Serving the Lord Together

Christmas 2011

2012-01-17T18:49:00.011-06:00

Hello! Hope you all had as wonderful of a Christmas as we did - I know this is late, but I got to it as fast as I could....

The first part of December was busy with sending out cards, shopping, and the church cantata and other church events.

Here is Esther in her Christmas dress and shawl sitting in her favorite spot in the house - her rocking chair :) She wouldn't keep the hat or shawl on, but at least we have a picture with them.

Aaron, Esther, and I, had our own "family Christsmas" on Christmas morning before church. Accompanied by hot chocolate and donuts - something Aaron did growing up.

I don't really consider a yard rake or car mats very exciting presents, but that's what Aaron said he wanted....

We spent Christmas Eve (went to a beautiful candlelight service) and Christmas day with Aaron's family, but I forgot to take any pictures.

We were blessed to see almost all of our family over the holidays...This is some of my mom's family that we were able to celebrate with.

Some of my dad's family -

More of my dad's family -

Then after all of that - we still had Christmas left to do with my parents and siblings - I liked this picture of Silas, Jeriah, and Isaac.

He's so cute!

No, she is not dancing! What she is doing I don't know...

Esther really enjoyed being at my parents - so many people to give her attention! Though, but the time we went home, she was ready!

Esther "helping" me open a gift.

One of her own - the wrapping paper is still beyond her, but the gift bags were just right :)

Esther and her cousins checking out her new Bible story books.

Aaron recording the event :)

Esther wearing her dad's hat :)

Thankfully, the Lord blessed our travels and the driving went well. We got back on the 6th, then the 8th was our second anniversary!

A lot has happened in two years! But they've been wonderful, and we're looking forward to many more :)

We toured the hospital last month, then today I went shopping and stocked up on some easy meals to prepare...The baby is due the 13th of February, so it could be any day, or it could be six weeks - keep us in your prayers!

Thanksgiving and Christmas

2011-12-06T19:44:00.007-06:00

Hello! Hopefully you all had a great Thanksgiving and are carrying the "Thanksgiving Spirit" into the Christmas time as well!

This year was Aaron's family's year to be together on Thanksgiving Day. The night before we all went to Nashville to look at the lights at the OpryLand Hotel and then had dinner on a boat.

From the boat, you could see the lights of the city - the water was very calm and it was a beautiful evening.

Me, Esther, and Aaron before "dinner" -

Aaron and his grandmother -

Esther and her grandmother - On Thanksgiving Day we had a big meal and hung around and visited and played games and that kind of thing. The next morning, the ladies went to do some shopping and the guys finished out the holiday by splitting firewood and cleaning in a garage.
This year is the 3rd Christmas we've celebrated together, the 2nd that we've been married, and the first we've set up a big Christmas tree and really decorated. (Aaron's mono got in the way last year!) We had fun doing it together :)

Esther just after waking up from a nap - she wasn't sure what to think of the tree itself at first, but has reached the point where there's a couple ornaments that are real temptations to her :)

The first Saturday in December we had an open house at our home for the church people - it was pretty busy for both Aaron and I getting ready, but we really enjoyed it and hopefully the people who came did too!

For my family's sake, I've included a few pictues of our home decorated - Aaron had a bunch of things from before he was married, I had some, and some were given to us for our wedding.

I'll leave you with this picture of Esther and Aaron - she had a fever for a couple days last week, but is back to her cheerful self now...

Also, this last Sunday was our church's children's musical and this coming Sunday is our adult musical. If you remember, pray that is will go well!

More Birthday and Bible Bee

2011-11-22T21:07:00.005-06:00

The week after Esther's birthday, Aaron's parents, grandparents, and sister and her husband, came up to celebrate. They came to church with us, then we all went out to eat at a place located in Mongtogmery Bell State Park, which is just down the road.

The scenery there was beautiful! We walked out on this "catwalk" type thing to get a better look.

The lake and the hills and the trees - most of the leaves are gone now, but there were a few left then.

We all came back to our house for cake and ice cream and to open presents. Esther's figured out the gift bags, but the other ones I had to help with :)

New socks from Alaska!

One gift was a little rocking chair just her size - she'll go in the living room and climb in it all herself.

A musical toy...

We were so excited that the Bible Bee was in Nashville this year! My parents and sisters came over to our house a couple days and we went there to hang out with them a couple days. Above is Hosanna, Miriam, and Priscilla -
Esther playing on the table -
For some reason, Esther really loved her Aunty Miriam :)
They had a 400th birthday party for the King James Bible! We were also able to watch the semi-finals and finals, look around at the vendors, go to a picnic with Bill Gothard, go to a family hymn sing, and meet up with Mrs. G. and Jonathan. I'm sure my Mom will fill everyone in on the details on her blog - We really enjoyed it and getting to spend time with the family!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Traits of a Biblical Woman

2011-11-05T10:39:00.007-05:00

Hello! I haven't taken any pictures this week and nothing really new has happened. Hope you all are having a great November!

This summer, I've been sort of doing a Bible study on these words - the defenitions, other verses about that topic, and Biblical examples of those that had these traits - it's been pretty interesting and I have a lot more to go - studying and putting into practice! I've been meaning to post this list for a while and since I don't have anything else, you get it today :)

Christain
...There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal.3:28

Virtuous
A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband....Pro.12:4
Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. Pro.31:10
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Pro.31:29
...for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtous woman. Ruth 3:11

Good
That they may teach the young woman to be...good. Tit.2:4-5
...as long as ye do well...I Pet.3:6

Strong
She girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her arms. Pro.31:17
Strength and honor are her clothing;... Pro.31:25

Honorable
Honor widows that are widows indeed. I Tim.5:3
Strength and honor are her clothing;...Pro.31:25
A gracious woman retaineth honor...Pro.11:16
The king's daughter is all glorious within...Ps.45:13
...Many of them believed; also of honorable women...Acts 17:12

Grave
Even so must their wives be grave....I Tim. 3:11

Holy
...That she may be holy both in body and in spirit...I Cor.7:34
The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness...Tit.2:3
For after this manner in the old time the holy women also...I Pet.3:5

Chaste
While they behold your chaste conversation...I Pet.3:2
That they may teach the young women to be...chaste. Tit.2:5

Wise
Every wise woman buildeth her house...Pro.14:1
She openeth her mouth with wisdom....Pro.31:26
...the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding...I Sam.25:3
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

Discreet
As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout; so is a fair woman which is without discretion. Pro.11:22
That they may teach the young women...to be discreet...Tit. 2:4-5

Prudent
...a prudent wife is from the Lord. Pro.19:14

Sober
Even so must their wives be...sober...I Tim.3:11
...That women adorn themselves...with...sobriety...I Tim. 2:9
The aged women...not given to much wine...Tit.2:3
That they may teach the young women to be sober...Tit.2:4

Submissive
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Eph.5:22
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own hubands, as it is fit in the Lord. Col. 3:18

Subject
...As the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Eph.5:22
Let the women learn...with all subjection. I Tim.2:11
...Be in subjection to your own husbands...I Pet.3:1
...Being in subjection unto their own husbands: I Pet. 3:5

Obedient
...That they may teach the young women to be...obedient to their own husbands...Tit.2:4-5
...They are commanded to be under obedience...I Cor.14:34
Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord:...I Pet.3:6

Reverent
...The wife see that she reverence her husband. Eph.5:33
While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. I Pet. 3:5

Gracious
A gracious woman retaineth honor:...Pro.11:16

Kind
...in her tongue is the law of kindness. Pro.31:26

Loving
That they may teach the young women to...love their husbands, to love their children, Tit.2:4

Gentle
But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: I Thes.2:7

Not Slanderer
Even so must their wives be...not slanderers...I Tim. 3:11
Learn to be....tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. I Tim.5:13
The aged women likewise, that they be...not false accusers...Tit.2:3

Not Contentious
...The contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. Pro.19:13
It is better to dwell in the corner of a housetop, than with a brawling woman...Pro. 21:9
It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman. Pro. 21:9
A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. Pro.27:15

Faithful
Even so must their wives be...faithful in all things. I Tim.3:11

Joyful
...and she shall rejoice in time to come. Pro.31:25
He maketh the barren woman...to be a joyful mother of children...Ps.113:9
With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought...Ps.45:15
....Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Pro. 4:18
...Mary said...My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Lk.1:46-47

Shamefaced
...Woman adorn themselves...with shamefacedness...I Tim.2:9

Diligent
She...worketh willingly with her hands. Pro.31:13
She...eateth not the bread of idleness. Pro.31:27
...If she have diligently followed every good work. I Tim. 5:10
And withal they learn to be idle... I Tim.5:13

Fear the Lord
...A woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Pro.31:30
...Because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. Ex.1:21

Trust in God
...Holy women also, who trusted in God...I Pet.3:5
Now she that is a widow indeed...trusteth in God....I Tim.5:5

Have Faith
Through faith also Sarah herself received strength...because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Heb.11:11
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not...Heb.11:31
...the unfeigned faith...which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice;... II Tim.1:5
Daughter....thy faith hath made thee whole...Mtt.9:22
O woman...great is thy faith...Mtt.15:28
And He said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee;....Lk.7:50

Not Afraid
She is not afraid of the snow for her household:....Pro.31:21
...and are not afraid with any amazement. I Pet.3:6

Meek and Quiet
...Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
I Pet.3:4

Pray
Now she that is a widow indeed...continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. I Tim.5:5
....Hannah...prayed unto the Lord....I Sam. 1:9-10
And a certain woman named Lydia...which worshipped God...Acts16:14
...Anna...served God with fastings and prayers night and day...Lk.2:36-37

Hear God's Word
But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Lk.10:42

Do Good Works
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. Pro.31:20
...That women adorn themselves...with good works. I Tim.2:9-10
Well reported of for good works;...if she have diligently followed every good work. I Tim.5:10
...Dorcas: this woman was full of good works...Acts 9:37

Silent in Church
Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak;...
I Cor.14:34
...it is a shame for women to speak in the church. I Cor.14:35
But I suffer not a woman to teach...the man, but to be in silence. I Tim.2:12

Teacher
The aged women likewise, that they be...teachers of good things; Tit.2:3
...Your daughters shall prophesy...Acts 2:17

Modest Apparel
...Women adorn themselves in modest apparel...I Tim.2:9
....Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning...I Pet.3:3
She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Pro.31:22
Ps.45:13-14, Deut.22:5, Eze.16:15, I Cor.11:15

Single
...The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord...I Cor.7:34

Married
I will therefore that the younger women marry...I Tim.5:14
....She that is married careth...how she may please her husband. I Cor.7:34
Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. I Cor.11:9
...I will make a help meet for him. Gen. 2:18
Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing...Pro.18:22
....Let every woman have her own husband. I Cor.7:2
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her....she will do him good...Pro.31:11-12

Mother
I will therefore that the younger women...bear children...I Tim.5:14
He maketh the barren woman...to be a joyful mother of children....Ps.113:9
Her children arise up and call her blessed;...Pro.31:28
...If she have brought up children...I Tim. 5:10
But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. I Thes. 2:7
That they may teach the young women to...love their children. Tit.2:4

Homemaker
I will therefore that the younger women...guide the house...I Tim.5:14
He maketh the barren woman to keep house...Ps.113:9
She looketh well to the ways of her household....Pro.31:27
That they may teach the young women to be...keepers at home...Tit.2:4-5
Every wise woman buildeth her house...Pro.14:1

Esther's First Birthday

2011-10-31T18:47:00.005-05:00

This post is going to be mostly about Esther. She had her first birthday on the 25th! These first few pictures are from a little before that -this is an outfit that she got for her shower that I thought she'd never be big enough to wear! I really didn't think it would fit until I actually put it on her...

In "Daddy's" office at church - over the last 3 weeks or so, she's learned to walk :) It started with a step here or there that we weren't quite sure if we were really seeing what we thought we were, than she'd take 5 steps, fall, 5 steps fall..., now, she can make it all the way down the hall!

All "dressed up" for winter :)

We ended up going to MN for one day - but it was a good day. We had a good visit with my family and finished up some things and Esther got a birthday present...

We had to help her open them up, but she enjoyed the experience :)

We were able to get our winter squash while we were in MN - This acorn squash must have crossed with something!

The fall colors down here are very pretty - we had a couple of pictures taken in front of a red tree - the sun was pretty bright though.

Esther on her first birthday!

I made some cupcakes. Esther was "helping" and got into the dough and the frosting...

We gave her the whole thing and she grabbed the whole thing, tried to put a handful of frosting in her mouth, then tried to cram the whole thing in her mouth...we would have taken more pictures, only I dropped the camera. We also let her have a little ice cream, but we did not let her eat the whole cupcake :)

Cards from family and friends in MN-

On Wednesday night after church, they had a little birthday party for Esther and one of the deacons. It was a lot of fun! Esther is one blessed girl!

People were so sweet and brought her presents :) She seemed pretty interested in watching as we opened them and even did a little clapping...

That's for me?!

Our family -

The end of the party -

Virtual Tour

2011-10-07T20:33:00.005-05:00

Hello from Dunkin' Donuts! We've decided to save time and money and just use the internet uptown...

And welcome to our home! This is the living room where you would come in the front door - we normally use the side door ourselves. Those aren't actually our tools - a "handyman" from the man we're renting from came and fixed a few little things around the house. We also had it sprayed for insects this week .

You can tell a baby lives here! We haven't done a lot of decorating, partly because we haven't unpacked everything, and partly because with a baby around, the less stuff the better!

This is the kitchen. Aaron's parents are letting us borrow a fridge and microwave stand. The wallpaper is sort of pastel pinks and blues, so it's a blessing that I have a lot of blue towels anyway!

The other side of the kitchen -

The table (the "window" opens into the Living Room) and Esther's favorite shelf -

The kitchen leads to the laundry room/mudroom and the side door. I'm really enjoying having the laundry area close to the kitchen and the rest of the house!

The other side of the laundry room - it was fun stacking those shelves. At least we know we'll have plenty of jam, salsa, and pickles to eat :)

Down from the Living room/Kitchen is a hall leading to the bedrooms (3), closets, and bathroom.

Esther's room -

The bathroom -

Another picture of Esther's room - I didn't take any of our room or of the office/storage room...So anyway, we're enjoying it and we look forward to seeing you here in person!

Here's a recent picture of Esther - She's been sleeping through the night (wonderful!), and she has 5, going on 6 teeth. She can't walk yet, but I think she could if she tried :) In spite of the fact that her schedule is rather crazy here, she's doing well and is out growing her clothes.
She also has started enjoying looking at books (instead of eating them!) and likes to have us read them to her - over and over and over! Another one of her "new" things is playing with cell phones. It's the only "toy" that she really fusses when we take away from her...
Last Sunday she was playing with my Bible (don't worry, I was watching to make sure she was careful) and I thought it would make a cute picture.
Aaron pruned the trees in our yard. He's also started more of a regular work schedule now and goes to the office to study and has started to make more visits.
Aaron's been talking about buying a trimmer since before we were married and he finally had a good reason too! (the reason being we have a yard to trim....) We took a picture to commemorate this exciting event :)

As for the new baby, we have an appointment scheduled for next week and we've decided on our top boy/girl name and some backups.

I'm enjoying being home more - maybe I'll actually be a better homemaker if I'm home! The church people have been very good to us and we're keeping busy - Hope you all are having a great fall!

35 Pictures

2011-09-20T07:47:00.008-05:00

Hello everyone! Yes, we're still alive - just very busy and still trying to figure out what we're going to do with the internet situation...I won't be able to catch you up on everything, but we'll get a good start -

One of the last Sunday's before we left, Aaron baptized a young man from our church.

We were unable to finish all of the garden before we left - for lack of time and also some things just weren't ready yet, but we can't complain! We were able to harvest quite a bit and our freezers are full and so are our canning shelves...and we were able to bring some fresh things along and Aaron's parents have given us some extra as well. What we couldn't take, we left for the people at the church there, and some of it we'll get at Christmas.

Above are the beets -

Esther loves to take things out of boxes!

She also loves Daddy's hat :)

Last year our corn didn't do very well, but between some extra fertilizer, warmer weather, and the Lord's blessing, it did much better and so we took lots of pictures :) Aaron and I took an afternoon to pick and shuck the corn and Esther hung out in her stroller.

Me -

Aaron with one of his favorite vegtables -

Esther -

All the corn in a corner of the kitchen. We didn't have time to finish it that night...

...so my sisters came over another day and helped us blanch and freeze it.

Aaron found his worst clothes and went over to the farm to help butcher some chickens we'd ordered.

As you can imagine, we've been eating lots of stir-fry! We also were able to can some tomatos and pickles. By the way, this picture is in our new home - I've never used a flat-top stove very much, but so far it's been pretty nice.

You probably recognize this place...in addition to all the packing and gardening, we spent part of our last few weeks saying good-bye to family and friends. This is at the maze on the day we took a family picture.

Sarah and Esther -

Sorry this picture is sideways! Grandma and Esther -

Some of the men visiting - Aaron, Grandpa, and Amos

Some of the cousins playing games in the family room - Miriam, Benjamin, Hannah, Joshua, Daniel, Jeshua, Jonathan. We were also saying good-bye to Reuben who's going to Asia for a year - I'm sure that's more of an extreme than MN to TN :)

Ellie and Esther - both have this thing for their middle two fingers :)

Hosanna and Esther with my mom's side of the family -

Aaron, Isaac, Grandpa, and Matthew - Matthew is going to Australia for two years, so pray for him too!

David and Daniel at the little picnic table Grandpa made for them.

Esther and Jeriah - they're only three months apart in age.

Aaron and Esther with the rocking horse that Grandpa made for Esther - she really likes it!

OK, on to the packing. Most of what took a long time was all of the sorting - even though you couldn't tell by the amount of stuff we took, we really did get rid of a lot before we left! Here's the library/office/misc. room shelves ready to be boxed.

Boxes in the hall waiting - I couldn't believe how many boxes and how much tape and packing paper (old newspapers) it took!

I was very grateful to Aaron for cleaning our shower - the iron in the water in MN turned it pretty much orange every few months!

Esther enjoyed all the piles of stuff everywhere as we were getting ready. My sister's came over a few days and helped watch her so I could get more done - they and Mom helped pack some as well, so thank you all very, very much - we couldn't have done it ourselves!

One morning, Aaron and I went to pick up the moving truck (stopped to say good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. B.) and that afternoon, my Dad and brothers and a couple guys from church came to help load up the truck. They did a great job and it went very well - this is Silas hauling things out from the garage.

Isaac hauling things into the truck -

It was quite a work of art getting everything in that truck :)

The guys also loaded up Aaron's truck on a trailor.

The whole rig! We spent Saturday and Sunday night at Aaron's parent's home, then on Monday, his parents and several men from the new church here came to help unload the truck. That also went faster than we were expecting.

Grandma and Grandpa came along to help drive - we were very grateful because by the time we left, we were both tired! Over all, the trip went well with no real problems.

Aaron in front of the sign at the church here - the first couple Sunday's have gone very well and we're enjoying getting to know all of the people.

We've been working on getting our house set up (we're renting one near the church), cleaning it, and getting all our new paperwork (driver's license, insurance, banking, utilities...) in order. The worst of it is done now though and I'm especially glad to have a kitchen set up again! Moving is quite a job! - hopefully we won't have to very often! When things get a little better and when I have time, I'll post pictures of the house. It's a little different living in town - We're not used to neighbors! - but so far the weather's been very nice and I'm enjoying having more than one grocery store to shop at!

Guess what one of the first things Aaron did was? Started tilling up a spot for a garden!

I hunted around for a Dr. and got several names and finally just went with one - it's a little more challenging around here than it is back home! So I have an appointment set up and I've already felt the new little one moving around :)

Esther's adjusted very well - she has her own room here and is sleeping better at night-time.

Thank you all for your prayers and we'll try to stay in touch better once we get a little routine in our life!

Camp and More....

2011-08-10T12:31:00.009-05:00

Hello everyone! We got another camera and finally found time to share some of the last month with you.

The main event was camp! Aaron was the director, so between preparation and the actual week, it kept us pretty busy.

Some of these pictures are out of order, but above is Esther at camp giving Daddy a big smile :)

Miriam and Julie graciously came along as much-needed counselors - this is Miriam in the dining hall, which was below the chapel.

Esther playing carpet ball at camp - but I had to take her out pretty quickly because she kept wanting to eat the bug-and-germ-covered balls.

This is Esther at my parents enjoying the toy shelf! She's becoming more mobile everyday and keeps us busy keeping an eye on her. She's also learned to wave :) and is getting her top two teeth.

I love this picture! Esther with a happened-to-match teddy bear from her O. grandparents. Oh, and that's not a scrape on her forehead - she just woke up from sleeping face down.

This is all the way back from 4th of July (or around there) - Esther is trying out a slice of cucumber - she's getting better at eating, although I'm not sure who's really the one learning how this works...her or me!

Baby, mother, grandmother, and greatgrandmother - four generations of daughters!

Morning devotions at the waterfront at camp - Aaron did a great job as the director! There were 83 kids who attended and over 20 made a profession of salvation - including three from our church that we'd been praying for! It was in central MN, the weather was great, and I think everyone had a good time.

This was a new addition called "Gaga Ball" - I never did figure out exactly how to play it....You can see the chapel in the background.

A couple people from our church came along and one of them helped out with the fishing. I guess they caught tons of panfish - I think that's what they were - but threw them back.

Aaron and I taught the 3-6th grade campers. The theme was "Heros of the Faith" from Hebrews 11, so he did Abraham, Isaac/Jacob, Moses, and Jesus Christ. I helped out with some of the songs, teaching verses, and a missionary story. Aaron did the Bible lessons and songs and a lot of review. Hopefully they all learned a lot because we went through a lot of information!

Due to rain the first day, our games got a little messed up and we ended up doing skits/charades on the last night. It worked out really well actually - this is Miriam's cabin acting out the Christmas story. Miriam said she's been in a lot of programs and done a lot of roles, but this was her first time being Joseph!

Every night there was a campfire service and different pastors spoke - this is Aaron on the last night.

We stopped at Arby's (Aaron's favorite....) on the way home - it seemed strangely quiet and peaceful without any campers around :)

Guess what was waiting for us the next morning?! The cucumbers that were small when we left were big enough that waiting 'till Monday wasn't an option.

Aaron helped me and we ended up with 16 quarts...good thing too...I've been eating more pickles than usual these days :)

Speaking of the baby-to-come, I had my first prenatal today and thankfully, everything seems to be fine and normal.

I had let Esther be in her stroller unstrapped for just a moment as I was checking something and turned around and found her standing up! I guess that's why they say to keep them strapped in!

The garden - we didn't do a very good job weeding this summer, but things seem to be growing and we've been eating stir-frys and salads and freezing beans, so we're thankful to the Lord for the continual miracle of seeds growing into food!

I'll close with some big news - we're moving to TN! The end of this month - middle part of the state - Aaron has been asked to pastor a church down there - town of about 15,000 or so - we haven't found a house yet, but we're looking - so, it'll be a big change, and we'll miss MN a lot, but I'm sure the Lord has new things planned for us! And I'll try to post on the blog more often!

Coming Soon!

2011-07-09T15:54:00.004-05:00

We and Esther are pleased to announce that Baby No. 2 is scheduled to arrive on February 15th, 2012.

We're very excited about this new life! Please pray for a safe pregnancy and delivery.

32 Things....

2011-07-09T14:30:00.003-05:00

Happy 32nd Birthday Aaron!!!

This last week was Aaron's birthday, and in honor of the occasion, I made a list of 32 of the many things I love about him and thought I'd share it with you :)

1. He loves the Lord
2. He's the spiritual leader of our home - he's reads the Bible and prays with me every night
3. and has since before we were engaged - even on the phone if he's gone
4. He's kind and never yells at me!
5. He wants lot of kids
6. and is a wonderful dad to Esther
7. He's honest
8. He's the practical leader of our home, or in otherwords, the benevolent dictator!
9. Which means I know what's expected of me and I don't have to worry about hard decisions
10. He's good with money
11. He works hard to provide for our family
12. He also provides for our family by having a big garden and picking fruit
13. He lets me moniter the mail and internet to avoid wicked women
14. He's very cabable - can fix the van, knows more about dressing proper than I do...
15. He's sweet - sometime's he writes little notes, or kisses me while I'm washing dishes or makes me breakfast...
16. He has productive hobbies
17. He asks my forgiveness if he thinks he's offended me (which normally he hasn't)
18. He likes to be with me
19. He's my best friend
20. He listens to me talk about house and girl stuff and talks to me about church and guy stuff
21. He has more plans, goals, and purposes for his life than we'll ever get done!
22. He's tall and strong and handsome - he gets better looking all the time :)
23. He's not a show-off
24. He's a wonderful preacher! - I always look forward to what he has to say
25. He's smart
26. He's very patriotic
27. He's respectful
28. He has a positive attitude - I normally feel guilty if I'm complaining...
29. He gives Biblical advise when I or others ask him
30. He's always learning things and sees illustrations in everything
31. He encourages me to do good things
32. He tries to do what's right, no matter what I, or anyone else thinks

July 9, 2011

2011-07-09T12:48:00.004-05:00

So much has happened in the last month! Our camera has been giving us trouble lately, so pardon the lack of many pictures...

After the other VBS we helped with, my parent's church had VBS, then the next week was our VBS - it went very well - Aaron does the rally times, Bible lessons, and game times, so it's a very busy week for him! I help with attendance and piano - and watching Esther (though Miriam came and helped with that some as well.) So many of the children, like so many others in America, come from such bad or uncaring families...hopefully the things they learned will make a difference in their lives.

Sarah trying out the Statue of Liberty cardboard picture-poster thing...

The Lord held off the rain so that we were able to play outside everyday!

On Friday night, we had a "family night" with food and games and a short program.

The Lord gave us good weather that night as well.

One day Aaron went over to some neighbors to get rhubarb - I thought he was getting about enough for a pie or two, but he came home with a big box! We were able to make 22 jars of rhubarb jam, so thank you!

Esther report: Esther this month has learned to crawl very well, gets into things, and likes to pull herself up to a standing postition. She also claps sometimes, and I just started feeding her real food - she's gotten pretty good at the rice ceral, but still isn't sure about carrots!

Garden report: The garden is still growing - we both agree that it's a little easier the second year. We've been eating lettuce, radishes, swiss chard, and spinach. Yesterday we were out weeding and just this morning, Aaron found a tomato on one of the plants, so we're looking forward to more harvest.

We also made another trip to TN, and Aaron preached some revival meetings. It was his first time doing that and he did a great job! He spoke on forgiveness, John 3:16, the Christian family, personal revival, and praying for America.

You probably saw the pictures of 4th of July on my mom's blog - our church also had a service down at the Point (park/lakefront) on Sunday morning and it went well. Hopefully it was a blessing to people in a patriotic and a spiritual way.

The next big thing on our schedule is Camp at the end of the month, and Aaron is going to be the director, another new experience, so please pray that everything will go well.

Recital and Petit Fours

2011-06-07T17:11:00.005-05:00

Esther in a dress from her H. cousins - before we get started on other things, I'll give you Esther's growth report :) Her two bottom teeth just started to come in...She's graduated from the swing to the high chair...She's learned to sit up on her own...sometime's she'll imitate sounds...and she can crawl just a little. So much fun!!

Someday I hope to teach her not to stick out her tongue...

On May 14, we had our piano recital - I was planning to cut back this year, but ended up with about 13 students. (Although, I mostly taught at the church instead of driving to the student's homes like before.) They all improved over this last year and did a great job at the recital! This is my cousin Sarah.

Jeshua

Priscilla

Hosanna

All of us!

Me and two Esthers -

We went to the retirement party for Mr. and Mrs. B. - It's so sad to think that my kids won't be able to have the same great experiences I had with CEF, but hopefully I can pass on the things I learned to them anyway! Thank you both for everything!

Esther is outgrowing her "I love Daddy" onsie, but then, soon she'll be able to fit her, "Daddy's girl" one :)

Like I said, she's learned how to sit up...

In May we also took a trip to TN - except for some van trouble, which Aaron and his brothers were able to fix, it went well. God protected us from all the tornados going through. We listened to "The Hiding Place" dramatized and really enjoyed that, and we bought cheese curds in WI, and were able to visit friends in IL (thank you!) - so it was fun.

Aaron and Esther after the Memorial Day service - We're so blessed to have people who were willing to give their lives for our freedom.

Aaron and I helped with a VBS in another town and the kids were giving us lilacs....one of our favorite flowers!

Pardon the state of chaos my kitchen is in! Hosanna, Miriam, and I made 250 petit fours for our cousin's wedding. It took about 3 days!

If you ever make petit fours, we learned some tricks - freeze the cake with a layer of frosting on top, freeze it again after you cut it and only take out a couple squares at a time, keep the glaze warm in a double boiler, pour the glaze over the cake on a wire rack with a pan under it, then you can reheat the extra glaze that falls through two more times before it gets too thick, but I don't think there's any way to make it easy!

The petit fours as the wedding
Esther and I after the wedding
This weekend a missionary from Africa was able to come and speak at our church. It was very informative.
We cut and froze ten bags of rhubarb - our first "preserving" of the year!

I'm sure you're all wondering where the garden pictures are...I keep forgetting to take them, but never fear, we planted it a little over a week ago (excpet the lettuce and spinach that were planted earlier - we've already ate one salad - even though it was probably a little soon...) and stuff is just starting to come up. Just today, Aaron planted a couple more things and we're praying that it won't rain too much in the next few days!
Rejoice evermore!

Esther's First Easter and More...

2011-05-09T17:24:00.007-05:00

I know this is a little late to be posting Easter pictures, but oh well! We updated our computer security system and now I can post more than five pictures at a time - just in case you're wondering why I never did before :)

This week a family from church gave us some raspberry plants, so Aaron went ahead and planted them, even though our garden is still too wet to do much in. I planted a couple feet of lettuce and radishes as well, so hopefully they'll survive.

Esther has this thing for rolling toward the edge of the bed, so sometimes we 'fence' her in with pillows :)

Esther is six months old now -

Aaron had to go to a conference in Colorado last week and took a few pictures to show me -

Esther trying on a bonnet :)

Silas finally consented to hold Esther - after a little force....They even match :)

Eating her toes!

All excited!

Hanging out in Daddy's lap...

Hanging out with Grandpa...

We made raspberry smoothies one night just for fun to drink while we watched a movie -

On Good Friday, Aaron and I hosted an open house for our church people (we were going to do it at Christmas, but Aaron was sick then, so this worked out just as well...) - It was a lot of fun to prepare for and went well. I calculated that 19 different people contributed either recipes, or dishes, or actual help...so if you recognize something, thank you! Oh, and since I didn't want to risk running out of food - we ended up with enough leftovers to share and to feed us for a few days :) We're considering making it an anual event.

Rice krispie bird nests - I remember my mom making these a long time ago -

Strawberry tea punch -

Which is the right baby?

Have a great week! (or however long it is until we post again...)

Spring

2011-04-13T22:08:00.002-05:00

We had an absolutely beautiful day this week - Aaron went out and worked on getting the tiller and mower all in shape for summer and we greatly enjoyed having a warm day after four or five months of cold!

Our garden is a little wet right now...Aaron did some ditching, but it's going to take a some time before it's ready to plant :)

If you look really close, you can see that our chives are just starting to come up -

We just cleaned up and put together this Saucer thing for Esther. She's enjoying it and I'm enjoying having a place to put her if I have to do something with both hands.

Esther Joy!

March 2011

2011-03-22T11:13:00.002-05:00

Mmmm, do you think I should change the name of our blog to something about Esther? I won't do that, she helps us serve the Lord too (in fact, she's head of our children's deparment :) ) but I'm noticing that she is sort of dominating the blog...This is her in a snow suit - we've been taking her out to get the mail with us once and a while.

She's outgrowing clothes by the week, and she recently discovered how to roll over and is making full use of her new mobility.

Esther's swing from Grandma S. - She likes it for a while, but then she gets tired of being all strapped in!

I sat next to her in the van for a while because she doesn't really like being strapped in the car seat either! Managed to catch a smile :)

2011-03-22T10:50:00.002-05:00

We've been talking about going down to visit Aaron's brother and sister-in-law in Missouri for a while, and had a free week so we left after church on Sunday and made it back Saturday afternoon. We also spent a couple nights with my cousins in South Dakota and it was fun to catch up with them too - unfortunetly, I forgot to take pictures while we were there...

Josh and Danialah took us to a BBQ restraunt in Kansas City - it was a cultural experience :)

Esther all dressed up :)

It was like 70 degrees one of the days we were there! Aaron and his brother spent time cutting wood and working in the garden and working on a car - guy things - and us girls just kind of hung out.

Also, when we were in the city, we walked around down town (there were a couple men giving carriage rides...) and went in a giant bookstore.

Four Months Old

2011-03-04T16:06:00.003-06:00

Hello! I hope you all are doing well - we both had bad colds earlier this week, but, thankfully, are feeling much better!

The other day we went to a natural mill that's located near here - we'd never been there before and found it pretty exciting :) They had all kinds of different grains and flours and a few other things - in small bags or big bags. So, it's a great place to go if you want to eat healthier or have a large family! We bought a few things we needed, and a few things to try just for fun.
I took a few pictures of Esther a couple Sundays ago and this was my favorite one - she's four months old now. Recently she's started reaching and playing with her toes...but she still would rather eat at night than during the day - life is just so exciting!
She can almost sit up without help...
and we're still not sure if her eyes are going to stay blue or turn brown.
Aaron and Esther :) Have a great week!

February Travels

2011-02-15T11:38:00.003-06:00

Hello! No exciting pictures this time :) We've had kind of a crazy couple weeks and are glad to be home today - finally! First, we went to a Pastor and Wives retreat in Green Lake,WI - about a ten hour drive. The ship above is in Duluth - I don't think I'd like to live in that city, but I really enjoy driving through and seeing the lake and ships...

The retreat was a little harder with a baby! I'm going to have to get used to this getting up and walking out thing :) She did pretty well on the drive though except for the last three hours of the way home - enough is enough!

Overall, we had fun!

Then, after getting home Saturday night, and having a busy Sunday, Aaron took off Monday afternoon for TN - and he got home Thursday night - and it's a 20 hour drive both ways! His brother bought an outdoor boiler from a company here in Warroad, so Aaron deliverd that and picked up some things his parents had given us. Then on Saturday we went to Grand Rapids, and Monday we went to Grand Forks, with Sunday in between...but the Lord kept us safe and we're not planning any more big trips for at least a little while :)

2011-02-15T11:29:00.003-06:00

This is our second Valentine's Day together :) At the last minute, we decided to go to the Valentine's banquet at Mom and Dad's church - very nice.
On Sunday evening, we did a Valentine's banquet at our church - some of the ladies did a great job decorating, we had a potluck style meal, and Aaron did a game and a devotional. We had a couple visitors and everything went well.

Here's a couple more pictures of Esther - she's growing fast and is getting more active and alert all the time!
She's just started sucking on her fingers - but her whole hand or thumb will work as well :)

January 4 - Esther

2011-01-31T16:44:00.002-06:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Janurary! Here's Esther wearing her "I Love Daddy" sleeper.
Esther with some more of her grandparents -
Esther and Great Grandpa -
Esther and Great Grandma -

Jaunuary 3 - A Birth and an Anniversary

2011-01-31T16:06:00.004-06:00

My sister-in-law had a baby boy - Jeriah Alvin (Alvin is my mom's dad's middle name) - we went over and saw him and he's very cute - and looks very tiny next to Esther :)

On our anniversary we got our wedding cake out of the freezer - it tasted pretty fresh and this time we had time to eat all we wanted :)

I couldn't decide which frost pictures to post...

January 2 - Frost

2011-01-31T15:57:00.002-06:00

We got up the other day and there was a beautiful frost out - Aaron took a bunch of pictures, so I'm going to post a bunch - you'll have to use your imagination a little though, because pictures just can't quite capture the beauty of God's winter.
The view from out kitchen window -

January 1 - Sledding and Squash

2011-01-31T15:43:00.003-06:00

On Saturday our Sunday school kids (and some adults) went sledding at our local hill - it was pretty cold, but not too bad and a fresh layer of snow made for great sledding! This is the view from the top of the hill -

and this is the view from the bottom of the hill. It's a long walk up!

They got a fire going in the lodge there and we drank hot chocolate and ate cookies.

We recently finished our butternut squash from last summer, and here Aaron's cooking up the acorn squash. We've also been working on the buttercup squash!

I keep trying to get pictures of Esther smiling....

Esther and Esther

2011-01-18T14:17:00.003-06:00

Esther and her cousin Esther (3 years old) - I know this doesn't look safe, but I was right there!

Isaac and Esther - he says babies are like calves - his pets!

Miriam and Esther -

"Mommy" and Esther :)

Abby and Esther - I'm trying to get pictures of her with other relatives too...

Esther in TN

2011-01-18T14:06:00.004-06:00

Esther and two of her older cousins -
Our family again! We went over to Aaron's grandmother's one night and took some pictures.
Four generations - Aaron, his grandma, Esther, and Aaron's mom.
Esther and her Great-Grandma -
Esther with Grandpa and Grandma S. - They all enjoyed her down there and offered to keep her, but we didn't agree :)

Esther and Leah

2011-01-18T13:50:00.002-06:00

We tried taking pictures of Esther and her cousin (9 months older) - a lot of them were cute, but neither girl would sit still and smile :)

Checking out those tiny feet -

What are you doing to us?

Most of Aaron's nieces and nephews are in their teens, but these are the three little ones. Caleb, Leah, and Esther -

Christmas 6 of 6

2011-01-12T18:54:00.002-06:00

One night we went out for supper with Aaron's brother and sister-in-law.

Nathan and Cassie -

Aaron's parents anniversary is the day after ours - and it's 40 years for them! The siblings surprised them with a special cake in honor of the occasion.

Julie and Tanya! Their family was on their way to visit some family in TN and took the time to stop by for a few hours - I hadn't seen Julie since March, so that was fun.

Aaron and his dad cracked some walnuts from a neighbor's tree - I got to try a couple too.

So, we had a great Christmas and now we're settled back into the everyday work. I have some more pictures from Christmas of Esther with different relatives, so I'll try to post those next time I get a chance. Keep warm!

One Year Ago Today....

2011-01-08T15:00:00.005-06:00

We got married!! In a lot of ways it's hard to believe I've been married for a whole year, but on the other hand, so much has happened that the wedding seems like a long time ago.

Our cousin, Hannah, took most of the formal pictures, but I don't have them on this computer, so if you want to see them, you'll have to ask to see our wedding album (which I'm still not completely done with....) sometime.

Out of the 30 or so cake mixes I made up, we only got one bite of cake! We froze the top layer though and tonight we're going to try it out.

I used to think that I'd like to be engaged and all, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to be married - however, I've since decided that being married is way better than being engaged! - that is, being married to Aaron - I think he must be the best husband in the whole world and I love him so much more now than I did a year ago :)

2011-01-08T14:50:00.002-06:00

Dad walking me down the aisle -

Aaron, Grandpa, and I -

Aaron and I during the ceremony -

Lighting the unity candle -

Preparing for the kiss!

Christmas 5 of 6 - more TN

2011-01-07T14:18:00.003-06:00

Aaron opening his stocking - his mom, like mine, loves to buy and give gifts! She also loves to decorate and the house looked like something out of a magazine :)
These are on Christmas Day - they had a meal in the evening followed by the gift opening, then some of them went to Aaron's sister's home for desserts.
Aaron has 2 sisters and 4 brothers - they were all there over the couple weeks, but not all at the same time - even so, with nieces and nephews and an aunt and uncle and grandparents, there was almost always a bunch of people around!
Some of us in the dining room -
Caleb, Aaron's nephew, and Dawson, got there own little table :)

Christmas 4 of 6 - TN

2011-01-07T14:00:00.003-06:00

On Monday some friends drove us to the airport and we were off for TN! It was a bit more challenging flying with a baby, but we didn't encounter any problems - and they didn't scan or search us!

We were supposed to land in Chicago on our way to Nashville, but because of bad whether there, they flew us straight to TN - it worked out wonderful because our plane had been delayed, but we ended up getting there about the same time we would have anyway, and the flight was pretty empty, so they allowed us to take Esther's car seat on board.

It snowed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the 26th - Everyone there was pretty excited to have a white Christmas!

Us again -

The lights in town were beautiful! We also drove to Nashville one night and saw some of the Christmas lights in that area. One house had the lights moving in sync to music - pretty impressive!

Esther's first Christmas :)

Christmas 3 of 6 - Us

2011-01-07T13:30:00.002-06:00

We took a lot of family pictures over the last few weeks!
I wanted to take one of Esther and I in our matching outfits...
We had our own little Christmas celebration too - we read the Christmas story from the Bible and had decorated a little tree (we both have a bunch of Christmas things, but since Aaron had been sick and we were going to be gone anyway, we just did that...), and we drank eggnogg, and exchanged a few little gifts - Aaron gave me a waffle iron that we tried out yesterday!
This is after we got home - the snow was all sparkling and beautiful, but the picture just doesn't get the look across.

By the way, we're very grateful that Aaron is feeling better! He's still more tired than normal, but all of the other symptoms have gone away - thank you for your prayers!

Christmas 2 of 6 - Grandparents

2011-01-07T13:13:00.002-06:00

I think all the pictures I had of Christmas at my dad's parents were similar to ones on Mom's and Rachel's and Rebekah's blogs, but I'll post a few anyway - we had a big Christmas meal at noon, and in the evening we had a "white elephant" gift exchange.

Priscilla, Rachel, Abby, and Mathias

Marie, Daniel, Libby, Esther, Reuben

Ellie, Uncle Doug

Aunt Ellen, Uncle Ronnie, Melita in front - we were gone for Uncle Ronnie's funeral, so we were very glad it worked out for us to have Christmas early, so we could all be there.

Melita again

Christmas 1 of 6 - my parents

2011-01-06T15:23:00.004-06:00

Hello! I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas! We were blessed to have lots of "Christmas" this year - with my parents, my grandparents, just Aaron and I, and a couple weeks at his parents - so I have lots of pictures and will try to post them over the next few days - then I have more of Esther to show you :)

We went over to Mom and Dad's in mid-December so we could get together before we left.

I was going through my pictures the other day and realized that I don't really have many of just Aaron and I since we're always taking them of each other, so I asked someone to take this one.

Dad with the shovel Aaron got for him -
Amos and Rebekah
David checking things out -
Esther and I and Miriam - My mom had made finger food for us to eat and we opened some presents - so thank you everyone!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-11T11:41:00.002-06:00

I guess I shouldn't be complaining about Mom not posting! We're going to visit Aaron's family in TN for Christmas and it's possible I'll post before we leave...but if not, Merry Christmas to you all! I'll try to take lots of pictures while we're gone to share when we get home.

The above picture was taken on Thanksgiving -

Esther all dressed up to go with me to the Ladies Christmas Tea!

It's hard to get her to lay still and smile for a picture...

Esther and I in front of the church Christmas tree

We thought, since Esther and I were dressed up anyway, we'd take some family pictures, but we didn't like how any of them turned out - mostly because Aaron has jaundice and some swelling in his throat and felt he looked almost as sick as he really is.

For those of you that don't know, Aaron came down with a fever about 3 weeks ago - eventually we went in to the hospital and they told us he had mono and strep throat! The fever is gone, but if you look up a list of the symptoms/results of mono, he's had almost every one of them in turn. So please pray that he'll heal quickly and completely!

Esther in pink

2010-12-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

Even though Aaron's not feeling well, Esther seems to be doing just fine - we weighed her the other day and she was 9 lb. 10 oz. and she's getting more aware all the time :)

Someone gave her this jumper that says "little shining star" and I thought that was cute because the name Esther means "star".

Sorry these pictures are so dark...they're just a few of her kicking and making faces.

Baby Shower

2010-11-24T15:57:00.002-06:00

On Saturday, the ladies from our church and some of my relatives and people from my parent's church had a baby shower for Esther and I. It was all very nice.

Hosanna made the cake - I thought she did a great job!

A creative decoration idea :) This is the crib from the nursery. Some of my little cousins sang "Jesus Loves Me", my aunt did a shower game (guessing which "old wives tales" meant the lady was expecting a boy, or a girl), and an old friend of our family's did a devotional.

Some of the guests - There was over 50 people there in all. My cousins from SD came up, so it was fun to have them there! No, Aaron did not attend the shower...but he did help with some of the setting up.

People brought so many nice gifts! Esther will have lots of pretty clothes to wear and blankets to keep her warm (that's a good thing, because the snow is really coming down today) and everything else she needs to be a proper baby :)

Rachel, Elizabeth, Priscilla, Abby, Alexis, Victoria

Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

Esther: Our New Family Member

2010-11-08T16:25:00.003-06:00

I never did like pictures of babies moments after they were born, but just in case you do...

Sorry it's taken me so long to post about Esther, but I wasn't in too big of hurry because other people have been keeping you up to date - so thank you to everyone who's posted pretty pictures of Esther on their blogs! Also, I'd like to thank everyone who's been praying for us and who has brought us meals and things - we're blessed with wonderful family and friends!

For those of you who are interested, here's the basic story. I'd been feeling a little achy on Saturday and Sunday, and I woke up a couple times Sunday night, and somewhere between then and when I got up Monday morning about 8:30, I started having contractions. About 10 I started timing them and they were between 3 and 10 minutes apart - not really painful, but they also wouldn't go away.

About 2 or so, I went into the clinic and the Dr. checked me - I was at about 3 1/2, so she recommend I go to the hospital (about 20 min. away). Anyway, by the time we got there and got all settled in, (about 4:30) I too was convinced that this was the real thing. Everything went as well as can be expected - it could have been much worse, it was only the last hour or so - and the pushing (about 45 min.) - that I thought was really bad. She was born at 10:24 PM.
The Satchwill family :) A wedding and a baby in 10 months - it's been quite an eventful year!

Since we didn't know if the baby would be a boy or a girl, we brought a green outfit to the hospital.

We named her Esther after Esther in the Bible and because it's Aaron's favorite girl name. We talked about a few others, but it wasn't a hard decision. Her middle name is Joy - like me, my mom, my sisters, a cousin, Aaron's sister, and one of Aaron's sister-in-laws.

2010-11-08T15:49:00.002-06:00

She makes so many cute faces and expressions!

With the recovery and getting used to taking care of a baby, it's been a challenging couple weeks, but Esther has been a good baby so far - she normally only cries when she has a good reason, and she's been eating well.

Although, she hasn't learned to sleep through the night yet - we're getting better though - at first she was up every hour or so, but now she's down to two or three times a night.

It's hard to believe she's two weeks old already! She had her one week check-up last week and had already gained some weight.

We love our little girl very much! She truly is a blessing from the Lord!

Beautiful, Busy Fall

2010-10-14T14:11:00.002-05:00

Hello! I won't even bother to apologize for taking so long to post...I guess once every couple weeks is going to be normal!

In September, some of the church men got together for a prayer breakfast.

Aaron's been spending some time in Badger helping a church with some construction.

This church bought an old house next door, and is remodeling it into a nursery, classrooms, and guest apartment.

Aaron also went with one of the kids from our church to the youth conference in Ill. with my parent's church. He had a good time - they got to go to our friend's corn maze and in spite of some van trouble, made it home safely. He was also at a Pastor's conference last week, so I'm very glad he's back!

The whole group that went - you can't see Aaron very well - he's in the blue shirt in front of the red door.

While Aaron was gone, I worked on our wedding album a bunch (maybe I'll post some more of those pictures one of these days...) and helped out at the corn maze some since a lot of their regular help was gone.

The baby still seems to be doing fine - I'm due two weeks from today, but that's a little hard to believe. We went to the hospital one day and toured the "birthing wing" - it was pretty nice and I'm glad to be able to picture it better. Also, we ordered cloth dipers and I've been trying to wash the clothes we do have and things like that...

As far as the garden goes - we've canned as many tomatos as we could handle, froze some of the sweet potatos in puree form, pickled some jalepenos, as well as some beets, and are trying out some sauerkraut.

2010-10-14T14:02:00.002-05:00

One day, just for fun, Aaron and I went out to the state forest and while we were there we couldn't resist taking a bunch of pictures. The fall colors were so beautiful!

I really like the mix of the yellows/oranges, with the dark green.

This was a couple weeks ago though, now almost all of the leaves are gone.

2010-10-14T13:54:00.003-05:00

Aaron was out visiting a church family, and he stopped to take these pictures on the way.

If you look close, you can see a deer jumping off into the woods.

Hope you have a great fall!

The Last Garden Pictures

2010-09-24T13:42:00.002-05:00

We took a break one day and took this picture out in the church yard - most of the trees are your usual brown and yellow, but there's this one bright red one.

The day Aaron's been waiting for all summer.....Digging sweet potatos! With frost in the forcast, we decided to harvest everything that was left in the garden - in one day. We were pretty sore that evening!

We planted 3 different varieties, and they took definite first, second, and third places. A few of the potatos were huge, and we got enough to last a while - at least in my opinion. (I was of the persuasion that sweet potatos were for Thanksgiving only, but I have a feeling that's going to change.....) Aaron was pretty happy with how they turned out!

The whole pile of stuff! We're slowly getting it processed -the tomatos are the only big thing left and we'll do them a few at a time. I don't think very many gardens have been the object of as many prayers as ours was - and God answers prayers.

2010-09-24T13:24:00.002-05:00

We spent one whole day harvesting, and Aaron spent pretty much another whole day pulling up all of the dead or about-to-die plants. I only helped him a little on this project...
Funny how in the spring we look forward to things growing, and this time of year, a bare, empty garden is a beautiful sight! All that's left out there now is the winter squash - so I guess I can't promise this is the end of the garden pictures, but we're at least close :)
Some of the plants we put on our compost pile, and some of them we took to the farm and gave the cows.
Cutting up garlic for jalepeno salsa - we've made about 6 different batches of salsa and each one has been a little different. If we experiment long enough, we'll find what we like the best :) Actually, this salsa is probably at the top of our list now - it has an equal ratio of peppers and tomatos, but it isn't so hot you can't eat it.
Due to our late May planting - or maybe the fact that this is a ways north - this is all the okra we got - but it was enough for one meal for the two of us and so we enjoyed it anyway.

Maze, Garden, and Museum

2010-09-10T16:08:00.003-05:00

Hello! I look fat in this picture for some reason....but we need a share in the corn maze pictures too, right? Aaron and I went over one day and helped set things up.

We also took our Sunday school kids (I think it was 8) to the maze one day - they had a great time and we wore them out! They were a little afraid of the calf and they really enjoyed jumping off the tractor tires. We weren't sure about putting pictures of them online, so this was one of the only ones with no faces in it. On top of the bridge -

Aaron and I went fishing at the Northwest Angle with a couple from church. We didn't get many fish (I did get one though - like the first fish I ever remember getting...), but it was a beautiful day to be out on the lake! We saw loons, deer, pelicans, a golden eagle, and a fox, and got to hear a lot of stories from the history of the area.

2010-09-10T15:52:00.002-05:00

Aaron and a couple others from church worked hard and made and put on baseboards in the church's hallway/lobby area. They look very nice!
Since we both love salsa, we had fun making some together - we might even try a batch sometime with twice as many peppers...
Aaron cutting peppers...my hair was a mess or something like that, so he got to be the model. I thought when we planted this big garden, I was going to have to harvest it all myself, but Aaron enjoys the garden work and he's the one that decides what needs to be harvested each day.
We used a gift card we got for our wedding to buy this Kitchen Aid attatchment. We canned 8 pints that day and have done 7 more since and hope to get another couple batches ( and maybe some other tomato things.) I know that doesn't sound like much to all you big-family-expert-canners, but we were pretty happy :)
Aaron and our cabbage - we've also been harvesting more peas, corn, beets, and cucumbers. I have a feeling this cool September weather is going to slow things down now though.

2010-09-10T15:38:00.002-05:00

On Monday, Aaron surprised me in the morning by telling me we were going to the "Fall on the Farm" day at the Mennonite Village Museum in Stienbach, MB. That's one of my very favorite places to go, and Aaron enjoys it too, so we had a great day! One of the main attractions was the old fashioned threshing machine demonstration.
Aaron enjoyed all of the old machinery - this is a steam powered tractor. Here it was hooked up to a sawmill type operation.
On special days like this one, they have people in the different buildings demonstrating different skills. I took my few-second turn at butter-churning. Although...I had to buy butter yesterday and it makes churning not seem like such a bad option :)
The windmill - we chatted with the "miller" (as well as several other people) and he said the wind in southern MB is too sparodic to keep up a windmill all day.
Aaron on the deck of the windmill. On the drive up, we talked about our memories of the last time we went there together - about a month before I even knew he was interested in me :) My family was suspicious though and paid attention that day, but at the end, they concluded he really didn't like me - it was just the farm! I'm sure glad we were wrong :) !!

2010-09-10T15:19:00.002-05:00

Aaron in the "Semlin" - basically a sod house. We figured we could probably make one of those fairly quickly and cheaply....

They butchered a hog that morning and were working on it all day, then concluded by having an auction to sell the different parts. In this picture, I believe the man is making "head cheese". I've never had it, but I've heard it's something like bologna.

Since there's only two of us...we bought a couple treats.

We shared a "waffle with vanilla sauce" - it was very good and a lady gave us the recipe, so I'm going to try it one of these days. Maybe she felt bad - when Aaron gave her American money, she said, "oh, you don't look like Americans." Is that a compliment or an insult? :) We certainly don't look like Canadians, but she must have mistaken us for Mennonites...It actually was kind of nice, there were soooo many ladies in skirts of one kind or another, that I didn't feel like I stood out :)

Aaron in front of an oak tree that came from the acorn of a famous oak tree in Southern Russia where many of the Mennonites came from.

3 New Posts

2010-08-16T11:29:00.003-05:00

Hello! I think I say this every post, but we've been very busy the last few weeks...In July we took some of the Sunday school kids fishing off the docks in Warroad - we didn't catch any fish, but I think the ice cream afterwards made up for it :)

Aaron and I went to help out at the Good News Tent at the fair one evening - it was very slow, but we got to help a little. I told the Evangecube, instead of the wordless book, to children who had been there a couple years in a row.

We've had a couple days already of freezing beans and peas - and on Thursday we tried making pickles - we'll find out in a few weeks if we did it right!

Saturday, July 31, we left for Camp JIM, near Baxter, MN - On Sunday the campers arrived (about 78 - including 3rd graders through high school) and we had a great week.

Aaron was the "camp pastor" so he kept very busy - he preached Sunday night and Friday morning to everyone, then the other days, he did children's chapel at 9, went right to preach to the teens after that, and in the afternoon he did a Bible study for the teens and one for the children. Plus he did cabin devotions a couple nights...

The above picture is during children's chapel - Aaron taught for a little bit, and also told a Bible story. I helped with playing piano, teaching a verse, and doing a review game.

This is during children's Bible study - Our theme for the week was the "armor of God" and they had the same emphasis each day during chapel, Bible study, and devotions, so hopefully they'll remember what they learned - I know I learned some things!

2010-08-16T11:14:00.003-05:00

This is the chapel building (they have chapel in the morning because it gets very warm in here in the evening...) and below it is the dining hall.

The first few days of camp it seemed like the campers, particularly the teens, were very unresponsive to the preaching and spiritual things, but the Lord worked, and by the end of the week about 18 boys and girls accepted Jesus as their Savior! and many others gave their lives to Christ. It was pretty exciting!

I got to pray with one little boy - he was crying - and in all the years I've worked with children, I've never seen that. Aaron got to lead several children to the Lord and we also were able to talk to half-a-dozen teens or kids that had some questions about eternal security and other things like that.

This was the outside of our cabin -

We were very spoiled - you know how camp normally is, well, they let us stay in a brand new cabin that looked more like a hotel than camp!

The last morning, they had a baptism for a few of the children who had been saved.

We had to pull this big trailer to Badger on Friday afternoon, so we borrowed this big desiel truck for the week - it was kind of fun :)

2010-08-16T10:56:00.002-05:00

This past week we helped out with a Vacation Bible School in Badger, MN (about a 40 min. drive) Aaron did rally time at the beginning and end, taught the 8-12 year olds Bible time and led game time. I just played a little piano and sort of helped out wherever. It all went well - there were about 18 kids enrolled.

The hat Aaron is wearing in this picture belonged to the pastor's father - it's from the early teens!
The begining of this week was very warm, so the kids enjoyed this sponge-and-water relay :)
The ladies at the church did a great job with the crafts and snacks.
Just because a post wouldn't be complete without a garden picture....here you are -
On Saturday, Aaron and I walked in a 5K walk/run that our town has - Very good exersize!

In case any of you are wondering about the baby - he/she is doing well - or at least that's what it seems like - and so am I. Only 2 and a half months 'till October 28! - and if it's born early, it'll be even sooner, so pray for us!

We're planning on actually being home for a while now, so hopefully I'll stay in better touch - Have a great week!

Summer work at the Satchwills

2010-07-21T11:47:00.002-05:00

We've finally had a couple whole weeks without any trips! Here's just a few pictures of everyday life around our home -

This is me cleaning blueberries. We went blueberry picking three times - the mosquitos were horrible! (at least a couple of the times) We were dressed like we were prepared for cold, only it wasn't the cold we were worried about...It's such a blessing to just be able to go out and pick berries though without having to buy them.

We made a bunch of blueberry lime jam again (we did last summer too) and had fun doing it together :)

Aaron and I sort of have a method of operation worked out - I'm very glad not to have to do all of that work myself!

We also made strawberry jam (above) and raspberry jam -

Aaron checking something out on his truck - I have a lot of pictures of Aaron in these posts, but that's just the way it worked out. He wears many hats!

2010-07-21T11:32:00.002-05:00

Normally church people mow the lawn, but sometimes that's Aaron - the lawn is very wet, so he tries to mow it when he has a chance to do it dry!

We went out to the farm one day last week and Mom helped me with some wedding picture stuff (speaking of which, I'll try to post some more of them sometime...) and Aaron helped Dad and the guys with baling hay.

More garden pictures...thanks to Aaron's care and the Lord sending us good whether, the garden is doing fine - we've been eating lettuce and radishes from it and the peas will be ready soon!

Aaron having fun with the tiller :)

More 4th of July

2010-07-07T19:22:00.003-05:00

Hello! I noticed the my Mom and Rachel have already posted 4th of July pictures, so I'll try not to duplicate their posts.

It was a beautiful day - Aaron took the above picture as we were driving home from the parade

Sunday morning, our church (Westside Baptist) had a patriotic service down by "The Point" - We were pleased with the turn-out (about 40 people) and everything went smoothly. At the last minute, we decided to have it inside the picnic shelter instead of on the trailor/bleachers - a good thing because halfway through the sermon it started to rain!

Someone found this keyboard for us to borrow - I've never played piano outside before, especially connected to a big speaker! There was no pedal, which was a little odd, but overall it went ok.

Aaron started and ended the sermon with history of our nation's founding and in the middle gave the gospel - telling how we can each have freedom from sin and it's eternal punishment.

Jeshua, Joshua, Matthias, and Caleb (there were a couple other boys around too...) - they "chased" Isaac to the house with cap-guns.

Miriam and Hosanna and someone's teddy bear...We went over to the Ortmann's for a picnic on Saturday, but sadly, I don't have any pictures from then, and on the 4th we had a picnic at the Krahn's -

2010-07-07T17:59:00.002-05:00

One of the nice things about getting together in the summer is there's more room! This is Rebekah and David, and Joanna (Rebekah's sister) admiring the new puppies.

Elizabeth and Grandma looking at Aaron and I's scrapbook -

Abby, Benjamin, and Uncle Bruce playing Baulderdash in the evening -

Abby, Rachel, and Priscilla (and a few others...) playing Rook -

Then later in the evening we all caravaned down to the lakefront (about dusk - 10:15) and watched fireworks - Actually, Aaron and I watched the fireworks together last year - only a lot has changed since then...this time we held hands :)

Rhubarb!

2010-07-07T17:48:00.002-05:00

Last week I made some rhubarb jam - it was my first time really canning without Mom there to answer questions - I think I only called home once....It went really well (it should have considering all the jam Aaron and I made last summer! - he helped me with putting the jam in jars) and looks nice in our pantry.

The rhubarb cooking down -

What else is new? We just started a Bible study Wednesday evenings on a little book called the "Treasure Principle"...Aaron read it and enjoyed it so much he had me read it and now we're going through it at church. It basically says that giving isn't a drudgery, it's smart b/c it's storing up treasures in heaven where they'll last forever.

One last thing - it was Aaron's 31st birthday yesterday! We were in Grand Forks, so I brought his gift along (even though I ordered it with his money...) and we went out for supper.

So Happy Birthday to the best husband in the whole world ! :)

No pictues today....

2010-06-29T18:58:00.003-05:00

Hello!

No pictures today...we carry our camera with us everywhere, but it seems like we always forget to take pictures - oh well.

We spent last week in Grand Forks - while Aaron was working, I stayed in the hotel and worked on scrapbooking - I'm almost done with our album of before we were married, so now I just have to finish it up, and do our wedding album before the baby is born :)

We also did a little shopping (got a few flowers on sale at Menards) and went out to eat a few times...

As for the baby, it's moving around a lot - I couldn't feel it as early as people say you should be able too, but there's no doubt now!

Also while we were gone, I read a book on childbirth - there's so much to know! Some of it I was familiar with, some things I'd heard of in dairy farm settings, and some things I'd never heard of in my life - so now I'm on a mission to become prepared :) So don't be surprised if I come asking you your opinions...

Yesterday and today we weeded/hoed/tilled our whole garden - it looks like a real garden now, not a swamp!

We're also preparing for the 4th of July - we're having a church service down by the lake (where most of the holiday activities go on) at 9:00 instead of our regular services, so Aaron is going to preach a patriotic message, and we're going to sing patriotic songs, and hopefully it'll be an outreach to the community, so please pray for us if you think of it!

I Thes. 5:16 - Rejoice evermore

Garden, VBS, and Baby News

2010-06-16T20:56:00.003-05:00

I took this picture just this evening - we were out weeding and this is the nice looking part of the garden :) We planted the tomatos/onions/peppers about 2 1/2 weeks ago, the corn/beans/peas 2 weeks ago, and everything else just yesterday, so hopefully it'll do ok. We didn't exactly wait because we wanted too, but we've been gone a lot and the main reason is: water!! Our garden is sort of in a low spot and is very wet. Aaron ridged up rows, and hopefully it'll dry out eventually. Oh, and we're trying out okra and sweet potatos!

Aaron planting peppers - see the water :)

Last week was our church's VBS (not to be confused with Mom and Dad's church's VBS - that's this week...). We did a Western theme and it ended up being a lot of fun! Some of the church people brought sadles, bridles, things like that, to decorate and for a craft the kids decorated the straw hats you see them wearing...

I thought Aaron looked pretty good in a cowboy hat :) He taught all of the Bible lessons, led rally time and kept busy the whole time - did a great job! Here he's sharing the Evange-cube. I helped some with registration and the contest and just kind of did what needed to be done - we're both still in recovery....

We took the kids pictures one day - this is my cousin, Sarah. A few of my cousins came and even Priscilla did a couple days - she said she was going to take notes on everything we did to critique us!

2010-06-16T20:31:00.005-05:00

Besides Bible study time, the kids had craft time, snack/verse memory time, and outdoor game time. In spite of a lot of forcasted rain, we only had to do games indoors one day - which was a real blessing! Things went ok, but that many people in one building for 3 hours gets kind of crazy!
We ended up with a total enrollment of 32 kids, plus half a dozen junior workers, so we were pretty happy with that.
Friday night was "family night" - it was supposed to be outdoors, but we ended up doing it indoors and it actually worked out just as well. Very noisy, but I think everyone had a good time.
One of the games - we borrowed a "Block Party Trailor" which came equipped with the games and other stuff. Overall we were very, very happy with how things turned out and we're looking forward to next year!
Me by the popcorn maker (it's Miriam's hat by the way!). In case you're wondering, I have gained weight....I had my first doctar's appointment this last week too - would have gone in earlier, but I was too busy and feeling ok, so I didn't worry about it.

Let's see - I'm at "20 weeks", the due date is October 28th, everything seems to be going well. Apparently I'm healthy, which is always good to hear. I'd never had blood drawn before (my hospital experience was limited to getting my wisdom teeth out at age 17 and stitches at age 6) and I didn't really enjoy that part! It left a huge bruise on my arm...Oh, and I've still been feeling well - I take naps once and a while now, which I NEVER did before, and I broke out it hives a couple days last week and still don't know why, but nothing to complain about!

No, we're not having an ultrasound - unless we have to for some reason or other. I was surprised at how many people were shocked by that :) Yes, we have talked about names - we don't agree on all of them, but there's plenty of them that we both like to last for all the children we're likely to have! We've picked out about 3 boy and girl names and you'll find out what they are when the time comes :)

Our Big Trip - part 1 of 5

2010-06-01T21:38:00.002-05:00

This time I have a good excuse for taking a long time to post - we were gone for almost 3 weeks!
In spite of our good resolutions, we didn't take a lot of pictures, but enough to do a couple posts.

We left on a Sunday afternoon and drove to Souix Falls to visit my aunt/uncle/cousins there - Aaron had never been there and hadn't gotten to visit with them a lot, so that was nice for him - and it was great to see how much the babies have grown - and we got back some more wedding pictures which I'll have to show you someday.

After a too-short visit, we drove down to Warrensburg, MO where Aaron's brother and his wife live. I had been to Warrensburg twice for ACE conventions, so it was funny to go back for a different reason :) It was nice to get to know them a little better...then the next day, we left for Clarksville, TN to visit Aaron's parents.
We drove through St. Louis...
Aaron's parents have done a lot of landscaping and have a beautiful backyard - Aaron helped out with a couple projects there. We also went to their church a couple times, Aaron met with some pastors, and I got to meet a new Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, Brother-in-law, and other family friends. It's a little late now, but I'm still glad I like Aaron's family :) I met so many people on this trip, it's going to take me a while to remember them all! Also, we helped Aaron's mother help with a lunch after the funeral of someone from the church's deaf ministry. That was a new experience for both of us!
Beautiful countryside in TN.

Our Big Trip - part 2 of 5

2010-06-01T21:20:00.004-05:00

Over the first weekend we were gone, we went to Union City, TN - about 2 hours west of Clarksville - so Aaron could preach at his "home church" and meet with some pastors there. He showed me around some too - I enjoyed getting to see the places where he's been so I can picture them.

This is the house where Aaron's family lived from the time he was a senior in highschool, until just a couple years ago.

This church is actually just one that Aaron's sister went to, but it's pretty typical of all of the churches we visited - red brick with a tall steeple!
On a Thursday, we drove from TN to Maryland to visit Aaron's brother, Nathan - Aaron helped him out with some yard work and church work and they got to go fishing one evening. I got to meet another Sister-in-law and an adorable niece and nephew!

Above is just a senic view - there's lots of those in the mountains. Personally, I think they're beautiful to look at, but not meant to be driven through! Actually though, we were blessed with great weather for traveling and it went as smoothly as you could hope for.
Yes, we did drive through all of that fog!

We drove to Avon, IN (near Indianapolis) on Wednesday to visit a church there where Aaron was an intern, then the next day, we left around 8 in the morning and drove all the way home! It took a little coffee and a few breaks, but we made it by 3:30 in the morning! It was a great trip, and now we're glad to be home and working on planting our garden...which you'll here more about next time - and hopefully it'll be sooner than 4 weeks this time!

Our Big Trip - part 3 of 5

2010-06-01T21:04:00.002-05:00

Aaron's brother in Maryland lives about 45 minutes from Washington DC, so one afternoon we went up there to look around. I'd always wanted to go there, but never had - and we really didn't plan it before we left, so it was a nice surprise!

Unlike the rest of our trip, we did take pictures that afternoon, so the next three posts are pictures from Washington - The pictures may bore you, but it was exciting to see the things in person.

We were able to park right in the mall, but it was at a 2-hour-meter, so we walked pretty fast the whole way there and back - we had to have put on over 3 miles throughout the afternoon!
The Washington Monument - it's very tall!!
One of our favorite things was the relatively new WWII Memorial - it was large and very impressive - just like the war it represents.
There were two halves - one for the Pacific and one for the Atlantic theaters. Also, each of the "pillars with wreaths" that you see, have the name of a state on them. Of course we found MN and TN :)
From the other side. There were some current Marines there assisting WWII veterns to see the place.

Our Big Trip - part 4 of 5

2010-06-01T20:51:00.006-05:00

As we walked along, we saw the White House to one side, but we didn't have time to take a closer look.

The Lincoln Memorial as viewed from the WWII Memorial - I forget exactly what they call this pond, but it was pretty and there were ducks with ducklings swimming around in it.

It doesn't look like it, but there's a lot of steps to get up there! We were visiting on a Tuesday, so there weren't tons of people, but there were some - a lot of highschoolers (probably on Senior trips) and I was really surprised at how many foreigners there were!

Abraham Lincoln himself - his Gettysburg Adress was on one wall and an inagural speech on the other.

The view from the top of the steps -

Our Big Trip - part 5 of 5

2010-06-01T20:29:00.004-05:00

On our quick walk back to the van, we went by the Vietnam memorial. Unlike the WWII one, this memorial seemed almost like a graveyard for all of those people who were unable to be buried here in their homeland.

After a quick break at the van, we added a few more minutes to our meter and walked the other way towards the Capitol. This is Aaron by part of the Ulysses S. Grant memorial.

These are sort of all the same, but I couldn't decide which of them I wanted to use, so you get to see the Capitol building from 3 different distances...We talked about several other things we'd like to see and do if we go back to Washington someday, and one of them is to tour this building.

As you can see, it was cloudy when we first arrived, which was much nicer than if it had been really warm, but it cleared up not long before we left.

Have a Great Spring!

2010-05-06T18:58:00.005-05:00

For those of you that haven't been to Warroad, that's our church/home in the background - it used to be a dull blue color, but the first summer Aaron was here they painted it white - and it looks much better! Our apartment is in the upstairs - even though you can't see them on this picture, we do have windows :)

Oh yes, this is our garden - this picure slightly distorts it, but it really is huge for two people! The ground there is very muddy, so Aaron put it in ridges to encourage drainage and I think it's going to work great!
We went to an endorsing convention for state representative canidates - neither of us had ever been to one before, so it was pretty interesting - even though it was well over an hour away, we ran into several people we knew, so enjoyed visiting and also becoming better informed citizens.
Aaron's been working on our van the last couple days - it was giving us some trouble, and since we're planning on visiting some relatives in the next couple weeks, he's getting it all tuned up.
Today, Aaron and I went to International Falls - he spoke at a National Day of Prayer breakfast at a church there. He did a great job and I think everyone enjoyed meeting a real chaplain in a real uniform :) The people there also prayed for us and after the prayer time at the church, we went to the flagpole near the courthouse and prayed some more.

I've been reading a book of Rebekah's on pregnancy - I guess you could say it's very interesting.

We also were in Grand Rapids on Saturday night/Sunday morning to preach at Grand Rapids Baptist Church (that is, Aaron preached and I just sat there and smiled...) so we've been keeping very busy with things and I don't think it's going to slow down anytime soon!

End of April

2010-05-06T18:42:00.003-05:00

My computer security system was being funny, so instead of trying to figure it out, I'll just go ahead and do two posts. As many of you know, my birthday was April 27 - I was 23 - if it weren't for Aaron, I would moan about how old that is, but as it is, married people go by their kids ages, not theirs, right?

The evening before my birthday we went over to my parents for supper and had cake with the grandparents, then the day of my birthday, Aaron gave me a beautiful necklace and took me on a picnic to Zippel Bay (where we got engaged), then in the afternoon we went out for dessert with some friends (half for fun, half for business...) and ended up with a very full, busy day :)

Also, some of the church ladies had a little party for me...
It was a beautiful and calm day at the lake!

Grandma K. gave us some chives and winter onions to transplant - we put them in the bed right by the church.

Me making zucchini lasagna - as soon as I have time, I plan to organize my cooking more, but for now I use what we need to use up - and we eat a lot of leftovers! This was a new recipe and it turned out well.

Aaron and I have this disagreement about cast iron skillets - he grew up with them as the main cooking "item" and I always thought they were strictly for camping. But I'm slowly getting used to them...This was a new one that Aaron had and had never used, so he's preparing it with oil.

April 19, 2010

2010-04-19T16:50:00.003-05:00

Hello! Hope you all are doing well...I don't know how so much time goes by between posts - at home I checked my email a couple times a day, normally, and looked at my favorite blogs every couple days. NowI just don't think to go on the computer - so if anyone wants to get a hold of me, better call!

Thank you all for your nice comments on our last post :) It's such a blessing to have family and friends that are supportive of having children and are knowledgeable on the topic! Oh, and by the way, I told Aaron that someone left a comment saying they thought the baby way way more exciting than the tiller, and he said it had to have been a girl....Actually, we think it's more exciting too - it's in such a different category that we can joke about it :)

This morning Aaron and I were out raking our yard - even though we're only a mile from town with a highway nearby, the church yard is big enough that it really does feel like we live out in the country.

Saturday was a big day - Recital time! All of the students played two songs - a classical/modern one and a sacred one. Most of them were really fun pieces and the students all did a great job! I was very happy with how it went. The recital was at my parents church because they have a grand piano - quite a change for some of the students who only use a keyboard!

Back - Hosanna, Reuben, Josh, Silas, Matt, Me, Elizabeth
Middle - Jeshua, Erin, Priscilla, Debbie, and Matthew (Grandma's student)
Front - Sarah, Daniel

We went to a couple meetings in Breezy Point, MN - it's a new church and I was wondering why they built it so fancy, until we figured out that it's a resort community - almost all of the buildings are like this.

What else have we been doing? Yesterday we took the Sunday school kids to the glow-in-the-dark-mini-golf place -they had a great time! Aaron went fishing for northerns with some church people, but they didn't catch any that day. He's also been doing a lot of tilling...our yard is sort of in a low spot, so while everywhere else around here is dry, it's still holding moisture.

Have a great week! - or however long it is before we post again -

The Announcement You've Been Waiting For...

2010-04-07T20:09:00.002-05:00

We're expecting our first child :) !!!!!

The baby will probaby be born in late Oct./early Nov.

We told our family for the first time on Easter, so you aren't really behind on things...

I've haven't been very sick at all, which is a huge blessing!

There's not a whole lot else to say, except we're really excited and you can all be praying for us!

As for other news that we haven't been good at keeping up on - we've been staying very busy and everything is going well. Aaron and another guy put in this counter-top and cabinets in the church fellowship hall. Since we're using the church kitchen, they'll use this for potlucks and things. Recognize these people? We had Amos and Rebekah and their family over for supper one night.
One day we got a good dusting of hail! It was pretty good size for around here, but not big enough to cause any damage.
The only other really exciting news, almost as exciting as the baby...., is that we just got a new used tiller - It's a Troy-built with very little use on it and we got it for a great deal, so even though out garden is still very muddy, Aaron was excited and had to try it out.

Wedding Pictures 3

2010-03-16T21:00:00.005-05:00

Hello - Hope everyone else is enjoying their week! The weather has been beautiful here and we've been keeping busy. Aaron had to go to Mississippi last week for an Air Force thing and so I spent a couple days at my parents - felt funny to be a guest :)

These are some of the wedding pictures that Abby took - She did a great job!

We like this one a lot! :)

A close up of my boquet - Purple has been my favorite color for many years and irises are Aaron's favorite flower, so I had both in my boquet.

Keren and Debbie serving root-beer floats at the reception.

Julie and Hadassah served chips with nacho cheese dip and breadsticks with pizza sauce for dip.

We made the breadsticks ourselves and it took several long days of keeping the breadmaker going!

JoyAnn and my aunts working away in the kitchen - we really appreciate everyone who worked at the wedding!

Aaron's father read Scipture - Eph. 5:18-33- during the ceremony.

Me being given away...

Isaac and Silas doing the aisle runner - Isaac helped with that at Amos' wedding as well, so he's an expert :)

Joshua, as well as a couple other cousins, took care of all the gifts.

Home, Haiti, Hibbing, and Florida

2010-03-09T20:04:00.006-06:00

Hello everyone! Hope things are going well for you - I have more wedding pictures to share, but thought I'd better put on a post about what we've been up to the last couple weeks.

A couple people gave us fun dishes, and we've been enjoying having special meals every once and a while - plus it's good practice for having company :)

The church here helped out with a project called "Buckets of Hope" for people in Haiti - the idea is to fill a 5 gallon bucket with food that will feed a family for a week and then they can use the bucket for water or whatever afterwards.

There's a list that told us what to pack and it's stuff like rice, beans, oil, sugar, flour, spaghetti, and peanut butter. Most American families would find that a rather blah menu for a week, but it really is a great idea.

Last week, we were able to go to the "Enrichment Conference" at Pensecola Christian College - we flew out of Hibbing - it has one gate, but they still did a very through security check - I had to have extra checking because of my skirt!

No mall atmosphere in the Hibbing airport! Instead they had mounted MN animals :)

Aaron went to PCC, so he gave me a great tour of the campus and all the places he used to hang out. (in case anyone else was wondering, there is no barbed wire on the fence....) It's very beautiful and it was fun to see more of where he spent part of his life.

There was no snow, but it was still chilly for FL - when we left, it was 35 degrees there, and 45 when we landed here!

The Four Winds dining room - one of the most fun things was seeing our friends that are there - Aaron ran into former classmates everywhere we went and he knows a couple current students from a church he worked at. Then one of my best friends, Julie, is down there - I got to surprise her and it was wonderful being able to catch up on life-since-the-wedding. Also I met a friend of the J. family, I saw a few people from when I worked at Camp Chetek a couple summers ago....a friend of the P. family and a friend of the H. family are down there as well, but I didn't actually talk to them.

We really were there for the conference though - it started with a banquet and service Tues. night, on both Wed. and Thur. mornings, we had 4 sessions - (talk about a lot of preaching....) - some were all together, and some were workshops. I went to a couple classes for "Senior Pastor Wives" :) They closed with a "camp meeting" on Thurs. night at Camp 'o the Pines.

The speakers were Johnny Pope, Kenny Baldwin, Scott Tewell, Francis Taylor, and Pat Smith - if you've ever heard any of them, you know they're great!

To bring us back to MN reality, the day after we got back, we and a few church kids went sledding at Bemis Hill - in spite of the warm weather, the snow was good and I think everyone had a great time.

Have a wonderful week!

Wedding Pictures 2

2010-02-26T20:16:00.004-06:00

We had a program after the reception - more of a light-hearted time after the seriousness of the ceremony. Neither of us knew all of what was planned and we really enjoyed it, in spite of some embarrasing moments...This is Aaron and I during a prayer.

Rachel was one of my personal attendants (she did a great job - and it was special to have her with me...she was trying to tell me that married life was wonderful...and she was right :) ) and here she's adjusting my crown a few minutes before the wedding. In case you hadn't noticed - these pictures are out of order.

13 girls - cousins, church and piano friends - were waitresses. Aunt Linda sewed matching black aprons for them and Mrs. Harris machine embroidered the names on them. The girls did a great job!

Another "almost kiss" :)

Throwing the boquet - I never was very good at throwing....

The bride and her three bridemaids from another wedding in '08! Sara, Jennie, Jennie, and Lexi

Before the wedding, I was researching why and how to cut the cake. It's to symbolize the couples willingness to care for each other. Long, long ago the groom would smash the cake over the brides head to show his authority over her...I agree that Aaron has the authority, but I still am glad we don't go with that tradition! There's also a superstition that it's bad luck to leave the wedding without tasting the cake! - and that if you sleep with a piece of it under your pillow you'll dream about your future mate. I suggested that to my siblings, but we agreed that we don't believe in such things. It's white to match the bride's dress. Yes, we did save the top tier and I guess how they ended up eating that for the 1st anniversary, was they used to eat it at the christianing of the first child.

We only did get one bite of the cake!

Aaron's brother, Nathan - it got down to about -20 degrees F that night.

Mathias and JoAnna were very cute as the ring bearer and flower girl and didn't seem nervous at all :) Instead of flower petals, JoAnna dropped snowlike glitter.
Hosanna - I had Miriam as my maid-of-honor because she's the oldest, but then, Hosanna gets to be at Miriam's wedding - or something like that.
Aunt Ellen was in charge of flowers - here she's giving Grandpa his corsage.
Daniel and Hannah figuring out the lighting for picture-taking!

A Few Wedding Pictures...

2010-02-20T12:31:00.007-06:00

I know it's been forever since our wedding, and you've probably seen a lot of pictures already, but I finally got around to going through some of the ones I have and thought you'd still enjoy them - I hope so anyway, because you'll likely be seeing wedding pictures on here for the next year or two!

Sara was one of my personal attendants and fixed my hair for the day - she did a great job!

Josh, Amos, Dad, and Grandpa - waiting for things to happen -
Rebekah played flute for the prelude - I didn't get to hear most of it because I was trapped in a back room...but what I did hear was beautiful and that's what everyone else said as well.

Jordan played piano for Rebekah, which was also very lovely - Thanks Jordan!

Aaron putting the ring on my finger :)

We didn't have an official receiving line, but we stood in the back afterwards and greeted people - this is me hugging my Grandma.

Greeting more church people - our parents stood with us as well.

Alexis and Ashley were two of th 13 waitresses - they were in charge of a table in the front of the church with sandwhiches and pinwheels on it...

Aunt Linda cutting cake - there was a lot of cake left! We only got one bite, but apparently my family ate leftover cake almost the whole week we were gone on the honeymoon.
I did grab a quick snack :)

Miriam was a witness, Aaron and I didn't have to sign the certificate, but our best man and maid of honor did.

Aaron and our flower girl, JoAnna

Aaron and I getting ready to leave the church - and saying lots of goodbyes...we didn't do too bad, the wedding was at 6 and we left somewhere around 10.

I'm putting this picture on to annoy my brothers and sisters :) Hopefully you're computer blockers won't stop our blog because of it...

Oh, and Julie took most of these pictures and a few of them were taken by Mrs. Enns.

Kitchen Makeover

2010-02-10T19:35:00.004-06:00

Hello! If married life always goes as fast as it's going now, we'll be having our 25th anniversary in just a few months! :) We thought some of you might like to see some pictures our our kitchen. It's actually the church's kitchen downstairs (we have an apartment upstairs) but we made a deal with them where we get the kitchen most of the time (they don't have potlucks every week!) and the plan is to put in a serving area and sink for them.

Anyway, above is basically the north and west walls of the kitchen from before.

On the east wall was a closet...

... and this is the south wall - notice the funny lines in the drywall from a door that used to be there.

Aaron started this project after Christmas and got a lot of it done before the wedding. He took off all of the sheet-rock on the wall and started over.

He boxed in the duct work (a big job!), hung new sheet-rocked, mudded it, sanded it, and painted it. Then we put the sink and dishwasher back in place.

I came over one day to "help out" - we did some dusting/cleaning, took off the wallpaper border, and did some sanding.

Priscilla came along too (I think my family is glad to have a break from chaperoning :) ) - she's wiping down the door we put on the closet/pantry.

While we were gone on our honeymoon, some of the church people put in a new floor, then when we got home, we spent basically the first week finishing the project up and organizing all our our wedding presents in the right places!

Here Aaron is putting new shelves in the pantry. They're very sturdy and it's big enough to hold all our food.

Almost the end! Aaron says there's still a few little things that need to be done, but it's very nice and I'm loving having "my own" kitchen! In addition to the other things I mentioned, we (ok, Aaron) painted, moved in a different fridge, put in a new light over the sink and did more rearranging and cleaning (well I did help with that!).

You might get to see it someday because we're planning on having lots of company - theoretically :)

The Rest of the Honeymoon Pictures

2010-01-31T19:34:00.003-06:00

Wow, I never thought it would be so hard to find time to blog...but even though things are busy, I've sort of settled in (though not all of my stuff!) and am feeling very much at home at my new home :)

These honeymoon pictures are starting to seem like a long time ago! - but it's really only been a couple weeks. The picture above is just one we took at a resort where we ate and looked around.

About an hour of the drive was through a very hilly, curvy area - we stopped for a little break to look at the sunset :)

I typically think scenery pictures are a little boring, but you'll just have to suffer them...

The sun setting over Lake Superior -

We stopped at Split Rock Lighthouse - it's only open for people to go inside during the summer months, but we looked around a little.

This picture's a little dark, but Aaron is standing on the steps -

We drove down to Duluth one day - on a clear day, you could see the whole city from this rest stop, but it was still pretty impressive.

We ate at a place called "Betty's Pies" - it's an old local place and we had a few people tell us that we just had to go there - it was worth the drive :)
Now when we see pictures of us from before the wedding, it's like, "wow, we look so far apart" :)

The night we got home, we went right ahead and opened presents - we've never had so many presents at one time in our lives - and probably never will again! People were very generous, and creative, and we got a lot of nice things - our kitchen is very well stocked :)

We took turns opening the cards and presents and I wrote things down.

Have a great week and I'll try to keep in touch :)

The Best Honeymoon Ever

2010-01-23T20:21:00.005-06:00

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long since we posted, but we've been busy! Mom said I'd do a long post with wedding pictures, but you see, I don't have any wedding pictures, so that isn't going to happen until later, but I'm sure you won't mind seeing them whenever...

Aaron didn't tell me where we were going on our honeymoon until after we left the church - our destination was the North Shore of Minnesota - I live in MN and I'd never really been up there, but it was very, very beautiful - it was only a 6 1/2 hour drive, but it would have been hard to find a prettier place even if you flew halfway across the world!

The picture above was taken Saturday morning (no we didn't go the whole way the first night...) and the ice on the truck is due to SOMEONE - or rather, someones - who thought icing would be more original than streamers and tin cans...however, some wonderful people cleared off the windshield and opened the doors for us before we had to leave. You'll notice - Aaron's truck has a middle seat :)

We stayed at the Cascade Lodge - it's 82 years old and the lodge, restraunt, and cabins all had an old time feel to them - very quaint and cozy - plus all the modern conveniences...

The cabin we stayed in was called the "honeymoon cabin" - the bridge is over Cascade Creek.

The outside of our cabin taken from the hill above it - unlike home, it's very hilly there - Aaron said parts of the drive reminded him of TN.

Probably our favorite thing about the cabin was the fireplace - Aaron built us a fire almost every day :)

We went to several restraunts that people recommend to us, but one of our favorites was the one at our resort -

It snowed a little bit the first day, but overall the weather was beautiful! We stayed right across the road from Lake Superior itself - and enjoyed walking along it, as well as driving along it - in the course of the week, we drove Hwy 61 all the way from Duluth to Grand Portage and you're along the lake the whole way. The snow, the rocks, the pines, the lake - Wow! Lake Superior is huge! It just sort of makes you feel like God is bigger than all your problems.

The pictures don't really do it justice - some of you photographer friends will have to go check it out yourselves...But then, it really wouldn't have mattered where we were, because the best part was being together! Now and forever :)

I should have a couple more posts of honeymoon pictures and then I'll try to post some of the kitchen project we've been working on.

Catching Up - Part 1 - Spring

2009-12-27T23:55:00.000-06:00

Hello from Naomi! We thought we should sort of tell at the beginning of our blog some of how we met just to give you a little backround so all of our current posts make sense -

Aaron moved to Warroad in November of '07 and then we met in January of '08 at a funeral. We saw each other around a few times over the next year, but it wasn't until Feburary of '09 that God really began to work in both of our hearts - in mine preparing me for this change and in his directing him toward me.

Aaron began kind of hanging around - he would drop over, sometimes he would come to afternoon services at my church and we went to some special meetings at his church, we also would "just happen" to run into each other places...and so we visited some and got to observe each other's character in different settings.

The picture above is one time this spring when Aaron was over helping out on the farm - we had some other friends over and were cooking out on a campfire. The picture below is from when he went sucker fishing with my Dad and brothers.

I wasn't sure what to think - Aaron was nice to me and all, but he's nice to everybody...so sometimes I thought he was interested in me, and other times I thought that maybe he just enjoyed the farm :) Either way, I had a real peace about him.

The picture of me above and the picture of Aaron below are from a trip my family took to the Mennonite Village Museum in Stienbach, MB - Through a rather interesting "chance", we invited Aaron to come along - it was a lot of fun, and also a good time to visit.

I've always held that I didn't want to get into any relationship unless there was a commitment toward marriage, and Aaron knew that, so during the first couple weeks of June, when I was in ND, he talked to my dad. When I say talked, I mean talked! I had a list of things that were important to me in a husband and they went over that - and other things.

Then the morning after I got home, Dad broke the news. He had enough information to answer the questions I had and after a couple days of thinking and praying, I knew that this was God's will for my life and so we were "betrothed" on June 15 - and thus began our lifelong adventure of learning to love each other more every day! God is good!

Catching Up - Part 2 - Summer

2009-12-27T23:49:00.000-06:00

Our relationship officially started in June, but the next couple months were very busy for both of us - I spent several weeks in ND working with Child Evangelism Fellowship, and Aaron was busy as well with VBS, Camp, and a missions trip to Puerto Rico with some of his family. We saw each other as much as we could on weekends though and wrote letters during the week - then starting in August, we were both home and from then on we've seen each other almost everyday! It's wonderful!

This picture is of Aaron and I on our first "official" date -

My cousin Hannah is a photographer and on 4th of July she took some pictures for us.

This one was just for fun! I really don't drive tractor very often, even though I do live on a farm...

I don't think this picture needs any explanation - it's just to document the many hours we've spent talking :)

We canned 3 different kinds of jam together - peach, raspberry, and blueberry lime, (and picked the blueberries together) - there ought to be enough peach jam here to last us at least our first year of married life! (or two...or three...) We work well in the kitchen together and it's a great way to spend time with each other and also get something done :)

My family, the Krahns, had a corn maze this year and we spent a lot of hours over there - some with preparation work and then when I would work there in the evenings, Aaron would come over and hang out or help -

Aaron and I are teaching his children's Sunday school class and here we're writing out the verse on balloons and also making up a new attendance chart - we've both been going to each other's church services some when the times are different, so we get in lots of church on Sunday!

Our Engagement :)

2009-12-27T14:33:00.006-06:00

We were engaged on September 10, 2009 at Zippel Bay State Park. Isn't it aboslutely beautiful!?

Aaron, with my Dad's help, planned the proposal to be a surprise, so they lined up a family picnic for Zippel Bay and while we were talking about it around home - I ended up calling Aaron to invite him....he thought he could probably come :)

I won't tell you what we all said...but basically, he asked me to marry him and I said I would be honored!

Aaron took this picture of the two of us before we walked back to join the family -

"Someone" had an idea of what was going on and drew this in the sand :)

I have always wanted a heart-shaped ring - and that's what Aaron got! It's a lot prettier in person than on this picture...
My cheeks hurt that evening from smiling :)

Catching Up - Part 3 - Fall-Winter

2009-12-23T15:18:00.000-06:00

Our time of engagement has gone so fast! It's been busy with wedding plans, and other preparations, as well as the usual work. It's also been exciting as our relationship has grown!

Aaron stopped by one evening after he got back from the base - it was the first time I got to see him in his uniform and I liked it :)

We've been watching a series of videos on finances, and someone caught us smiling at each other...

We went to a Christmas party for pastors and their wives - I know we weren't married, but they let me come anyway - AND they had a surprise shower for us. It was great!

Aaron and I at his church -

We did some Christmas baking together :) Chocolate chip cookies with red-and-green-M-n-M's and peanut butter fudge - we gave most of it away...but we ate some of it as well! The aprons we're wearing were a gift from Aaron's Aunt Nelda - John Deere for him, and Christmas for me.

We went ice skating on a pond near my parent's home -

Caroling and Christmas Cards

2009-12-22T19:50:00.000-06:00

Hello from Naomi! Aaron had some Christmas cards he needed to send out, and since I enjoy that kind of thing, we did it together...Next year the cards will be from both of us :)

The Family church went caroling on Sunday afternoon and we went along - it was a little cold, but it went well - we went to the new Senior Living Center in Warroad, along with the homes of several elderly people in the area.

We brought fruit baskets and/or boxes of Christmas cookies to the different people and sang several traditional carols, ending with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". There was quite a group of us (of course Aaron and I managed to end up in the same vehicle...) and we had a great time!