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July 2019 Amazon Update!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers for the National Conference that was held at our church. It was a lot of work to make this event happen, but in the end, it was great. I believe we had over 300 people in attendance. This was a chore as many of them came from out of town and we had to organize their housing, and meals.

We were blessed to have our Pastors, Rich and Marlene Nathan from Vineyard Columbus come and teach our group. Marlene shared about women in leadership to women leaders, and Rich taught our group various subjects such as:

· Helping your church to Grow by Becoming More Invitational
· Constructing a more integral church
· Why the Vineyard Church must not stop growing
· Passing the Torch to the Next Generation
· What I Say to a Young Leader

These messages were so encouraging and timely for our group of leaders. At the end of every service, practically everyone in attendance was coming up for prayer to receive more from God to become a better pastor / leader or they were praying for others.

In addition to the great teachings, the time of worship was incredible, and the time to connect with the community of believers was so encouraging and uplifting both emotionally, and spiritually.

Literally, stepping on the heels of the conference, we had a Dentist team of 10 people from Brasilia. Our house was hustling and bustling to accommodate the team, and the people from the conference. I think we had at 1 time over 20 people staying in our house. The dentist team went to a remote community called Maribel where it took around 5 hours to drive 100 km. We have a church in Maribel and we used the church to serve the people of the community. It was another amazing time of serving the community and helping people with dental needs that otherwise would not be able to get easy access to this care. In the few short days the volunteer dentist team served hundreds of people doing cleanings, repairing cavities, pulling teeth, and repairing teeth. It is amazing what the dentist can do with limited resources. It is an incredible work and we pray the Lord’s continued hand upon them all. It has been a pleasure partnering with our sister church in Brasilia to serve the people, and share Jesus Christ. They will be coming back in September to work with our missionary Richie Bouthillier in Portel.

Alyssa just celebrated her 12^thbirthday on July 4^th. She had been talking about learning an instrument and she wanted to learn the Ukulele. We were able to get one for her recently and she has been playing it so much. She has been watching YouTube videos on her Ipad to learn. We are very excited for her. Camilly, not to be outdone, is starting back with the keyboard. Her cousin Apolana is teaching her. Here is a picture of Camilly with Angelita at the new SpiderMan movie.

Please pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Jun, 26

June 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

As always, thank you for your prayers and support. They are greatly appreciated.

These last few months have been super busy, very tiring, but tremendously fruitful and fun. It has been great to watch our church continue to grow. We also are continuing to see new people choosing to follow Jesus. And little Jonas is growing and getting around far more easily.

These blessings all bring new challenges. As our church grows and new people choose to follow Jesus, it requires us to develop new systems for pastoral care and the need to train more leaders!

Also, as Jonas grows and gets around more easily, which of course is a joy, our little guy really keeps Denise and me on our toes trying keeping up with him. (We love being parents!)

Just this month, we also had the opportunity to host a team led by my brother JT from our home church, Vineyard Church Delaware County. We had so much fun spending time with the team – and my brother . Their ministry and relational investment were a great blessing to the churches they visited.

The day after the team left, we took a line boat (the equivalent of a Greyhound Bus on the Amazon River) to a city 300 miles away. We are attending Intervinha, the yearly conference for all the Vineyards in Northern Brazil. When we return, we will be ready for some rest!

Below are some pictures of our time from the team from VCDC.

VCDC Team

During our time in Macapá and at Viva Vineyard

Praying for needs around Macapá

We took a line boat to Gurupá

Gurupá Vineyard

Having fun with the team

A few more pics

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for wisdom in pastoring our growing our church.
Pray grace as Denise and I balance ministry and family life.
Pray financial provision for the growing needs of our church and family.

We are looking forward to returning to Ohio for furlough beginning in September. It’s hard to believe it’s been 2 years since we’ve been back. We can’t wait to see many of you then.

Thanks again for your prayers and support. We love hearing from you!

In His Service,

Christopher and Denise

https://xingu.org/opportunities/giving/meyer-ministries/

June 2019 Amazon Update

The church is doing well and 2 highlights were that we celebrated Mother’s day and had a baptism. The Mother’s day service was really special and Elba continued her teaching series about family, marriage, children and the challenges that we face daily. After the service we prayed for the Moms and then setup a section in the church for them to sit and enjoy a snack. The husbands, and singles served the Mom’s and there were lots of smiles and laughter.

We also had a baptism at the church. The church gets so excited for baptisms. During our baptism the worship band was playing and singing, and the children clamor to the front to get a better view. I love the symbolism of letting the person be completely immersed in water being baptized into Jesus’ death on the cross and no longer being slaves to self or sin. When they are raised out of the water they are raised into a new life in Christ and are with Him forever. Praise the Lord for these 7 people that made this public declaration of faith. Each of the people being baptized wore a shirt saying “I Decided”.

Elba was invited to speak at one of the universities from one of Camilly’s teachers at her school. Camilly’s teacher teaches at this university as well as Camilly’s school. Even though the universities are secular, she went and spoke about Christ and the role that Christians play in serving the community and helping the poor. The talk was well received and they asked her to come back and share again. Let’s see how this will materialize itself.

The girls are just finishing up school for about a month break. They do not get the summer breaks like in the States. I believe that they will be starting back to school in the beginning of August. Even though it will be short, they are looking forward to having the time off. Here is a picture of Apolana, Camilly and Alyssa making parmesan chicken. Alyssa is the official taste tester. For the record, it is really good. They are getting so big.

Thank you for your prayers for Elba. She has been feeling much better. Please pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.

Please also pray for us, and the church, as we will be hosting our National Conference for the North called InterVinha. We are fortunate and excited to have our Pastors Rich and Marlene Nathan and family come and be the main speaker.

Much love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

May 2019 Amazon Update!!!

In the previous last 2 monthly blog updates I have written about our campaign to increase the number of home groups in the church. To recap, the idea was to have Elba create a video series called the “The Real Jesus” based off The Vineyard Columbus rendition. We would then distribute the DVD to members of the congregation that are willing to open up their home, serve a snack, and play the DVD. We worked hard to produce the videos weekly and we got them completed.

1. The historic Jesus

2. Jesus the Master

3. Jesus the Sufferer

4. Jesus the Healer

5. Jesus the King

During the campaign we created over 20 new groups. This was very exciting and we were wondering if any of these home groups would continue meeting together after the campaign. We are happy to report that 7 groups made commitments to continue to meet together. We are very surprised by the result and look forward to seeing how these groups will mature, create community, and disciples. In addition, some other churches are asking for the videos that were created so they could do the same campaign. Awesome!!!

The Easter weekend service went very well and we had a large turnout not only for the evening service, but for the early morning service as well. We encouraged our members to bring their friends to come and celebrate. In the morning service, we had a nice time of worship, shared the Word of God and then we ate breakfast together. It was a lot of fun, a lot of food, and a labor of love. In the evening service, Camilly was part of dance team that performed for the church. They practiced really hard and the result proved in their performance. We were glad to see some new faces come to the church to celebrate Easter together. It was a great service to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. Praise the Lord!

Our church is committed to mission and one of the places that we go to frequently is a place called the Suribim. It is about 100 kilometers away from the church and they have been thriving in this remote community. However, some sin issues have presented themselves in the community and it has caused problems within the congregation. Sometimes within these remote communities it is not unheard of for people to take the matters into their own hand to administer justice. Sometimes this justice leads to death. We believe that Jesus has touched a majority of the people in this community and he is changing people from the inside out. It is amazing how when Jesus is introduced into a community and people take hold of His good news, a people group is changed…as well as the community. However, we still ask you to pray for this community for healing and reconciliation. The first picture is of Elba’s twin sister, Nira.

As mentioned above, Camilly was a part of dance team and they performed really well and the church loved the dance. Actually, the following week. A director at one of the public school asked if the dance team would come to their school and do the same presentation for their students. That was such an honor, and a great way to show the love of Christ through the dance team. Here are the girl’s Mother’s day picture together. It is a great picture and they all look so beautiful.

Please pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us. Please pray specifically for Elba. She had been experiencing a lot of pain in her abdomen / back area. We thought it was a kidney stone but that got ruled out. The new thought is a herniated disk.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Livre de vírus. www.avast.com.

Faster Than We Thought

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all are doing very well and enjoying the start of Spring! In Brazil, we are starting our “winter” which basically means that there is more rain and more wind than normal. We are grateful for both as it cuts down on the heat.
It has been a while since I have connected with all of you. We have been waiting to have some news to give you about our progress with the immigration process for Ronã. I believe I told you before that we expected the process to take around 10 months to a year, and we filed our paperwork to get started at the beginning of February. The first part of the process is to file a petition that proves that our marriage is legit, and if approved, allows us to start the visa process for a green card. When we were looking on the government websites, it was saying that the wait time just for this first step was taking an average of 8 to 10 months! As you can imagine, we were pretty discouraged with that time frame. However, I am very happy to say that our petition has already been approved! We got a letter in the mail at the beginning of May, which means it only took 3 months!
So, what does this mean for us, you may be wondering? Well, we have been trying to estimate how long the other steps will take, assuming that everything goes smoothly. We believe it is possible that everything could be complete within the next 6 months. IF that is the case (I am using that IF with some liberty), then that could put us back in the US before the end of the year! Please, pray for the rest of this process to continue to go smoothly and quickly. We are anxious to start the next chapter of our lives.
In the meantime, we have a lot happening here. Recently, Ronã was able to get a job as a graphic designer. He is really enjoying it, and it is giving him a lot of experience. Unfortunately however, even with a job like that, his salary is only about $300 dollars a month. He has also started taking an electrician’s course 2 nights a week. He has already completed the online course he was taking for an airport worker. I finished my hair styling course about a month ago, and I am also going to start teaching English part-time with an online company to help us save a little bit of money for our transition.
The other missionaries that we were working with here, Phil and Jen, are going back to Canada for a few months for a furlough. While they are gone, we are going to move into their house in order to take care of their furry friends. We were already having to move out of our apartment because the owner is selling it to her son. It worked out to be good timing for both of us, and we will save a few months of having to pay rent.
Last week, I had the privilege of having my Mom come visit! We had a great time together, and Oliver got to see that his grandma is a real person and not just an image on a video chat. She also got a taste of what my life has been like for almost 7 years living among the Brazilian people. I am grateful she got to see it before I leave here.

Watching videos on facebook together


Saying goodbye

We are always so grateful for your prayers and support of our family during this time. Even with all the many changes we are experiencing right now, we see God working in our favor on every side. He has been more faithful to us than we could have ever imagined. You all have been so much apart of that. We love you and look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Love,
The Moura Family

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Easter Reflections

When I was in university I heard about a guy who was giving way all his worldly possessions because ‘God told him to’. I just figured he was suffering from a mental illness. I also hoped I could get in line for some of his CDs.

When I was in Africa, one of our staff members showed me an article about a guy who had sold everything to move to Africa because ‘God told him to’.

I thought both of these people needed to check in with their family physician. Who does that? Who thinks God is talking to them? And who sells all their earthly possessions because of something ‘God’ said to them??

Flash forward 10-15 years.

There’s me explaining to my friends and family that ‘God is telling us to move to Brazil to be missionaries’.

Pretty sure most of my friends put me in the same place I put those two people I wrote about at the beginning. Jen needs to seek professional help, or Jen has been brainwashed.

I get it, years earlier I would have thought the same thing, I did think the same thing.

Phil and I were poised to have a great future, two great kids, Phil had his own renovation business and I was creating a great career in real estate. We lived in a great community, had wonderful friends and a big extended family. We lived in a country rated in the top 3 in the world most years.

What on earth made us give it all up, sell everything and move to a country where violence and corruption are rampant, education is expensive and we didn’t speak the language?

Were we brainwashed? Both of us at the same time? Or were we both, simultaneously suffering from a mental breakdown? Midlife Crisis?

None of the above.

For those of you who really know me, you know that yes, I have changed. But I haven’t become a religious zealot thumping my Bible and yelling ‘repent or the end is nigh!’ If anything I despise the word ‘religious’ and will often correct people when they say, ‘you’re religious’. Which usually gets me an odd look.

Religion starts wars, religion breeds hate, religion loves rules.

Jesus, the one that I have turned over my whole life too, hated all of that.

What Jesus was and is about, and what he has birthed in me, is LOVE.

I didn’t used to love people all that much. I loved those around me, the ones I knew, my family and friends, people I had things in common with especially.

But people who were different from me, quite frankly, annoyed me. People who thought differently or believed differently, I kept at a distance. Not that I was mean or rude to them, I just had no interest in knowing them.

In November of 2002, just a few months after we were married something completed shifted in my heart, and where I used to harbour fear, a need for the next thing, a gnawing unidentified hunger that couldn’t be satisfied was immediately and completely filled.

For the first time in my life it was like a light was turned on. Did I get a download to the meaning of life and everything in it? Sort of. Did I suddenly have all the answers to life biggest questions, no. But the thing was I was suddenly ok with not knowing the reason for everything. I was suddenly able to put my trust somewhere, that no matter what happened someone was driving this thing, someone who did know all the answers was in control and I could rest in that.

I had an inner peace I had longed for my entire life.

I know, sounds crazy, sounds impossible but 17 years later it’s still there and instead of fading, it only grows.

That peace is something that has no price. I used to live with a lot of fear, fear of wars, fear of loved ones dying, fear of disease, fear of the end of the world.

The world is full of a lot of scary stuff these days. It seems that doomsday looms over us, peers at us from around the corner.

Although I can’t say that fear doesn’t rear its ugly head every once in a while, it no longer controls and consumes me. I’m no longer a slave to it.

Why? What’s my secret? Well, I now have somewhere to put that fear, someone to take it to. I can say, ‘I can’t carry this it’s crushing me, please take it from me’ and as long as I remember to ask, He takes it, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

And then there’s the love. Suddenly, people that used to annoy me became people I really wanted to know, maybe even understand how they ticked even if it was different to me. I love people in a way I didn’t think was possible before. Like really love them.

Especially the ones that look like everyone else has forgotten about, cast aside.

That love is what fills up that gaping void that I tried to fill before with alcohol, friends, new clothes, a better job, the next stage of my life, and on and on and on…..a constant search for something I couldn’t put my finger on but continued to try the next thing hoping that would satisfy it.

That gaping void has a shape, we all have one and I can tell you this, it won’t be filled with anything that has a different shape that what was created to fill it.

Once that love fills up that space, heals the hurts of your past, gives you a sense of meaning and purpose, there’s no telling the crazy things it will make you do.

It is often said that love is the most powerful force on earth, and maybe, just maybe because it isn’t of this earth. God is not just an old man with a beard sitting on a throne judging the world, He is a very real Father who loves his kids with the fierceness of a mama bear.

God doesn’t just love as an action, God IS love.

This weekend we celebrate Easter and for Jews, Passover. For most it’s the season of chocolate and daffodils. Easter and Passover are both about people being freed from slavery, that’s not a coincidence. For Christians, it’s the time we remember this man who gave up everything because of love. He gave up more than a career, a nice house and a neighbourhood. He endured so much more than living thousands of kilometres from those he loved.

He gave up his life so that I could have one.

And then he beat death! That thing we all fear, mourn over and wish we could escape. He died, and three days later came back. More than 500 witnesses saw him, touched him, put their hands in his wounds.

This season we celebrate that we too can be fully alive, no longer slaves to our wrong doings, fear and shame, because of what He did for us. He shouldered all of our wrongs, even though he was innocent, and then he forgave the very people that had beaten, tortured and crucified him.

‘Forgive them Father, they know not what they do’.

Who does that? Who forgives their killer? Who shoulders the entire worlds wrong doings? Was he mentally ill? Was he brainwashed? Midlife crisis?

Or maybe, just maybe, he was God in the flesh, showing us what love does.

This Easter/Passover, if you are struggling, if you are feeling alone, if you have a void and gnawing emptiness that you have not been able to fill, I ask you to just for a minute, ask yourself if maybe, just maybe, I’m not crazy, and their is a God and maybe He wants to give you all the peace and love and meaning that He has given me and countless others who have taken that leap of faith.

Because I can tell you this, it really is just a simple request away, ‘God, if you are real, I need you in my life’.

Happy Easter to all near and far.

Happy Easter! Praise the Lord for He has risen!

As I mentioned last month the church started a new campaign to increase the number of home groups in the church. The idea is to have Elba create a video series called the “The Real Jesus” based off The Vineyard Columbus rendition. We would then distribute the DVD to members of the congregation that are willing to open up their home, serve a snack, and play the DVD. We have been working hard to produce the video’s weekly and we have already done 3 videos to date.

1. The historic Jesus

2. Jesus the Master

3. Jesus the Sufferer

During the campaign we have created over 20 new groups. This is very exciting and we are praying that after this campaign the groups will stay together and continue meeting together weekly. Below are some new groups meeting. Please join us in this prayer.

We also got the opportunity to visit our new church plant called “Mexicano” and Elba got the opportunity to share the Word. It is still a small community of believers but there is great faith and fellowship. It was exciting. After the service they served a rather large meal for everyone that came. I asked if they prepared a meal because we came, they said “no”, and thankfully I learned that on most Sunday’s congregants bring food and eat after the service. You can sense that there is strong fellowship and community. We could not be happier. Please continue to pray for them.

Camilly and some of her classmates went out to the local senior home to serve the men and women that live there. The conditions are primitive and we felt welcomed by our visit. One of the students read them a poem and then we began to serve cake and juice. We thought we brought way too much cake and juice, but nope, they really enjoyed it and they ate it all up. We were really happy to see Camilly participate in this outreach. Alyssa has been learning how to draw digitally, and this has become one of her hobbies. It is fun to see the creativity come from them.

Please pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Apr, 18

April 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for your prayers and support. They have been greatly appreciated.

Things have been going great here at Vineyard Viva! This month we had the honor of ordaining our first assistant pastors, Sarah and Silas. We have been walking very closely to Sarah and Silas for the last two years and they have been a huge blessing in our lives. I often think about how much more difficult things would have been if they had not walked into our lives prior to planting this church. They are both extremely gifted, extremely committed to practicing what they preach, and are committed to pastoring people. Ordaining them was the natural next step in their lives as well as within our church. We are so excited to see what God has in store!

Ordaining Sarah & Silas

Us with Sarah & Silas

This last month I was asked to write an article for the Xingu Mission Field Report about our first church plant. I wanted to share the article with all of you. Please find it below.

Denise and I are doing well and thoroughly enjoy watching Jonas grow up in every way! We look forward to visiting OHIO in the fall on our furlough. It hard to believe that 2 years have passed since our last trip home.

Jonas

Jonas showing off his new teeth

Prayer Requests:

Continued growth and spiritual health for our church.
For Sarah and Silas as they continue to grow into their expanding roles.
Grace, provision and wisdom as we care for our church family, our son and each other.

Thanks again for you love and support. We miss you, love hearing from you and hope you have a wonderful Easter celebration!

In His Service,

Christopher & Denise

Contribution Link: https://xingu.org/opportunities/giving/meyer-ministries/

FIELD REPORT – April 2019

It’s been about 18 months since my wife Denise and I planted a church here in the city Macapá. To say that this has been a learning experience would be an understatement. Although we have definitely had our ups and downs, these last 18 months have taught us so much. It has become clear to us how easy it would be to make the goal of church planting to gather and grow the church. Over and over, God has made it clear to us that that is the byproduct. The goal needs to be, has to be pointing to Jesus and learning how to walk in step with Him. After all, it is His church, he is the great Shepherd and we are all sheep in His pasture.

The number one thing that has become more and more obvious is that people desire real connection with God. Increasingly, we have focused on how to organically bring this about in our church. One of our values we emphasize at each gathering is leaving a chunk of time and space for the Holy Spirit to come minister. An example would be our Sunday service as we deliberately keep our sermons somewhat short so that we can have more time to pray for one another and to invite His presence. We don’t want this time of ministry and prayer to be an afterthought, we want it to be a focus. Leaving room for the Holy Spirit’s movement is a huge priority in our small groups as well.

A person can gain many things being part of a church. They can grow in their understanding of the Bible, be encouraged during difficult times, live with healthy accountability, and much more. These things are good and should not be overlooked. But, above everything else, our desire has been for a person to encounter the real living God. As I said gathering and growing a church is a byproduct. A very necessary God ordained byproduct! It naturally happens when people grow in connection to Him.

Another strong emphasis of the church has been is to acknowledge how much people desire to connect with one another and to feel part of a family. This year we have been amazed by the number of people who struggle with severe loneliness and feelings of isolation. Although many of these people are regularly surrounded by others, they still feel isolated and as if no one truly knows them. For that reason, we began to invest heavily in small groups. We wanted safe places for people to come together, eat together, open up together, encourage one another and allow God to come minister. Small groups have been a huge value in our church from day one and because of this over 90% of our church are regular attenders of a small group.

We realize that these are not new concepts. That connection with God and connection to Christian community are central themes throughout the church and church history. I guess we have just realized these needs in a more profound way, now that we are pastoring a church. Although there are always decisions to be made and questions to be had, we feel that the key will always be about connection.

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22:37-40

March 2019 Amazon Update!

One of the annual events that the churches participate in is our annual “Cristoval” celebration. Carnival is Brazil’s annual “celebration of the flesh” before the initiation of Lent on the Catholic calendar. It’s a week-long party where “anything goes” and almost every city in the country shuts down allowing full participation by the people. However, and praise the Lord, this was the 2^nd year that the mayor’s office did not fund any carnival event here. The Vineyard churches combined efforts many years ago to begin “Cristoval”, a retreat for youth, away from the city, with a focus on Jesus and having a lot of good clean fun. It has been a great success to redirect the youth’s energy towards God instead of the temptations of the world and drawing kids toward Jesus. During the three day retreat, the youth had opportunity to connect with Jesus through lively worship and dynamic teaching. Elba had the privilege to preach the first night.

It was really powerful in the lives of the hundreds of youth and adults that participated in the conference. However, there was one youth in particular that we were so fond to send to the event. Yes, Camilly was old enough to participate and she had a great time being with her friends, and celebrating the Lord. As parents, we got to experience Camilly for the first time initiate prayer for one of her friends on her own. It was deeply exciting for both Elba and I and we were close to tears. Unfortunately, in her 2^nd day at the event, she got very sick and we took her home.

The church is doing well and we are in the midst of starting a new campaign to increase the number of home groups in the church. Home group growth has always been a challenge for the church. Challenges range from the home group leader feeling inept, to members not having time due to the busyness of life, work and such. The campaign that we are using was developed by the Vineyard Columbus. The idea is to have Elba create a video series and then we distribute the DVD to members of the congregation that are willing to open up their home, serve a snack, and play the DVD. We are trying to keep it as simple as possible with the ultimate hope that the group stays together after the campaign. In addition, once a month, we have been training our current small group leaders. Please pray for great success and lasting results for the campaign. I will keep you posted.

During our time off we got the opportunity to visit the Maquine caves in Minas Gerais. It was really massive, awesome and beautiful to see.

We appreciate you so much for all your prayers and support. May the Lord’s joy and comfort be upon you always.

Please pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us. Also, please pray for Steve as he will be having a small surgery to remove a large varicose vein.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Mar, 5

March 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

As always, thank you for your prayers and support. They are greatly appreciated.

Things have been rolling along and going great here in Macapá. The church is growing, we are developing new leaders, and we now have a total of six small groups. Denise and I feel like we are stepping into a new season of the church’s development and we can’t wait to see what God has in store.

Group that we lead at our house.

Denise’s Women’s Group

Another group we lead in the nearby city of Santana.

Once a year Xingu has a Missionary Retreat. This is a time for us to get together, relax, have fun, and receive ministry from guest pastors or speakers. This year was especially exciting because my parents were the guest speakers!

Our missionary retreat

And Denise’s parents were able to stop by for a few days as well. This was the first time both of our parents were together with Denise and me since our wedding!

Our family