THE HEAT IS ON!

Louis with new baby cousin Ezra

Cousins Grace and Callie with Caleb
Cousin Sophia and Anna having a tea party

Yes, the heat is on in St. Louis. I think it was 94 degrees in the shade yesterday. A little steamy for us from the north. Greg loves the heat and humidity with his Southern Texas blood. We have had a busy last few weeks. We just returned from Wisconsin. It was a wonderful chance to get away and spend time with lots of family and friends. We were also able to visit with churches that have helped us since we have been here at the seminary. We were pretty much on the go most of the time. The kids loved having sleepovers, camp outs, tea parties:), lake time, and just spending time with their cousins. It was great!

We were thankful to be able to be there while my dad had throat surgery. Praise the Lord he seems to be recovering great. He is now on voice rest, so any of you that know my dad know that this will be quite a challenge, he loves to talk. He had to do this about 6 weeks ago and actually did quite well. It was really funny to see him trying to mouth words to us (that didn't work real well), and write everything out ( that also didn't work that well, his handwriting isn't the best:) The kids got a kick out it saying that they want Grandpa on their team for Charades at the family reunion at the end of summer. We are so thankful that the surgery went well. We thank God for His healing touch.

So right before we left for vacation we had 2 of the families in our building of 4 move out. And just today one of my running partners and her family packed up the truck to move to Florida. It is really exciting but also a bit sad to have so many neat friends leaving. We are excited to hear more about the ministries God has been preparing for them. But at the same time the campus is getting really quiet compared to a month ago. It is a bit strange. We have already had two new neighbors move in and in fact at the moment we are getting ready for a Building 4 cookout to welcome the new guys. Our previous neighbor the Williams always organized the group cookouts in fact Scott the husband had quickly earned the name "Mr. Cookout" by the kids. That was pretty much all they knew him as. It was funny. Well I better run to cut up the watermelon.

A LITTLE GETAWAY FROM THE SEM

Praise God, Greg is done with finals. Yeah! One year down and one more to go here at the seminary. Then one year of vicarage. We are excited. The finals were difficult, but he survived. It is kind of funny to see him reading some of his school books just for fun. He says that now he actually has more time to read and enjoy it compared to just reading so much material to complete papers, prepare for tests, etc. Now he can take the time to absorb a little more. But actually he is spending a lot of time playing with the kids and relaxing a little bit.


Last weekend we were able to get away for a little bit. We went to Columbus Indiana to visit my cousin's family. The second picture above is of all of the second cousin kids together. We all enjoyed the great hospitality they offered us. What a wonderful treat. It was really nice for the kids and I to see Greg be more like his usual fun-loving, silly self. It was great! We all love it here, but it has made Greg a bit more serious at times. We did a lot of biking together and even had a chance to go swimming. It was really refreshing(chilly:) but that didn't seem to bother the kids at all, especially Louis the water bug. We also got a chance to go up near Indianapolis and visit some dear friends of ours, the Bramlets from Wisconsin. They have since moved there. We were in a small group together for 5 years. It was a short visit, but so special. We are God-parents to one of their daughters so it was neat to get to spend some time with her. All in all it was a real blessing for us to get away for a bit and have some family time together.


Louis had some standardized testing this week here on campus with some other home schooled children. It was kind of funny, he loved it. We were happy about that. The top picture above is of Caleb, JOJO and Lou enjoying some ...brotherly love:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!

Last Friday the 11th was Caleb's 8th birthday. That means he was king for the day. We took the day off of school and he chose to let everyone have Dusty Road Sundaes for breakfast, definitely not something we do on a regular basis:) We spent the rainy day at Grant's Farm, another neat free place to go in St. Louis. It is owned by Anheuser-Busch. There is so much to do there. We rode the tram that takes you through a wild life area with elk, deer, buffalo, zebras and all sorts of other animals. Elijah was just thrilled to get to ride on a train, trains are his new thing. There is a petting zoo, animal shows, shops, and the world famous Budweiser Clydesdales. It is a beautiful place with a lot of history. The land was at one time owned by President Ulysses S. Grant, hence the name Grant's Farm. It has his log cabin on it. Another neat thing was that the fence that goes around the animal park was made from the barrels of civil war rifles. The boys thought was really special since we studied the civil war this past year. We splashed around in the rain and had a great time. The top picture is of all of our children and the Tiews children getting ready to have some birthday brownies. They are our friends from our church in Tomball, Texas. They are now our neighbors here at the sem.


We also had visitors from Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago. My brother John, Katy, Ella and Grace came down. It was wonderful, we got to catch up and have some good laughs together. They got to attend Springfest here on the sem campus. That gave them a real taste of sem life. We went to the Arch, up Luther Tower and for a bike ride in Forest Park. We even had to drum up an extra bike since we woke up that morning to find that Greg's bike had been stolen over night. Bummer, it has happened to other residents around here also. Thankfully, it was a very old bike. We crammed a lot into a couple of days but it was a lot of fun.

Greg is taking finals this week. It has been so busy for him. He has been in another world, just totally studying, working, and writing like crazy. I think in the last 2 weeks he has had to write 40+ pages worth of papers/tests. That will keep you busy huh? He is plugging away and we are all proud of him for persevering through the tougher times. We are heading to Indiana on Thursday for a little get away to visit my cousins, and Aunt Adrienne and Uncle Thomas. We are all looking forward to time together. The kids can't wait to play with papa:)


The last picture above is of JOJO sleeping. He had just gotten his hair cut, fell and bruised his eye and was all tuckered out. Greg and I laughed when we saw how he was sleeping with his arms behind him like that...so relaxed. He is such a funny kid. The older kids get such a kick out of him.

CALL DAY MADE FOR AN EXCITING WEEK

This last Wednesday was Call Day on campus. It kind of took me by surprise how the campus really came to life and how exciting it was for us. We were able to watch the vicarage and call services on the Internet. Man, my heart was pumping to find out where some of our dear fourth year friends will be serving in a few months. There were calls all the way from Alaska to Florida, and coast to coast. It kind of made the reality of things here a little more real to us. In one short year we will find out where God has planned for us to serve. Yikes, where will it be?Greg will get his vicarage assignment and hopefully it will be convertible which will make it our permanent call after a year. That is usually the way it works with the alternate route program here which is what Greg is doing. He has 2 years of course work and then vicarage. It was a really exciting week with lots of visitors on campus. I never really thought I would be saying this...But with this year passing soooo quickly, I know I will be really excited but so sad to leave this place and all of the special friends we have made here.

The top picture is of the boys and Brenden our neighbor at the Cardinal's game a week or so back. And then there is Louis picking up trash. He wrote an article for the campus newspaper that was published this month. So that was the picture that they put in with his article about keeping our campus clean. With so many kids on campus there can be lots of bits of trash lying around. Bummer. Anyways, it was fun for him and cute to see his response as people came up and talked to him about his article. He even got a phone call from a professor's wife who lives in Professor housing.

Greg is incredibly busy these days with the end of the quarter coming in a few weeks. At the moment he is feeling totally overwhelmed with the amount of work he needs to do. This usually happens this time in the quarter. He has spent the entire day in the basement studying and working on a paper. He does enjoy what he is learning it is just a bit challenging when it doesn't seem like there will be enough time to complete it all. We (the kids and I) are praying that the Lord gives him peace and determination during the BUSY times. That's about all for today, I am fixing pizza and popcorn for the 8 kids. Our 4 and our friends the Tiews children. We are switching date nights and babysitting once a month. They are dear friends from Tomball Texas. It is a real God thing how this all worked out. We were in a small group with them when Greg and I were teachers at Salem Lutheran in Tomball 8 years ago. Now they are our neighbors here at the seminary. We are actually planning a Texas small group reunion, with all 4 families in the Ozarks for 3 days this summer. We are looking forward to it:)

NEW LIFE AT THE SEM <><

The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last few days here in St. Louis. Last weekend we celebrated Easter and the new life we have in Christ because of His death and resurrection. We are so grateful for the free gift of Salvation. We are experiencing all kinds of new life here at the seminary. The above pictures chronicle the daily change in a bird's nest near by. We have been watching 2 birds build this nest over the last few weeks. It was so funny. They chose to make their nest in our next door neighbors gas grill. All day long they were back and forth with twigs, grass, wrappers, feathers, ... all sorts of things. They would fly in this little hole in the side of the lid of the grill. After a few days we opened the grill and found a little nest brewing. Everybody wanted to make sure the neighbors knew this was happening and didn't just start up their grill one day. Boy were these little birds busy. They built a huge nest. It is literally 18 inches wide by 10 inches deep. Soon we saw a few eggs... yesterday all five eggs. Today Anna told me that she thought she heard peeping. She thought the eggs had hatched. I thought she was imagining it or hearing other birds. She was right, 2 of the eggs had hatched. The kids were just astounded at the tiny, featherless birds. The bottom picture shows the 2 brand new birds. The top one has it bright yellow beak wide open. They were wiggling around like crazy. So precious! God's creation is so amazing. It has been really fun. We will see if any more hatch:)


We have had a fun week. Greg, Louis, and Caleb got a chance to go see the Cardinals play last Sunday. Our neighbors had extra tickets and invited the boys. They had a blast watching the game. That was quite a special treat for them. Today I went out to the country to visit with a mom that had just had her baby a few weeks back. I was her doula. It was fun to see this little guy again, who I had the privilege of seeing come into this world. Sometimes I really can't believe people allow me to be with them during such a special time in their lives. It is such an honor to be able to witness the miracle of birth. I have another mom from the seminary who is due in 2 weeks. I am also teaching one of my childbirth classes. I am really thankful that God has brought a little bit of work my way. Really I don't consider any of it work at all. I love it!


We are also watching our neighbor's 2 children this weekend. The kids have been looking forward to it all week. As of right now all 6 are down and sleeping. Hopefully it will be a quiet night. Tomorrow morning 5 out of the 6 kids have soccer games here on campus. It will be a fun morning... guaranteed fun for Greg, he is coaching 15 little four year olds. Right now Greg is recovering on the couch. Tonight he and our neighbor Mr. Louis (as the kids call him) took on a crew of 12 sem kids in a warm up game of soccer. They wore him out!

THE SAME YESTERDAY,TODAY, FOREVER!

Wow, how much of our life has changed in the past year... Moving away from dear friends and family, leaving a job and home, the comforts of life as we knew it. Now a year later, new city, new friends, new home (somewhat smaller:), new job as a student, we could never have anticipated how God would take care of us and bless us in this journey of coming to the seminary. Now fast forward a year... more unknown... Another new home, where will it be, what will it be like? What kind of ministry will Greg be serving in? God knows, that brings such comfort. He is in control of our future and has a plan and place for us.


When I looked at the pictures above I thought of how much of life is one change after the other. Our sweet little Anna with her Papa, and now our still sweet, kind of silly Anna with her little brother Eli. Boy do they change quickly. With all of the changes in our lives and with the uncertainty of the future I find great comfort in the verse from Hebrews 13:8 ...Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Also James 1:17 says that Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who DOES NOT CHANGE like shifting shadows. He does not change, He is the one sure, constant thing in life. Other people change, kids change, our health may change, our bodies, where we live, where we work... but He never changes, He is always the same. Every character trait that God has ever possessed, will always be. In the midst of life's journey He is always there, just the same. He is ALL we need for every situation and every season.

All Have Recovered From the Flu Round 2 :)

Yes, you read that right... The flu round 2. About 3 weeks ago we had round 1, all but Caleb were sick. Then this last Monday one by one everyone but myself had another stomack bug. Thankfully it was a short one and by Wednesday everyone was on the mend. Unreal, besides this we have really had a very healthy winter season. Poor Caleb, he really had the worst of it this time. Literally every 1/2 hour he would call Greg or I in to pray with him that God would make him better. He wondered why it was taking soooo long. But by the next day we could say, "See God healed you:)" It is really neat to see their faith in action. Praise God we are all healthy, good health is such a blessing.

We have had a wonderful Easter week so far, except for the fact that our coming company wasn't able to make it. My brother John's family was also sick so they decided we better make it another weekend. So we may be spending Easter with just our family. We did invite some single guys on campus over to eat with us. We would love the company. Our church St. John's in Ellisville had an awesome Easter program last weekend that Pastor Hower had written. He is really talented. It was great. We've enjoyed focusing on the real reason for Easter by reading the Easter story and watching it in some Matthew videos that we have. The boys especially love the Matthew video. It is really well done. Greg and I are planning on watching the Passion tonight. It is so hard to watch, in such a real way, what Christ went through for us. Wow, what a Savior.

The first picture above is of Elijah. Yesterday we went to the Science Center. They had a real life child mummy. This is what inspired the picture above of JOJO. The kids were laughing so hard. The bigger ones get such a kick out of him. He really is a pretty funny kid. The next picture is of all four of them infront of some flowering trees near the chapel. They were beautiful.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE. HE IS RISEN!!!