Kelly Jo Boggs

Over 31 years ago my Aunt Hulda Livingston would pick me up and take me to church with her in Harveysburg, Ohio. I loved to go to church with Aunt Hulda. One of the main reasons I loved to go was one of the "girls" that played piano at her church. Harveysburg had a whole gang of piano players and several of them were very young. There was a lot of talent in that church. In fact a number of those young ladies turned out to be great piano players.

However, only one of them caught my eye. She was blond haired, blue eyed, pretty as she could be and all of 10 years old. Keep in mind that I was only 11 myself. I found out she lived less than a mile away from me down over the hill in Corwin. So I would ride my bike to "town" and see her every chance I could. We would mostly play with all the other kids (she was painfully shy in those days) in Corwin but I loved to be near her.

Several years would pass before the twists and turns of life brought us together but 25 years ago today we stood in my parents living room with our families and closest friends and said "I do!" We had no idea what we were getting in to. We were two very messed up kids but God had mercy on us and here we are 25 years later by the grace of God.

Kelly Jo has stood by me through thick and thin and back to thick again. She is the most kind, warm loving person I've ever came across. She has a servants heart and is ready and willing to serve God by serving others. She has never ask for limelight and has never sought applause. She has never lived for her own selfish motives. She is always a giver and never a taker.

She is prettier than she was at 10 and prettier than she was 25 years ago. She has been an outstanding mother to our daughter, Odie and an excellent wife to me. She is known across this country as fun loving, God fearing, solid Christian woman.










Kelly Jo has been and still is the perfect preachers wife. She has followed me all over this country without flinching and to preach in other countries without one complaint.









She holds me together when my nerves would destroy me. She calms me when I would destroy myself.

She's my very best friend as well as my cook, housekeeper, navigator, travel companion, encourager, helper, buddy and lover. And she still plays a pretty mean piano! I guess there are some things that even 31-32 years can't change!

Kelly Jo, thank you for loving me. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for pushing me. Thank you for your friendship. I am so sorry about your luck but it looks like you are stuck with me until death parts us!

Wow! 25 years today! What a life! What a blessing from God! I am blessed and highly favored of God and that's a fact!

Oh! And her birthday is July 3rd. So Happy Birthday too, Kelly Jo!










Davy

Leah Metzger High School Graduation

Friday night we were honored to be a part of Sis. Leah Metzger's High School Graduation at Sun Valley church. Leah is the forth child of Pastor Mike and Sis. Debbie Metzger. She is a beautiful young lady with a heart for God that really shines through in her life. It was a great privilege to preach and sing on Leah's big day!




Congratulations Leah from all of the Boggs Family!

Sun Valley Church, Florence, Montana

Our Welcoming committee standing in the road to welcome us back to Sun Valley Church.


The BoggsMobile parked and washed after a hard weeks work up and down the mountain passes and through the storms!


Sun Valley Church


A brief rain shower pushed us inside for a while. After supper we went back outside to watch the storm pass over in "our" front yard.


Absolutely beautiful!

Big Thompson River Canyon

These are the pictures I promised of the beautiful drive going East out of Estes Park toward Loveland, Colorado on Hwy. 34 down the Big Thompson River Canyon. The road drops over 2500 feet in the space of 25 miles and the view the entire distance is incredible. The canyon is narrow all the way down with just enough room for the road, the river and a few houses and businesses. I just coasted the BoggsMobile the whole 25 curvy miles with the Jake Brake on pulling over every few miles to let the long train of cars behind me pass by. It was one of the most relaxing drives in a long time. Maybe I was being prepped for the storm later in the day! lol I took these pictures through the windshield.

There are signs posted in various places that say "In Case of Flooding Climb to Higher Ground" Later we found out why. On July 31, 1976 this area received 12 inches of rain in 3 hours and the 2 foot stream became a 19 foot wall of water sweeping boulders, houses, businesses, cars,RVs and homes down the narrow canyon. 145 lives were lost in that flood. If you Google Big Thompson River Canyon you can read all about it. The memories of those that survived moved me to tears. The 34th Anniversary of the flood is July 31-August 1.

The Last Picture was also taken from the windshield of the BoggsMobile headed West on I-90 in Montana. I hope I'm not wearing you out with pictures. We are going to be in the West a few months so there will probably be many more to come.

Davy

Storms, Zip Dee Window Awnings and Psalm 46: 1-3

We definitely had and interesting afternoon Tuesday. Everything had went very smoothly all day. We left Estes Park around 11:00 Am and started the nice leisurely and stunning drive to Loveland and I-25. I snapped several pictures through the windshield but I haven't even checked to see how they turned out. I hope to post some of them later if they are good.

We headed North on I-25 and stopped for fuel at the Flying J in Cheyenne. In the afternoon on the North side of Casper, Wyoming the storm clouds began to gather to our West. They didn't look good at all but it seemed by the weather reports that we would be North of the storm by the time it crossed the interstate. Lesson #1: Don't believe everything you read or hear!

About 30 miles North of Casper we were right in the path of a terrible storm. Very high winds and the potential of large hail and heavy rain. Occasionally we had some hills on the West side of the interstate so that blocked some of the wind but it was still moving the BoggsMobile pretty badly. I slowed way down and was looking for somewhere to park (In the middle of nowhere.) when it sounded like the roof came off the bus. We have, or I should say had, a 17 ft. window awning on the drivers side of the bus and when I looked in my mirror trying to locate the source of the terrible noise I could see the awning was flopping in the wind!

The tension is supposed to keep it rolled up, plus it had a little safety catch on it as well but nothing held in that wind. I pulled over and accessed the situation and decided to ease up under a bridge to hopefully find some shelter from the wind and rain. While I was doing this, Kelly Jo was sending texts to friends and family so they could pray AND so they would know where we were if we were blown a way in the storm.

The awning was so damaged, I knew it wouldn't roll back up so I tried my best to rig something to secure it for a few miles. We were all praying as I worked from a ladder right next to the interstate and it seemed the BoggsMobile could literally turn over from the force of the wind at times. I kept quoting and praying a verse that I have been preaching to folks across this country.

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

The situation was stressful for several minutes and it seemed as if things could become drastically worse in seconds but there was no fear. I know that God is my refuge. I know that God is my strength. I know that God is a very present help in my trouble. Therefore I must not allow fear to reign!

After the Lord helped me to secure it enough to drive slowly if the wind would die down we began to pray about which direction to go. Continue on 85 miles to the campground we had planned to stay in? Then 40 more miles the next day to the nearest RV Repair place on our route? OR Find a place to turn around and go 30 miles in the wrong direction to Casper, Wyoming?

It was after 5:00 so I expected the Repair facilities in Casper to be closed. I called one and they said they could get me in the next morning and could repair or remove the awning. Just as I started that way the wind died down, the sun came out and a beautiful bright rainbow appeared beside the road! Praise God!

I drove very slowly to Rec Vee Service & Supply in Casper and pulled in around 6:15 PM. Lou, the owner, was still there so he looked it over and it was obvious the awning was beyond repair. The only option was to remove it. After about 30 minutes work we had it on the ground. Here's the kicker. Lou charged me only $25 and for only $10 more he allowed me to plug into his 50 amp plug and spend the night. After all the stress of the storm, the possibilities that could have happened, the damage that did occur, Lou Grunewald of Rec Vee Service & Supply was an answer to prayer!

I have no idea what a new window awning will cost but right now it doesn't matter. I am thankful my little family is safe and that all 12 tires (Counting Mr. Cheap Jeep) are facing down instead of looking at the sky!

We should have taken some pictures during the storm but pictures were way down the list of priorities behind things like prayer!

Praise God for his help and the prayers of our friends!

Davy






It is supposed to be wrapped up nice and tight behind a metal enclosure!







This rainbow was so bright and both ends were visible on the ground but my iPhone just couldn't capture the brilliance. Thank God for the message of the rainbow!

Rocky Mountain National Park

The BoggsMobile in an Estes Park campground.

We first visited Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colorado 9 or 10 years ago. We lived in Wichita, Kansas at the time so we brought Kelly Jo's parents and her sister Kimberly on a whirlwind trip to this beautiful state and the last day included 4 or 5 hours in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it and promised ourselves that we would come back to see more of it someday. That day finally arrived and in our characteristic fashion we were riding another whirlwind. We rented a campground for two nights and wish we could explore this area for a week. It is an absolutely beautiful place!

The first elk we saw this time was on the road to Bear Lake. The sun was shining very bright and it took forever to snap a picture that could be seen! It was worth it. Please remember that all these picture were taken on the run with my iPhone...



We drove up to Bear Lake in the evening and it was a gorgeous drive. Bear Lake is over 9500 feet above sea level and is literally breathtaking! We unloaded Odie's power chair and she made the "walk" with us. We sat up there for quite a while and soaked in the beauty of God's creation. I mentioned earlier that we live our lives in a whirlwind as most folks do and truth be known we probably wouldn't be comfortable living any other way. But it has certainly been good for us to slow down a bit and catch our breath. I can't think of a better way to recharge than admiring the handiwork of God that is so evident. I think our down time is going to be good for us not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally.








We spent a whole day driving the 46 miles or so of the Trail Ridge Road. It goes across the park climbing to over 12000 feet above sea level. In fact over 8 miles of the road lies above 11000 feet. It has numerous pullouts, overlooks, roads that lead to other areas of the park, as well as the Alpine Visitors Center. The Visitor Center is about 11800 feet above sea level and it is a beautiful place.

When we finished the drive we had a picnic lunch that Kelly Jo had prepared and then we turned around and drove the 46 miles back to Estes Park. It was worth every mile!

Here are a few pictures of the trip.






Kelly Jo and Odie at the Alpine Visitor Center






On the west side of the park we saw more elk than we could count in the long wide valley that runs along the road. The valley is still above 7500-8000 feet and is full of elk. It is also a great place to see Moose but they alluded us today.

These 4 elk are the biggest we saw but unfortunately I wasn't able to get very close to them. The racks on these make the elk at the top of this page look like youngsters.


Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Thanks for all the nice emails about the pictures we post here. Please leave a comment below as well..

God Bless you,

Davy