The Dyrud's Great Adventure

I love to watch children at Christmas. The world seems new with the snow and lights and decorations; there are special times of staying up late, sitting by the tree or fireplace, drinking hot chocolate and sharing stories or watching a favorite Christmas movie.  And, of course, there are presents :-) Presents from family and friends, presents that the children have picked out and wrapped to give to a special pal or sibling. And for as wonderful as those presents are, the best present was given to us many years ago when Jesus was born. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 " For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast."   The gift of God was given to us that day, long ago so that we could spend eternity in Heaven. When you receive a gift from a family member or friend, you didn't do anything to earn that gift; they give you that gift because they love you and care...

Today is America's 240th Birthday. A lot has happened in the last 240 years, lots to be proud of and thankful for and lots that should cause us to give pause and reflect. Men and women have sacrificed their lives on both foreign and  home soil to ensure that we have the freedoms we enjoy today. In today's world, many of these freedoms are under attack and we must remain vigilant to continue the fight for liberty. As Thomas Jefferson so powerfully observed, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator" - not by kings, not by queens, not by a president, but by their Creator – "with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."(shared from a post by Ted Cruz) May we fight to be One Nation Under God; may we think of the future of our children and grand-children and great-grandchildren and may God continue to bless America. Take 12 minutes...

We spent most of May in Southern California visiting family, friends and ministry supporters. What a refreshing time we had! It was a busy trip; we saw 35+ families during our 3 weeks in town and we enjoyed trips to the beach and the San Diego Zoo as well. We also celebrated Jaycee's 5th Birthday with both sets of grandparents and Jaycee enjoyed her long awaited trip to Disneyland with Nana (Tammi's Mom). We returned home to Idaho on Memorial Day and then we enjoyed a two day home school conference last weekend. Next week we have MAF Family Conference to look forward to, the week after that, Rodney and I will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary and then the kids begin two weeks of swim lessons to finish out the month. I think we'll need a vacation in July :-)                                      ...

Last weekend, Jaycee had decided that she wanted to try and ride her bike without training wheels. So Rodney removed the training wheels and she had fun trying to ride her bike like big brother. The weather has been nice this week so today we decided to go for a bike ride to the park. We went to the garage to get the bikes and I discovered that Jaycee's training wheels were still off her bike. She tried to ride the bike but it turned frustrating very quickly. Justice offered to put the training wheels back on her bike so that she could ride it and I (under estimating his ability) called Rodney at work and asked him to talk me through putting the training wheels back on the bike. (Remember, I'm NOT the mechanic in the family) :-) After listening to Rodney's instructions over the phone, JUSTICE found the correct tool in Rodney's tool kit and put the training wheels back on Jaycee's bike ALL BY HIMSELF!!! Jaycee was so excited to be able to ride her bike again a...

Happy New Year; we hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas celebration with family and friends. It was very cold last week here in Nampa (in the mid teens and twenties during the day) so we've been doing more indoor activities...... although the kids love to get bundled up and play outside for a few minutes :-)                                                 Building a rocket ship out of cardboard boxes   Justice has been enjoying a Parkour class once a week (it's a great way for him to get his energy out!)                   Jaycee enjoyed a 'Frozen' inspired dance class last week during Christmas vacation. Today we started home school again and...

Have you ever wondered what a typical work day looks like at the US Headquarters in Nampa, Idaho? Ever wonder what the guys in the hangar do all day or what the folks in the office participate in? This short video gives a glimpse into our life here.( Look closely and see if you can find someone you know) :-) We are blessed to have so many people who give of their finances sacrificially and who spend hours praying for us. Thanks for your participation in the ministry of Mission Aviation Fellowship; it is because of your faithfulness that the good news of Jesus Christ continues to be proclaimed to the ends of the earth! Blessings, Tammi, Rodney, Justice and Jaycee

Hi everyone! We are enjoying a wonderful summer :-) We attended a Christian homeschool convention in Nampa during the first week of June and the second week of June found the kids at Vacation Bible School at our church. We enjoyed a visit from some dear friends from California yesterday and for the rest of this week we will participate in the annual MAF Family Conference! The following week will find us celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary and then on the 6th and 7th of July we will head to Salt Lake City, Utah to meet with some facial nerve specialists in regards to Jaycee's cheek. Thank you for your continued prayers over Jaycee's health situation. We are praying for wisdom for these doctors as they seek to determine how to best help Jaycee. We are also praying for safety as we drive to Utah (but we are thankful that it's only a 1 day drive as opposed to the 3 days it takes us to get to Minnesota) :-) Also, check out our updated MAF webpage when you get a chance! h...