Anchorage, AK - Day 1

We had a wonderful time today, our first full day in Alaska. We went to church this morning to a church that our church supports. It was good to see their work here. Then, we drove down to Seward, AK. It is about 130 miles south of Anchorage. The drive was beautiful. It was rainy and cloudy - we never really saw the sun, but it was still gorgeous. The pictures don't do it justice, because of the clouds and rain. I'll turn it over to Mom.

What an awesome God we have! The huge, rugged moutains, some with snow on top, and the beautiful dark green of the pines and the contrasting gold and yellow Aspen and birch.....SPECTACULAR! Daniel chauffered us roundtrip about 260 miles of beauty! What a great guy we have for our son-in-law!

Rosenau Visit

We enjoyed a short visit with "Uncle" Vernon and "Aunt" Jan this week. We had a good time just catching up with our lives. We did squeeze in dinner at the Entrecote, a visit to St. Emillion and raclette! They send their greetings to all of you. It is actually the first time they have been here since they went to work at the Home Office.

7 "Perfect" Years! Happy Anniversary, Tim and Ruth!

We love you both and hope that next year will be an even more "perfect" year together!

French 'Petit Déjeuner' to Celebrate Autumn's Official Arrival

Not quite all my kids are in these pics, 'cause Picasa cuts the edges off, but you can see most of them. I think Olivia looks just like the Madeline doll, so I just had to include her! We had a fun day--even though I did have my first observation--thankfully it was AFTER the
chocolat chaud experience! :-)

Tim's look

I think we need a family vote.

Tim’s new look is because…

a) he forgot his razor at home
b) he’s on vacation
c) he wants to look "Williamsburg-ish"
d) he wants to look more mature
e) he wants to look more European

Tim, I’m only jealous. I shave both my facial hairs every day. If I don’t, Brenda won’t kiss me.

Williamsburg Vacation

Above you see our resort. We stayed in a two-room suite on the first floor of the white building in the first picture. We thoroughly enjoyed the mini golf course onsite. As you might have guessed already, Tim was the reigning champ.

Above are many views of Colonial Williamsburg (Governor's Palace, fife & drum march--a real favorite of the kids, some funny-looking 18th-century prisoners, etc.) plus a few of Yorktown. The church in the pic with Micaiah & Tim is the Bruton Parish Church where we enjoyed the candlelight organ recital. The pistol-packing mama at Yorktown gave us quite the show!


The picture of Tim & me was only the second picture Micaiah has ever taken in his entire life! The first definitely wasn't worth posting. ;-)

Here we are just hanging out with Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence.

And here we are giving our best effort at blending in with the culture. Tell me those aren't the cutest little Patriots you've ever seen. If you're not yet bored out of your mind, there are a few more pics posted at the Thomas Tales blog.

Apple Orchard

We went to an apple orchard on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect. Cool, and Fall like. Erica and Eva Barnes came with us. Philip was unable to come. Just thought you would enjoy some of the pictures.

Our weekend Guests

We had a wonderful time with the Kalmbachs and so thankful that they made the long trip to Chicago and beyond. Friday afternoon we met up at the Weber grill downtown Chicago. Afterwards we girls (and Corban) headed home but made a long stop at IKEA. Meanwhile the guys took in a White Sox game (guess they were playing the Twins). Paul and Bob decided to leave after the top of the ninth inning (since the Sox were so behind) and ended up missing baseball history being made. So sorry Dan.

School Days have begun!

Visit to See Jeanine and Matthieu!

We just got home from Brive where we went to see Jeanine and Matthieu. We had a really nice day with them. The man in the picture with them is Theo Spalinger. He is presently the missionary pastor (Swiss) but retiring in a few weeks. Perhaps you older kids remember the family. Jeanine's baby is due just about the same time as Jo's, so it was a special treat for me to see her! They have a cute apartment.

Building Cells!

Just thought I'd give you a little glimpse at my 5th grade class. We "built" cells yesterday, and as you can see, they thoroughly enjoyed "cells."

First day of school

Here are the pictures we took before the first day of school. The Junior Higher is a little nervous - the smile is somewhat forced! But, she had a good day, as did the others.

Labor Day at the Dome

We celebrated the last unofficial day of summer today by going to a Twins game. They lost to the Cleveland Indians, but we still managed to have a lot of fun. Tomorrow will be a big day - first day of school!

Slide Show of Labor Day Weekend

You can see a slide show of all 140 pictures taken by Dan's camera and ours here. We didn't bother to mix them so you'll see all the sights twice! Enjoy!

Some Pics From My Surprise Birthday Party

Last Sunday the church has a surprise 60th birthday party for me. We just got the pictures from Lala today and I thought you would enjoy seeing some. It was at the Ascher's house and they went all out to make it special. We had a wonderful day together and I felt really loved! I am sure that there are lots of faces you will recognize. The cute little guy in the corner is Gabriel. He is one happy little boy.

Rockford - Chicago trip

We are so excited to be able to come to Rockford for a couple of days before school starts.

Here are just a few pictures of our day trip in to Chicago. We had so much fun.

It is always a blessing to get together with Bob and Jennie and Patience and Corban. Corban has changed so much since we last saw him.

Will write more about it later, I'm sure, just wanted to post a few pictures for now.

A special thanks to B&J for sacrificing their precious time to entertain us.