GNO

Last night our youth group partnered with Global Marketplace Outreach to collect and pack meals for needy families in our community for Thanksgiving. I was blown away at the response for this outreach. We were working out of our Jr. High room and had to move some things into the hall to make room for all the students to fit! Thank you to all the parents and students who took time out of the busy holiday season to put our faith in action. You are truly "leaving a Legacy!"

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.
-W.T. Purkiser-

Lazy Fridays...

I don't know what it is about Fridays... for a mom, it's really just like any other day, but for some reason I only want to lay around the house and snuggle with my kids. Fridays used to be the days I would be the most productive and get things all ready for us to enjoy the weekend... but not anymore. It's just pillows, blankies, hot cocoa and lots of love! Maybe I should at least get my butt up to make breakfast...

"For fast-acting relief try slowing down."
Lily Tomlin

Catalyst One Day

Have you ever just been a part of something that you knew you were supposed to be a part of? That was today. A group of us went to CATALYST ONE DAY Conference in Granger, Indiana and it far exceeded my expectations. Here are some pics of Granger Community Church and the Catalyst event.

Andy Stanley

Steve Fee and Matt Adkins

Zoey and Chris enjoying Craig Groeschel
Here are some pictures of the children's ministry at Granger. The first picture is a children's check in point where the parents sign the kids in and then they slide down to their classroom. Amazing!

a day in the life...

• 
• woke up and had some incredible worship with Isaac. honestly, the best time we've had... ever!
• said good-bye to my parents who are heading to Colombia for a week. Pray for them!
• had a little angel stop by and surprise me with a bag of my most favorite coffee in the whole world! it smells amazing... thank you!
• had Isaac's sweet aunt stop by for lunch and dump soup all over our floor and walls
• had a wonderful visit with Aunt Marilyn, who brought many presents, including Zoey's name train... so beautiful!
• went to pick up our copy of Wall-E, which Isaac hasn't stopped talking about since he saw a preview with his dad a couple days ago
• came home to find water shooting out of our house and flooding the neighbors driveway
• had to climb over numerous things to turn our water off and almost broke my neck
• am now finally having a minute to sit
• and now that minute is over...

Happy Tree-n-Leaf Day!

So today was our "Tree-n-Leaf Day" and Isaac and I had so much fun! We were going to start by playing in the leaves outside, but they were covered in snow... so on to Plan B. We made a "Leaf-lette" with all the different color leaves he saw outside, then we made a tree with leaves out of his hand-print and colored tissue paper. We then finger painted his Friendship Christmas Tree with pictures of all his friends and ended the morning with tree biscuits during our quiet time. It was the perfect day to say goodbye to autumn.

Helping Daddy

Isaac helping Daddy scrub the kitchen floor.

Our Crazy Aunt from Phoenix

Aunt Kyle came in town for a special surprise and we were very excited. We all got together for dinner, a movie and wonderful discussions about vacuums and politics. We love you, Aunt Kyle, and hope you and Uncle Justin can come back for the holidays!

the littles

14 days and counting...

...till THANKSGIVING!

"O Lord that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness."

-William Shakespeare-

my girl...

monday nights

Last night was a full night: jumping in the leaves, haircuts with Val, cheesy potato soup, cheese puff handprints, prayer and discussions about God, coffee and rice crispy treats, and then.... HEROES. I love having my house filled on Monday nights!

Happy Marshmallow Day!

In honor of our first semi-snowfall today, and the fact that Isaac wanted to make a snowman SO BADLY, we dedicated our day as Marshmallow Day. We started by making sculptures out of marshmallows and toothpicks, and made a couple of snowmen. Then we made marshmallow teeth out of marshmallows, apples and peanut butter. Then we ended with the ultimate marshmallow tradition... rice crispy treats... and tonight we will eat them with mini-marshmallows in our hot cocoa!

Frosty the Snowman

Isaac woke up and yelled "it's snowing on my picnic table!" He hasn't been able to take his eyes off of our backyard. I just can't get him to understand why there isn't enough to make a snowman yet!

Big Bro, Little Sis

...That's Amore

When Nina asked me if our family wanted to come over for "Pizza Night" I didn't have to think twice. Not only do we get to eat amazing pizza slaved over by my Chris and Matt, but there is entertainment for the evening also... every time. Watching Chris and his brother interact is a such treat. You can always feel the love. We actually like to get into the Italian theme of the night and yell at each other the whole time. There are better pics on Nina's site. We also got to show Isaac his first real rainbow on the way over.

Pizza Night from lori bunk on Vimeo.

"Your Word is TRUTH!"

So our whole church started The Truth Project last night, including all of the kid's ministries, and it went really well. This morning we were asking Isaac the memory verse that he learned last night and here was his response. I love seeing my son learn the Word of God at church!


Tour 1 Memory Verse from lori bunk on Vimeo.

Rice, Stew and Dontrella!

I am aware of the fact that only a select amount of people are going to understand this post at all, but when I found these pictures I HAD TO POST THEM!

Where's the snow?

I know most people are savoring this nice weather we are having...
but we want to know, "where's the snow?"

we have a new president.

I love reading Del Tackett's blog... and those of you starting The Truth Project with us tonight will get to know him really well. He said some incredible things this morning that I would love to share with you. You can find the rest of his post here.

On my morning run, I took care to notice that the sun rose today. This was particularly pleasing to me, because I know that there are many who might have thought that yesterday was the end of the world…those who went to bed with a heavy heart, discouraged, fearful…wondering whether life would really go on after the elections.

It will…and it is. I saw the sky begin to brighten and the first rays of the sun peek over the horizon at just after 6:31 a.m., Mountain Standard Time. I paused long enough to make sure that it wasn’t playing a trick on us, rubbing it in, so to speak, by appearing briefly and then quickly sinking out of sight, leaving us all in the darkness of despair and gloom.

But it didn’t.

On the contrary. It was actually a beautiful sunrise. Today is a new day…and we have much ahead of us! We should live no differently today than we should have been living before: with hope, with joy, with peace; walking blamelessly before God and before men; being light and salt in the world; working as unto the Lord; etc.

Now is the time for the attractively, winsome body of Christ to show What we are made of and in Whom we trust…for we do not trust in horses or chariots, but in the name of the Lord our God. Let me offer, however, something very specific and something quite appropriate for November 5, 2008. It comes from 1 Timothy 2:2
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

Our Trek to Troy

Yesterday was our adventure filled afternoon with Mary Ann. Here are some things I realized in the process:

• I really really really don't appreciate animals the way others do
• The smell of dog biscuits make me want to vomit
• Isaac will leave anything if you tell him you are going on another "adventure"
• Antique stores may not be suitable for toddlers
• The Chicken Greek Feta sandwich at Zoup is amazing!
• Caribou Coffee no longer carries the wild pumpkin latte
• Looking at small reptiles makes me break out in hives
• I am blessed to have one of my closest friends living nearby!