Chicago in October

My mom has been part of a clinical trial to treat her cancer at the University of Chicago. This means that frequently we make the trek to Chicago very early in the morning. Much of the time we have been a trio as Mom, Nathan, and myself have ventured out together. Nathan has even made himself a tiny little fan club of some of the staff. Nathan has been a great traveler and a nice distraction during a not so fun trip. My sister Valerie has helped out in between working and doing an internship for her class.

In mid-October the kids had the day off school on Mom's clinic day so Ken joined us and we all made the trip at 5:30am. Ken and the kids spent the morning at the Field Museum of Natual History while mom and I were at her appointment. When we were done we joined them down by Lake Michigan and had a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day!

Nathan mugging for the camera in front of the lake.

Daniel in all his coolness.

Molly and Dad checking out the water.

M0lly and Daniel keeping a close eye on Nathan.
(There are several very wide stairs in front of them you can't see.)

While going to Chicago has lost some of its beauty for me due to the frequency of our trips, it has been very nice to be able to spend time with my mom. My mom is a lovely lady whom I admire greatly. It has been an honor to honor my mom in this way.

"Honor your father and your mother,

so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."
Exodus 20:12

Running Fast and Far

Joel has run Cross Country the last two years. He enjoys the discipline and distance. (He is his father's son in that area.)

The group of seniors out of approximately 50 runners.

Two great coaches that we are very thankful for.


Guys in black on Awards Night.


Way to go Joel!

Fun Fall Fotos

The youngest with the oldest. Everyone looks forward to Allison being home for a weekend.

Natalie (midfield in purple) getting it done for her soccer team.

Joel working hard on the computer.

Molly in the mix playing soccer.

Brandon in the goal for his team.

Allison bought these chairs at Goodwill for a few dollars, the table we had already.

Here is the finished product in her apartment building at school.

Here is what the chairs looked like in the process of re-doing them.
They had been an ugly brown color, here they are primed.


Nathan enjoying the fall festival in our town.

Daniel and Brandon about to do the swings. Brandon wasn't too sure about what he was getting himself into.

If you look closely Ken and Brandon are in the middle of this ship, with daredevils Molly and Daniel near the end.

Brandon as Nathan's buddy.

#9 Molly

Molly turned 9 back in September (I know I am very slow with my posting.) Molly is the cup 1/2 full person in our house, she is the one to make us laugh with her crazy sayings. Molly plays the piano, reluctantly, loves Barbies, her American Girl doll, and anything pink. She spends many hours playing teacher. She is a girlie, girl that happens to be interested in bugs and riding her bike.

Happy 9th Birthday Molly!

Mooom, I Need Help!

Molly has done her own hair for a long time and 'usually' does a great job! But one day things went wrong...

Ken and I both worked at it for a long time. Just when we thought we were going to have to use the scissors....

Ken was able to get it out. Not sure her hair ever has totally recovered. Phew!

She is being much more careful these days.

Small Road Trip

Our 3 soccer teams are done, cross country has ended and we are into our school routine. We have hit some bumps at times, some larger than others. We are making it, though some days it may be more honest to say that we are enduring.

Saturday we decided that we would take a road trip but we didn't have really anywhere we especially wanted to go. So what to do?..... Natalie wrote out a bunch of directions on slips of paper. For example "turn right at the next corner" or "go 7.2 miles and then turn left" amongst others. We put them in a coffee mug and hopped in to see where we would end up!

We pulled out the directions one at a time and wondered where they would lead us. Our drive took us through much farmland where we saw horses, goats, sheep, and cows. Most of the farmers were done with their harvest so the fields seemed rather large. The kids often commented through the trip about what they were seeing. No Ipods, no toys, just us. It was a fun adventure. It didn't take us anywhere special but it was a special time. At the end we ran into a grocery we found and bought caramel apple doughnuts and juice and had a snack then headed home. It was a simple time but a great change of scenery.

Back home we are focusing on putting others before ourselves, both at home and away from home. We are also focusing on being "doers of the Word". Some of us are more successful at this than others but we continue to work on it.

As we are now in November it is our desire to have our family focus on the abundance of blessings that are surrounding us! I love the month of November when we take the time to say thank you to the Lord for all that He provides. The Lord truly has provided us with all that we need and much, much more.

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A Tale of Two Birthdays

I have shared this story before but I take some time this morning to share it again.... While adopting from Guatemala and after precious Grace went home to be with the Lord we were waiting for a referral. It was getting close to Natalie's birthday and she would pray each night that we would get a referral on her birthday. Sadly her birthday came and went without a referral. Not quite two weeks after Natalie's birthday we received our referral (a wonderful day!) and found that not only would Nathan be a part of our family but he was born on Natalie's birthday! We were amazed at how God had answered Natalie's prayer for without us even knowing the Lord had given us a referral on Natalie's birthday.

Natalie is now a teenager and Nathan is 3! Happy Belated Birthday to both of you!





Natalie it has been alot of fun this summer watching you grow closer to the Lord. I love your desire to be in the Word and to learn.













Nathan you go with the flow, as is needed in the 7th child. You are such a little cheerleader for our family.

We love you both so very much! You are both such a blessing to our family!

Happy Birthday Natalie and Nathan!