week. Now I have been a mother for 4 years now and I still forget that this day is for me too. I get so wrapped up in making sure we are taking care of our own moms that I forget this day includes me. When that day came, I don't know why, but I was surprised when Nick and Zech came in with a present and card for me. And you know the best part, I got a shop vac for Mom's Day and it is one of my favorite gifts. That rocked!

More pics of Coos Bay, OR

2008-05-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Zech flying a kite at the beach

Ah, Amore!

Trust me, there are a bunches of seals out there

Rachael, Nick, and Zech

That is seaweed, that is disgusting!

still no internet :(

2008-04-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a month since our last blog... sorry everyone. We are loving our new home. We have been trying to figure the best way to go wireless in our home at the best price... any ideas? In the meantime we have found someone else's signal if we sit on the front porch, only it's hard to see the screen in the daytime and it is flippin' cold in the evening (not to mention bugs, big bugs, love any light source) All that to say I found some time to update today. We are doing well, especially since Zech is no longer closet boy. He loves his own room... Thank You Jesus! It has been a bit of an adjustment for him but he likes to have a place to put his toys and blankets and things.

We went on a little vacation at the end of March and it was so relaxing. Coos Bay, OR, a little harbor town west of Roseburg. A couple from our church had a house out there and let my folks stay there and we tagged along. It was a mix of weather, rain, hail, wind, sun, and cold!

Anyway, what's going on now? We're getting settled in to our house and feeling like adults and all and we got Zech signed up for school next year. He's going to Country Christian to start preschool in the Fall. Yeahhh! He's only going 2 days a week, but it's a start. We're excited to see how he does.

Pray that we will be able to buy our house and stop renting. Our friends, who we rent from, have blessed us amazingly (if that's a word?). We are praying we can help them by buying this place from them, so they won't have the burden of their mortgage anymore. It would be great for both parties.

I'll try to keep up on our blog as we are in the process of wireless internet hunting. Peace Out!

Drum Roll Please....

2008-03-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to write this blog for the last 2 weeks, but we couldn't because things weren't official. Now it is... Introducing Redding Christian Fellowship's new youth pastor.... NICK WELCH!
I am so proud of him. We still have to announce it to the congregation this Sunday morning at the end of the services, but this past Wednesday, it was announced to the youth group. Of course it wasn't announced like normal people would tell things... no, Jeff (the current youth pastor) told the kids that the elder board had been doing a lot of meeting and praying with a specific candidate and they finally hired a new guy. The kids looked excited. Most of them figured it would be Nick, but then Jeff asked for Josh Ferrer (another staff member) to come up and started to tell the kids the elders really think Josh would be a great fit. Crickets... the students looked so confused, they didn't make a sound. Jeff put his arm around Josh and said, "So are you going to tell them?" Josh, with a smile on his face, yelled, "Nick Welch, Come on down!" The students went wild with excitement. After they settled down, Jeff told the group he really didn't need to introduce Nick, because the kids already knew him and trusted him. Then the kids and staff laid hands on Nick and prayed for him and our family. Nick said it was an amazing feeling.
I am so happy to see that glow in his eyes again after a year and a half of not knowing where God wanted him (us). Along with that, Jeff and Kara are letting us rent their house while they are trying to sell it. It could only be a month or it could be 6 months. Anyway, we'll be able to look for our own house while renting theirs. So we're just so excited. Nick's first day at work is April 1st and that's no joke. And we move into Jeff and Kara's house the day before. Thank You Lord!

I spoke too soon

2008-03-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

Tonight is a guys night out. Zech and Nick went out to pizza and video games. Something they both needed, since Zech had an ear infection earlier this week and he got "the cough" everyone has. Zech has been itching to get out. I was in the ER earlier this week with a very high fever. Turns out I was at the beginning stages of pneumonia. After gallons of cough medicine and a handful of antibiotics, I still have a cough but I'm feeling much better and a bright side to going to the ER (I know that sounds sickningly "glass half full" of me) is that when they took my blood pressure even being sick it was still low. So next time I talk about someone else going to the ER remind me about this little incident. I'm not a fan of that place.

No Changes...yet!

2008-02-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

I figured I should type something so people wouldn't have to wonder what's going on, but that's just it, not much. Still house hunting, we have to get our finances figured out first so we can nail down a price to go for, but that seems to take some time. We don't want to mess this up. And as you can tell we think God is directing us to stay in Redding, for the time being at least.

In other news, our nephew (who is about a year and a half old) has decided to make the Guiness Book of World Records for the most amount of ER visits in one month... not really, but if it wasn't so serious, it'd be comical the reasons he's gone in there for. Example: Rota virus, where he throws up all the time, Staph infection, allergic reaction to the antibiotics (twice) etc.. and to top it all off his mother, Nick's sister, is a hypochondriac. Crazy. Anyway, Uriah is doing better now then yesterday. Praise the Lord!

Our little money maker

2008-02-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law got Zech a mini skateboard. He's all about it. No fear either. I was taking these pictures and thinking to myself, "When he becomes famous for his sweet boarding skills, these pictures will be the ones on TV as his first introduction to skateboarding" Maybe it's a little early to be day dreaming that he'll take care of his parents with all the money he is going to make as a famous skateboarder, but dreams have to start somewhere. He takes his board to youth group to show the big kids his awesome moves and then he watches what they do on their boards. It's pretty cute!

An update on Portland, No Go. They emailed Nick and said they are looking at other candidates who have different qualifications. We were kind of sad and happy at the same time. Sad because it would have been a great adventure in a beautiful part of the country and yet happy because it means that is a door God is closing. So we can't be too upset about that.

P.S. Changed our title for you Kayla, don't go all anal retentive on our account.

Winter Camp 2008

2008-01-29T14:24:00.000-08:00

High school winter camp was this last weekend and we couldn't have asked for better weather, well maybe a little less slush, but all in all not that bad. The last couple years have had very little snow, if any at all. This year there was a nice 2 foot blanket over the camp ground (Mountain Meadows). RCF partnered with a church from Anderson, CA. There was probably about 75 people total (students and leaders). Zech and I didn't stay at the campgrounds, instead we stayed at my parent's home about 5 miles from the camp. It made nap time easier. Anyway, we visited camp on Saturday. Nick said the guys in his cabin were fantastic. The questions some of them were asking were so deep and honest after the night's speaker. He said they had a great time of prayer, each of them praying over the other. Praise the Lord!

As I said before, we visited on Saturday and Zech was excited. He wanted to try snowboarding so bad. Nick had his board there, so Zech stood between his legs as a few of the kids pulled them with a rope. So cute. Not so cute was watching Nick try to grind one of the rails that was there on site. He was one of the few to try and it has been a couple years since he last did it and he is older than the students , so I think that is enough excuses. Sorry honey.

Then we went to a hill on the other side of the camp where they had a whole bunch of tubes and a few kids had snowboards. Zech went down the very long and tall hill all by himself on one of the smaller tubes. And as he was going down Nick forgot about the little jump at the bottom of the hill and before he knew it there was a good foot between the tube and the mountain and another foot between Zech and the tube. And he landed it. When he got to the bottom he stood up and said "That was Awesome!" Oh, boy are we in for it now?! Remember he's only 3 years old.

I felt so bad for the girl's cabin from RCF. Both leaders got the flu, my sister being one of them. It was kinda funny because, Esther was saying how she had many memories of Mountain Meadows as a young girl, but one memory stuck out above all the others. When she was in grade school, puking her guts out in the staff cabin. Who would have guessed that after telling us that the next day she would be doing the very same thing. Irony?! I guess she didn't think it to be as funny as me.

New Year, New Beginnings

2008-01-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

So as I posted in our last blog (the wax incident) we thought we were going to have to shave our poor lumpy headed kid's hair off... I did a little research before we took to extreme measures and found that by rubbing olive oil on it, the wax dissolved away. Although Zech looked like a grease monkey, we didn't have to worry about shaving his hair off. Yeahhh!
We have been keeping our options open when it comes to listening to what the Lord has for our family. In our last blog I mentioned we are looking into buying a house (and the answer is yes, Kayla, on painting said house, free labor... we won't argue!) So we've been super stoked about that. It has felt as though God has been saying stay in Redding. Then a couple weeks ago we get an email from a church up in Portland,Oregon saying they saw Nick's application on the Youth Specialties website and would he mind sending them his resume. We didn't think much of it at first, because we have had some very interesting churches respond to his app before. We checked out their website anyway and were very impressed. Long story short, we are currently going through the interview process with them. We don't know which direction God wants us to go in, but we'll continue to go through the doors and He'll let us know when He closes them. It's worked so far. We haven't stopped house hunting here in Redding either, so we'll see. All I know is Nick's desire to work with youth has not changed.

Christmas was good for us this year. Very relaxing. We spent Christmas Eve with the Welch side of the family and Christmas Day with the Mapes side. For the first time in a while we felt we could really give back to our friends and family like they have done for us in year's past and are still doing for us today. This past year has been tough but as a family we have never been closer. And Zech is old enough now I hope he still remembers this time in his life and can learn from it.

I don't know how many of you were affected by the storm this last week, but we lost power for three days and it was rough, but three days is nothing in comparison to what so many others are going through across the nation. It just made me think... and pray. Sorry to end this blog on a serious note. Have a happy new year!

A house for a home

2007-12-19T19:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!
Time for my monthly blog. So in my last blog I mentioned our disappointment in not getting the apartment at Shadowbrook (low income housing). We still haven't heard from them yet, but we know we're first on the list. Anyway, we have actually decided to pursue buying a house. With Nick no longer in ministry the possibilities are greater for us to get a loan or two or three (at a fixed rate!)... on top of that my sister, Esther, would move in with us and put her name on a third of the title. So she would get equity in the house and it would help us by making us a two income house. We are currently talking to a broker and we'll see what we can afford. Nick has a friend whom he's known since junior high/high school who's a real estate agent. She's going to look out for us. We're ready!

Anyway, the three of us are at church now and before I began typing this, Zech was playing around one of the lit candles and accidently hit it. At first he didn't scream, so I didn't think the wax got him. But then it came, a scream that told me otherwise. The wax hit the back of his head and top of his back. A parent, or anyone for that matter, never wants to hear that scream. It wasn't bad enough to take him to the hospital, but an ice pack and a movie seem to be doing fine. I think we're going to have to shave Zech's hair off. Unfortunately, Zech has Nick's head shape, lumpy...! Oh well, hair grows back right!?

I hope everyone is doing well this Christmas season. Nick, Zech, and I have had a roller coaster of a year and God has been nothing but evident to us the whole time. As Morgan Freeman, in Evan Almighty, stated in a scene as God..." If you asked God for patience, does He give you patience or an opportunity to be patient?" I think he has given us several opportunities to be patient.

Still Learning Patience

2007-11-21T21:50:00.000-08:00

We have had some amazing things happen this last month. For one my Bell's Palsy is gone. Yeah!!! The only reminder I have of it is our church directory photo, where it looks like I'm a smart allic because the right side of my face is not quite right. Oh well.
We were told that Youth For Christ didn't get their grant for the abstinence program. Well it was a good thing Nick took his promotion at the mortuary. Then we found that we got into the low income housing that we had applied for last July. We were so excited. We were excited... the very next day, we got a call that the owner of the apartment complex over rode the managers decision to evict the current tenant. Which means we are again on hold in vacating the parental units household. Good news though we are next on the list for the apartments. We don't know when a spot will become available. Prayerfully soon. We are going to be putting a deposit down so the next available unit will, by law, be ours. We know God has a plan for us, we just don't know what it is yet.

Bell's Palsey, What Bell's Palsey?

2007-10-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

We're housesitting a couple's house this week. We've housesat for them before. It's pretty nice having this space to ourselves for a bit.
Anyway, for those who have been praying for me this last month over my Bell's Palsey, Thank you! My face is 90% better and the pain in my neck and face is very subtle. I go to the doctor on Thursday for a checkup. I know my doctor will be pleased. So, thanks for your prayers.
Nick got a promotion at his job last week, and had we not been waiting to hear from Youth For Christ about the grant for the Abstinence program we would have been more excited. Nick accepted the promotion anyway, because we felt that even though we were waiting on something else this was a way God would provide for our family now. He is just not excited about all the important paperwork that has to be done right in this position as an arranger at the funeral home. But it has a pay raise and after 3 months we'll all be covered with insurance. So that's awesome.
We got back from Eureka on Sunday. Nick surprised me with a trip to the coast for my birthday. We have some friends who just recently moved there and since one of them works at the Red Lion hotel, we got hooked up with an amazing room at a great price. We went to the Ferndale ( where "The Majestic" was filmed), and the beach, which technically was Zech's 2nd time at the beach... it was his first time actually seeing the ocean in the daytime. He loved it. Nick and I have always loved the beach. Anyway, it was great spending time with our friends and just getting away. Right before we left Eureka we went to the zoo. Zech loved to see all the different animals (he calls them ammimals). We all got a little souviner from the coast though...a cold! Oh, well it was still a blast. And we'll get over being sick. It was still relaxing.

Two Blogs in One Month

2007-09-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

There was a part of the trip I wanted to put in the last blog, but I got so focused on Disneyland that I didn't mention it before. It seemes fitting to add it today because it is Grandparent's Day... We got a chance to visit my grandma (my mom's mom) in Thousand Oaks. It was great to see her, especially with Zech there. I loved seeing them together. She doesn't get a chance to travel often because she found she has lung cancer and is currently going through chemotherapy, it drains her. I could tell Grandma Kay enjoyed the visit. And Zech didn't hold back the entertainment. He was as bouncy and loud as he is at home (picture Tigger on 20 energy drinks... maybe not that wired). Anyway,I know grandma wanted to bottle some of that energy, we all did.
My uncle (my mom's brother) was telling us how he came home from work and found my grandma had shaved her head, not uncommon for someone undergoing chemo, but he goes "Mom, what are you doing?! You just finished the part of your treatment that causes your hair to fall out yesterday! Your hair was going to start growing back!" Oh well, I say we'll call it a bold fashion statement. We love you Grandma!
P.S. Yes, you are not imagining things, the dates are not tampered with. This is another blog update in the same month. Yahoo!

Marathons and Magic Kingdoms

2007-09-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

We got back from our Disney trip a few days ago. We meaning, my folks, sister, son and myself. Nick had to work which he says "You go and I'll stay here to pay for the trip!"
Anyway, we had a blast. The main reason we went down to So Cal is my dad was running a half marathon (13.5 miles) it started in the Disney park went through Anaheim Statium and back to the park. Pretty impressive. He made it to the end averaging 14 minutes a mile. And he was still able to walk around Disneyland the next day. Wow, we are all so proud of him.
A month before we left for our trip it was a project of mine to stretch Zech as tall as we could to get him to 40 inches. The majority of fast rides stated you had to be 40 inches or taller to ride. At the time he was 38 inches without shoes. So I thought insoles, thick soled shoes and a spiky hair style would do the job...
Our first day we went to California Adventure and our first ride we thought we'd try California Experience. We get up to the line to see Zech's height, here's where we find if all our hard work and lengthning pays off... NOT HAPPENING. A fraction of an inch off.
So Zech and I found something better...
We couldn't get him on the big rides so we spent a lot of time in A Bug's Life park (geared for the little tykes) and saw a lot of shows. Zech and Dad left the park early. Dad needed to rest for the marathon the next day and Zech fell asleep before they made it out of the park. So my mom, sister and I went to Disneyland side of the park and did some of the rides I wouldn't be able to do with Zech
(40 inch rule and all).

The next day was Labor Day and the race... Yeahhh Dad!

The following day the whole fam went to Disneyland and that was where alot of the rides that we went on as kids happened. Zech got his picture taken with Tigger, my mom's favorite character. That was awesome for my mom I'm sure.
We had a blast. He found his favorite ride though, the Jungle Cruise. That's how we started the day and that's how we ended the day. And you would have thought my son would have been knocked out by all the days fun... no he was wired till like midnight. Next year should be even better. The next height requirement is 46 inches... maybe?!

oops!

2007-08-25T00:03:00.000-07:00

I tried to post the birthday pictures 3 times and it would not do it, so I thought it took a few hours to download or something (I don't know Nick did all the prior pictures) Anyway that is my excuse. But I figured it out and it had to be the computer I was using. No really, it was.

Finally Pictures...

2007-08-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

So two months have gone by and I said I would have pictures of Zech's party back in June... I lied, but I have them now. Enjoy!!!

P.S. Be praying for our family, Nick has had two deaths in the family recently, his Uncle (mom side) who lived in Eureka, and his Grandpa (dad side), just in the last couple weeks. Tough stuff. More news to come.

The Big "3" !

2007-06-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Zech turned 3 years old on Sunday.(Father's Day) We celebrated his birthday on Saturday at my parent's house up in Shingletown. We had a Superman party. This was Zech's first party with friends his age. He kept saying, "All my friends are here, I am so happy". We had a bounce house and the kids loved it. It really helped them get their wiggles out. The party started at 11 am, so parents could get their kids home for a nap afterward and maybe the kids would fall asleep during the ride. I didn't think about the construction that was happening on HWY 44. I don't know if any of you have been on 44 lately, but right after the woop de do's (the roller coaster part of 44) they pretty much ripped out the entire road and there is about a 20-30 minute waiting period before the workers lead you to the other side of all the construction just before the Dersch intersection. So anyway all that to say I did not take that into account when placing the party in Shingletown. But it didn't keep people from coming... most of them were on time. And we were able to tell people about a detour home.
We had such a good time, the weather was perfect, which meant the weather in Redding had to be pretty hot.
Anywho, this last year we have seen Zech grow so much, physically and mentally. I watched Zech's 2 year birthday party and he said maybe 3 words other than that it was all grunts and pointing. Compare it to this year, you can have a pretty decent conversation with him and he is potty trained. Amazing! Next year will be even more interesting. PICTURES TO FOLLOW...
P.S. As you can tell we only have time to do one update a month and we'll try to make it count. Love Ya

Welcome to the Exciting World of Dead People!

2007-05-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah I said it. Nick has a new job. Starting May 14th Nick will be working at a funeral home (McDonald's Chapel downtown). That's not the crazy part... we're pretty excited about it. We get two types of reactions from people when we tell them the news... the first one is "Oh, really? Why? Isn't that creepy?" the second being "Oh how cool! I can see Nick doing that"( I don't know exactly how to take that one, but okay!)We see it as an amazing opportunity to minister to those in a much needed time. It never entered my head that this would be a scary job or majorly depressing job, although I know there will be those days.
Nick mentioned the other day that I probably won't be able to take Zech by his work place to visit, like we do at Safeway. No climbing on caskets for Zech. (Was that wrong?) You have to have some humor going into it. The lady who hired Nick said that if he needed to take a day off for personal or ministry sake he could because the person is still going to be dead tomorrow.
I think it's going to work out.

Not our home, but we'll take it!

2007-04-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

Nick and I are house sitting for some friends. Can I say that it is wierd being in such a quiet house (beside their two weiner dogs that bark every now and then for no reason at all)? Just a little reminder, we've been living in a trailer on my parent's property and then down to Nick's parent's property for about 5 months. So it has been pretty nice having a space to ourselves, even though it will only be two nights. We'll take it!
Other news... last weekend we took Zech to the emergency room. I went to wake him up and when he roled over he could not open his eyes. They were swollen shut. Well that freaked me out and him as well. So we found out it was just allergies... really bad allergies. They said to just give him allergy medicine. Well you'd think that would be enough but I had some hesitation about giving him antihistamines because Nick can't take them. My hesitation was correct. Zech's reaction was the same as Nick's was at that age. Over emotional and down right mean, which is not like him at all. So I have to make a decision, deal with a child who's eye's are bloodshot and swollen and runny nose or a child I want to have in a continual choke hold. We'll see.
Anyway that's it for now.
Redding Christian Fellowship's Easter musical is this Thursday and Friday. Nick is playing drums and I'm in the choir. Hope to see you there!

soupa ball

2007-02-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

just a reminder...in between eating, drinking, analyzing various thematic elements of commercials & decyfering their cryptic cultural message...worship Jesus with your heart, soul, mind, & strength.

the end is nigh!

2007-01-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

so last night i am sitting on the couch/bed in the living room/den/guest bedroom & saw on the news that hillary clinton has officially entered herself as a candidate for the democratic nomination for president in 2008. this may be a good time to mention my disdain for women in politics. no this is not based on any misogynistic attitudes or chauvinist biases, i just think that God's best plans for the lives of believers is also how things would work best in society. since God desires that women should not be in authority over a man & that men should love & protect women i think government would function much more effectively if women were removed from their positions & men were removed of there predispostions. so i am officially announcing that if hillary clinton is elected president of the United States me & my wife & child will be making preparations to move out of the country. we are not sure where yet but, by my calculations, if clinton is elected president America will be a socialist nation within 2 years. am i being dramatic? am i blowing this all out of proportion? can i be serious? consider this my "i told you so" for 2008. heil hillary! get used to that one.
if you who know me...you are laughing or not taking me seriously.
if you don't know me...you may have already reported me to blogger & the proper authorities.
either way...have a nice day.

we're back?

2007-01-18T14:17:00.000-08:00

it's not like we went anywhere, but we have been incommunicado for a while. "attention safeway shoppers, nick welch will be back crushing your eggs before you know it." that's right, i couldn't hack unemployment so i broke down & got a job. i'm kind of excited...kind of annoyed...kind of confused. but God usually doesn't mess up, actually i don't think it's ever happened. well, i have to go. look for the "real" post tonight. welch...out!

i FELIZ NAVIDAD !

2006-12-25T11:14:00.000-08:00

here are some memorable moments from the mapes-welch christmas eve extravaganza. enjoy.

we oughtta be in pictures!

2006-12-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

so rachael's MOPS group hosted a family picture day thing. i love pictures of my family but i hate taking pictures. it's such a fake environment for smiling, which i'm not that good at anyway. but we did get some good pictures. so enjoy.

i'm sorry, i only play in the key of B sharp.

2006-12-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

well with only minutes to go until the performance starts I am frenetically going over all of the worst case drummer scenarios in my head. maybe i should stop here & fill you all in on the fact that i am playing drums in RCF's christmas musical. it is pretty cool but kind of intimidating considering the fact that i am the only musician in the 20 member orchestra who cannot read music. it's kind of like a dyslexic in a spelling bee. anyway, here are my nightmare scenarios. scenario #1-i lose control of a stick sending it into the crowd. scenario #2-i hit myself in the eye during an overdramatic drum fill. scenario #3-i somehow manage to do everything right only to rip a huge fart during the dramatic pause scenario #4-somehow, in a tremendous display of incompetency combine a little bit of 1,2,3, & 4. no matter what, it should be fun!

check these out

2006-11-22T22:49:00.000-08:00

life is a highway!

2006-11-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

or so a one-hit oneder once said. "no it's wonder.' 'i know it looks like oneder!'" speaking of oneida, tomorrow is thanksgiving. yep the giving of thanks will begin in just a little under 2 hours. you know what else starts in just under two hours?...hmmm...tomorrow. i (nick) love cake. not the band, they're good too but specifically i mean the baked good. well enough hijinks. i just got a call two days ago from rosemary (the mother of hailee who i transported down to oakland) anyway, hailee is doing better & we look forward to staying in touch with them. that is definitely something to be thankful for. have a good one!

God is good even when we're busy

2006-11-15T17:30:00.000-08:00

Nick is usually the updater, but this week he's been working like crazy. And we feel completely awful because we've been neglecting our friends in the process. Not to be over dramatic or anything, it's just that we really haven't had time to settle ourselves anywhere. Between the trailer and Nick's folks house we kind of feel like we haven't been able to take anything out of our suitcases. Don't get me wrong, it certainly is an adventure and I'm thankful to God for this time in our lives(no, really, I am!) ~Phil.4:6, right?!~ God's timing is perfect.
Please pray for Nick right now. He's in Oakland on a transport. This transport has proven to be a hard one. Anytime children and illness are involved it's never easy. This one involves a two and a half year old girl, named Hailee, who has an immune disorder. Which has really touched Nick, seeing as we have a 2 1/2 year old child ourselves. How easily this could be our little one. When they got to their appointment down in Oakland, they found out Hailee's liver was not doing well and had her admitted to the ER immediately. That wasn't the main issue, the mother, Rosemary, brought her 9 year old down too, and when her sister was admitted, she was not allowed to be in the room over night. Rosemary had a problem. She had no place to take her 9 year old. Finally, she found that the Ronald McDonald House had room for her 9 year old, but she couldn't keep her there by herself. Now she has to leave Hailee at the hospital by herself. That is so tough. It makes our situation not that much of a situation, ya know?
Please pray for Rosemary, Hailee, and the 9 year girl (Nick didn't give me her name). It makes our situation not that much of a situation. Anyway, we'll try harder to keep in touch with everyone. Don't give up on us!

Snow Day!

2006-11-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

So here's an update for ya... us country bumpkins got snow. While we were sleeping, a nice blanket of wet, white, beautiful snow topped our trailer and pretty much anything else not covered by huge trees or tarps. I (Rachael) think we need to get Zech some snow boots now. (Tennis shoes aren't going to cut it!) Especially since he runs straight towards the slushy puddles and jumps into them (I guess I need to get over it, he is a little boy). Nick went fishing near McCloud today with a few friends, two of which are professional fishing guides. Nick did just as good as they did -- zero fish. He actually stayed pretty warm, until he realized the hard way... his waders had a huge hole in the crotchel region. Oops! All in all, a good day for everyone.

it's official...we're hillbillies!

2006-10-31T15:23:00.000-08:00

sorry. no "lost" post this week. we have been way too busy. "with what?", you might ask. well we have moved out of one place, moved into a trailer in shingletown, started a new part-time job, had a garage sale, you get the idea. most importantly though, is this: 2 days ago zech caught his first fish. no joke. he said, "dad, i fish." to which i responded, "ok, i'll show you how." after 3 or 4 times casting while holding his hands in mine & letting the fly drift 25 feet or so i let him do it by himself. he casted perfectly & let the fly drift just like a pro. then, when the fish struck he jerked back on the rod & set the hook himself. all i did was keep the rod tip up & help him reel it in. it was a 9 inch rainbow caught on a beadhead pheasant tail nymph #14. i don't mind telling you that catching fish with zech that day nearly brought me to tears & at this rate he will be outfishing me by his 3rd birthday. but then again outfishing me really isn't that tough.

p.s. our phone is not up & running yet, but should be by the end of the week.

the great pumpkin

2006-10-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

here are some pictures of the welch side of the family at nash's. mama, papa, us, aunt shannon & uriah. it was lots of fun & they even had a camel, well, technically it was a dromedary but who's keeping track? we tried to get zech to take a pony ride but he wasn't having it. so we had a pony ride observation, definitely not as much fun as an actual pony ride. overall it was awesome & always a good photo op.

this is nothing like a pauly shore movie

2006-10-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

so i’m posting this as i sit inside jury duty as i wait for what will probably be the entire day. technically i’m not posting right now because the geniuses at our local government decided not to put in an internet connection in the courthouse. i know what you are going to say... “it’s for security purposes.” that is not a goood reason nor is it the reason i think they failed to properly outfit the jury room & here’s why: reason #1-i honestly don’t think they thought of anyone but themselves. reason #2-the legal system has this ridiculous attitude that they are doing us a favor by letting us get to the courthouse @ 8am, stand in a line, & wait in a crowded room with not enough seats. (i’m sitting on the floor as i write this) reason #3-there is this idea that jury duty is my civic obligation as well as a privilege of citizenship. you know i would probably be cool with that if the idea of citizenship wasn’t so tainted nowadays. why should i view jury duty as the great benefit of citizenship when illegal aliens can recieve all, or most of the benefits without the hassle of jury duty. man, those dudes sneaking across the border from canada got it made. i know i sound negative but it’s really hard to be positive when i have an apartment to clean, a wife who’s stressing out, & no money coming in. which reminds me, if any of you would like to help clean our apartment just give me a call. we really need help. see ya.
p.s. there is an internet signal, i was just on the wrong side of the room. let that be a lesson to you.

ode to a fish

2006-10-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

the season for fishing creeks, streams, & most rivers is rapidly coming to an end. in fact there are only a few short weeks left. yeah you can still fish the sac but it's just not the same. oh well. of course, i will be living up in shingeltown & will be able to fish mccumber almost every day (rachael permitting).well that makes me feel much better. fish on!

Lost...it's the new X-Files3

2006-10-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

last wednesday's episode of lost was of particular interest to me. the story focused on locke’s history. for those of you unaware, locke is a very interesting character as well as my favorite. i don’t know why he is my favorite but his story in many ways is the most heartbreaking & compelling. in fact i believe that he is the single most important & strategic character on the island. this week picked up with locke, charlie, mr. eko, & desmond shortly after the explosion (or implosion) in one of the hatches they were in. following the --plosion mr. eko had been taken to which locke felt compelled to rescue him since it was his decision that led to eko’s capture. i think some of the spiritually related issues regarding free will, repentance, & reconciliation were the most interesting. in many ways locke is a microcosm for many of the christian experience. in his character there are the essential elements of faith: hope, suffering, betrayal, uncertainty, inadequacy, failure, joy, determination, friendship, & most importantly-the desire to be a part of something bigger than oneself. this is what makes lost & locke such an enjoyable experience on wednesday nights. oh, that & the fact that it is the greatest show of all time.

Contemplate This!

2006-10-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

i am currently reading a book i have had for a while. contemplative youth ministry by mark yaconelli, son of the late youth specialties founder mike yaconelli. the book focuses on applying variations of practices & methods for the purpose of recognizing the presence of Jesus in our everyday lives. while i know most of you who are reading this are not youth workers i think the principles still apply. one of the key things that the book focuses on is the benefit & necessity of silence. some catholic monks spend 20 hours a day in silent reflection. some buddhists will spend spend weeks in silence. the amish & mennonite communities value silence so much that they do not permit spoken prayers. why do i say all that. simply put, even these distortions & outright perversions of the Truth get one thing right that most of us do not, silence. when was the last time you took five minutes to be in silence. no phones, no homework, no parents/kids, no distractions. just you & God in what He desires most...time with His beloved. you all know i love giving assignments & projects. so here goes. i will give you two options. (1) take 5 or more minutes to meditate on your relationship with Christ, but do it in a loud, busy, crowded place. starbuck'’s, the grocery store, you get the idea. then take the same amount of time to do the same thing, but this time do it in silence. go into your closet & turn the light off if necessary. try to limit any & all noise as much as possible. then evaluate which seemed to be more effective. (2) there is an ancient practice that has been used by jews & christians for the purpose of connecting to the Word of God in a deeper way. it is called "lectio divina", meaning: divine reading. there are 3 steps. step1-pick a passage of scripture. read it 3 times & pray that God will direct your thoughts towards what the passage means as if you were the first person to ever read it. step2-read the passage 3 more times & use some tools (dictionary, commentary, whatever) to discover what the passage truly, at it'’s heart is speaking about. then pray. step3-read the passage 3 more times & pray about how God might be using it to direct your life through His word. bottom line: get quiet, calm down, listen... God is here. please tell me about your experiences.

Lost...it's the new X-Files2

2006-10-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

"spoiler warning" the last episode of lost was the most revealing to date about the others. the most remarkable peice of info...they have lived there their entire lives. what? is this some kind of neo-utopian experiment gone wrong like they might have us believe? or maybe it is in fact a very sophisticated, technilogically advanced para-military installation for the purpose of intelligence gathering & alternative weapons capabilities. yeah, you heard me! now i must say that i am not fully in agreement with this theory. it is however one i have been hearing lately. i would also like to take this opportunity to address the "purgatory" theory. many of you seem to treat this with an almost snobbish dismissal. "it's too obvious!" you say. well i would like to remind you of many of the catholics overtones & a few key pieces of info.
(1) the statues of the virgin mary found by locke & boone
(2) locke's belief that the island demands certain actions for everyhting to go well for the crashies.
(3) mr. eko is a priest & confessed to "henry" or "ben" if you prefer. this is significant because priest can only confess to other priests of equal or higher standing in the church & "henry" is the clear leader of the others & by extension the island itself.
regardless of what theory you subscribe to, you cannot discount the supernatural happenings on the island. so if you think it is a real place with real people in the real world that you & i live in then think again. things are happening on the island that are not that easily explained. well that's all for now until next week. oh by the way, i do know that it is just a show & not real life. but for one hour on wednesday nights it might as well be. so long.

i am the fish whisperer

2006-10-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

i (nick) went fishing on battle creek wednesday evening & have no independent verification for this so you will just have to trust me when i tell you i caught 9 trout, 8 rainbows & 1 brown. they ranged in size from 10" to 18". the brown struck & fought like a fish twice his size & the rainbow was probably one of the prettiest fish i have seen in person. hardly any silver, mostly reddish-brown with a dark purple stripe. strictly catch & release, all caught on olive & crystal wooly buggers & sculpin, 1-3 splitshot & with hardly any backcast. it was awesome. i took pictures of 4 of the 'bows but then dropped the disposable camera into the creek which i recovered but have yet to find out if the pics will turn out. if they do i will post them asap so you will all know that i'm not lying. anyway, i had a great time & would love to go fishing with you, whoever you are. if you want to know where i got them you have to spring for gas. hey, i'm not cheap...just poor!

i'm off the bread line!

2006-10-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

so the last couple of weeks has been pretty weird for me (nick) since i haven't been working. don't get me wrong, it has been great to stay home & help rachael out with zech & our nephew uriah but there is only so much a man can take. i have felt totally worthless not bringing home a paycheck so today (wednesday) will be pretty sweet as i get to work at two jobs today. one will be a doing some light construction work on a deck & the other will be up in shingeltown putting on a roof. the best part...i'm getting paid for it! i may even stop on the way home & do some fishing. can life get better, i submit that it cannot. well it could, but right now i'm just happy to be working. by the way, i watched "the royal tanenbaums" today for about the 100th time & it's still hilarious! definitely on the must see list.

Lost...it's the new X-Files1

2006-10-05T16:21:00.001-07:00

just prepare yourself now because every thursday blog from now on is devoted to "lost". here goes. first, observations & questions. #1-what's with the subdivision on the island? #2- why are there all kinds of cages & facilities for animals.? #3-what in the world did "henry" mean when he said to kate, "the next two weeks will be very unpleasent"? #4-how did they have jack's dad's autopsy report? #5-who was that other prisoner that helped sawyer escape? (one of the "others", a tailie, what?) now the theories. #1-it's purgatory. why? juliet's file on jack. according to her it contained his whole life which he was being asked to give an account for. hmmm. #2-paramilitary/government co-op with the dharma initiative to keep secret what was really happening on the island, an electromagnetic super weapon the likes of which the world has never, nor will ever see again! hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHA! MMWAAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! let me know what you think.

still looking

2006-10-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

okay, apparently there are not a lot of jobs out there that involve playing games, hanging out with students, & talking about the Bible. there are however plenty of jobs for home health care providers & doctors.(thank you reddingjobs.com) that is not to say that we are going hungry just yet, God has been very good to us in providing for our physical needs through other people. just yesterday one of our poor, out of work, youth pastor friends actually gave us $200 out of the blue! it was awesome & incredibly humbling. i (nick) still don't have a "job" but i am doing some work here & there for various people, which reminds me, if you are reading this & you need help doing something, anything, & you want to pay, just email or call. i am looking forward to our lives becoming a little more normal but if normality means complacency or boredom then i am not down for that. God is doing some neat things in our lives right now & i don't want to miss out on that. thanks for praying for us & by the way, only like 2 people ever comment on this stuff which leads me to believe maybe they are the only ones reading it. please comment, we would love to hear from you. oh yeah, what is going on with "dog" the bounty hunter? is he in jail? is he back? did they make him cut his sweet mullet?

can you say "pool boy"?

2006-09-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

well this weekend has been an interesting one. it went a little something like this...sunday the 24th-8:30am: final sunday at cloverdale. 1:15pm: depart with thomas & family for their new church/home/life in raymond, ca. 3:27pm: starbuck's, stretch, potty break. 5:35pm: potty break. 7:15pm: potty break. 8:45pm: arrive in raymond. monday the 25th-12:18am: finish unloading the moving vans. 2:30am: eat chocolate cake, drink 3 cups of coffee, go to bed. 10am: wake up, unpack boxes 1:20pm: depart for shingeltown to pick up zech @ grandma & grandpa mapes cabin. 9pm: arrive home, go to bed! then this morning...tuesday the 26th, i (nick) interviewed for a position as a pool cleaner. i can't say that i am overly excited about the idea of cleaning pools 50 hours a week but there are definitely worse things to do for a living, "dirty jobs" anyone? right now we are really praying that God will provide something that will not only meet our needs but others needs as well. well i have to go look for another job. maybe i'll be a professional blogger? bottom line: the tate's are getting settled in their new home, we have no idea what God is up to regarding ministry stuff for us, & the pierces are moving to seattle! (keep them in your prayers) there is no shortage of excitement these days. it's late, i'm tired, & i can always blog tomorrow. p.s. apparently cleaning pools is a highly solitary working environment so if anyone wants to contribute to the "get nick a sweet ipod" fund send cash or check to... us.

i'm speechless!

2006-09-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

since our first post we have gotten a job, lost a job, gotten it back, had someone offer us a free place to live, received a substantial amount of $ in the mail to pay bills, & seen God use so many people to really encourage us. we truly feel ministered to & taken care of. we still don't know what the next month or two will look like...actually we don't even know what the next couple of days will look like, but it is still exciting. we are not freaking out...yet, however, we are beginning to wonder just where we will be living in the near future. ultimately God will see us through, He always has. on a lighter note, zech is starting to say sentences! "mom, up?" "more cheese" & "dad poop" are pretty commonplace these days. (don't ask me what he means by that last one) it is awesome to see him growing up into more than we could ever have imagined. it will be interesting to see what the next few months will bring for him as well. anyway, if you need someone to rake leaves, fix your deck, or do some youth pastorin' just give me a call. if not, just pray for us. thanks.

2006-09-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

so here is the deal.

2006-09-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

as of now the 3 of us (which i will refer to regularly as "us" referring to Rachael, Nick, & Zech) are facing some pretty serious challenges. interviews for a new ministry position, the possibility of moving, car trouble, etc...and yet it is pretty awesome to be so dependent on other believers for support, encouragement, & just the basics like food, gas, lattes, you know: the essentials. i think Rachael & I both are excited for a change, no matter what that means. well this is our first post & look forward to keeping you updated as God continues to provide. have a good one.-nick