35 Pictures

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....

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!