A time to retreat...

Every spring our church sends Pastor Ron & Cinda and Glen & I on a pastor's retreat.  We have been to Branson, Missouri and to Amana Colonies, an Amish area of Iowa in recent years but this year we went to the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  In years past we have taken the kids, taken the kids with a babysitter or gone alone.  This year we took the kids with us and had a great time.

We had a wonderful room with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.  We got to spend two wonderful days at Breaker Bay, an indoor waterpark that is at the resort.  

We spent time walking by the Lake enjoying each other and taking in the view.  

We went to breakfast each morning at a restaurant that when you were sitting at the table it felt like you were under the sea.  

The kids enjoyed milk and cookies on the grand stairs as they listened to a bedtime story.  

We even got to go to two children's museums:  one in Sheboygan and one in Milwaukee. 

And last but not least, we got to retreat.

The kids had a great time, we all had a great time.  We are continually grateful to our church for everything they provide to us.  They truly take care of us and love us on a consistent basis.  So any of you reading from our church family, THANK YOU!

Our house was a rockin' last night...

"The wind began to switch - the house to pitch, and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch."  Oh, wrong story.

Early this morning around, 4:37 am to be exact, I woke up to our dresser, bed and ENTIRE HOUSE shaking.  I thought briefly in my half asleep stupor that I was dreaming and then I thought we might be having a tornado, so I laid real still, but didn't hear the sirens or any wind, then all of a sudden I heard..."Are you awake?"  I said yes, and Glen said, "Do you feel that?" and I said "Yes!"  He said "I think its an earthquake."

A little side note here to say that Glen has been through a couple earthquakes when he lived in California.  He even went through the "big one" that brought down the freeways.  Needless to say I believed his instinct.

I also feel the need to tell those of you who have never been to our house that it consists of four levels.  The boys share the attic that we converted into their room so Glen went up and got them so we could all be together.  I grabbed Lydia and we all went down to the ground level of the house.  Since I was in a nightgown, I decided it might be a good thing to put on some pants in case we ended up outside.  I didn't know what to expect, but as I went down the basement stairs I was praying that there wouldn't be anymore shaking while I was away from my family.

We all cuddled in the living room.  The shaking had stopped by then, so we just sat in there for a bit.  Glen and I investigated a little to make sure it wasn't a tornado or something else bizarre.  I thought for a brief second that maybe it was the rapture, but then talked myself out of that one.  So we sat in the dark for a few minutes when Lydia popped up and turned on the television.  Just as she did the news anchors verified Glen's suspicions and said that we had a 5.2 earthquake.

I have heard that there was an aftershock and in the car today it did seem like the ground was shaking again, but I wasn't quite sure.  If you look at the map above we are located Northwest of Springfield.  They are saying that from Michigan to Atlanta, Georgia you could feel the quake.  So, Jenette, if you are reading this, did you feel the earth move?

All I have to say is that I never thought I would experience an earthquake, but you just never know; do you?  I mean there is regular shaking going on in our house, from the kids running through the house, or just dancing around having fun, to the bedroom rockin (ha)...all very joyful types of shaking.  I have never felt anything like that before, it was eerie. 

Special Reports - Galesburg, IL - The Register-Mail

 

Mommy and Lydia having fun

My first attempt at french braiding Lydia's hair

Open House at Galesburg Christian School

Jaron had to make a habitat for open house.  He chose an Octopus and wanted it to look like you were looking underwater.  This is what we ended up with.  Note the pirate ship sailing across the sea.  He also had a notebook full of original works by Jaron P. Weatherly.  The page you see is a paper on how to "Put on a Play."  Wonder where he got that crazy idea?

Evan loves "Arting" and he was able to help do a self-portrait for open house.  He also did a recipe book with his class where he explains how mommy makes "Salami Sandwiches" and "Macaroni and Cheese."  I wonder why he didn't include my favorite recipes from Cooking Light like "Parmesan Chicken with long grain rice" or "Mediterranean shrimp and Angel Hair."

This is Ethan reading during open house for our school last Thursday night.  He is in the K4 class and is doing quite well.  His teacher said that the home school experience that he had during sabbatical really helped me to excel this last semester.  It is quite an amazing thing to listen to your four year old read.  My prayer is that all my children acquire a love for reading.

Is that a rock in your ear or are you just hard of hearing?

We do our weekly paper route on Wednes-

days after 

school.  Today we had a little bit of a detour because we were going to visit some apartments to take pictures to send to the new pastor and his wife that are coming to join us in ministry in the next couple of months (breathe) so that they can make a decision on where they would like to live.  We were half way there when Ethan said "Mom, I have a rock in my ear."  I was wrapped up in talking with Glen when Ethan repeated, "Mom, I have a rock in my ear."  This time I took notice and said, "What did you just say?" (maybe I had something in my ear?)  "Mom, I have a rock in my ear."  I proceeded to ask him how it got there and the story went a little bit like this..."I was at school, laying on my mat during rest time and there was a rock on the floor.  I picked it up and stuck it in my ear."  "Ethan!! undo your seat belt and come up here so daddy can look in your ear."  Half believing what he said..."Yep, there's a rock in there alright,"  Glen said.  

Thankfully our doctor is a good friend and Glen called him and asked if he was still in his office.  We raced over and Glen and Ethan went in to see him.  Fourty-five minutes later, Glen and Ethan emerged from the doctor's office with a plate full of brownies and a tiny pebble for the scrapbook.

Have you ever made a wrong decision?

Last year at Christmas, Glen and I experienced temporary insanity and got Ethan a puppy.  We thought we could handle four children and two dogs, but when we told people they just looked at us like we were nuts.  Well since then we have traveled with Snickers to Florida twice and have tried very hard to make him a part of our family.  He is sweet and very cute, but not conducive to our life right now.   

The kids love him, but Glen and I have been cured of insanity and now just live in a state of chaos.  So now we have decided to find him a loving home that isn't ours.  Ethan is taking it pretty hard and I feel completely responsible for breaking his heart, but what can we do?  I feel so terrible.

Please pray for our family.  This is definitely not the end of the world, but it is something that is hard for his little heart to understand.

 

Osteoporosis and meeting Fergus in the milk aisle

Tonight I had the distinct pleasure of spending time with some of my favorite people.  I got to sit and chat and laugh from my toes with Isaiah, Keira, Caleb, Tai, Brody, Lanae and Seth.  They are a few of the teens that come to our small group on Sunday nights.  We usually spend the first hour at a fast food restaurant shooting the breeze and then the second hour doing a small group bible study.  I'm not quite sure who enjoys the time more, me (or Glen, depending on who is with them) or the teens.  No one is immune to the contagious laughter and fun.

I am consistently amazed by these young people.  I feel honored to be a part of their lives.  Two of them are seniors this year and will be graduating in just a month and a half.  We were talking about how Glen and I have been their only youth pastors and I was telling them that we feel so blessed to have been a part of all of their middle and high school years.  Keira asked me if I was going to cry on Graduation Sunday and I told her that I have already teared up thinking about how I would have to give them up to the glamourous life of College.  

Every year it never fails that as I sit in the graduation service, tears well up and I can't fight them back.  This year will be especially hard because this is our largest graduation class and like I said we have had six years with these kids.  I can honestly say that I truly love them.  

Isaiah is a young man that desires to know God more and please Him.  Keira has talent in writing, art and photography that would knock your socks off.  If we had the chance to grow up together - my guess would be that we would be great friends.  Then there's Ana Kate, it was a little hard to get to know her in the beginning, but she has a compassion that inspires me.  Brianna makes me laugh and Brent makes me laugh harder.  They are such a great group of young people.  

I know God has some incredible things for each of them to experience and I hope that in some small way, we have set the course for them to find out what those things are.  I also hope that I can continue to cheer them on as they continue their journeys.  I look forward in anticipation to see where God will take them ( I especially can't wait to meet Fergus ).

Verda Mae Rice-Van Tassel

March 3, 1918 - March 25, 2008

Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will truly miss her, but know she is in heaven playing the piano and harmonica for her Savior and Grandpa Van Tassel.  Before graduating to heaven Verda volunteered at several care facilities from her teenage years until 2 weeks before departing the earth.  Glen's favorite things about his grandmother were her peanut brittle, bread sticks, the hand-made pajamas with tags that read "Made with Love by Grandma" and original stories she wrote and told him, his sister and cousins on their visits.   

Someone alert Jenny Erstad!!!

I just heard on the news today that "New Kids on the Block" are making a come back.  As soon as the words transmitted from the television to my ears I found myself in Jenny Erstad's bedroom.  When I was 16 I remember whenever I went to her house and sat in her room, I was just amazed how one person could fill up every white spot on her walls with memorabilia of those boys.  She knew each one of them like they were her next door neighbors.  She even had the action figures.  

It also brought back  a lot of memories of how growing up we weren't afraid of sharing our faith (hopefully that still holds true) with our friends.  It seems like we were always bringing another one of our friends into our church family.  Some remained on the outskirts, but a lot of them really became apart of our spiritual experience.  I am continually grateful for our group and the growing up we did together.

So wherever you are today Jenny,  I know you must be one happy girl to know that the boys are back in town.