Sam Butcher says, "The Chapel is his Life's Work" ..... "it is my prayer that through my work in the Chapel I might share my faith with others and that the Spirit of God might touch the visitors' hearts and bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord."

Inside the Chapel...The area of the first floor is approx. 6,400 sq. ft. The sanctuary ceiling mural covers 1,408 sq. ft. and took Sam over 500 hours painting on his back the whole time. The ceiling height is 32 ft. It is amazing how many murals that have been painted inside the sanctuary.

Hallelujah Square....originally painted with friends and family represented, who had earned their heavenly home, along with Precious Moments angels in a variety of heavenly tasks that are both touching and whimsical. After the death of Sam's son in a tragic auto accident he became more sensitive to others who had lost loved ones and is continually adding new stories to this huge painting.

Grandpa's Island.....Sam Butcher built a castle playhouse for his grandhildren to enjoy throughout the four seasons.

He is Risen!

5/12/09 - Headed to Carthage, MO

Rachel stayed overnight with us and then we said good bye to her and Renee until we come back through in June. After we got set up in the RV park in Carthage our first stop was at WalMart to buy a weather radio so that we could follow this crazy weather out here. It didn't take long and it was beeping like crazy at us....there were tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings through the early evening about 10 miles away .... up until about 1:00 AM. We sat around watching the storm on radar on the computer, watching the news and listening to our radio....was kind of a scary night. When we got to Cathage there had been considerable storm damage done 5 days earlier and in Joplin (15 miles away) a TV station was demolished by heavy winds and they would be off the air for up to 30 days....so we were definitely tuned in to the weather situation. That hot AZ weather doesn't look so bad afterall! Tomorrow will be only the 2nd day that we will have been by ourselves since we left Arizona on April 13th.

5/10/09 - Mother's Day & Renee's Birthday

We had a wonderful good ole pan fried chicken dinner at Stroud's in Kansas City today. We had been told by several people that when we were in KC to be sure and go to Stroud's for their chicken.....we were not disappointed...would highly recommend them. Renee's birthday was on the 9th (yesterday) o we celebrated that as well.

We didn't get to see everything at the Truman library yesterday, so we went back today after church and then toured the Truman Home.

Truman's Home - The rooms are inviting and restful, filled with the presence of the man remembered as "the people's President."

Pat, Renee, Barb & Rachel on the front porch of the Truman home.

Rachel wanted to take us to the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum located in Independence, Missouri. From humble beginnings in the small town he rose to become the 33rd President. By age 14 he had read every book in the library in Independence, MO. President Truman did not have any formal education after graduation from High School in 1901. This was the first Presidential Library that we have been to and found it very interesting.

Oval office as it appeared during Harry S. Truman Presidency

Graves of President Harry S Truman and Bess Truman

5/8/09

We went to Rachel's soccer game on Friday. She had gotten thrown off a golf cart earlier in the day in the neighborhood and really bunged up her knee and toes....so she was in pain playing.

5/7/09 - Off to Freightliner

When we arrived in Lee's Summit and went around to the back of the motorhome....it was covered with black oil as well as the Jeep front and top. We had an oil pressure sensor that was leaking and needed to get in and get it repaired. Pat made arrangements with the local Freightliner (Oasis Dealer) to bring it in on Thursday (5/7/09). So that was our outting today. Renee & Rachel were on a 4th grade field trip to the State Capitol in Jefferson City...they left at 7:00 AM and returned at 7:00 PM .....so this was a good day for repairs.

5/6/09

Rachel's choir group from church put on a play called "Holy Moses". We got to see them do a scaled down performance for a nursing home in the area. Here the girls are visiting with residents that really enjoyed seeing the kids perform.

Rachel and her friends.

Woods Chapel Spirit Singers Group

5/6/09 - Lake Jacomo in Lee's Summit, MO

Lake Jacomo

Lake Jacomo Campground is only two miles from Renee's house.....we couldn't believe this beautiful campground so close to Renee....it sure made it convenient. This was our campsite.

5/5/09 - Headed to see the KC kids!

We drove through the southeastern part of Kansas this morning headed to Lee's Summit, MO (a suburb in the southeast part of KC). We were glad to see Renee and Rachel and then Mike treated us to a super night at the ballpark. There are some seats behind home plate that sell for $200.00 each. Included in this price is a huge buffet of about anything that you would want to eat....this is all before the game begins. During the game we were able to order anything we wanted at any time from the restaurant and it was brought to us at our seats without any cost to us.....boy did we get spoiled. Thank you Mike and the Royals! We left the game at 9:00 pm as Rachel had school the next morning.....the game ended up going 11 innings with the Royals winning.

Barb, Rachel & Renee in front of Kaufman Stadium - Home of The Kansas City Royals baseball team. Mike's office is one of the glass windows behind us. The flowers were really pretty here.

Renee & Mike in his office at Kaufman Stadium where the Kansas City Royals play.

Rachel, Barb & Renee. We pretty much had front row seats and were really close to the action. Thanks Mike!

The fountains in the outfield are really pretty. Pat got some really close-up shots of the players.

5/3/09 - Bartlesville, OK

We went to church just down the road from the campground and then it was off to Bartlesville, OK to meet our friends Richard & Karen. Before they started full-timing 6 years ago they had lived in Bartlesville and they wanted to show us around. This is the home of Frank Phillips who started the oil company and that is who Richard had worked for. Frank Lloyd Wright had also built here....but since we were out on a Monday that is the day museums usually close, we didn't get to see much. When we got back to the RV park and I was walking the dogs and looked up, I thought I recognized a gentlemen walking his dog.....would you believe that it was the people that have the RV lot next to ours in Wyoming. They had been to the Kentucky Derby and were in Bartlesville visiting a son.....this really is a small world. This is where we had to say goodbye to Rich & Karen...we always enjoy traveling with them, no matter what we are out doing or not doing it is always good for a laugh with them. They are planning on spending the winter out west this year so hopefully we'll get to spend some more fun times with them.

Our friends....Richard & Karen. They wanted us to be sure and eat at Murphy's Steak House when we were in Bartlesville. It was good! To make a table for a larger group they just remove the middle divider...kinda different but it works!

5/1/09 & 5/2/09 - Tulsa, OK

The reason that we went to Tulsa is to see Pat's cousin Jim & Coral Pintus who live in the suburb of Broken Arrow. Pat & Jim are only 11 days apart in age and they spent a lot of time together when they were little kids. The last time that we had seen them was in July 1998 at their vacation home on the Colorado River south of Blythe, CA. We spent two full days with them and really had fun re-connecting. We were staying close to the Tulsa airport and on Friday....we got 6 inches of rain. When we left in the morning to go visit Jim & Coral it was raining so hard you could hardly see any traffic right in front of you on the freeway! We have not ever seen that much rain in one day before.....but boy is everything green and lush back here. We thought Tulsa was a very pretty city.

Jim & Coral Pintus, Tulsa, OK

Jim & Coral's youngest son Kevin and his wife Donna. They also live in the Tulsa area. They came over and spent Saturday with us.

The four of us! We had a wonderful visit with Jim & Coral.

We took Cody and Addie over to Jim and Coral's both days. They had the run of their big back yard and took full advantage of their freedom. Cody taking a rest....he just can't keep up with Addie and he gets so frustrated that he can't catch her.

4/30/09 - Will Rogers Memorial Museum

Since we left Arizona on April 13th, this is the first day that we have not been with people that we know. We decided to drive up to Claremore, OK (about 25 NE of Tulsa) to tour the Will Rogers Memorial Museum and birthplace and learn about his life, wisdom and humor. We did not realize that he made over 71 motion pictures. We watched a video of his trick roping abilities and were amazed what he could do with a lariat. The downstairs was a huge hands-on Children's Museum....wish we would have had the grandkids with us....they would have loved this stop! Will Rogers was a multi-talented and historically significant individual. And guess what....it started raining on us as soon as we got to Claremore.

The Will Rogers Memorial Museum is located on a beautiful 20-acre campus in Claremore, OK

Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Miniature saddle collection of Will Roger's.

Room that Will Rogers did a lot of his writing from.

Surprise.....it was raining while we were at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum!! This is outdoors looking down on Claremore, OK.

Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch, Oologah, OK

4/29/09 - Visiting the Loyd's

Jim & Faye Loyd. Friends that we met at First Baptist Church in Tempe. They moved to Collinsville, OK (North of Tulsa) 10 years ago. Faye started our Bunco group back when she still lived in AZ and it is still going with a few of the original group still playing. Thanks Faye! We went to dinner and they drove us around their area.....it was really pretty.

4/29/09 - Headed to Tulsa, OK

We left OKC this morning in a downpour! Didn't want to be on the toll roads so we took Route 66 for most of the way.....it was raining so hard we didn't get to see the countryside very well. It rained on us all day so once we got set up....we just stayed at the RV park for the afternoon.

The Round Barn in Arcadia, OK on Route 66.

Oklahoma State Capital - The only state capital with an oil well on it's grounds.

4/27/09 - The Land Run of 1889

In the 1830's, the federal government forced Five Civilized Tribes to leave their homelands in the southeastern part of the US. They had to walk to Oklahoma over a trail that became known as the "Trail of Tears." Thousands of men, women and children died during this long and treacherous trip. Once these people settled in Oklahoma....Oklahoma became Indian Territory. There was one parcel of land that was never given over to any Indian tribe---the Unassigned Lands. In the 1880's, many frontier Americans wanted to move into this land. The Unassigned Lands were opened through a Land Run with more than 50,000 Americans vying for 160 acres or a town lot. At noon on April 22, 1889, competitors rushed in on wagons, horses and foot. Towns were formed and homesteads were staked. The settlers who entered to claim land before the official start of the land run were called Sooners, hence the state's nickname. These statues are a depiction of The Land Run.