MORE COMPANY:)

GRANDPA CHUCK AND GRANDMA KAREN WITH THE BIG KIDS UP IN THE ARCH

Today we had some more company. My parents great friends the Weddigs (Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Karen) came for a visit. It was a great day, even though it was a bit chilly. We gave them a tour of the campus and then went down to the arch. Grandma Karen was very brave and went up with us holding Anna's hand for strength:) We are going to spend Wednesday visiting Forest Park with them. It was so nice of them to make the trip down to see us.

MORE OF LIFE AT THE SEM<><

The Chapel of St. Timothy and Titus

Sweet Anna

More fun with Seminary Friends:)

Life is sort of returning to normal... the new normal...packing:) Grandma and Grandpa Hintz and Granny left yesterday and returned home safely. We are thanking God for them making it for Call Day. The kids were really sad to see them go, we had some tears and then a big family snuggle and then hit the books for our school day. Today we had some serious Thunderstorms, but were still able to make it out for the seminary family BBQ in the Woods. It is sort of a potluck, they light the grills, you bring your own meat to grill and a dish to pass and just hang out. Everyone pretty much scarfed down their dinner, visited for a bit and then once the thunder and lightening started, people scattered. This weekend shouldn't be too busy but starting next week we have lots happening on campus as we come to the end of the year. On Monday we have the seminary wives Vicarage panel. This is where wives that have already done their vicarages fill the rest of us in on what to expect and answer any questions we might have. I am really looking forward to the practical tips they will be able to give. We have more company coming next Monday, my parents dear friends the Weddigs. We will try to post a picture with them.

OKLAHOMA IT IS!

OUR FAMILY, GRANDMA AND GRANDPA HINTZ AND GRANNY

THE HINTZ AND TIEWS CHILDREN

Well, we are officially headed to Oklahoma! The last few months has certainly had it's fair share of ups and downs emotionally for us all. (You can ask Greg but I am guessing he would say being pregnant doesn't help at all with that:) The last few weeks have been a bit stressful at times. But through it all we know God is faithful. We are so thankful for that. We are also so thankful that the decision in where we were to go was not ours to make. We literally have prayed every morning as a family for the last 15 months that the Lord would place us in the right place. That brings us such peace and joy. Knowing that He answers prayers, we can and do trust fully that we will be where He wants us.

So we will be headed to Immanuel Lutheran Church in Broken Arrow Oklahoma. I think it is about 15 minutes south of Tulsa. It seems that Greg will be able to put to use the Family Life Masters Degree that he is working on from Seward, as well as be able to help with their Contemporary Worship Service. He is really excited about both of those things. All I can say is that Greg will just be so excited to be out actually serving full time again. He has really enjoyed the classes, but he is much more of a practical, go out there and do it kind of guy. So he can't wait to be back out in ministry. As a vicar he will get lots of other experience with preaching, teaching, helping with the school they have and any thing else they would like the vicar to do:)

One other HUGE bonus and blessing for us is that our good friends the Tiews ( who we were in a small group Bible Study with at Salem in Texas and who are now our neighbors here at the sem.) will be our neighbors again. They are headed to a vicarage in Tulsa. Wow, God is so good to place dear friends so close by. The kids are thrilled that they will already have friends in Oklahoma. And we are so happy to know that we have loving dear friends to count on especially with another little one due to arrive in the fall. What a gift from God.

We are so blessed! God has been so faithful during our time here at the sem. We are excited to see what He has in store for us in Oklahoma. We love company:) I am already researching what there is to do and see there... start planning your trips:)

THE MORNING OF CALL DAY

Good Morning! It's Call Day on campus. This week the campus has been a buzz, lots of extra people on campus and it is exciting. The trees are all budding and the flowers are finally coming up. I love Spring, New Life. We are praising God for the new life we have in HIM<><

SUNNY FLORIDA DAYS:)

ANNA AND SOPHIE MAE

COUSINS HANGING OUT IN THE POOL

CALLIE, CALEB, AND GRACIE

THE NEUMANN CREW

PAPA AND ANNA ON THE DUMBO RIDE

We are still settling in from our trip to Florida. Last Christmas my parents gave all of us kids a family trip to Florida. We just took the trip last week. I left with the kids and drove down and then Greg joined us on the weekend. It was such a special time. The kids had lots of fun time in the pool with their cousins. We got to celebrate my Dad's 66th birthday all together. They made bright yellow T-shirts for all of us to wear at Disneyworld. That was a brilliant idea because with 26 people trying to stay together, without them it would have been difficult. Unfortunately Anna woke up the morning of going to Magic Kingdom hanging her head over a pot. Greg stayed home with her and was able to get some school work done. Then just the two of them went the next day so that was special for them. We loved just being able to hang out with all of my siblings and parents and just visit at night. It was so much fun and a really nice distraction from being on campus with the craziness of Call Day coming up.

Our ride home was crazy, it was one of those days where as parents at the end of it you just have to laugh. Poor Anna had a serious earache. She was miserable. We ended up spending 3 hours in some town in Georgia at an urgent care clinic and getting antibiotics. Caleb spent part of his day with his head over the bucket. Our super potty trained Jojo decided to regress and fill his pants literally 3 minutes after we got back on the road after a potty break. It was one thing after another. Thank God we safely arrived home last Wed. night. We have had a couple of days of icky stomachs so we are praying to be all on the mend before Grandma and Grandpa Hintz and Great Granny come on Monday. We are looking forward to having them here:)

Now we just have 3 days to wait for Call Day. When we came here last fall it seemed like such a long ways off, but now it just around the corner. We are praising God for His goodness during our time here.

EARTHQUAKE IN ST. LOUIS

We had a bit of a wild night last night, St. Louis had experienced an earthquake. The news said it was 5.2 on the ritchter (sp?) scale and that the epicenter was in IL . I was actually awake because this pregnant girl had to use the restroom. When I got back in bed Greg was awake too. Living in a small space we make really good use of our closets... They are packed. Many times things have shifted and fallen off the shelves during the night and freaked us out. That is what I thought was happening. At first you could just hear things jiggling in the closet and on the dressers and then you could feel the whole bed and house shaking... That was a bit scary. It woke Louis up, he thought the upstairs neighbors were playing dance dance revolution. All of the rest of the kids slept right through it. We thank God that it wasn't any bigger and for His protection. I'm gonna hopefully get a chance to blog later today about our trip and call day coming up.

BABIES IN THE HOUSE:)

BABY LOU

BABY CALEB

BABY ANNA

BABY ELIJAH

When I see these pictures I just can hardly believe it. That precious newborn phase passes so very fast and is so very special. Of course if you ask me, each stage is so special and fun for different reasons. Well, the house has been quite a buzz the last month or so as we discovered we are expecting baby #5. We are all so excited. The kids could hardly stand it and the news made its way around campus quite quickly:) We think all of our kids have looked pretty different as infants so we can't see what this little ones looks like. For the most part I am feeling pretty good. I have definite good moments and then VERY nauseous times. But I can't complain at all. The Lord willing, I should be due sometime the end of October. We are so thankful for this little one. Thanks for sharing in our joy... We just wanted to share our good news with all of you!

MYRA, MOTHERS, AND WAITING:)

This picture was taken a few weeks ago at our Mother's Bible Study at Myra's house. She is the gem of a gal who teaches our sem ladies Mother's and Wives studies twice a month. She is amazing... so wise, so loving, so right on , and so not afraid to tell it like it is. I love it and respect her so much for that. I have learned so much from her. I keep telling her she needs to publish her material for wives and mothers. I will miss her and her knowledge so much next year when we are not here at the sem.

So we are down to 2 weeks and 2 days until Call day. That is the day we will find out where we will be headed on our hopefully convertible vicarage assignment. That means that it will potentially turn into a call after the vicarage as long as it is a good fit. It has been an interesting month. We will be so happy to finally know where we are headed. It is a bit of a roller coaster. It seems to be that we will be headed to either Oklahoma or Wisconsin from what we have been told. But I guess that could even change too once Call day arrives. It will be incredibly exciting. We really can't believe it is our turn to already be heading out. We have prayed every morning for over a year that the Lord would place us where He wants us. We are fully trusting in that:)