NORTHERN LIGHTS FAMILY REUNION 07

Family Reunion Fun

Uncle Thomas & Aunt Adrienne renewing their vows

THE NORTHERN LIGHTS FAMILY REUNION 2007

THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION, WHOM SHALL I FEAR?

PSALM 27:1

We were so fortunate to be able to head up to Wisconsin to be a part of the Going Family Reunion. This is my mom's side of the family. It is basically her and her 2 brothers and all of their kids and the kid's kids. Does that make sense? Basically, it was all of my aunts and uncles and my cousins. There were about 60 of us all together. We headed up to my parent's home on Fence Lake and rented the cabin next door. We had a wonderful time. The wonderful, special thing about it is the common bond we all share in Christ. The neighbor up there laughed saying, "You are going to spend 5 days together? My family couldn't spend more than 5 hours together." We did all have so much fun laughing, playing, singing by the fire, and catching up. We had a really special prayer time by the fire lifting up my brother Mark and his family and his liver disease. He gave a great, encouraging testimony of all God is doing in his life right now. He has a great attitude about it all and is certainly using it for God's glory. The verse above was our theme verse for the week, perfect for him and all of us.

Sunday we celebrated my aunt and uncles 50th wedding anniversary. He is a retired pastor. It was so special. We had an outdoor Sunday morning church service with their 6 kids and spouses all taking part in it somehow. During the service they renewed their wedding vows. Wow, what an example it was for all of us younger marrieds as well as all of the grandchildren. It is so neat to see people stick it out through all of the tough times and come through it loving each other more. They are such a special couple. We love them dearly.

The top picture is of some crazies :) on the raft my brothers John and Josh built. The funny thing was it was a total experiment. It was successful and actually floated. :) It took a little revising and it was a hit. The raft bit the dust after the contest to see how many people it could hold and still float. I think there had to be about 30 people on it when it broke apart. Thank the Lord no one was hurt at all. This was the year for my family to be the hosts. We had so much fun planning and doing it all. So three years from now it will be off to Montana for the next Going Reunion.

BACK IN THE HEAT OF ST. LOUIS

The Texas small group reunion

The south rim of the Grand Canyon

I am finally getting a chance to blog again. I wanted to get a picture up of our small group reunion in Arkansas. After we spent the weekend with those dear friends, we headed out towards the Grand Canyon. Along the way we stayed with friends and family. Once we arrived in Arizona we had the opportunity to camp for a bit. We had an absolute blast. It was such a treat to be able to get away from the seminary for a bit. It was even more of a treat to just spend time as a family. We really love it here, but with so many people living so close together sometimes family time is hard to come by, so we treasured just being together. It was incredibly hot during the day and we thankfully had good tent sleeping nights with cooler temperatures. (Speaking of temperatures it was forcasted to be 103 degrees here today in St. Louis, that is really hot for my Wisconsin blood.) The canyon was absolutely beautiful. We just kept saying as we looked out that it looked fake, like a back drop. The size and magnitude of that place is just amazing. We had a lot of fun doing some shorter hikes at the south and north rim of the canyon. We saw an amazing lighting storm come over the canyon. We were in a building right on the edge of the canyon and could just stay inside and watch it. It was really strange to actually see lightning striking below you in the canyon. We sat there for probably 40 minutes just watching. We watched a geology park ranger show there. It was great afterwards to be able to discuss the differences between how evolutionists believe the canyon was formed and how Christians do. The only disappointing thing was that there was evolution promoted everywhere there. We had a great book from Answers in Genesis about how the Grand Canyon was formed so we read some from that most days while we were there. We had a wonderful time. The kids did great with all of the driving. We saw 49 of the 50 states license plates along the way, everything but Rhode Island. The kids literally freaked when in one day we saw both Alaska and Hawaii. I will post more pictures of our trip in the future. We are thankful to be back at our home safe and sleeping in our own beds. Yeah! Staying cool here in the sprinklers in St. Louis :)

A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!

Just a quick update on our weekend getaway with our small group from Texas. We had so much fun. It was such a treasure to be together. It had been 8 years since we had all been together. The 15 kids had such a great time and got along so well. We played a lot of kickball, dads against the kids:) had a blast doing the challenge course, had some wonderful fellowship with each other, had a great Sunday service led by our 2 seminarians in an old church building on the Lutheran camp property, went on a hike to Bear cave a top Mount Petit Jean, had lots of laughs, and even tears at how much we still miss each other after 8 years not living near each other. It truly was a gift from God to spend 3 days together. We treasure our dear Texas friends. I will post some pictures from our time together at a later date. We are praising God for the gift of friendships.

LITTLE BOY BUZZ CUTS

A QUICK VISIT FROM GRANDMA AND GRANDPA HINTZ

SUMMER BUZZ CUTS

We are getting ready to head out for a camping trip. So this will be brief... We are thrilled to get a chance to have some family time away. Last evening Grandma and Grandpa Hintz stopped by on their way up to Indiana. The kids were screaming when they arrived, they were so excited. I think everyone on campus knew. We had a fun visit with them, though too short. We are heading out shortly. We will be going to Arkansas to a Lutheran camp to get together with our small group from Texas. It has been close to 8 years since we all have been together. We are so looking forward to the fellowship with them.

The other night Greg begged me to buzz all of the boys hair. I didn't want to do Jojo's. But eventually I gave in. He doesn't look like my little baby anymore. Oh well, they will all be cool for the summer. We'll update late... Peace and Joy in Jesus!

ONCE AGAIN WE ARE AMAZED<><

Sophia, Jane, Mark, Leah, Lindsay, Callie and Hannah

Field Day at the Seminary...Sept. 06

Caleb and Uncle Mark up north Christmas 06

We are SO amazed by the faithfulness of God. Not at all surprised, but we just continue to stand in awe of His goodness to us. I remember last fall being excited but also a little anxious as we headed here... so many new things and unknowns. He has more than been faithful. He provided a place to live on campus, special friends and has provided for all of our needs. The reason I am once again amazed is that earlier this week I headed to a new dentist (who gives discounts to seminary students:) because I was having problems with a crown. Well, I will save you the gory, bummer details but the bottom line was we were going to have a MAJOR expense...even with the discount:) If any of you know me I have always had some fear of the dentist and I am a bit emotional. Literally I had to fight back the tears as I called Greg to check with him and make sure I should go ahead with the work that I will have to have done. A little embarrassing, but oh well. Of course Greg was as sweet as usual. Well, God is so faithful. Today in the mail we got a couple of unexpected gifts. What we received will meet this need and has eased a great burden. We have seen his blessings through many of you over and over again. We are so amazed. We so appreciate the gifts, the notes, the encouragement, and the prayers for us. We don't ever doubt his provision it is just so awesome! We give him all of the glory!

The last picture above is of Caleb with my oldest brother Mark. The top picture is of Mark's family. For the last year Mark has been having some serious liver issues. Last week he and his wife Jane went to Mayo clinic in Minnesota to try and get to the bottom of his illness. They think that they have figured out that it is a certain liver disease , but they want to do more tests in July. There are times he feels pretty good, but then has some bad flair ups. Please pray for God's healing touch on Mark's body. He, Jane and their 5 daughters are resting in God's peace and joy. They really do have great peace about it. We know the power of God and the power of prayer so I just wanted to get the word out to some more of God's mighty prayer warriors! Thanks so much for lifting Mark and his family up to the Lord!

BUSY SUMMER DAYS!!

Caleb, Louis and Anna in front of the Muny

Sweet Little Buddies:)

The kids at the Botanical Gardens

Yes, the Hintz family has been busy with more free activities around the St. Louis area. My Dad has always said I can stretch a buck further than anyone he knows, but boy when it is free it is even better. St. Louis is full of free activities, perfect for the seminary family on a budget:)

Last Thursday I took Louis, Caleb and Anna to the Muny. It is a huge outdoor theater in Forest Park. This is the park about a mile from campus. Every night they have 1500 free seats available on a first come first serve basis. We went early and got to see a wonderful production of Oklahoma. The intermission was at 10:00pm. I wasn't sure if we would make it to the end, but the kids loved it and wanted to stay. It ended around 11:20pm. They were still awake, even Anna. Boy were they thrilled to see it and be up so late. It was really a lot of fun. They have a different performance each week so I am sure we will try to catch another.

Tuesday we went to Forest Park to have a picnic dinner with some friends and listen to a free Jazz concert outside of the History Museum. The kids had a blast playing together and trying to walk on Mr. Zieglers slack line. It was a line he had tied off between 2 trees and basically you try to balance and walk across it. It is maybe only 2 feet off the ground. It looks so easy, or I should say he made it look easy. The kids definitely had more balance than their mama. It was pretty funny.

Yesterday we spent the morning at the Botanical Gardens. It also is free every Wednesday and Saturday morning before noon. I am just totally amazed by all of the free things to do here. It was really pretty; beautiful flowers, trees, sculptures and more. It was a scorcher. I think being northerners we just aren't used to the heat. We were all really tuckered out by noon. Greg of course being from Houston has the southern blood. It was really fun to just be together and enjoy God's amazing creation. Speaking of God's beautiful creation. I was at a home school conference up in Wisconsin and the organization Answers in Genesis was there. Wow, do they have neat resources. I picked up a book on the Grand Canyon because we are going to visit some family out that direction and do some camping for a bit. The book is so cool; amazing pictures, but more importantly shows how the Grand Canyon was formed from a creationist standpoint, the biblical standpoint. It is a bit above the boys level, but we read 2 pages everyday and they are really into it. Wow, we can't wait to see in person the mighty, majestic work of God's hands. It is amazing how much I have to learn, having gone to public schools I can see how the evolutionist worldview was woven into so much that I learned. Not that I believed it, but I am excited to learn how I can defend my faith and prove God's mighty work in creation. I really want my kids to have a firm foundation in that as well. Enough rambling, but I tend to get excited about these things:) Blessings on your day!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

It was an eventful day here at the Hintz house. We went to church last night at a church called Christ in the City, CRAVE coffeehouse. It is a coffee house during the week but they hold a church service there on Saturday night. It is a really neat place. Today the boys had a BIG baseball game on campus. Just a big group of boys getting together to play. This has been the new thing as of a week ago. They have been practice playing everyday, but today was the actual game. It was soooo hot, the boys didn't notice they could've played all day.

After the game they were all going to run through the sprinkler (mom included). Caleb went inside to get a snack and cut his finger badly. He is usually my vegetable peeler and cutter and does a great job, but today the knife slipped and caught his middle finger. So Greg and I headed across the street with him to the hospital. He was so scared that he'd have to get stitches. Thankfully the Dr. was able to just use the glue. He was very relieved. It is so sad to see your child hurting. But thank the Lord, he is just fine tonight.

We had a nice calm dinner back at home and finished off the night with an episode of Little House on the Prairie. We just love that show:) Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there. We are so blessed to have such wonderful Father's but are even more blessed to have our awesome Heavenly Father.