In Memory

We received word yesterday that Dave Fagan, one of Darren's professors from Sonshine School of Evangelism and the co-director of TNT Ministries, had passed away. Dave was diagnosed with cancer in May of this year. Dave was an awesome teacher, a kind man, and a great Christian. He was such an inspiration to us. He walked, talked, slept, ate and breathed his Christianity. He will be sorely missed but we know he is in a much better place. Our sympathy goes out to his wife, Teresa, and the rest of Dave's family. We love you all.

Prayer Request

We got a call Thursday evening saying that the five year old daughter of our good friends, Arnold and Judy Howell, was being taken to UK Children's Hospital. Many of you know Arnold and his family. He is the evangelist at Petersville Church of Christ. Apparently, Melody had been sick and a blood test revealed a high white blood count. She underwent tests yesterday at UK and they have determined that she has leukemia. The type she has is ALL. We went up to see them today and they are doing as well as can be expected. Melody was really sore today from the bone marrow biopsy they did yesterday. They are starting chemotherapy treatments today and she will have to be in the hospital at least 28 days. My heart just breaks when I think about all they have to go through and face.

According to Arnold they will be doing another biopsy next week to see how she is responding to the chemo. Apparently, how well the disease responds to the chemo during this first week will determine her chances for a cure/remission. So please be praying hard this week that the drugs they give her will go to work on this disease in a big way! Also keep Arnold and Judy in your prayers, but especially Judy. As a mom I can't even begin to imagine how hard this is going to be for her.

It's Official

Darren went to the clerk's office this morning to register his scooter. The clerk told him there was another form that needed to be signed by the dealer. Yikes! But they allowed us to fax it to the dealer and then the dealer faxed it back to the clerk. Voila! License plate in hand he then proceeded to the circuit clerk's office to find out when he could take his test for his motorcycle license. As luck would have it the guy that gives the test was still there so he put the tag on the scooter and took his test....and yes, he passed. So, he is now the licensed driver of a licensed scooter. As we speak he is on his first scooter trip out to his moms to look at her mower. Look out world!

This Could Have Been Darren

I found this video on Youtube. I cracked up when I watched it. It may as well have said, "Starring Darren Fizer.

He has gone to the clerk's office to try to get it licensed right now. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Scooter Woes

For those of you who haven't been privileged enough to live through Darren's road to scooter ownership let me bring you up to speed in the events that have led up to this, the "most depressing day" of Darren's life.

About 2-1/2 to 3 months ago Darren became convinced that we could save a small fortune in gasoline if he only had a scooter. Suddenly every third word out of his mouth was "scooter." He started researching them on the internet, visiting local motorcycle dealers, and looking at scooters on eBay. All he wanted to talk about was scooters. He figured that for every 1000 miles he drove on a scooter we would save $100 in gas and yada, yada, yada... I got so tired of hearing about scooters I finally told him that I didn't want to hear the word ever again. I explained to him that there was no money in the budget to finance his scooter dreams. You see, my husband has caviar dreams on a pb and j budget. Foolishly, I thought I could hold him at bay. I told him that if (and when) we sold the Durango he could get a scooter. After nearly 20 years of marriage one would think that I would know better. He found the perfect "deal" on a brand new 250cc scooter on eBay. Now this scooter was chinese made and while they look identical to the Honda and Suzuki models they cost about 1/2 as much. So after all of his whining, crying and belly aching I finally broke down and allowed him to purchase a scooter. That was July 15th. We anxiously awaited the arrival of the scooter. Fifteen days later, the scooter arrived.....damaged......on the day we were to leave for Hillsboro Family Camp. It had broken loose in the crate and the paint was scratched so we began the process of dealing with that. Meanwhile, we are told by the dealer that the MSO (Manufacturer's Statement of Origin) is mailed under separate cover. So while we waited for the MSO (which we have to have to get the scooter licensed) Darren took short rides up and down our road and across Grassy Knoll just to get a feel for the scooter. To make a long story short, we've fussed and threatened, and finally today after a month and a half we received the MSO today. Darren was so excited. He was like a little kid at Christmas. I went to Maysville to get the insurance on it so he could go license it. You know when you hear the insurance agent say "uh oh" that it's not a good sign. She couldn't get the computer to take the VIN. It seems that all VIN numbers have 17 characters and the VIN on the MSO only has 16 characters. So, I had to call Darren and break the news that the MSO was wrong. Sure enough, a check of the plate on the scooter shows that there is indeed a letter missing from the VIN. Now, a deep depression has settled over Darren. I called the insurance agent back and gave her the missing letter and she was able to write the policy. Darren is going to the clerk's office in the morning to try to license it but I expect they'll tell him that he has to have a corrected MSO so we'll be back to square one. He is concerned that it is going to be winter before he gets the scooter licensed and can ride it. As far as I'm concerned, that should be the least of his worries. All I have to say is that I hope they make snow tires for the sucker!

Available At Last

We've finally gotten the Gospel Man & Bible Boy episodes from VBS up on the church's website. Just go to http://www.newlifecoc.org/ and click on the link that says "click here to watch." You have to have a divx player installed on your computer if you don't already but there's a link right on our webpage to install the player. There are 5 episodes in all and more in the works for next year. Enjoy!

Iraq Update

Rob and the rest of his unit are now in Camp Taji. They are all doing well and are going about the job that they were sent to do. Please continue to keep all of them in your prayers as the work they do is very dangerous.

If you would like to send him a card I'm sure he would love to hear from you. His address is:

Robert B Hughes
B BTRY 2/138th FA
Camp Taji
APO AE 09378