Ah, Sweet Florida!

Yes, we are in Florida right now!! We are so excited for the girls that they made it to the National Tournament here in Kissimmee, Florida. The Lord has brought together a great group of girls who desire to serve the Lord and just happen to be pretty good at playing soccer! We drove through the night Sunday night to catch a 7:30 am flight out of Chicago. We arrived in Florida Monday afternoon with just a few small delays. The girls changed and then they headed out to the soccer field for a practice.

Today, they had a long practice and therefore I got a little sun! This Wisconsin white girl has not seen sun in a very long time and therefore, I got quite pink! And sad to say, it is quite one sided as the sun was on my right the whole time. Oh well, hopefully it will even out by the end of the week.

Tomorrow the girls play BBC at 2:30 pm EST so if you think about it, please pray for them to be victorious, if that is the Lord's will. Pray that there will be no injuries and that they would do thier best. They are a young team, but I have no doubts that they can pull off a victory. I am excited and nervous all at the same time.

The Lord has already given us several unique opportunities to talk one on one with the girls this week. We care about them so much and love the opportunities to point them back to Christ. We are just simple tools that the Lord has chosen to use in this ministry and we are thankful for it!!

One More Game...

The snow has come and gone...Really, it wasn't that bad! Just the initial shock of it all was tough! Last Thursday & Friday's games were very cold, especially Thursday's, in Superior, WI. I don't ever remember feeling that cold! It was not fun for me sitting on the bench and I know it wasn't fun for the girls playing. They played well, but still did not come out with a win. Friday's game was in Minneapolis and was slightly warmer, but still very cold! The girls won in double over time - it was the greatest game to watch! The girl who scored the final point is one who doesn't play much. It was exciting for her and definately for us! We are now anxiously awaiting to find out whether or not we will be going to Nationals down in Florida. I am trying not to get my hopes up! The girls played yesterday at Finlandia University. It was a rough, physical game, but they came out with a Win, 3-1. It was a good trip and I got to see my friend, Janae Scott, as she was up there visiting her family while Jono was hunting. The girls play one more game on Saturday so we are looking forward to that!

My mom is coming tomorrow! I am really excited! I am picking her up in Appleton tomorrow evening and then we are staying the night so we can get more shopping in on Friday. I am looking forward to spending time with her up here since last time she was up was for Bri's graduation and it was just SO BUSY! We have lots of plans and we will see if everything gets done!

My grandma had surgery on her left hand yesterday to releive a pinched nerve and numbness due to carpel tunnel. She is doing well! She has to have a less evasive surgery on her right hand when the left one is all healed up. She is excited to not have numb fingers anymore!

Snow!

Well, we are currently getting our first snow. It is a little early, but that is Wisconsin for you! We leave at 5 am tomorrow morning to drive to Superior, WI for a girls soccer game. They play UW Superior and then on Friday, we go to Minneapolis to play North Central. It should be a good trip, but a VERY COLD one! I am going to pack all of the warm clothes that I own! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Phoebe Faye Frey

Three years ago today, Phoebe Faye became a part of the Frey family. Last night we were reminiscing about the first night we got her. We had only been married for about 2 months and Heston was working late with campus services. I had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for him to come home. I finally heard him walking up the stairs and he told me to close my eyes. I had no idea what he was doing, but he put this little black kitten on my stomach! She worked her way into my heart within minutes. That night, we found a make-shift litter box and got her some food and milk and she slept on the floor by our bed for the WHOLE night. Her motor was so loud that we couldn't go to sleep for a while. We asked around for the next couple days to see if anyone was missing a black kitten, but nobody knew of anyone. Little did we know that she was the Belford's kitten! She had gotten shot with a bb gun while they were on vacation and had therefore wandered away. Anyways, long story short, they let us keep her, although her name would no longer be Mary, which the Belford kids named her. Phoebe is definitely spoiled, but she is our child until the Lord gives us real kids. She greets us at the door every time we come home and she loves to go on walks on her leash. Hope you enjoy her little slide show!!

We're Back

We have actually been back since Sunday night, but the last few days have kind of been a blur!!

The soccer girls won their game on Thursday against Robert Morris College, 4-2 who had previously beat us at home 4-2 so that was really neat to turn it around! Friday they won against Lincoln Christian College. That was a very chilly day, but it was a great game. Saturday they lost to a Division I, State Champ team, Trinity Christian College. They played well, but did not get a win. Right now they are 6-5 (won 6, lost 5). They are doing very well this season!

Heston's parents met up with us on Saturday morning after driving 12 hours to Chicago. We had a great day with them and we were so excited about the things they brought us! They thought they looked like hill-billies driving with everything piled up in the back of the pick-up truck and a blue tarp over it. I should have taken a picture! I not only got 1 set of curtains, but 2!! The kitchen ones are up and they look great! I am still waiting to put the family room ones up because I have to purchase a curtain rod which hopefully I can get done tonight. What a difference those curtains made!

We spent Monday evening trying to rearrange the furniture so that it would all fit and look nice. After a few attempts it all worked out!! I will definitely take pictures and post them for all to see.

Hope you all had a great weekend! I can't believe it is Wednesday already! This week is flying by. That is fine with me! My mom is coming to visit 2 weeks from tomorrow! I am so excited!!

Fun Weekend Ahead

We have a busy weekend ahead of us. On Thursday morning, Heston & I, along with all of the soccer girls, are headed down to IL to play 3 soccer games: Robert Morris College, Lincoln Christian College, and Trinity Christian College. I am hoping and praying that they continue to play well! I always drive the mini-van and I always enjoy listening to the conversations that go on in the van. I also enjoy the talks I am able to have with the girls. It will be a great time away to get to know the girls better. Thanks to all of you who prayed for me the other day when I met with one of the girls. We talked for about an hour and a half and when I felt at a loss for words, it seemed like the Lord would direct me to a thought or scripture to share. I believe this is just the beginning, but I praise the Lord for the opportunity He has given me to share with the particular girl what the Lord has done in and through my life.

Heston's parents are driving down from PA to Chicago on Friday/Saturday to deliver a dining room suite for us. It was in the house that they purchased this summer and they want to give it to us. There are so many pieces to it and I am looking forward to making it a part of my home. I will definately take pictures once we get it all settled!

Also, Heston's mom is bringing me my kitchen curtains! Yeah, I am so excited! I bought the curtain rods and curtain clips this past week and I am looking forward to having a finished kictchen! Thank you!! I will DEFINATELY take pictures!!

We are staying over Saturday night to minister in a church on Sunday. It is a great opportunity for the girls as well as for Heston & I.

Well, hope you all have a great weekend!!

Discilpeship Opportunity

Today I have an opportunity to meet with one of the soccer girls one on one. I have always desired to be available to these girls and I always get super excited when one of them seeks me out to talk. Every single time I feel so inadequate! I feel like I should be the one who is still being discipled, but God has taught me so many things throughout the 25 years of my life and I love being able to share things with the girls that were huge struggles for me and that only by the grace of God, He brought me through victoriously. So if you think about it, please pray for me and I have opportunites to talk to these girls. Pray that they would see Christ's love through me and that I wouldn't attempt this without the strength of Christ. I am excited for the opportunity for the Lord to use me!

Update on life

Thanks for those of you who prayed for Brianne's trip to Zambia. She made it safely to Zambia last Tuesday. Her roommate is really sweet and her room is very nice (I think she was a little surprised!) She as her own room and they already had a mosquito net above her bed and a fan blowing in her room. The Lord allowed her to make it there safely and for that we are extremely grateful! My mom also found an affordable way to call her.

2 weekends ago, we traveled down to Rockford, IL & Milwaukee area for 2 soccer games for the girls. I had packed all of our stuff and put it out on the deck for Heston to load up, which included his lap top. When we got to the hotel later that night, we could not find his lap top ANYWHERE. We thought for sure it was stolen because we both remembered it being out on the deck. So on the way home, I found myself praying that we did leave it outside in the rain instead of it being stolen. Sure enough, when we got home, our friends who were watching our house had put the soaking wet computer bag inside the front door. Thank the Lord for a wet computer instead of a stolen computer (it still works - PTL!). That taught us a lesson!

This week at Northland are the Revival Meetings. Pray for revival amongst the Student Body & Staff. This is always a great week, even though it is exhausting both physically & spiritually.

Also, pray for our ministry amongst the Girls Soccer team here at Northland. The Lord gives us daily opportunities to minister to these girls. I appreciate the opportunities even though I often feel inadequate. Pray that I would forget myself and give without hesitation of my time and resources to these girls. I have already learned alot about myself through these girls. We just found out that we are going to be able to go on a mission's trip next summer to Uruguay with the girls soccer team. The girls are so excited! We are already beginning to pray that the Lord will bring in the money and allow the right girls to come on this trip. One girl on the team, who was only planning on coming for this fall semester, had been praying for another opportunity to go back to Uruguay. That weekend, Heston had mentioned the trip and she said it was as if the Lord was directly speaking to her. This may lead her to stay at Northland for longer. Pray for her!

The highlight of my week last week was when we were in Milwaukke playing Mount Mary, Ruth Sauers called Heston's cell phone and asked where we were at. Sure enough we were less than a mile from her house!! So while the girls were warming up, I got to go visit Ruth & Haven and see thier new house! It was great to see you, Ruth! I wish I would have had my camera. I can't wait until we can go down and visit you guys.

Well, I have alot of other things to write about, but these are the main things. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Bon Voyage, Brianne

My sister, Brianne, left for Zambia at 6 am this morning. She won't actually arrive in Zambia until tomorrow afternoon at 12 noon our time. That is one long flight!!

Kelli & Bri this past summer

The Lord worked out a seemingly small, but amazing thing. Within the last 2 weeks, we found out that an acquaintance from back home was leaving for Zambia 1 day before Brianne. My mom has always been a little bit leary about Brianne traveling by herself all the way to Zambia. This boy was with the same mission board as my sister as well. Anyways, after a few days of talking and praying about it, my mom decided to call the mission board and see if this boy could fly out 1 day later in order to be on the same flight to Zambia as my sister. She talked to the mission board and expressed her concern of Brianne flying by herself. The man had to call the travel agency. He called her back a while later and he said, "you're not going to beleive this, but when I called the travel agency, for some reason, Nic's ticket had been returned to them and they weren't sure why!" He had asked if they could possibly change his ticket and since it hadn't been fully issued, they could make the necessary changes so that Nic and Brianne will be able to travel on the same flight to Zambia. Even better yet, Nic got the very last seat on the flight! We serve a great God.

Brianne and the boys after graduation

I got a quote in my inbox this morning that said "No one is safe by his own strength, but he is safe by the grace and mercy of God". How true that is! We often worry about the safety and health of Brianne as she is in Africa, but she is safest where she is going because she is in the center of God's will.

Brianne in China holding a Red Panda

Bri has created a blog and will hopefully be able to have time to keep up with it! I will post the link on my sidebar. Pleae pray for her safety travels these next 2 days and then as she gets settled in Africa and for the ministry that she will be a part of for the next year. She will be working with Phil Hunt & his family at the college they started as well as thier various other ministries.

Baby Haven Faith

Last month, we ran into Ruth and Steve Sauers and their baby Haven when we were at the mall in Green Bay after Kim's wedding. We decided to go out to eat with them at Noodles and Company. My sister Brianne and brother Colton were with us as well.

Brianne held Haven after she was done eating so Ruth could eat. Here are some pictures of the cute Baby Haven Faith.


Haven was getting hungry so mommy tried to appease here with a cup! It was SO funny! We were all laughing so hard!!



The Sauers moved down to Milwaukee a few weeks ago. We sure miss them! We got married the same summer and we lived in the same apartment building for almost 3 years. We miss you guys but are looking forward to our visits to Milwaukee!

Goodbye, Patchie.

On Tuesday night, my childhood kitty, Patches, found her final resting place in her most favorite place, our garden, under the cat mint. Patches was 17 1/2 years old. She had a good life! We will miss her. Thank you, Mom, for taking care of her since I got married.


Here is where Patchie spent most of her time; in the garden.

I got Patches when I was 8 years old. I remember picking her out of the litter of kittens and going to the store to buy her necesseties. I picked out quite the combination of her collar and leash: yellow collar with rhinestones and a bell, and a green and white leash. Good thing she didn't care! She had 3 kittens when she was pretty young; that was fun!


My sister Brianne and Patchie

Good-bye Patchie, I love you and will miss you!

Kim's Wedding and Visit with Brianne & Colton

I am a little behind in posting, mostly due to the fact of my last post and then we went on a family vacation with the Frey side of the family. We had a great time down in IL with everyone. Thanks Heather and Kevin for opening up your home to us; we had a GREAT Time! I will post pictures of our vacation later.

My little brother Colton flew up to Iron Mountain on Sunday, July 23, to attend Northland's soccer camp. He had a great week, even though it was REALLY hot!!

Saturday, July 26, Kim Yager and Ken Courts got married. My sister, Brianne, was a bridesmaid, so we gathered Colton up from camp and headed down to Green Bay for the wedding. That was the last time Heston & I will see Brianne before she leaves for Africa in a few weeks. She was exhausted since she has been counseling at Woodland's camp in Georgia all summer. Anyways, the wedding was beautiful and it was so good to see Brianne.

Colton, Brianne & Kelli after the wedding


My hubby and me

Colton stayed with us for a few extra days and praise the Lord that he was with me when we had to take Heston to the emergency room with his concussion and broken neck. It was nice to have him there to help and also to help me keep my mind off everything.

Kelli, Bri & Colton


Sisters - I will miss you, Bri!!

Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary

Three years ago today, I married my best friend. I am so very thankful for my husband! In our few short years of marriage, we have been through alot, but we can still find joy in each other and most of all in our God.

This anniversary was reminiscent of the week before our weddding. 3 years ago when Heston was traveling to CO for our wedding, I got paged over the intercom at the airport telling me to pick up a white courtesy telephone. I called and they said Heston was very ill and they were not going to let him off of the plane. I went to the emergency room at the airport and waited for him. He looked horrible! They were finally going to let him go and they checked his heart rate/blood pressure one more time...then frantcially said they could not release him and whisked him off in an ambulance!!! I found my car and followed him to the hospital. He spent the night in the hospital and had several follow up appointments up until the day before our wedding.

The day of the wedding, I pulled up to the wedding site and saw ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars!! I was freaking out! It turns out that my hero of a husband was trying to resuciate a man who had fallen in the lake at the wedding site!!

Well, this is how this anniversary is reminiscent of that day. My husband has been in the hospital for 2 days due to a broken bone in his neck. This was a result of 2 incidents, one Friday night with a soccer ball and the other on Monday with a golf cart. He blacked out on Friday and then had short term memory loss on Monday. The Lord protected him! Thankfully he is not in any more pain than he is. I am also thankful for the VA hospital. If not for that, we could not afford to pay for Heston's health care due to his upcoming back surgery and the care of his kidney disease.

The Lord continues to provide for our needs. We are looking forward to picking up Heston's parents tonight at Iron Mountain Airport!

p.s. I will post pictures later! Dial up is not the frined of pictures!!

The Big 25!

Well, I turned 25 on Saturday, July 22. Birthdays just aren't what they used to be. I remember all of the anticipation and opening of the presents and cake! And my mom always put the birtday sign on the door and the Happy Birthday table cloth on the table. Great memories! This past few years have been slightly different than that.

Heston took me out to dinner on Friday night and then we went over to some friends house till late. Saturday morning we slept in. I got phone calls from all my family on Saturday so that was nice. Heston bought me a bike and a dozen roses and gave me a really sweet card.

My little brother flew in last night and he brought me gifts from back home. He got me a scrap book for my cat that I REALLY wanted, and my sister got me 2 pairs of cool earrings. My mom sent me the matching canisters for my Pfaltzgraff set - I am so excited to set them up!! I also have some birthday money to spend so I am looking forward to that!

Thank you everybody for the presents!

I made myself cinnamon rolls instead of a cake. They were wonderful! Eat all of this junk food now because in a few weeks I am going on a diet!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Good-bye Tommy, Tricia & Gabriel

Our good friends, Tommy & Trica, and their little guy Gabriel moved to Kentucky! We will miss them greatly. It is so hard when good freinds move away. We are so happy for them, though, and the opportunity that the Lord opened up for them! Keep in touch guys!!


Kelly, Tricia & Kelli


Camryn Making Faces!!


Kelli & Gabe


Gabe in the truck with his Papa


Craig, Camryn, Kelly, Tricia & Tommy

Sorry it took me so long to post these pictures! They were not cooperating. Tommy & Tricia - we miss you guys and think and pray for you often!

More Family Pictures from CO

I have been waiting to get a few more pictures from my time in CO, but I just decided to post what I have right now. I got to meet my cousin Mark's little baby, Maddox Mark. He is absolutely adorable! He was born on May 31. He looks like his daddy, and maybe a little like his mommy, Kira!!



Maddox with Auntie Laura


Maddox with his great grandma


All the little cousins. Kaylee-8, Karissa 5, Kara 11 months, Maddox 1 month. Frey family, you may remember Kaylee and Karissa from the weddding. They have grown SO MUCH sine then.

I also got to meet my cousin Lisa's baby girl, Kara. She was born in August, but I had only seen pictures of her!

Kara with her mommy, Lisa


Kara with her Uncle Mark


Dad, Colton, Grandpa & Uncle Mike

Like I said, I have more pictures, but I will have to post them later! My mom has them all because Heston had our camera in Germany.

He is coming home!! FINALLY!

My dear husband is finally coming home! It has been 2 weeks, 2 days, and 22 hours (by the time he comes home tonight) since I have seen him! I am so excited. I am just hoping that he is not so exhausted when he gets home. The time difference is 7 hours so he will get home around 2 am and to him it will fee like 9 am. I hope he can catch up with his sleep sooner than later. Tomorrow is a holiday so that is definately a good thing.
I decided to post some pictures of my wonderful husband of almost 3 years!






Can you tell that Heston is looking forward to being a father? He is going to be a GREAT daddy!! SOMEDAY!!




My wonderful husband...I have missed him so very much!

My "Baby" Brother

I had a good time spending time with my baby brother Colton. He is not so little any more! I am about 9 1/2 years older than him. We are pretty good buds, though! It was amazing to look at how much he has grown since my wedding. He was only 12 years old at the wedding and now he is 15!

Colton and I always enjoy bowling together. I took him out on Thursday night and we bowled two games! I beat him! I got a turkey during the first game; he was pretty annoyed! We had a great time and now he owes me ice cream when he comes up to Northland for soccer camp.


Colton also likes to drink coffee; I guess I drank coffee when I was his age!

These are my grandparents (if you couldn't tell!!)

This last picture was taken before he left for the choir tour with churh.


The crazy thing is that HE JUST GOT HIS DRIVERS PERMIT!! Now that was an interesting experience. He has to have it for a whole year before he can get his license, though. He will catch on, I am sure. I can say that I was a little nervous as he was driving and I was in the backseat!

It was fun, Colton to hang out with you! Have fun on Choir tour and see you in a few weeks for soccer camp! Don't forget to bring me a birthday present! =)

Family Watchdog - Must Check out!!

This is a website, Family Watchdog ,a friend of mine sent me. It shows all of the sexual predators in your area. You simply type in your address, and then it shows you all of the sexual predators in your area, including their information, description, address and crime. I found 2 right close to my house! YIKES! But the key is to be aware so I thought I would share it with you all. Pass this on to your friends, too!

Baby William

Like I said earlier, I was able to meet my best friend Jamie's baby son, William Everett. He was too cute! I had seen pictures of him, but to see him in person was great! Jamie and I had a great time catching up. We can go so long without talking or seeing each other and then just pick up where we left off! Hopefully William and Jamie will be flying up to see me here in Wisconsin this weekend! Yeah!

Kelli & William


William, Kelli & Jamie


The handsome couple, Jamie & Bill and thier beautiful baby, William


William learned to crawl on Father's Day! How special.


I babysat William on Friday night while Jamie and Bill went out on a date. I had a great time with William, but I am not quite ready for mommyhood! =)