Merry Christmas!

"...I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10

The Wedding

This Christmas season has found the Hitch family wildly busy with much more than the holidays! Lacey and Brandon's wedding is coming up in only six days...and we are all pitching in to make it the best day possible. This month has been crowded with bridal showers, trips to the seamstress, hauling pickups full of Lacey's things to their new house in Mullen, making dozens of lists, planning lodging arrangements, schedules, dinners, flowers, decorations, cakes, food, slideshows, music, programs, shoes, vehicles, hair-dos...the list is much longer than we realized! It's been a lot of fun, and Brandon and Lacey have done a good job keeping everyone relaxed and as stress-free as possible.

During this busy time, we would appreciate your prayers for:

• Good weather on December 29th
• Traveling safety for all those coming from long distances
• That everything would come together smoothly on the 28th and 29th
• Time to finish everything that still needs to be done!
• And most of all, the opportunity to cherish the time we have at home, the holidays and Lacey's last week living Martell.

Keep checking back for pictures of the big day!

Pacific Coast Cruise!

It was our great privilege to travel aboard the Vision of the Seas cruise ship, leaving port at Los Angeles, CA, and tour the Pacific coast south to San Diego, Catalina Island, Ensanada, Mexico, and back to Los Angeles. God miraculously provided our passage and an amazing group of believers to travel with and share this memorable trip.

Our Royal Caribbean cruise ship anchored in the harbor
at Catalina Island, California

At the pier in San Diego, the boys pose in front of the boardwalk.(l-r) Nick, John Geist, Lucas (back), Bristol, Sterling and Blake


This is our version of a "Post-Modern" cell group! We were on the beach at Coronado Island, in the bay of San Diego, and EVERYONE had a cell phone! I guess it's a sign of the times, and I couldn't resist staging this shot of our California "cell group"!

We have been to San Diego many times before, and so made arrangements to meet up with friends from Nick's college, and long-time friend, Pam Nutt, and explore Coronado Island together. The sky was overcast (fires!) the weather cool, but the guys combed the beach and came back with dozens of beautiful sand dollars. Great fellowship enjoying God's creation and one another's friendship.

Kathy with lifelong friend, Pam Nutt. We spent every moment possible together. Pam serves as Nick's "California Mom" while he is in college.

The photos below are taken on 'formal' night on the ship. It is the most exciting evening because everyone wears formal dress, and for us, it is a rare opportunity to truly enjoy the evening's formalities. Great food, great company, great atmosphere, great blessings!

Nick

Havilah and Sterling

Kathy and Jim

Blake

Avery

Lacey

Bristol

It was a pleasure to have my sister, Cindi, join us on the cruise. We consider her an honorary member of the band!

One of the best parts of this cruise was the teaching done by Mike Wascher, Administrative Pastor of Foothills Christian Church in El Cajon, California. Mike gave our group deep spiritual insights on living our Christian lives outside the comfort zone, and beyond the predictable confines of our personal relationship with Christ. He did an astounding job of stepping up to the plate when our scheduled speaker cancelled due to an acute illness at the last moment. We appreciate you very much, Mike!

Mike Wascher taught the Simple Grace tour participants every evening after dinner!

Our goal for the cruise was to offer a retreat for everyone involved, giving them time for family and friends, music and ministry, focused teaching and an opportuntiy to enjoy God's creation along the beautiful Pacific coast. We were unexpectedly approached by the Entertainment Director of Royal Caribbean, and requested to give a 90-minute concert in the centrum of the ship, which is the center stage area which is surrounded by balconies and glass elevators. This was an amazing opportunity to share our Christian witness with the ship's guests and employees in the busiest crossroads of the ship. We had a great audience and our family was so humbled by the way God opened that door for our ministry just out of the blue! The crew even announced on the public broadcast system of the entire ship that our family was giving the concert. It is just unheard of to do such a thing! Quite a privilege perfectly orchestrated by God.

Our family on the stairs of the centrum on formal night. Our next blog will announce Lacey's wedding plans for December the 29th, 2007! We were bittersweet about this being our last family trip with all of us together. Great memories were certainly made together!

The photos below were taken in the centrum stage area during the concert there. We were just so blessed to be there!

Nick joined us as a guest for this trip, and we were thrilled as always to have him included with Simple Grace Ministries!

Our stateroom attendant was a man from Costa Rica whose father is a pastor, but who had not committed his life to Jesus Christ. Several members of our group shared the love of God with him, and before we disembarked, prayed with him. The Activities and Entertainment Director of the ship was also a Christian woman who showered our family with gifts and thank you's as we left the ship. We truly savored the grace and presence of Jesus Christ during that short week on board the Vision of the Seas.

Christ visited that ship with us; all glory and praise and thanks to Him, and to Him alone!

Our stateroom attendant surprised each guest with a different "towel animal" each evening. This was for Jim and I the night before we left the ship. Little things make the time so special. (those were our sunglasses he found in our room)

Next time, Lacey and Brandon's wedding announcement! We are a busy family preparing for the wedding of our eldest daughter, Lacey!

Arizona and California (Fires!)

"The wilderness and the desert willl be glad, and the desert will rejoice and blossom:" Is. 35:1

Our first ministry stop was scheduled in Sierra Vista, Arizona. We were very close to the Mexico border, and enjoyed the Southwest flavor of the region. We shared great times and meals with good friends, the Wright family, from Sonoita. The boys shot blue rock (and other unfortunate targets) and had a great time doing 'guy' stuff. Everyone was very impressed with Mike's Wright's ten-in-a-row record! The Hitch boys didn't do too badly, either!

We were scheduled to minister in California during that first week, but the wildfires began that weekend, and we were advised to stay in Arizona until things were under control. Our Friday night concert was cancelled.

Our family and friends hiked at Catalina Park near Tucson, Arizona. It was a very warm day, and we were lured on by the promise of a deep and cool pool of water further up the trail. Promise fulfilled! Most everyone jumped in the cold water (some jumped 25 feet off the rocks into a deep pool that no one could ever find the bottom of!) and finished the hike back down very refreshed.

This photograph may not look like much, but it is an actual photograph of the sky over the desert the day we hiked! It was absolutely astounding!

This is a photo of the camp set up for firefighters.

When we did get to El Cajon, California, Foothills Church, where we stayed, was directly across the street from the Firefighter's Camp. There were hundreds of firefighters staying in the tents pictured above and below. Every evening, dozens of helicopters would fly over us and land nearby to rest for the night. Fire engines would come in for the night in long lines, full of weary firefighters.
The air quality was so bad, we had great difficulty singing from the very first day we arrived in El Cajon. Our eyes burned and our throats were dry and irritated. It was the poor air quality that caused schools to be closed and many people to be displaced. We were thrilled to be with our son, Nick, who joined us in Arizona because his college classes were all cancelled and the campus was closed. We were grieved about the loss of life and property in the area.

The firefighters camp in El Cajon housed hundreds.

Community support was impressive and genuine. At times there were more firefighters than there was equipment and they were forced to wait for the rigs to come back in to work them. Notice the heavy smoke hanging over this photo.

By the time we left El Cajon ten days later, this camp was nearly abandoned. Most of the tents were removed as the fires were brought under control. It was almost a culture shock to experience the California fires. Nebraska has its own threats, but none like this! We heard many stories of how God worked in people's lives during this tense time. Many people came to the local churches seeking spiritual consolation and direction, too. It was humbling to see such mighty power displayed by nature in spite of man's attempts to take control of it.

We had many great concerts in the El Cajon area, and met up with old friends whom we deeply appreciate. God used the music to encourage our audiences and share His love during difficult times. We were so honored to be there.

Kathy

Fall Highlights 'n Catchin' Up!

"My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness." II Cor. 12:9

It's a LONG time between posts! Where has the Hitch family been? Many, many miles since we last wrote here, and we aim to catch up! With wedding plans a-buzzing, and over 7,000 miles traveled on our last Pacific Coast tour, we have been out of touch with the blogging world. This is Kathy posting, and I must admit I'm very new at this, but when your oldest daughters begin lots of adult activities, they haven't much time for journaling the family events! I guess I'm taking over! Patience is the word please, so here we go. . .

Lacey demonstrated a rich chocolate dessert with Carolee, the Pampered Chef rep, who hosted a wedding shower for her. The guests made all of Lacey's wishes come true! She and Brandon were humbled by the outpouring of generosity.

Shower guests Sammy, Havilah, Avery, Carolee, Lacey and DanDee share a happy moment.

Our family helped to celebrate Jim's mom's 80th birthday on October the 19th. It was a pleasure to honor her for her beautiful spirit and loving touch on all of our lives.

We left that same night for Arizona, beginning our Pacific tour. But, before we left . . .

. . . . . Sterling finished training his registered paint mare, and sold her to a wonderful home. She's a good horse with a lot of promise.

We packed up the bus for south Arizona weather, southern California weather, Oregon and Washington-in-November weather, Rocky Mountain Montana weather, North and South Dakota weather, Pacific Cruise necessities, Baha Mexico seaports and what ended up to be California wildfire weather! What a difficult task to have everything on board for so many destinations during one month!

God took care of our every need and we are so thankful for His grace and provision during the trip. He gave us opportunities to share His love that were simply amazing.

More details forthcoming!

Kathy

Home Improvement

This month we've been blessed to be around home long enough to get some overdue home improvement projects finished! From clearing out trees to roofing to carpeting the living room it's been a welcome adventure.

Lucas, Blake, Sterling and Brandon put in long, hot (!) hours roofing the north side of the house.

Lacey, Avery and Havilah were the clean-up crew!

Inside, we had a carpet remnant laid in the living room. It was a big job finding a place in the house for all the furniture while the carpet was being laid.

The light carpet makes a huge difference!

Halsey '07

What does a week full of camping, intertubing, fires, bike rides, fishing, food and swimming mean to you? For us it's Halsey 2007!

Every summer Mom's parents and siblings meet in Halsey, Nebraska, to enjoy an entire week of time together. This year there were 31 1/2 of us altogether.

Cousins Mackenzie, Sarah and Madison

Nick was able to come home for the week of Halsey. It made our week complete!

Lots of people means lots of food

Cousins Sonya (with Baby Reynolds), Sarah and Connie



Intertubing down the Middle Loup River...we did it at least every day!

Even Grandma went down the river with us! What a trooper!

Havilah and Sarah getting ready to go tubing

This year the boys set off on a new venture. They drove far into the hills away from the campground and spent the night under the stars. They were freezing and starving when they came home the next morning but they made some good memories.

A whole clan of boy cousins. L-R: Triston, Bristol, Paul, Ashton, Sterling and Matthew

Thank you, God, for family!