Camp and More....

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!

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....

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

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

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...

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...)