Whirlwind

The past couple months have been a whirlwind! We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Jon's parents' house. We were able to spend time with Jon's parents, one of his sisters, his brother, and our nephew Gerald. Our biggest concern was the long drive. On our way over we had clear passes. On our way home the passes were a little wet and there was fresh snow on the sides, but the roads were fine until we got to Ritzville. The last leg home was the worst. The roads were icy, which was evident by numerous cars in the ditch. But we made it home safely.

This year we spent Christmas with Michelle's family. It was a fun but tiring time. All of Michelle's brothers were there with their wives and kids. There was a total of 25 people there for Christmas. We enjoyed Christmas Eve at Michelle's oldest brother's house where the nieces and nephews opened up presents from their aunts and a few from their grandparents. Christmas morning we were at Michelle's parents' house with 3 of her brothers and their families. Frank's family joined us later for Christmas dinner. After dinner we played our traditional game of Kick the Can...or rather Kick the Jug since we play with a milk jug instead of a can.

This year Michelle again joined the cast of our church's Christmas play. She played a character named Mary who was married to a guy named Harry. It was a story of a guy named Harry who had made a New Years Resolution to share his faith with his coworker. As Christmas approaches he realizes the year is almost up and he hasn't once shared his faith with Lloyd. It was full of laughs and the message of salvation was clearly shared with the audience. While it was a great play, Michelle is glad to be done because now she can have a little more time.

Michelle also finished her first semester of grad school. She took 3 classes this semester and earned an A in all three. With one semester done she has a break until classes start back up January 10th. She only has 3 more semesters left, or 9 classes.

Jon has been extremely busy at work. Peak 7 recently moved locations. Their warehouse has been moved from the garage up north to a very large warehouse just off the Cheney-Spokane Road. The new location comes with more than double the storage space and plenty of room to expand. They also moved their program office to the new location. They are still maintaining their office up north but Jon and the program coordinators have moved to the office in the country. It's been an adjustment but so far it is working well.

We are looking forward to the new year and the new adventures we will encounter. We are excited to see how Jon's new position at work will go during the busy season. We are still praying for a new job opportunity for Michelle as well.

Vacation

We arrived home on Monday tired, happy, and sad. We had just spent the past five days on vacation in Lincoln City, Oregon. We stayed at the Comfort Inn, right on the D River. Michelle was able to get a discount through her work - at least there's something good about her job.

We left Wednesday, October 13 after work. We stayed at Michelle's parents' house for the night so we could be 1 1/2 hours closer to our destination. Thursday morning we hit the road. After stopping at Multnomah Falls for a brief walk and lunch we arrived at Lincoln City around 2 pm. We got checked in to our room and went across the street to enjoy our first walk on the beach since arriving. It was sprinkling a little. but it was still wonderful to be there. There's just something amazing about hearing and seeing the roar of the ocean that makes you thank God for His beautiful creation!

Our first night we enjoyed dinner at our favorite Lincoln City restaurant - Mo's. For those of you who have never been to Mo's, you need to go! They have the BEST clam chowder ever! (Mo's was actually the reason why we chose to go to Lincoln City instead of a different location.)

Friday we decided to drive down to Newport. We walked along the Bayfront, saw some Coast Guard ships, and then went to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. After playing around on the beach we went to the lighthouse and took a tour of it. Surprisinly, this lighhouse was only used for 3 years before it was replaced by another one a few miles away.
Michelle in the ocean.

Jon standing in the cold ocean.

Saturday morning we woke up early (6:30 am) to go search the beach for glass floats. Fortunately the weekend we were in town corresponded to the weekend of a Finders Keepers event. The organization put out about 200 floats along the 7 mile beach. After walking for about 1.5 miles we decided to head back to the hotel to get some breakfast and get warm. It was a little disappointing not finding anything, but it was still fun to walk on the beach before sunrise. We drove down to Depoe Bay and walked along the main road checking out a few stores. We also went to the Whale Observation building and saw a whale in the distant (we really only saw the spout of water it shot up when breathing). We also got to see a beautiful sunset!

Sunday we drove to Salem to visit some friends at Faith Baptist Church. It was so nice to see them! We also got a chance to talk with our friends, Brandon and Kate Weber, about their pre-field work and their support level. (They are missionaries with ABWE going to Africa.) After enjoying a Russian lunch at the church we headed back to Lincoln City for our last day at the beach. We enjoyed some more time at the beach and enjoyed one more meal at Mo's. At Mo's we finally found a Christmas ornament to represent our trip.(We have a tradition that we try and get a tree ornament from places we visit.)
Monday held yet another early morning as we packed up and headed home. We stopped in Tri-Cities for lunch at the Double Dragon. Then we stopped at Michelle's parents' house to see the deer her dad and brothers got over the weekend. Finally we made it home. We enjoyed one last dinner out and went home for the night. We were happy to be home but sad that our vacation was over.

Church Presentation

Jon had his presentation at our church this morning. He was completely nervous this morning but on stage you would have never noticed. He shared about his ministry and two stories - one about Palouse Junction, an alternative high school in Connell, and a story about Jeff, an at-risk youth who got saved this summer. Jon's practice at home paid off because he looked natural on stage and showed his passion for his Peak 7 ministry. It was a great success!

One exciting development is that New Hope has decided to be Jon's sending church. What that entails is not only financial support but also the support of the pastor and elders to introduce Jon to other churches in our area and basically vouch for him. It's really exciting because it means our church is willing to help Jon get in touch with other churches and raise prayer and financial support. It is a HUGE answer to prayer!

Our church's missions conference has one more missionary presenting next week and then the church will take stock of the financial commitment people are willing to make. You can continue to pray that people will commit to supporting our ministry.

In other exciting news, Michelle has finished her first MBA class. Each class is five weeks long, and she finished the class with 100%! She is really excited and anxious to start her next class this week.

This week we will be heading out on our annual vacation. We are leaving on Wednesday night and coming home the following Monday. This year's vacation will be at Lincoln City, Oregon. We hope to meet up with some friends in the Salem area as well as enjoy a relaxing time of doing nothing. Our only plans are to participate in Lincoln City's Finders-Keepers glass float search and to eat at Mo's. It should be a great vacation!

A Promotion and A Raise

Yesterday Jon had his annual review and came home with some exciting news! He was recently promoted to Program Director at Peak 7! Along with that he also got a significant pay raise! While this pay raise is extremely exciting it also means an increase in support is needed. But we know God is faithful and will continue to provide for us.


In addition to the exciting news at Jon's work, he also surpised Michelle with tickets to see the Best of Broadway musical South Pacific, which she really wanted to see. We went to the musical last night at the Spokane INB Performing Arts Center. It was a great production full of laughs and entertaining songs. If you have the opportunity go see it!

Jon is presenting his Peak 7 ministry at church on Sunday. Prayer would be appreciated - pray for Jon's presentation and pray for additional financial support.

Ministry

Last weekend we were at Camano Island for a Peak 7 Vision Meeting. Those in attendance were staff, board members, spouses, and a few key volunteers. It was a great time to discuss the future of Peak 7 and to recap the 2010 season. Peak 7 is still in need of constant prayer as many big decisions are on the horizon. We stayed at a house right on the water provided by one of the board member's parents. And it was beautiful!

Michelle is still working on her MBA. She is starting week 5 of 5 of her first class, Biblical Leadership & Ethics. She still has 2 classes left this semester and is anxious to start the next one. So far she has 100% in her class and is hoping to end the first class with 100%.

This next weekend Jon is presenting his Peak 7 ministry at our church, New Hope Bible Church. We're hoping that introducing his ministry to the church will result in an increase in financial support. Please pray for him as he presents on Sunday.

We have been working with the junior group at church since the beginning of summer. The Awana program started two weeks ago and with that we started the junior high level of Awana called Trek. We have seen a range of 9-11 junior highers coming on a regular basis with most of those working through the books. It has been a huge encouragement for us to have a large group coming. We are both new to the Trek program, so we have been learning right along with most of them. We are excited to see what God does with this group. Please pray for our ministry and pray for the hearts of the junior highers.

We ask that you please continue to pray for us and our ministry with both Peak 7 and the youth group. Thanks for stopping by Cramer's Cabin!

The "Off-Season"

It's September and we are nearing what is known as the "off-season." Basically it's the time of year where there are few, if any, trips. During this time Jon spends quite a bit of time in the office planning for the next year, scheduling trips, connecting with donors, and maintain gear. They also use this time to review the past year and make changes. This is also a time for much needed family vacations.

Our big focus right now is financial support for Jon's ministry. His job at Peak 7 is salary provided in part by Peak 7 and in part by donors willing to support his ministry. To be 100% supported he needs $916/month. Currently he is supported 25%, so he needs an additional $687/month. We are currently looking for donors to give on a monthly basis whether it's $50/month or $100/month or whatever they can afford to give. Every little bit helps and goes to help Jon serve with Peak 7.

This fall brings a lot of changes. Michelle just started her MBA program through Corban and so far is doing really well and is really enjoying the program. Peak 7 is also going through changes. They recently hired a Seattle area director and Jon's co-worker, Austin, will most likely be heading over to the Seattle office. This possible change will result in Jon going from a Program Coordinator to the Program Director and the hiring of a new Program Coordinator to work under Jon.

We appreciate your continued prayers and support. If you are not already a financial donor, please pray about joining our ministry and supporting Jon. Every little bit helps. Thanks and God bless.

Blessed Beans Ministry

At the church I attend there is a ministry called Blessed Beans Ministry. Simply put, it's a coffee shop. However, it's different from the typical coffee shop. It's run solely on donations and volunteers. No one has to pay for a drink if they don't want to. Some people donate little, some don't donate, and some donate more than enough. But the amount doesn't matter. It's there to serve.

Each month a different program in the church is given the proceeds from that month's sales. The program has to request the money before the month and can't request it for back to back months. Various programs include Awana, the Women 2 Women group, the Men's ministry, missions, and more. But it's the coffee shops mission to support other ministries within our church.

I have been helping out with the coffee shop for several months now. I learned about to make various drinks - mochas, carmel maachiatos, Italian sodas, etc - and how to serve with a smile. I have been able to meet a lot of people in the church that I hadn't met before and I've been able to meet and welcome new visitors. I have actually really enjoyed working there! Last night we had a meeting to go over a few things - review a few things about making drinks, talk about scheduling, talk about things that work and don't work, discuss improvements, and have a devotion together as a group.

Last night the leadership also announced an addition to their group. I was moved up from a regular barista to a lead barista. This means I am a shift leader. Each week they schedule 3 people to work - 1 lead and 2 regular baristas. The lead is there in case they get slammed on orders, need reminders on how to do things, or in case someone calls in and can't make it. The lead also gets a key to the cash drawer. As a lead my responsibilities don't change too much, the big difference is I'm the shift leader every fourth week and responsible for my team. It also means less stress for the original 3 leads because it frees up one more week for their rotation. I'm excited to begin this new responsibility but praying it doesn't go to my head and I stay humble.

Family Camping

This past weekend was the Fitts Family Annual Camping Trip. This year we made reservations at Farragut State Park in Idaho, just north of Coeur d'Alene. Joining us this year were David and Nancy (Michelle's parents), Frank and his 4 kids, Joshua and his wife Dani and their 3 boys, John and Nicole and their daughter, and of course us.



Everyone except Frank's family and us arrive on Thursday. We arrived on Friday after work. Friday was a relaxing night spent sitting around a fire or playing with the kids at the playground. Saturday we headed out to the lake to do some boating. Michelle did some tubing behind Frank's boat, but the wind made it pretty rough on the water. We called it a day and headed back to the camp. The kids cruised around on their bikes and some of the adults took naps. (Some loud neighbors kept us up late and some ravens woke us up at five in the morning.) Later than evening Jon, Joshua, John, Dad, and Mom went to play Frisbee Golf. (Mom kept score and took pictures.)

Sunday after getting packed up we all headed out to the lake for some more boating. This time the weather was perfect! We got a chance to go tubing behind the boats. Frank purposefully dumped Michelle off her tube twice. After boating Michelle took Frank's kids geocaching but unfortunately we couldn't find the cache. Then it was back to home.

Softball

Playoffs for church softball were today. Michelle has been playing with her church's team this season, the first time she's played softball in about 8 years. The church's league is co-ed and slow pitch. She got the opportunity to play several positions including outfield, catcher, second base, and third base, the last of which was her favorite to play. Michelle's team had a record of 8-2 going into playoffs.

At their 11 o'clock game the game went back and forth until the last inning. We were tied with the other team in the last inning with our team left to bat. Our first batter hit a home run and the game was over with us winning by one point. The next game was an hour later against a team that beat us once and we beat the second time. This game was for first place. We were behind most of the game and came into the last inning down by 6 points. The last inning we scored several times; however, it wasn't enough and we lost that game 6 to 8. However, second place is still an achievement, and the final game was a fun game.

Ascent Begins

Ascent season officially starts today. Jon met up with the other guides this morning at 5:30 a.m. to start their training. The ascent season goes from the middle of June to the end of August.

According to Peak 7's website, "Peak7 Adventures Ascent is a 5-day backcountry wilderness trip aimed at providing both an outdoor experience and spiritual growth." A typical trip involves hiking, camping (you carry everything including your tent in your pack), summitting a peak, alone time with God, rappelling, and meals. It's a great opportunity for youth and gives the staff more time to work with individuals and get to know them with the hopes of sharing the gospel with them.

Jon is really excited to begin the season! Backpacking is something Jon really loves! While he is in charge of rafting season, his coworker Austin Dannen is in charge of ascent season. Throughout the summer Jon will spend a couple of weeks guiding trips. This involves leaving Monday morning and arriving home Friday evening/night. However, Jon is still in charge of rock climbing trips which occur throughout ascent season.

Please keep us in your prayers throughout the summer. For Jon, please pray for safety and a chance to make a difference in peoples' lives. For Michelle, please pray for strength as she endures those times when Jon is out on trips and unable to communicate until the week's end.

Graduate School

Today Michelle officially got accepted to the graduate program at Corban University! She will be getting her MBA (Master in Business Administration). This program is through her alma mater and is an online program. The program is designed to take 16 months taking approximately 3 classes a semester and allow her to work full time. She will begin classes this fall.

Wenatchee Weekend

This past weekend was the Volunteer/Donor Appreciation Weekend for Peak 7. Michelle drove over to Cashmere on Friday to spend the weekend with Jon and their Peak 7 friends. It was a fun time of seeing old friends, seeing Michelle's parents, and getting to know new friends. The group camped out on the land of some Peak 7 friends.

Friday night included a new fun game. Someone in the group had to sit in the "hot" seat. (Basically a camp chair between two tiki torches.) Then we went around the circle and everyone got a chance to ask the person a question - any question - serious or not. This game was also played on Saturday night. Some questions included "what's your full name," "do you prefer aluminum foil or Cling Wrap," "what's your most embarrassing moment," and "if you were in the Miss America pageant, what would your evening gown look like?" That last question was asked by Michelle's dad to a guy named Joel.



Saturday began with a pancake feed sponsored by Peak 7. Then it was off to raft the Wenatchee River. Michelle ended up riding in Jon's raft along with her parents and some friends. We had such a fun time! We had a strong crew and had such a fun time! We got to see other rafts surf waves, kayakers flip in waves and get dumped, and waves up close as they splashed over us. After that river run was over, about half of the group went again for a second run. Again it was a fun time! The evening ended with a spaghetti feed and then the hot seat game. Most everyone went to bed early because of the long day of rafting and fun in the sun.



Sunday began with Jon attending a board meeting to get an update on the program. Afterwards, Dan Churchwell led us with a sermon. Most people began leaving after to head home. Jon and Michelle took off to Wenatchee for a lunch date. It was nice to spend some time alone before Michelle headed home to Spokane.

Jon is still in Cashmere rafting the Wenatchee for a few more days. He will return home on Wednesday.

Wenatchee

On Tuesday June 1st Jon headed over to Cashmere to spend two weeks rafting the Wenatchee River. He will be camping out on the property of some Peak 7 friends. While there he will be taking groups rafting. This includes a volunteer/donor trip in a couple of weekends. Michelle will be traveling to Cashmere that weekend to visit Jon and enjoy an opportunity to raft the Wenatchee.

Two Years

Yesterday we celebrated our two year wedding anniversary. Technically we started celebrating on Sunday and ended yesterday. Sunday afternoon Jon surprised Michelle with a free stay at the Holiday Inn Express downtown. Even though we both had work the next day, it was nice to "get away" for a night. We enjoyed a stroll down to Riverfront Park. Then we enjoyed a free dinner at Qdoba thanks to some coupons we got from the Peak 7 Bocce Tournament. We enjoyed a nice big breakfast that we didn't have to cook or clean up afterwards. After work on Monday we got dressed up and enjoyed a wonderful meal at Red Lobster.

We have so much to be thankful for over the last year. God has continued to faithfully supply all our needs. We are both employed. We have a great church family. We've enjoyed the addition of another nephew and are awaiting the arrival of two more nieces or nephews. We paid off a third credit card and only have one more remaining.

Our next year of adventures looks exciting! Michelle has decided to continue her education and has applied to the MBA program at Corban. She is waiting to hear back regarding her acceptance and financial aid. She will continue to work full time because the program is completely online and designed for working individuals. She is also in the process of looking for a new job as her current work environment is not pleasant. Jon will soon be heading to Cashmere for 16 days to raft the Wenatchee and then starting backpacking season. He's staying busy. He is still in need of financial support for his job as it is a ministry related job. The end of June holds a family camping trip with Michelle's parents and Michelle's brothers and their families with the exception of Daniel who lives in Arizona. We're definitely looking forward to everyone being there for a fun and relaxing time.

New Beginnings

As a way to keep people updated, Cramer's Cabin was created. Here's some background info on our family.
Jon and Michelle met in June 2004 and soon began dating. Almost four years later they were married on May 24, 2008 at Camp Gilead, the place where they met. They started their life together at that camp as Jon pursued an outdoor adventure ministry. Michelle worked as an accountant. Despite Jon's passion, the program didn't take off. However, Jon soon sought employment with Peak 7 Adventures and they moved to Spokane right after Christmas in 2008.

The 2009 year began with new adventures. Jon began work as a program coordinator at Peak 7 and Michelle found a job as an accountant at a property management company. Soon they found a wonderful church to attend, New Hope Bible Church, and settled into a new life.

During this time Jon and Michelle met many new people and got involved with the church including youth ministries and attending small groups. They even played Mary and Joseph in the church's Christmas play. They enjoyed exploring Spokane and even took a vacation to Banff, Michelle's first trip to Canada.

Now you find us nearing the 2 year anniversary mark. We hope you enjoy your stay in Cramer's Cabin.