Been a long time....

It has been quite a while since I last informed about what is going on with us. I apologize. I have seen many of you in the last few weeks, so you are somewhat caught up on our happenings. However here are some recent highlights.

Guatemala 08
Rene' and I lead a team of 21 High School students and 4 adults to Guatemala. It was another fantastic trip. I have been to Guatemala around 8 times (I think) and each time it is another reminder to me that we can make a difference in our world as we branch out and go where the people are. I know of no better experience for people to watch real growth in their life as when they spend their own personal time investing into others, especially when the other person is so much less fortunate (monetarily speaking only) than yourself. The high school student we took dove in to the projects we were working on and completely let their hearts go to the children we were working with. Here is a picture of our team in front of the church we worked with and painted.

Rene and I at the ancient ruins of Tikal. This is the spot where they filmed the overhead shots in Star Wars "Return of the Jedi" on the Forest moon of Endor.

If you ever get the chance, go on a missions trip. It not only will change your perspective on the world, it will change your life. A trip like this, or any other, will give you a more contextual idea of what Jesus was trying to get us to do when he challenges us in Matthew 18.

Skiing

Grandpa took us skiing over Christmas. Here are some pictures:




And.... Emma's new haircut....

Christmas...

I don't know about you, but this year didn't feel like Christmas very much to me. I think that I am finally becoming desensitized to the season and have spent some time pondering why. I think I have 2 reasons why this year seemed so non festive to me.
One reason is that the season starts soooooooooo early. When Sam's Club (Costco to my West Coast friends) puts their Christmas stuff out just as they are putting away the 4th of July fireworks, that is a little early. I remember when the Christmas season really didn't start until about December 1st. My sister, brother, and I would wait with wild anticipation for Rudolph to show on TV, with Frosty soon to follow. I can't think of any Thanksgiving while growing up that we were already thinking about Christmas. At Thanksgiving, Christmas seemed a long way away. Now it feels like Christmas is just around the corner before we even get to halloween.
Another reason is one that may be exclusive to Iowa. With the caucuses being on Jan. 3rd, it seems like instead of the old Norelco commercial with Santa riding on the head of the electric razor through the snow, we here in Iowa got to know that Barak Obama was going to lead through a colorless election. There were soooooo many politcal adds here that I feel like the season kind of got lost. My in-laws got a taste of what a "blessing" it is to be the firs state to hold a presidential caucus/primary.
I am thankful that in the midst of the craziness, we still were able to have an absolutely wonderful day on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Our world wasn't so busy that we didn't read from our Bible, the story of the seaon; the only story that matters. We went to church and made sure that we observed who deserves to be revered.
I love Christmas and look forward to our next one. I am sure that Rene' will start playing the music around, let's say, July 4:)

What a Year for weather

We started out the Summer with a tornado, now we start the Winter out with an ice storm. It has been very cold, yet our kids seem to find ways to have fun in the midst of the weather. Lot's of sledding in the backyard going on.


One of the benefits of living in a small town in the Midwest is getting to do lots of community events. Everything from parades to concerts. Every Winter in Muscatine, we have what is called the "holiday stroll." This is where many of the businesses downtown open their doors and let local community acts (school choirs, school bands, etc.). Additionally, the local dance studios perform. Here is a picture of Sadie performing in the storefront of downtown Muscatine during the Holiday Stroll.



Here is Emma with her friends at a field trip. Her class got to go to the muscial of "A Christmas Carol." Emma is on the far left; she and her friends had a great time together.


Lastly, here are some the ice pictures from this last week.

Pictures from Disneyworld

Thought I would show some pics from our latest Disney visit. It was a lot of fun and the food was amazing....