IS THAT A BARN...YOU BET IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!

The barn/house is now fully enclosed!!!  YEE HAW!!!  It has been a long time in the making, but seeing how the barn looks now, I realize it has been worth the wait!  We now have as much room as we need for storage.

 I cannot begin to tell you how nice it is to have enough shelter for everything.
 My family is thrilled that I will no longer be asking them if everything is covered when it rains!

The guys have started framing the inside.  Sarah and I are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves!

 Now, having said all that, I would like to say that our family has been praying for all the families in Connecticut.  The barn, the farm and all of those things are important to us, but this last week has, once again, put things into perspective.  I was looking on Facebook earlier this morning and found a link that, I believe, is very appropriate.  I have never lost a child, but this man has and his point of view seems very wise to me.

Wise words

COLUMBINE STUDENT'S FATHER 12 YEARS AGO
 Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee in 1999. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful.
 
These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the wilderness.. The following is a portion of the transcript:
"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death.

Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to you a sincere challenge.. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!"

- Darrell Scott

Boaz! Resting Comfortably!

Just thought we would let all of you see how Boaz is recuperating!  We took some pictures of him in his bed.  They are ADORABLE!!!  Enjoy!

Thought you might like to see our other little dogs!  This is Ruth...

and the is Katan.  He belongs to Barrett and Devin!

Ruth loves Boaz very much!  She needed to check and see if he was doing ok!

 It is very windy here today so we are in the bus drinking hot chocolate!  Boaz is sleeping a lot and as you can tell, he is getting the royal treatment! 

Would love to hear from some of you!  What are you doing on this wonderful day?

Talk to you soon,
Nancy, Sarah and Devin--the Warren Girls

Our Sweet Little Boaz

Good Morning from Oklahoma!  Today is a GREAT day!  I say this because the last few days have been a bit rough.

This is Boaz.  He is a Yorkshire Terrier and he is Sarah's best friend!  He is sweet, funny, lazy, adorable and we don't know what we would do without him.

On Sunday morning we let him outside to go to the bathroom. ( just like every morning)  Normally he just cruises around (not too far from the bus), takes care of his business, and checks to see if the land is the same as he left it the night before.  Then, when someone opens the bus door, he heads on back inside for some breakfast and a nap.  Cruising around must use up quite a bit of energy!

Well, on this particular morning, things were different.  When the guys went out to work on the barn, Barrett heard what he thought was a wounded animal in the bushes.  When he got to the noise, he realized that it wasn't just any animal.  IT WAS BOAZ!!!  Barrett has a dog named Gus and he was with Boaz.  Gus was licking him all over and he was completely soaked.

This is Gus.  He is very protective of Boaz!

  Monty picked up little Boaz and sent Will to get me and a blow dryer.  Monty began to dry him and I began to try and see what was wrong.  His mouth was bleeding a lot, but other than that we didn't know what was going on.  It seemed as if we would get the bleeding to stop, only to have it start again when he would move.  He was very shaky on his feet and just didn't seem quite right.  Now remember, this is a Sunday morning.  We live in the Bible belt.  All vets were going to be in church and this was going to be an emergency visit!  BUT, this was Boaz and we really didn't have much choice.  His breathing just didn't sound right and the bleeding would not stop.  So, Monty (he really has a soft heart) called the vet.

We wrapped Boaz in a towel and loaded up in the car.  It was Monty, Sarah and I who went to town.  The boys and Devin stayed at the farm.  We arrived at the vet (yes, he was in his Sunday clothes) and he began to check Boaz.  The first thing he found was that Boaz had a broken jaw.  Now how could this little guy have a broken jaw!!!  There was nothing at the site where we found him that could have broken his jaw.  This is a mystery!  We have continued to go over the site, but can not figure out what happened.

They did surgery on Monday and everything went well.  Boaz had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia, but he seems to be doing good.  He stayed at the hospital until Tuesday and Sarah and I went to pick him up.  We bought him a brand new bed and put his favorite blankie in it.  He is on pain meds and antibiotics.  Sarah slept right next to him last night and she said that he woke up 4 or 5 times, but slept good other than that.  He is eating and drinking and sleeping.  When we took him outside to go to the bathroom, he got very scared.  He began to shake and couldn't even go to the bathroom.  We just keep telling him that we won't let him go outside by himself.  And that we won't let anything happen to him.  Someone will be with him at all times!!!

If any of you happen to think about him during the day, just say a quick pray that he will continue to get better!  We are so happy to have him back home!

Hope all of you have a great week!  We will talk again soon!

Feasting and Celebrating at the Feast of Tabernacles

TABERNACLES in TENNESSEE!!!

 Our family tries to observe the Feasts that are spoken about in the Scriptures.  These Feasts are listed in Leviticus chapter 23.  We just celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles.  (Sukkot in Hebrew)  This is a time for us to gather together with friends and we all camp and fellowship for seven days.  It is a GREAT time.  We spent time each morning reading the Scriptures and singing.  It was a wonderful time of food, campfires, smores, and laughter!!

 The children even found a way to laugh when they were sitting on the side of the highway because of a flat tire on the trailer!!  We had only been on the road for about 2 hours when, yes, we had a flat.  We disconnected the trailer from the car and the guys went into town to get a new tire.  No, we did not have a spare!  OOPS!!!  It was closing time for all the tire shops, but TSC had a tire we bought and the wonderful people at Walmart stayed open late and got our blown tire replaced!  So we were back on the road 3 hours later with a new tire and a spare!  YEE HAW!!

Dayton and Christopher are getting to relax at our campsite

 We didn't take the bus because we were going to be camping.  You can see that we have the trailer set up pretty nice.

 The trailer worked so good!!  Sarah has her books and bookshelves up front with a futon and lazy boy recliner.  We had a full size fridge and shelves for all our canned goods and a table for prep work.

THE CAMPSITE!!!  It was so great!!!  The boys built the sukkah (our booth or temporary dwelling).  I think the campground thought we were going to be there for a LONG time!  It rained a lot and this dry area was very much appreciated!

 We had such a good time!  Monty brought our BIG grill.  The grill was busy.  We cooked all our food on that grill!

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 This is the tent that Monty and I shared with Dayton.  It has two rooms, a heater, and we all stayed dry!!  Woo Hoo!!!!  Barrett and Devin stayed in the tent behind us and they did NOT stay dry!  Sarah and Will were in a tent next to Barrett and Devin.  They also did not stay dry.  We found a coin laundry and we got everything dried out!

 This campsite belongs to the Williams family.  They built a 3 room house for their sukkah!  It was quite impressive!

VOLLEYBALL!!!  The game of choice for this week!!!!

 I will say that Sarah and Monty made corn hole look quite enjoyable!!!!

DEVIN and BABY!!!!!!

Barrett might have won the game, but Devin had a great time!  

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This is the last picture and I just had to show all of you Devin's baby bump!  We were on our way to a wedding and Barrett and Devin looked so cute!  She just started to feel the baby moving!  Praise the Father for this sweet couple and this new little life!!!!!

Building the Barn

the guys are getting serious about building the barn

Dayton loves using heavy equipment

Is that a pirate or just a great looking guy?  Love the ponytail!!

view from the barn to the lake and campsites

that's my man and the fearless leader of our tribe!!

things are really starting to take shape

                More pictures coming soon.  We now have metal on the walls.  Soon to have a roof!!!

Colorado trip August 2012

Lake Dillon in Summit County  

the condo we stayed in...wonderful!

It is always good to get new shoes...

and have someone to greet you when you get home!!!!!

view from the condo

i love colorado and my honey!!

the children can't wait to go skiing this winter.  these are the slopes in Breckenridge, Colorado

Georgetown, Colorado is a great little town!

The house we lived in when the children were little!  i still love that house!!!