Week in the Sugarbush

After 9 weeks of AGENDA events we had a wonderful break 
in Upper Peninsula Michigan helping in our friends' sugarbush.

Kicked off our time with a jam session, where it became quite apparent that Cass needed new strings.
They were kindly replaced (all of them) and the strumming and singing continued!

18 of us all piled in for a happy trip to incredible Bond Falls!

Absolutely beautiful and so peaceful.

Hmmm. A picture's worth 1000 words?

Sisters having a lovely chat.

Brothers. Still have too much energy!

A most lovely spot for a date with 16 other people!

Tallest to smallest. Way too cute.

World Famous Mac N' Cheese

Worth the trip and the border crossing (ha) just to smell this cooking: three sticks of butter, 
bacon, half+half, heavy whipping cream, cheese, cheese, cheese, panko and pasta. 
The return to our leafy green smoothies was abrupt. And painful. :)

Yummy food + hard working hungry boys. Perfect!

Sweetness abounds.

Wild rounds of "Ruckus" and "Catan" after a busy day.

Very fun...marshmallows, fire, sticks, s'mores. Love it!!

Family devotions each morning. So blessed to share time in God's Word.

Snow! Yahoo!

Keeping track of the family businesses. Love the walkie-talkie. :)

Crosby and Bethany. Way too much fun.

Out in the sugarbush. Harvest ended because of the warm weather just before we got there. 
7500 taps to remove. Quite the family project!!

260 beautiful acres of this!!

And...a snake. Thankfully the snakes in 
UP are safe so Christian adopted this one for the picture.

One shift of tap pullers heading home. Sweaty, dirty and happy after 7 hours out in the bush.

Where the sap gets boiled.

Some of the syrup heading to maple sugar.

Bottles ready to be filled!

The other team: bottling newly harvested maple syrup.

If you need the world's best Maple Syrup, go to: PaulFamilySugarbush

 Maple Sugar

Soooooo delicious!!

Maple Barbecue Rub and Seasoning Salt, Maple Sugar and Maple Coated Pecans. YUM!

Lina and Cass took photos for their family band. 
Bowers boys got be cool musicians for one brief moment.

Frisbee. Sweat, run, yell, threaten, score. Such a loving game. :) 
Incredibly beautiful in the middle of nowhere!!

Sweetness!

You know you're loved when...folks wash your dirty bus!! 

Climbing around ice covered steps is no small thing. 
Happy everyone made it down. And back!
Most grateful for the Lord's goodness to us through these very adventurous friends!

April Favorites

What would we do with out push-up piles in church parking lots? :) 
Always in search of ways use up loads of energy.
On our way through Oklahoma. 

Celebrating Carolina's 21st Birthday!
 So love her heart for truth, the ways she blesses so many with her creativity, 
and the humor she brings to our family party. :) 

 More Happy Birthday time with 30,000 pairs of boots! Lina says she's not a boot girl, but they sure smell nice.

The joys of living life on the road with a filmmaker. 
Just finished the SPANISH version of AGENDA 2.
We praise the Lord for some incredible friends who 
sponsored the translation and 29 actors to do the parts.

Finding unique ways to stay alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic before talks!

ICHE convention in Southern Illinois.
One of Daddy's breakout sessions called "Integrating Your Children into Your Life's Work."

Apparently not everyone runs out of energy after a busy day! 

A "Ruckus & Smoothie Party" in the bus with the littles one evening.

Q & A after showing in Topeka, KS.
Praise the Lord for opportunities to proclaim His name! 
THANK YOU for your prayers!

Our directors of sales and marketing!

Set up two  tables and had a little sibling contest to see who got the most people to stop by. :)

Amazing how the Lord kindly schedules our mechanical crises on off days.
This one was like Noah's Ark with lots and lots of water from....not sure where!
 Learning new skills every day.

Love the happy parks along the way for littles to burn energy. 
God has provided so many neat opportunities to share the gospel 
as well as "mini counseling sessions" with mothers watching their children.

You can never have too much Butter.Yep. That's his nickname. :)

Two sweet sisters we spent time with in South Africa earlier this year 
surprised us with an amazing, lovely box full of beanies they HANDMADE for EACH of us!!

Stopped in TN for a couple days to reload AGENDA products & rebuild our trailer. 
We had quite the time with boxes flying everywhere for the first 6 weeks.
Thankful for Carver who fixes just about everything!

 Carver's visionary way of getting things figured out. :)

We got a fabulous country fix at our sweet friends' TN farm.
Tree pulling, log chopping, puppy holding, grass mowing, field tilling, etc. 
So happy!

Note the sign. They did (eventually) give us permission!

Kicked off our 8th week of traveling with wonderful friends at their lovely farm in Iowa! 

Impromptu interview by the Dads for some friends in MI. 
They sure are energetic, don't you think?! :)   

Andy Griffith! Always a hoot to meet families who appreciate 
Barney Fife and Mayberry as much as we do. 

Great event at a Middle School on Saturday morning in MN

Thankful for kind folks who take fuzzy iPhone photos for us. :)
Thinking Crosby found a bug on the floor? 
Oh dear. Working on our stage presence!

Speaking in MN

Our other sales and marketing team.

Following one of our events we got to tour the
Mystical Rose Gardens greenhouse. Absolutely beautiful!

Backstage fellowship and prayer time. 

People are so amazing to set up events like this for us every night! 
We praise the Lord for faithful organizers that make this truly a team effort.

Because bus hub caps are just big enough for a fun picture. 
And Charlie has decided we gals need HELP with this blog!? :)

Walking to the lake in Maple Hill, MN

Love, love, love our littles!

Thankful for wonderful meals and happy fellowship with our MN friends!

Most of them and us. :)

Their boys kindly gave ours a tour of the fire station. 
And let them try the gear. AND honk the horn on the fire truck! Wahoo!! 

Another great evening event.
We can truly see the Lord orchestrating every step of the way.

A very rare moment: flying out the door to sing and we all landed in one selfie?
Thankful for services at one of our favorite churches in Appleton, WI.