Apr 4, 2008

Pretty Busy for a Few Days!

As I sit here and type I realize it's the calm before the storm, not a bad storm but a storm of activitiy. Today we start out Spiritual Warfare Conference at church. We have guest speaker Bro. Bill Smith flying in to speak for us. He'll be making his way down from Budapest, Hungary with missionary Dave Fraunhoffer and three of his children. We're so excited to have them and our kids can't wait to speak English to someone. :0)

We start the conference off tonight with a 45 minute secession and then dinner together and then another 45 minute secession. Tomorrow and Sunday night we will do the same with a 1hour service Sunday morning.

I have lots of cooking on the agenda. Tonight the church will provide roastil chickens and we will fix all the sides, Croatian style. Tomorrow we'll be having real Italian spaghetti. Croatia is right next to Italy so we have some pretty authentic cooks. Oh yea and real Italian isn't the same as the Olive Garden! :0) I personally prefer American Italian but that's a different thing!
Oh yea and Sunday night will be Goulash. The Northern part of Croatia was once part of the Hungarian Empire so they're pretty good at making Goulash too.
Should be some good eats!!

Oh yea and I'll be taking lots of photos too, so stay tuned!

Oh yea for all you Texans out there, look what I found. Did you know that there are blue, white and pink bonnets in Texas. All my years in Texas and I never saw a pink blue bonnet, :0) but they're real. Aren't they pretty. I actually have some blue bonnet seeds here in Croatia that I'm going to plant this year. Hey now that I think about it, there is probably a law against planting foreign florals, I bet, but ignorance is bliss!!

I read the "story" of how the pink bonnet came to be...They say that after the battle at the Alamo with Santa Ana, the pink bonnets were discovered growing down stream from the Alamo. They say the blood of those brave Texans colored the bonnets pink. In truth, the original pink bonnet was first found south of San Antonio growing along side the road. Very interesting.

Also they say that the flower of Texas isn't the blue bonnet but instead it's the species of bonnets that include all three colors (white, blue and pink). Just so you'd know!

Oh yea before I forget, Tracy over at Unless the Lord posted a wonderful tutorial for making a crochet needle case. I tried to make one of these the other day with out much success. I'm stubborn and tend to want to do things with out instruction and usually have to go back and redo it. So I'm going to redo it using Tracy's tut.

Happy Sewing!

Oh yea one more thing, I keep remembering all the things I wanted to tell y'all. :0)
There's a new craft blog for kids, The Craft Crow, it's really fun and has lots of links and ideas for things to do with the kids.

Praying you all have a great weekend and Lord's Day!!!

25 comments:

  1. The Flowers are beautiful...I know I have not commmented before on any of your blogs, but just recently I started reading them. I know a friend of yours, Theresa Brantley. I attend their church at Grace Baptist. She had mentioned prayer for you and your family in our mid-week service and thought to let you know that my husband, Troy Bailey, and I pray for your family. I also am a good friend of Lauren Brown (I grew up with her, went to the same church) and through her blogs I found yours. I love reading about your family and can't wait to read more.
    God Bless

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  2. Hey, Tori!
    Is that Bro. Bill Smith from Oklahoma? I'm pretty sure it is. He was just here a few weeks ago. He's a wonderful man of God, and we love him here.
    Y'all will have a great conference. Oh and the food sounds great too!

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  3. Looking forward to your pictures!

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  4. Anonymous5:03 PM

    Enjoy the conference, Tori!! :-)

    Kate

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  5. You're so crafty, Tori, that's such a great talent you have! Well, even though the needle case didn't work out this first time around, I know that you will figure it out -- can't wait to see pictures of your finished product! :~)

    Looking forward to hearing how your conference goes!

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  6. Have a great time with all your church stuff! I can't wait to see pictures! Will be praying that all goes well!

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  7. Busy yes..but what a blessing...
    and I for one, after spending 7 years in Northern Italy, prefer REAL Italian...molto bene....
    and I too saw Tracy's tutorial..so crafty both of you...
    Have a hreat weekend, I am sure I will love looking at the pictures.
    Deby

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  8. Anonymous9:26 PM

    I hope your meetings are wonderfully refreshing and the food sounds delicious.

    Many Blessings!
    Michele

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  9. Hannah,
    It's great to meet you. We were just at your hurch a year ago for youth camp, we had a ball.

    I just talked with Theresa, what a blessing she and Bro. Shane are to us.

    Are you kin to Pastor Bailey?

    Thanks so much for commenting, I sure appreciate it!!

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  10. Rhonda,
    Yes it is Bill Smith from Oklahoma. We don't know him well but we already like him.

    Now please, is this Rhonda in Chili? Surely not, please e-mail me and let me know who you are and where you are.
    Thanks!!

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  11. Hey, those pink bonnets--we call them Aggie bonnets!!!
    Karen

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  12. Your conference sounds interesting. I've never heard of a Spiritual Warfare Conference. You mentioned that the children couldn't wait to speak English with the other children coming. Do you speak English around the house or just when you're out?...curious. :)

    So is Olive Garden American Italian? And why do you prefer American Italian over Real Italian?...curious.

    Thanks for the craft link. Hannah will enjoy going over there.

    ~Kristi

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  13. Well, I'm another Texan that didn't know there were pink blue bonnets! :) I hope your conference goes well!

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  14. lol Yes I have seen the pink blue bonnets on the side of the road before. In fact I seen them just yesterday. They both are in full bloom right now.

    May the Lord bless Your church services. And in the middle of all the activity remember to have fun.

    Hugs

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  15. Tori,

    Oh, I love all the hustle and bustle of special meetings! I wish I were there with you helping. Before my husband pastored in Georgia, we worked as "home" missionaries at a youth camp. In the spring time they hold a camp meeting. As a matter of fact, it's going on right now. Anyway, it was a very busy time of preparation and cleaning, then finally the meeting came and I spent 90% of that in the kitchen helping to feed the 300 plus folks that came through. Sitting around 50 lbs of potatoes, with a pairing knife in hand, I had some great conversations with some awesome women of God. Some edifying, and some funny.....oh...I'm getting a little homesick!

    My kids loved browsing through the crafty crow....we'll play a little later!

    Thanks.....
    Nina

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  16. Anonymous4:07 PM

    Hope you have a wonderful weekend!! Will be praying for your conference.I was wondering.. what is the predominant religion in Croatia, and are the people open to the Gospel?
    Also, Shelby( my daughter is 9 and will LOVE the link to the craft crow)so, thanks in advance for that!!

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  17. Hey, Tori! Its me! Rhonda from Chile. Remember IHOP?

    We got back to Chile in Jan, Bro, Smith was here in March
    I've know Bro. Smith sincde I was a young teenager, he has ministered here in CHile for years.

    Please give him our best.

    Rhonda

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  18. Anonymous5:13 AM

    I love those various-colored blue bonnets - they area beautiful!

    I remember having real italian pizza when in Croatia years ago, and it was different. Someone else on our team had a pizza that had an egg cracked on top of it, right in the middle, and as I remember not really cooked through either. Definitely not American Italian!

    Have a great conference!
    Karen

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  19. My son attends the same Bible Collage as two of the Fraunhoffer girls. I believe it is the same family anyway.

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  20. I am Wes Bailey's new daughter in law. : ) Troy and I got married back in October. I absolutly love the Bailey family and am honored to be a part. Theresa and I have become good friends and spend some time together. I love her children and Bro. Shane. I have grown to love the people here at Grace and am making an effort to get to know the missionaries that we support and pray for. I do have an email address if you want to keep contact that way... trophyofgrace7@bellsouth.net...I don't want to take up space on your blogs. Troy and I will be moving soon (Nov.1st) to Arizona. Going to help a church out there. Not so sure if I will have email access, but I hope to stay in touch somehow. Have a great day! Praying for you.

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  21. Hi Tori! Thanks for the Crafty Crow link - so many neat projects to try! We made papier mache bowls today.

    What beautiful blue bonnets! I remember the first or second spring we were here, I was so very homesick. I was having a tough time, and missing Texas. And you know what the Lord did? The field all around our house came up in - you guessed it - blue bonnets! It was such a sweet blessing from the Lord. He cares about such things.

    I pray God will bless the Spiritual Warfare Conference. Such an important subject, especially in these dark latter days!

    Love you -
    Tammy

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  22. Hannah,
    After thinking about it I deduced that you were probably married to Bro. Bailey's son. Congratulations on your marriage.

    Good luck on your move and new life in Arizona!

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  23. What a wonderful network of friends and supporters you have here. Isn't the blog world a blessing!
    ~Elaine~

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  24. Have a wonderful time at the conference! I saw *pink* bluebonnets for the first time this year..they are so pretty!
    ~Kelli

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Hey thanks in advance for leaving a comment, sure do appreciate it!!