Happy Retirement, Wayne

Grandpa Wayne has had a few retirement parties, but this one was special; all his children and grand kids were able to attend.

Dave and Phil chillin' waiting for the festivities to begin.

Lindsay and Sarah were excited to hang out with their cousin Tayler.

Self explanatory.....

Gary (Phil's sister's husband) and the oldest granddaughter, Krystal.

All the grand kids signed a special book to Grandpa Wayne. Even Savannah signed it "herself".

Phil and I enjoyed the gorgeous Laramie day and had a good time meeting some of Wayne's students and colleagues.

This is how Jack signs the book himself.

Family picture time: First up - Sandy, Wayne, Wanda (Sandy's mom) and Gregory

A dad and his children: Phil, Kim and David

Grandpa, Children and Grandchildren

Wanda, Wayne and Sandy and all the grand kiddos.

Wayne's students surprised him with a canoe. Every student's name, along with the dates they were advised by him, were engraved in metal plates and attached to the canoe.

Savannah and Meg take a break from socializing in order to color.

It's hard to tell from this photograph that Meg and Allie adore one another.

In a cabin, in the woods.....

Our friends, the Dick family, invited us to their cabin near Laramie Peak. After spending a fun day at Douglas Water Park, we finished the final trek to the cabin....well almost.

Would you believe that we had just mentioned at the water park that the tread on the tires was getting thin??!! After ushering all the kids out of the vehicle (our 5 plus Kristy), Phil got to work.

Unfortunately, the spare would not drop down like it was supposed to. After over an hour of struggling, praying and sending Matt and Kayla (who had caught up with us by this point) to make a call to Dean and Teresa , a big truck pulled up beside Phil.

In a deep voice, that seemed familiar to Phil, said, "Need a hand?" Phil responded by asking this man if his name was Mitch. He replied, "Yes, " and the next thing I heard was Phil break into a high-pitched song to jog this person's memory. Mitch recognized Phil immediately and after a hearty hug and friendly greeting, Mitch helped Phil complete the job.

Mitch was a bouncer and bartender at a bar where Phil's band played in Laramie. Now he is a sheriff in Colorado. He almost passed out when Phil told him that he was a elementary school principal! The very cool thing about all of this was God's providence in allowing Mitch to show up just minutes after Phil prayed to God asking for help (Matt, Kayla and Allie were praying the same thing in Matt's car), and then Phil being able to share this with Mitch.

Kayla and the older 3 girls slept on the deck.

It was a bit chilly so all the girls are buried deep in their sleeping bags. Only one eye of Kayla's is peeking out from behind the blankets.

Timothy loved the fact that he could get up and put his shoes on with his jammies!

Kristy is serious about her hiking duds.

Ahhh...what a cute couple all ready to hike Laramie Peak.

Even when it's not moving, the four-wheeler was a lot of fun.

The girls...and Tim.

Sweet, precious Savannah.

A new way of hiking.

Sarah conquers the rock.

Their property is beautiful and the kids had fun running through the open fields.

Phil spent HOURS giving rides on Dean's four-wheeler.

Kayla was especially patient giving attention to all the kiddos.

Hair styling compliments of Lindsay.

Another extraordinary up-do.

Thanks Dean and Teresa! We had a super time.

In the Waters of Baptism

It was a delight to watch our second daughter publicly profess her faith in Jesus in the waters of baptism.

Our church has implemented an extremely thorough baptismal guide in which a mentor (Phil) works through the material with the mentee (Sarah). In addition to making sure Sarah was Biblically prepared, the meeting times were a great benefit to father and daughter.

Our church also has the tradition of river baptisms. This summer the river was at a dangerously high level so extra precautions were taken. It also happened to be extremely cold as well!


In addition to meeting with each candidate individually prior to their baptism, Pastor Jack always takes some time to ask some individual questions on the day of the baptism. He also asks each person if they want to share a scripture of assurance. Sarah shared Romans 10:9:

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Having Phil be a part of the baptism is an added bonus!

Savannah thought it was a pretty great day!

Timmy Tries T-ball

I still haven't decided if it was worth the money, but Timothy had a fun time playing his first organized sport.




An added bonus was Nick Kuhnel coaching and Avry playing along side him.

He just wanted continuous action that the field could not provide.

And this is what it looked like EVERY time a ball was hit - a dog pile.

The Hubert-Peoples-Pier Family Vacation Adventure ~ Part 17

On the day we went up to Mount Rushmore, we spend a little time in Keystone. Shauna's family and Grammy rode down the mountain, each taking a Pier kid.

Weeeeeeeeeee

I think Grammy applied the brake too often because another Grandma-looking lady was right on her tail!!

And here comes Matt and Carson.

Time to leave - Savannah and Allie hang out on the porch while the vehicles are getting loaded.

One more time to feed the ducks before heading back to Wyoming.

The Hubert vehicle - starpped, loaded and ready.

The Pier van - stuffed to the top with kids, toys and luggage.

Many days, many pictures, and many memories on this trip!

The Hubert-Peoples-Pier Family Vacation Adventure ~ Part 16

After the pictures.............