Greetings from Arizona!

Hello from the sunny state of Arizona!
The picture above is of Christa on North Mountain here in Phoenix! (you can click on the photo to make it larger.) One of our sending churches here flew our family out for Dad to be the speaker at their missions conference. We have had a wonderful time blowing and going, catching up with friends and ministry partners, and getting reacquainted with the city of Phoenix! (where Dad lived for 11 years, and Christa and I were born!)
We have had several exciting ministry opportunities too, so we plan to post a detailed update and pictures from our trip once we get back, but for now, I thought I would post a couple pictures of my surprise birthday present that I received on Sunday (we had a family b-day celebration the day before we left, since it would be too hard to lug our presents with us on the plane! :))
Now, this b-day present was very special, b/c I've been dreaming about it for maybe 2 years now! I was not expecting to get this present at all, b/c all of my family members were so good at keeping the secret, (yes, even my dad, who has accidentally blown many a surprise in the past! lol :))
Drum roll please...........................


That's right! I am going to learn to play the cello!!!!!!!!! I was so excited, I started crying like a baby when I realized what in the world was going on! :)
Probably most of you got the e-mail my parents sent out asking if anyone happened to have a cello that they weren't using anymore and that they would want to loan us. They knew it was going to be a long shot, but our awesome God provided. Well, a woman that we had not seen for several years ended up responding to their e-mail, saying that she played the cello, and she had her old high school cello that she would be happy to loan us until I am able to get my own! She was so sweet - she even wrote me a note telling me the story of this cello! Apparently, it was found in an attic in Minnesota in the 1970's, and was lovingly reconstructed before she bought it!
At any rate, I am quite the happy camper, and can't wait to start the lessons my parents have set up for me shortly after we get back!
So the moral of this story is: number one: God is awesome, and number two: ask and you shall receive! :)