Annie here! I decided I would write down a few thoughts since Mike writes a lot. Don't expect anything eloquent or deep but here it goes:)

So we're into our 3rd week here at the Dale House. We just finished our 1st weekend "on" which consisted of us starting at 2:30pm on Friday and ending at 8am Monday morning! A few highlights of the weekend are as follows: watching a children's movie with a few residents on Friday night; Mike having to cook his first meal here (shake and bake chicken) which was his first experience in baking in his whole life and really delicious; Going on a night hike to the top of a mountain with all the kids who complained the whole time but secretly loved it; Getting to go to an awesome multicultural church with one of the residents who is super excited about his faith; and lastly--
-- taking a walk with another resident where he told me his whole life story....from his adoptive parents that didn't care about him at all, to the time he first met his real Mom, who is addicted to methamphetamine and marijuana, and the first thing she did when they met was hand him a bottle of alcohol. He also told me about how he used to rob people every night to help support his sister's new born baby. This was heavy stuff that he was talking about but I just kept thinking about how he is a teenager, he's 18 years old and he's already gone through all of that.

We talked about how much he has already learned at the Dale House and how much he appreciates the staff and the way they care. One thing that he said that really stayed with me was, "I really value family time and I never had it growing up. I love when I walk in the door after work here and I have about 10 people asking me how my day was...it's the greatest thing ever"

Also, some more updates on primaries and new residents! Mike has a new primary that just got here a few days ago. He had just gotten his wisdom teeth pulled the day he came and so he was mellow and a little out of it but it has been cool getting to know him. He and Mike have already had quite a few good conversations. He told him that he wanted to earn trust with people here and show respect....he also talked about the fact that he knows he can be a good person and make good decisions, but every once in a while he just has a craving to do something bad. More to come on that later (from Mike)

Last thing--I visited the jail this last week to meet an 18 year old girl who will probably become my new primary! It was an altogether interesting and exciting experience. It was a little eerie being in a jail where ever door you walked through someone had to unlock for you and every 'inmate/juvenile' was in a light blue jump suit. I have another meeting with her and her client manager this week to talk about her transition to the Dale House. If everything goes well she should be here by the first week in October. She seems really awesome, self-aware, motivated and insightful. I'm so excited to get to know her more!

Thanks for reading and being a part of our lives...we appreciate your support!! You can pray for strength and compassion for Mike and I as we do our best to show Christ's love to these kids!!!

here are a few pics!


Our friend Ryan Jara from Hope (on staff) with one of the residents at the top of the peak that we did on our night hike. This is the resident I took a walk with and talked to about life
On the hike...Colorado Springs down below

One handsome resident

A previous resident that recently got out of jail and is living in one of the apartments that we rent out at the Dale House

A few residents fooling around in the kitchen, while Mike does the dishes.......typical