Feb 20, 2009

Britt with her two sons repeat history 22 years later...

Britt & Matthew with MawMaw in 1987....Carillon Park
22 years later....Britt with her two sons,
Joshua & Dylan at same place in Carillon Park...February 18,2009
Daddy Rich with Britt & Matt 1987...Carillon Park
Britt's 'sassy' Dylan/TuTu...*Note the long curly hair...

1 day later.....TaDa...Dylan/TuTu's new haircut...
Big Brother, Joshua, getting ready to play football
on a team...he keeps his hair short...

Feb 15, 2009

Planting 1,000 Pine Trees...Got r Done!

Welcome to the the country, You'll!

(Click on all pictures to enlarge) Over the week-end we had a family/friends tree planting party at our brother, Dockie & Ann's place in north Florida....Dockie invited 'ALL' to come help 'replenish the earth' with pine trees on his country property...it rained the entire time the planting was being done on Sat. BUT it was all worth it in the end when we moved the party to another cousin's beautiful country home.

Toni & Ted were so gracious when around 40 people descended upon them for food, drink and fun. It became a 'family reunion' since many had not seen each other in years...
Dockie & Yvonne start 'cutting up' early!Pammy, Nancy & Coco pose for Marina and I...
Kurt, Bryce & Charlie ...having fun
Cindy was happy this is the very last tree to be planted.... Guess who gets to plant it?
Taking a break... .
Blake & Sister Joyce, bring their heavy duty tractor which was a great help....
Blake says, "What do you want moved....where?"
The majority of the trees went here...
Outdoor fire was great in the cool and wet weather
Rain or cold did not keep us from enjoying
Toni and Ted's home and hospitality...
They blessed us all with food galore and times of togetherness...
Yvonne and Wynona....
these friends go 'way back'....
we had a 'family reunion' for sure...
The ' Sweethearts' of the Day....
say...Happy Valentine's Day You'll!

Feb 13, 2009

May we never let the things we can't have, or don't have, or shouldn't have,
spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have.
As we value our happiness let us not forget it,
for one of the greatest lessons in life is learning to be happy
without the things we cannot or should not have.
Learning to be.....CONTENT....

Feb 12, 2009

Living in the Land of Plenty....

I'm reminded of a friend who was a social worker and she was telling me a tale about one of her people in need. Carmen said that after a period of time that many relatives from Central America had joined this person here in Florida.

Asking why so many had given up their home land she was told that all of the relatives were encouraged to come to.....'The Land of Plenty'....
That we are but I hear cries of 'More, More, More'.
Enough already!
Getting an e-mail from our son, Chuck, in Turkana, Kenya, Chuck said that a young teen-age son had walked 100km (60 miles) in 110%F to get medicine for his mother. It took him 2 days... then he and Terry drove the young man back with the medicine in order to aid the mother quickly.
Is it any wonder that we are called.....The Land of Plenty? Walk into any pharmacy and see...the land of plenty...
Grocery stores, Wal-Marts, Malls, Car Dealers, Banks, Churches etc. reflect this Land of Plenty.
Now we need help with a 'bail out' from this mentality. Does this mean that we are perhaps.....out of control?

I think Billy Graham's prayer for our Nation says it more clearly...
Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,' and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.
Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation
'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free.
Amen

Feb 10, 2009

The Lost Boys...Let's Laugh Now!


My dear friends: aka: Bozo#1 and Bozo#2
Kurt trying to explain to Bill why they are lost...
guess they need their GPS after all, girls!
Or do they only know their way around on water?
Ask Kurt how he lost his 'boating shoes'......
Melissa can tell you:)

Feb 8, 2009

Helping Others is FUN!

Let me tell you about my cousins....my 'kin'...
Ray D. and wife Betty, are some of the youngest people I know.
They are....craZy!
Do you remember my blogs written on Oct. 1-3, 2007 about our 'Diamond Hunting' expedition
in Arkansas with my cousin Ray D., Betty, brother Dockie and Annie P.?(check it out in archives)
Well, it is this cousin that I am writing about today...
Forever young are Betty and Ray D.....
Their adventures this week-end included taking one of their seven Model A's to a assisted living home in order to 'cheer up' the residents and have some fun. Of course, Betty being the extremely creative and extremely smart (remember Photo Shop Betty?) young lady that she is, dressed them in 'period attire' for the showing...
They gave the gift of Fun NOSTALGIA.
Below are Betty's words about the event....
Visit to University Pines Assisted Living....

"On Friday Feb. 6, 2009 we were invited to visit University Pines Assisted Living to show our cars. This time we took "Sweetie" our 29' Tudor Model A.
This is the one we have had the longest of our seven cars. It was a wonderful day and the Model A brought back many memories for the residents."


Wonder who had the 'most' fun?

Ray D. and Betty....Helping Others....

See Ray D.'s books at: http://ray-fortner.blogspot.com/

Feb 5, 2009

Our 'Lil Chuck' the IVth

I could not resist this photo...it is soooo precious of
our 'Lil Turkey'....
Thank you, MissiJo, for posting these on your blog...

Posted by Picasa

Feb 4, 2009

Go to the link below which is my 'other' blog and read of these 'silent heroes'...Did You Know?

http://familytributetousa.blogspot.com/

Chuck & Terry's First Sunday in Africa...

Man asking for prayer...Chuck & Bro. Eddie, his Missionary friend.... e-Mail from Chuck is below...his words tell it best....

"The last few days have been an introduction to the slums of Nairobi for Terry and I.
Yesterday we attended the wedding of a Kenyan National who is a Missionary to Sudan.
It was full of customs and culture which was incredible.
Then today (Sunday) we attended Church at Kangemi BC in the Kangemi Slums.
Bro. Eddie William preached the morning message on"I Can Through Christ".
During the invitation a drunk man came crawling down crying and asking for prayer.
All pastors & missionaries present prayed over him asking the Lord to deliver him and save him. Bro. Ernie & I went to preach to all the Pastors who were in Nairobi for the wedding on Sat. I preached on Revival Fire from 1 Kings 18-Elijah on Mt. Carmel and then Bro. Eddie preached on Unity of Fellowship in the Churches.
At the invitation we saw the Lord move in the hearts of God's men with almost all in the alter and some reconciling relationships that were strained.
We have had an awesome weekend.
Please continue to pray the Lord will bless our ministry.
We will head to Eldoret on Tues. to look for a place to live and to interview language teachers. Then we will proceed to Turkana to prepare for the Mc Med Doctors.
Thanks for your love and support."

Chuck & Terry Fernandez
Chuck and Pastor William

Women of Kangeni waiting for Seminar

Terry and Pastors Wife

Beautiful Boys who know Jesus...Daniel & Moses - Friends....Kangemi Slums area

Jan 31, 2009

SuperBowl Party at The Towers of Channelside...Given by Chad of Pixelpop.com

Attending one of the many Super Bowl Parties around Tampa Bay is not really my 'cup of tea'...

BUT if your son and his company is sponsoring one and donating to a great charity
(Heartbeat Int'l & FARA)....plus having many members of our family 'working'......
that is an incentive to attend. In fact, Charlie and I arrived back home at 2:00 am....
Below Britt & Lynn, Mother & daughter prepare
for their work for their Uncle/Brother....Chad
Now all is 'serious'...Lynn must cope with everything as Chad's assistant...
Britt was put in charge of VIP & Gold Pass guests and safety of funds....
Outback girls worked soooo hard but were very cheerful....
Athletes memorabilia was auctioned for charity
as well as high-end gift baskets (made by Lynn)
We owe Lynn's Tony a big 'thank you' for taking care of
electricity and all kind of details...he was a silent worker
that put out many fires this night...
Matt's Enterprise Car Rental was a sponsor with 'cars for the stars' comp....
This is he and Ash with their 'bosses' as their friendsRare for Chad to stop for a 'Mom's picture shot.....'
Britt, Lynn and Security try to keep order and stay focused....
Cousin, Jake Cravey, always clowning with Ash & Matt
Enjoying The Good Life With my family.....
Channel 10 Connects, Tammie Souza, interviews
Albert Haynesworth....6ft.6"...320 lb. .
This player just signed with the Tennessee Titans....
Chad and Tammie with Eric Keith Lyle in white hat...
See his interview and SuperBowl ring....at link below...
Charlie in his glory....These guys, players,
had to be approved by Lynn/Chad for entrance
and while they were waiting for Chad
Pops had a ball.....
Britt was calling him 'Pops' and so did they...
Clowning around with them was fun and when they
discovered that we were all family they really
'shared the love'......Britt still smiling at 1:00 a.m. The view of Channelside from the 28th floor VIP Penthouse was awesome...
Yes, it was The Party....one of many going on this night...
(See all pics at...
http://picasaweb.google.com/iwgfaith/ThePartyGivenByChadForSuperBowlXLIII?feat=directlink) Sorry we missed the Gospel Party which Tony Dungy
and many other attended at the USF Dome...See below....
A revved-up crowd of about 5,000 rocked the USF Sun Dome on Friday in a hand-waving,
foot-stomping praise party at the 10th Annual Super Bowl Gospel Celebration.
Among the celebrants: current NFL players and ex-Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy.
A beaming Dungy accepted the event's first Lifetime of Achievement award from current Bucs coach Raheem Morris and his former quarterback, Shaun King.
"So many players have roots in the Lord," Dungy said.
"I love this event because it gives them a chance to come together
and celebrate their spiritual side."