Family Traditions

Both Dan and I grew up opening gifts on Christmas Eve. We went to our Christmas Eve service and then presents were opened. When we got married, we kept up the tradition. Last night we went to the Christmas Eve service and then home to open gifts.

When we celebrate Christmas with my family, our Christmas morning, whether it be on the 25th or another day is always celebrated with the same menu....great grandpa's coffee cake and egg casserole, so our morning went the same way. I know that in a few weeks, we will have the same menu when we are in Nebraska. Dan's family does Oyster stew on Christmas Eve. Dan is the only one of the five of us who will eat it, so hopefully mom Jordan will have it when we get out there next.

The coffee cake doesn't picture real well. Many of you have had it, but for those of you that haven't it is wonderful. My great grandpa was a German baker. This coffee cake has a thick layer of butter cream in the middle. There is a reason that I only make it at Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas

May you have a blessed Christmas with family and friends. We will be staying in Iowa over the holiday season. We will spend some time in January with my family at my parent's new home in Nebraska. (If the weather holds up) Hopefully, we will get out to Wisconsin some time to see Dan's parents.

Merry Christmas!

Snowed in

Today was to be our Christmas Cantata, but we are stuck inside with frigid temps and blowing winds. In town where we are, we are fine. Dan drove over to the church this morning without any problem, but we have many people out in the country who cannot get in to town. (our music pastor being one of them) Our Christmas program will now be in January. Ok, a little anti climatic, but hopefully it will still bring people in. We had to cancel last night also as the road that our church is on was not closed, but recommended not to be travelled. Hope that you all are warm and cozy in your homes. I guess that we will have a white Christmas!!!

Christmas time

I love Christmas! I love to pull out all of the decorations. It may be a chore, but after I get started, I truly love it. Kirsten and I can be a little crazy this time of year. We fall in love with every snow man that we see in the stores. We also love to paint them.

Moving into a new house has allowed us a different place for our things. It has been fun putting them up. We had an open house last Saturday, so everything had to be done by then.

Snow day continued

With two teenagers and one pre-teen, I am not always sure that they will "play together" nicely, but this afternoon has been nice while the kids play outside. What a great day for kids. The plow has dumped a huge pile right below our tree, so the kids (with lots of rules from mom) made a tunnel. Yes, my daughter loves to pose for the camera.

snow day 2

Our second snow day. This is new to us. As homeschoolers, I didn't do snow days as I didn't like make up days. (Of course, Kirsten and I still did school today.) Clear Lake doesn't let off school until Tuesday, so this cuts into Peirce's final schedule.

Mitchell and his friend, Mark, playing in the huge pile in our front yard.


I do love snow. Snow makes me remember God's love. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." It is such a picture to me. Living up north, I can't imagine a winter without snow, it is too gray without it. I will try to not complain about the cold---it is a necessary evil.

Our snow dog, Punkin. She loves to explore on a warmer day (20 degrees) like today.

BRRRRRR!!!!!

It has been cold here for a while, but Sunday gave us a new appreciation of what cold really is. Sunday morning was 38 degrees. Beautiful morning! The sun was shining. when we walked out of church at 12:30, it was 19 degrees. We had purposely moved our children's Christmas program to 4:00 as there was a possibility of some weather.
When we got home it was freezing, and we awoke to -30 wind chill. People here keep asking me if it was cold in South Bend. Yes, it got cold there, but the wind here is absolutely amazing. That is why we have wind mills all around here.
Well, I need to go pick up my boys from school. They usually walk home as we are only 2 blocks away, but today is 4 degrees, and the wind chill is way below zero, so I will be a nice mom, and go get them.
Stay warm! I am going to sit by the fire tonight!!!

God's protective hand

Have you ever wondered how many times the "circumstances" of life have protected us from something? I don't know if we will ever know how many times God has protected us from harm, but we got to see it first-hand last evening.
We had our pastors and wives and the elders and wives over for a Christmas dinner. We've done a few dinners like this. We all pitch in. The food is always great, and the fellowship wonderful. Last evening we were getting ready to go out caroling when Dan and our music pastor's wife noticed that a napkin had caught on fire from a candle on the table. They were able to stop it from causing any problem other than a cheap tablecloth being lost. On looking back over the evening, we saw God's hand of protection as we were to have already been gone by that time. One of our couples arrived at the house late due to "circumstances" of their day. Kirsten would have been in the house by herself if our plans had not been changed. She was up in her room playing when all of this happened. (I know that you are not supposed to leave candles burning, but their were so many people in the house that I don't know if I would have thought of it as it had not come into my mind before that.)
I was so thankful that it had not done any damage, and that we were able to catch it. I just shudder to think what would have happened had Kirsten been alone when it happened.

First Snow Day

A winter storm hit yesterday afternoon causing schools to close early and cancelling all of our evening activities. We woke up to a two hour delay which changed to a closing. We had a busy day........ All afternoon we mixed, rolled out, cut out, baked.....

frosted and sprinkled. We made mollasses cookies, snowball cookies, and Oma's white cookies. MMMMM. I am tired, but I have cookies put away for our open house on Saturday.

Christmas by the Lake

The first weekend in December is always Christmas by the Lake in Clear Lake. Everyone has told us so much about it since we were first here last January. So yesterday was another new experience in a small town for us.

The youth group sponsors a live nativity in the City Park. I didn't get pictures. It is sort of funny watching the shepherds and Mary and Joseph walk around with snowpants under their costumes----a little bulky.

There are carriage rides, trolley rides, chestnuts roasting by an open fire (Yes, really), Santa's village, and more going on downtown during the day. In town there is a wonderful organization called Opportunity Village that helps mentally handicapped adults of varying ability to get to their fullest potential. They have a wonderful ministry to a few thousand individuals, and many people in town and in our church work there. Opportunity Village does their annual fundraiser this weekend also. They have people in town donate decorated Christmas trees. These trees are on display, and people buy them. It is a beautiful walk through their gym to see all of the lighted trees from 2 feet tall to at least 8.

At 5pm when it is getting dark, the downtown streets are lined with people as they wait for the lighted parade. There weren't as many people as the 4th of July Parade, but for a very cold December night, I thought that there were a lot. The Youth Group, again, does a float, so Peirce was in a shepherd costume walking down the street. (He was on the other side from us.)

After the parade, come the fireworks over the lake. Beautiful!

This lasted about an hour. When we got home, Dan started a fire in the fireplace, and I made grilled cheese sandwiches---yummy.----Life is good!!!

7th Grade Basketball

Mitchell had his first 7th grade basketball game the other night. He has played Upwards Basketball the last 2 years. The wrestling coaches tried to get him to wrestle here, but basketball is his game. He really enjoys it. He has never been on a winning team, but maybe this year will be the one. They have 24 guys out for the team, so they have an A team and a B team. When we play schools that have enough, the guys will play two games. Mitchell is on the A team and is surrounded by good ball players. A parents fun part of the game was watching my son score the first basket. They won solidly. We'll see what other teams they come up against.

It is fun watching your children find the things that interest them. A few of the guys from 7th grade are from our church, and a few more have been coming to youth group on Wednesday nights. This has been exciting as each week we pick up some of the boys. One of them likes to come over here. We're praying that he will see God in our home. We're not perfect, but we will show him God's love.

Simple Elegance

Last night we had a ladies' tea at our church. This is something that they have done in the past, but it has not been done for a few years. A few months ago, the three pastor's wives decided to host this. We had a great amount of help. It was fun seeing how ideas of past times and places could morph into something new. We took ideas from what was done here before, added some ideas from teas in PA when I was there, and put some new spins on them both.



We had ladies sign up to decorate tables, so we ended up with 18 tables that each had their own china and identity. We decorated the room with tulle, white, lights, and some greenery in order to not clash with all of the colors. We asked ladies to put unscented candles on their tables for a wonderful atmosphere.



The theme of the night was Simple Elegance. The idea behind this was that most of us love to have a fancy evening out---thus the Elegance. The simple was to get our hearts and minds back to simplicity. This time of the year is so hectic. We had a simple program with some music and readings. I've got a lot of pictures as I took some of each table(actually, my husband did), but we'll see what we can put on here today.

The slideshow to the right is of the tea. There are pictures of all of the tables. Some were harder to photograph than others. They were all different and beautiful.

Thanksgiving

Have a wonderful day! Take time to look back on the blessings that God has given you, and don't eat too much! :)

Another Fun thing about being in a small town...

Tonight it seems as if Clear Lake will be shut down. It's one of the fun and slightly amusing things about being in a small town. Our high school football team is playing their semi-final game tonight. It seems as if the whole town is going to the game--even us. It is over an hour and a half away. We are going with a few families from the church. Kirsten is going to another friend's house whose mom is being gracious enough to keep a few 10-11 year old girls for the evening. What I do enjoy is that at the game, the Clear Lake Lions will have a huge amount of people there cheering them on. It is such a fun part of living here. The amusing part is that the elders meeting had to be moved and even a meeting of city officials had to be changed due to the game. I love this town! The whole town will be gone on Saturday if they win tonight.

Little Blessings

When it is cool and rainy like today, I am so thankful for little blessings to make the day more cheerful......lunch with my husband, Christmas lights on my back porch which look so pretty, (I know that it is not time to have them on yet, but I just hung them today, and they looked so pretty.) and a quiet evening with my kids. Last week we put a fire in the fireplace. I can't wait to use that some more this winter. There are so many more blessings. I just wanted to get your brain thinking too.

Honor Choir

Monday night we went to our local Community College to watch our Central Iowa Honor's choir perform. Peirce was performing with around 150 other 9th graders. There were over 150 10-12th graders and about the same amount of 7th&8th graders. It was a neat opportunity. They had guest musical professors spend the afternoon with the kids and then direct them. The songs were all well done. A large percentage of the musical selections were sacred. All of the 9th grade music was sacred. A few of the arrangements I was familiar with. The high schools selections were very difficult. Most of them foreign. We knew that while at our school, Peirce is under the direction of a Christian man who chooses quality pieces, but it was nice to see that there are other people in this area that have the same values.

9th Grade Honors Choir

Birthday Blessings

Since Kirsten's birthday is the week after mine, I always look forward to hers more. Between two November birthdays, Thanksgiving and then Christmas; I'd rather make a bigger deal of hers. It is much more fun to be older when you are 10 almost 11. Since my birthday is on a Wednesday, which is a fairly busy day in our household, most of it was celebrated yesterday. I went to lunch with a friend, and I had cake with the family in the evening. I bought a camera a few months ago that was my gift, so I didn't expect anything. Dan went and got me some flowers---even remembering that with my allergies a mess, mums were a no-no. Aren't they beautiful? Mom and dad got me the WiiFit for Birthday/Christmas. We've already had a great time with that.

I also had a surprise muffins and crafting punch from the two ladies who have Wednesday morning Bible Study with me. Life is so much better when we don't expect things. What a treat!

Get rid of the junk!

I have not been on in a few weeks. I do have a little bit of an excuse for part of the time. Two weeks ago (the 24th of Oct.), Kirsten and I drove back to South Bend for a week in order to help my mom and dad get rid of stuff. They are probably going to be moving in the beginning of 2009---which is not that far away. I looked at my schedule and realized that it was now or never, so the trip was made. It was a lot of hard work. I don't know if I can say that it was FUN! But it was very profitable. We were able to clean out a few areas that have been forgotten. They have been in that house over 20 years. Those of you that know them know that the house is fairly large.. There is a lot of storage. Why do we tend to think that we must fill storage areas?

There were some "treasure" days when we found things that had been stored when my grandparents moved out of their house 18 years ago. I brought quite a few things home in our van. My grandmother's china was split between all of the children. We found some old dolls that had been inherited. This one is mine.

There is a wonderful chain called 1-800-got-junk. (I think that is the name.) These guys come cart anything away. They were great. They carried things out of the basement that had been down there for years. Anybody else have one of those huge old console televisions in their basement?

I am a sentimental person, so some of the things were hard to not take, but we did just move twice in the last year and a half. That will cure anyone of wanting too much stuff.

I do value the "old" pieces. I love the family history of some of the pieces.

I brought home a toy dish cupboard that my mom's uncle made her when she was young. It is beautiful. I do want to get rid of the red on the shelves, but it didn't happen this week. Another thing that I brought home was a mantle clock from my dad's side. It is so different.

How thankful I am to have the family that I came from. I think that is why these pieces mean so much. There is something so "warm and cozy" about having memories in these pieces. Another "treasure" from the week was finding grandma's hand stitched linens that she made before she and grandpa were married in 1937. There were only a few stains on any of them. I'll put a better picture in later. I have mine at church right now to "advertise" our tea in a few weeks. I left it in Dan's office.

I have so much more to write, but this will have to be it for tonight.

Choir Concert

Peirce had a Fall Festival Choir Concert tonight. It was 5th-12th grades. A little different from my small Christian school, but still very nice. The high school choir director is a Christian and is still able to sing sacred songs without any hindrance. I have been impressed with the music that Peirce has brought home with him. The older high school concert choirs that the kids try out for were quite impressive. Peirce's choir sang "Gonna Get to Heaven on That Judgement Day!" and "Dreams" (which was written by his director). They also sang some fun ones with the other choirs. We already knew a number of kids in the different groups, so it was fun to watch friends in each choir. Peirce has really enjoyed this group. I'm so glad! I think out of our three kids, we will get two that enjoy being involved in choir. Mitchell, at least for now, does not seem to be headed that way.

FALL

I love Fall. My allergies don't, but I do. When I have to be at church early, I go by the lake on my way home to pick up the kids for Sunday School and 2nd service. Just wanted to share a pic of Fall at Clear Lake.

Pastor Appreciation Day

I don't know who "created" pastor appreciation day. I know that it has been going for at least 10 years. Yesterday was Pastor Appreciation Day at our church. It was a full day. Baptism, luncheon, business meeting. In the midst of it they presented the three pastors and wives with cards and this neat pumpkin floral arrangement. I hope that this will be around for Thanksgiving when my family is here.
I am proud of my husband. He never reads this, so I can take a few lines to brag on him. (I do tell him this often; he just wouldn't like me telling everyone else.) He is growing into this new role so well. He knows names of everyone which is such a great gift as well as discipline. It can be overwhelming at times when you think of things that need to get started, but it is wonderful to see how the Holy Spirit brings wonderful timing into the whole picture. I spoke to a MOPS group a few weeks ago and came away with even more respect for my husband. To be prepared each week with something that will teach and challenge the people is a high calling. Dan has a wonderful way of making scripture so applicable without dumming it down. Not that my former pastors have not challenged me, but it is so different when it is your husband.

Cross Country and Football are done...for this year

Tuesday ended both cross country and football for our family. There are still some Varsity games for both, but for JV CC and 7th grade football, we are done. Peirce had his best meet on Tuesday. (Of course, this was the only one that we did not get to.) Mitchell's team ended up 1-4, but they had a good time. Mitchell was responsible for someone getting carried off of the field on Tuesday. (For a 7th grade football player this is a badge of honor.)

For those of you who have been wondering, our friend Warren passed away last Friday afternoon. He is finally without pain. It has been very encouraging to read the comments and "hear" from people that we have not seen in almost 20 years. Warren and Tana have been a great testimony to God's grace in the midst of trial. I just pray that Tana continues to feel God's arms as she and their three children continue on in this journey.

I don't know about where you are, but Fall is here in Iowa. The trees are so pretty. We saw a very pretty harvest moon tonight. I did have to turn the furnace on today. I dreaded doing so, but the house had gotten down to 61. It was 29 last night here. I do love Fall though. Last Saturday we cleaned up the flower beds. Before too long, we will be raking leaves.

Sorrow

I write this with a sorrowful heart this evening. I have been watching a blog of a guy that Dan and I knew in college who has been battling cancer for two years. It has been a long battle. Warren, in college was one of those fun guys to be around. Always joking and laughing. Well, it seems that God is going to be taking Warren home to be with him very soon.
I sorrow for Tana and their three children. If you have a chance and want to look at their blog it is www.brokeringfamily.blogspot.com. Please pray for this family.

Field of Dreams

This is another thing that we did while Jane was here. I think that with this, I am all caught up. If you remember the 80's movie, The Field of Dreams, it was filmed a few hours from here. It is between our home and Dan's parents, so we took Jane there when we were travelling to WI. It is sort of an interesting place to visit. The house was the house in the movie, and the field and corn is right there. Do you remember the line, "Am I in Heaven?"? "No, you're in Iowa." I just think that is so funny now that I live here. Here are our pics of The Field of Dreams....

Dad Jordan's 85th Birthday!!

I wanted to get this in before now, but I had so much to fit in before it. We went to Wisconsin a little over a week ago to celebrate Dan's dad's 85th birthday. Jane had flown here the night before in order to see where we live and then to get there to surprise her dad. Well, the surprises did not stop there. Laurie showed up just as everyone was heading to bed. She had left Maryland after teaching school and had flown to Milwaukee. She had called to tell her dad happy birthday while she was driving to see him, but he didn't know that she was not in Maryland. It was a lot of fun. Saturday morning Dan's brother David stopped by on his way from Ohio to Omaha, NE where he is starting a new job. Dan's nephew Stephen and his wife Elizabeth came over from Milwaukee area. It was a lot of fun. It was so neat seeing Dan's dad surprised. Dan's mom didn't know Laurie was coming, so that was a great surprise also.



The other thing that we had to do while in WI was buy cheese. A trip to our favorite cheese factory was in order. We came home with many pounds of cheese. Oh, so good. We are in the land of corn of soybeans...cheese comes from KRAFT.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

A few years ago we started watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition. We have not watched it as faithfully in the last few years, but we had the opportunity this week to see one of the homes being built about 45 minutes away from here. We had an errand to run near there, so we thought that we would go. Dan, Kirsten and I had a neat time watching all that happened in the hour that we were there.



Dan was able to go back up last night and do some dry walling. He said that it was amazing to watch the organization. As they put the sheet rock up, the guys were taping and mudding behind them even in the middle of the night.



We may go up another time because now we are totally intrigued. And the boys were actually dissapointed that they didn't see it. We think that we will have to stick with one more time due to the distance. I'm trying to think of more errands that are up that way.



How many of you are wondering if we saw Ty??? Actually, it burst our bubble to find out that he is there at the beginning and leaves after demolition. They took the house down Thursday around noon. We were there on Friday afternoon, and he won't be back until Sunday. Does this dissapoint anyone else? We thought that he was active in it all. What editing can do. If we get back up there, we'll get pictures of the outside finished. I think that they turn over the keys to the designers on Monday or Tuesday and the family gets home on Wednesday. We saw Eduardo, but could not get a picture of him as he seemed to be avoiding the public. We are not sure if we saw anyone else as we don't know all of the new people. We do know that Tracy is there as we saw her on the news interviewing for the show.





I know that this is insignificant in the scheme of life, but it is sort of fun to see, and very amazing to witness the choreography of it all. I can't imagine who organizes it all. I know that an area builder is in charge of that aspect, but what builder is used to building a $400,000 house in a week? This show airs in December. It is the one in I believe it is Hayward, MN

When we first arrived at the house this is what we saw. Half of the roof was covered, no windows and no chimneys.

When we left, the windows were in the right and middle sections, chimney was being built, and the roof was almost all on. This house had not even been there for 24 hours. Amazing!