Fall Fling

This fall, our teens (SIGMA) got together at the Read's house (a family from church). We played lots of games, ate some goodies, goofed around, took pictures, toasted marshmallows, and sang songs and shared testimonies around the fire. We simply had a good time in the fall weather, and with each other! We simply have the best youth group ever, with teens who are on fire for the Lord! Keep pressing toward the mark guys! [Phil. 3:14]

Panda sneeze

Smile for the day....

Some of you may have seen this, but if you haven't, it's just about the funniest and cutest thing! (Turn up your volume)

BJU bus trip

From Oct. 3rd to the 6th, Kate and I, along with 3 other girls from our church, went down to Bob Jones University on a bus trip. Although I didn't have to do the driving, it was a long trip, 15 hours each way! No, it doesn't take that long to get there - we had to make some detours, to pick up another group in PA. We got to spend 2 days on campus. Kate got to go to various classes, see friends, and talk to her admissions counselor. I got to visit with friends I don't get to see too often, and hug a bunch of the kids from home who are students there! It was a fun trip! Oh, and Kate filled out an application! Next year, she's off to college!!! Be sure to check out some of the pictures from our trip below...!

Neighbors

This past weekend, our neighbors, Jose & Kris, invited us over to help celebrate Camille's birthday. Camille is their daughter who just turned 3. She is adorable, and loves to visit us whenever possible! Elliot is their older child. He is 6, and loves to play with Erik. Erik enjoys his role of "big brother" to Elliot. They play well together. The "D's" haven't lived next to us real long, but we all get along so well, and we're blessed to have good neighbors (on both sides!)

Cabin Fever!

Alan and I are home from an absolutely incredible, wonderful, refreshing, exhausting, fun-filled weekend! We were able to spend the weekend with 2 other couples at a beautiful cabin in Potter County, about 3-3 1/2 hours north of here. Phil & Donna Huber invited us - and 2 other friends - Brian & Patty Gerber, to their cabin, out of the kindness and generosity of their hearts. (Either that, or they just felt sorry for us) ;-) Either way, we all had the time of our lives! Brian, who is a double amputee, was still able to go 4-wheeling, because we just put him in the back of the Gator between Patty, and a bunch of pillows! What rides we had! What beautful country! What an incredible chance to see God's awesome, gorgeous, immense creation...! We visited the PA Grand Canyon, saw deer and turkey every morning, went 4-wheeling, met new people, saw more stars than we can possibly see at home, visited a quaint, little church, laughed till we were crying, and made some new memories that we'll never forget!! We crammed a lot into a short time, but we had so much fun!!! We are so thankful to the Huber's for inviting us, and we are so blessed to have friends like them and the Gerber's!

Decisions

Keep praying for Alan as he has some decisions to make at work. They are making changes and it affects him as far as his job goes. He has to decide on which job to take, and he needs wisdom to know what the Lord would have him to do. We would greatly appreciate your prayers in this matter!

6 Years!!

Well, August 27th was our 6th anniversary! Thankfully, we have good friends who don't live too far from us, and who our kids always want to be with, who were willing to keep our kids for a few hours while we went out. We went to "our" restaurant - the one we went to on our first date. (That would be Red Lobster!) Sometimes it's hard to believe it's been 6 years, and other times, it seems like just it was just the other day that we were married. It's been a good 6 years, and I am married to a wonderful man whom I truly respect, and is a great provider for our family. We really are blessed! To God be the Glory!!

Readin', 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic...

Well, we have officially started school! Erik and Kate started Monday, and Matthew started Tuesday. I guess I'm showing my age, but I still remember when school didn't start until after Labor Day...! Sometimes it seems so long ago, and other days it seems like just yesterday. (sigh) I told Alan the other day that the summer went by quite fast, and he said that it always does when you get older. Oh well. We are trying to get into a routine that works for us, which although it greatly benefits Erik, is so out of my comfort zone. I'm really not a routine-type of person. For those of you who know me rather well, I'm sure that won't come as much of a shock...(!) Matthew is quite interesting to watch already this year. He turned into a teenager this past year (aahhh!!) and along with that came an interesting change. For as long as we can remember, Matthew has been the early bird. I mean, EARLY!!! He wasn't allowed out of his room until at least 7am! Upon becoming a teenager, it was as if someone told him that he's supposed to sleep more. Well, sleep more he has! He has slept all summer, until at least 11AM. Now for school he has to get up at 5:30!!! He was laying on the couch today after his 1st day of school, complaining that he was tired. This should be an interesting school year.... Till next time....

Schaffer Family "Reunion"

Back at the beginning of the month, the Schaffer's from New Jersey, that is basically all the cousins - came to Hershey, to camp & go to Hersheypark. Since they were in the area, we all converged on their campsites Saturday night (Aug. 4th). We had a great time of reminiscing, eating, laughing, and even introductions. With 6 kids in their family, and 3 in ours, that's not so bad; but when you add in spouses, a new generation of kids, and years gone by, we either didn't know everybody, or had forgotten! It's hard to stay in touch sometimes, but we had a great time. Our dads had a good time being together, and we cousins had a fun time laughing over stories, remembering things we did together (that some had forgotten!), and even talking about our dogs! We had some great times as kids, despite the distance between us, and it's always fun to look back on them. It was also fun to get our dads to talk about their stories, and the trouble they'd get into as kids!! (Right, Steve?) It was so good to see you Denice! I still don't know when I saw you last, so it was good to see you this time. :-) The only ones missing that day were Tom & Crystal and their boys, and Nic & Ken and boys. We were all sorry they weren't there, but we talked about them anyway...(!) Hopefully, we can do this again next year!! Let's plan on it!!!! Love you all!

Schaffer Family "Reunion"

A "Wild" Week!

We're back! This has been our 5th year of Family Camp, at the Wilds. It's unbelievable that we've been going for so long now! What can one say about the Wilds??! There is so much to do, great speakers, incredible music, delicious food, awesome staff... Suffice it to say that if you do not come away challenged by the messages and music, you must be dead. Fortunately, God can revive a spiritually dead heart. Our speaker this year was Dr. Jim Binney, and although we had never heard him before, we would love to hear him again. He is very down to earth, and like Paul, has the same struggles we do. We call messages that speakers bring forth 'challenges' for a reason. He definitely challenged us in ways we most likely needed, both for the teens, and us as parents. Our hearts are full; please pray that we will all continue with the decisions we've made.
As for free time....there's no way to sum up a week at the Wilds, but we'll try! There are planned free time games & activities such as "Cat in the Hat", "Blanket Volleyball", "Volleyball Tournament", "The Summit". The Wilds wouldn't be the Wilds without The Giant Swing! It's this insane contraption that someone thought up, where they strap you to gear with a partner, and pull you up about 65ft., and let you fall! There's the game room, Cool Beans Coffee Shop (oh yeah!) and so much more!! This year for the first time, we decided to go white water rafting. They were Class IV rapids on the Pigeon River in TN. It was AWESOME! Part of the reason it was such a memorable day, was that we were blessed with a really great guide, named Jacob. At the Wilds, there is also family lake time, which in and of itself is activity after activity!! There's the water trolley (if you can hold on), the climbing wall (try to make it to the top), basketball (it's hard to jump in the water), tube slide (a running start is best), the 35ft. high jump (shoes help, right Erik?), and last but not least, the Blob! Many people don't care for the Blob, but I personally have a hard time staying away from it! Unless you've done it or seen a video, it's hard to explain being blobbed, but let me just say, you don't soon forget it!! You'll either love it or hate it! There is so much more to say, but this post is already really long. We'll just let some of the pictures speak for themselves. We highly recommend Family Camp. It's a refreshing week, both spiritually and physically, and by God's grace, we plan to do it for many more years to come!!

A "Wild" Week!

Vacation Bible School 2007

We just finished an AWESOME week of Vacation Bible School! We had a record high on Wednesday night of about 133 kids, but better than that, we had at least 30 kids make salvation decisions throughout the week!! It was a tiring, and often trying week, but one that was certainly well worth it! It went so fast, and it's hard to believe it's over all ready. Keep praying that God will continue to work in the hearts of all those who made decisions, because we know the enemy is not happy, and would love to wreck more havoc in those young lives...