More pictures from the farm...

The grainery building. There used to be a wonderful tall corncrib behind this building that was great for climbing around in. I can remember sliding down the corn to help push the corn down when loading the wagon. The main risk was coming across mice!

The old Mac Gas Delivery Truck

The barn where I (Pam) spent many glorious hours playing as I was growing up. It had two wonderful big lofts, ladders, walkways, a stable & milking area, ropes & pullies, home to grain trailers, combines, and other such treasures.

Visiting the rhubarb patch is a necessity for our family of rhubarb lovers!

Happiness is cutting rhubarb!

Summer is here....

It has been nearly 3 weeks since we have updated our blog - our apologies about that! Excuses range from we've been out of town, no access to a computer, and the computer we do have has been acting up... Yep, sounds like a bunch of excuses.

Following our very nice trip to Fort Wayne, we tried to finish up our school year, and got pretty close to being done. I (Pam) spent another week with my mom and my sister, Liz, following the death of my dad. Even though it was a sad occasion that brought us together, it was still a pretty neat week. We spent a lot of time going through old pictures, letters, even diaries from the 1940's and 1950's, which was a real treat.

My family spent a few days vacationing after the funeral. We went to The Creation Museum, in Petersburg, OH, and the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, IL. They were both pretty neat in their own unique ways, and I'm glad we had a chance to visit them. I will try to post more about them later - when our computer is straightened out!

Since we have been home Jenny has been busy with lifeguarding at LPBC - our nearby church camp, and volunteering two mornings a week at the hospital. Walter has started cutting hay and we will be doing that as the weather allows over the next week or so, or until we get it done.

Our house building project is moving forward. We have selected a builder and are scheduled to begin this fall. We also have started working with an architect to draw up better house plans that will be easier for the builder to follow. We were pleased with the ideas he had for us, and it is getting easier to start feeling good about this process!

We have 3 new additions to our family - kittens! Chloe the calico, Dixie the gray tiger striped, and Rika, the orange tiger striped. They are so much fun to watch.

It has been a lot of fun to watch the activities on the lake this spring and summer. The most boats we have counted at one time have been 7, and our favorites are the kayaks and sailboats. There are also a lot of people who just fish from the edges, or just come to eat a picnic lunch it seems. It is really a beautiful lake to live near, and we feel blessed to have such nice views out the front porch.

That pretty much sums it up here. Will try to get some pictures posted soon.
Posted by Pam

Our visit to the farm...

KITTENS!

We spent several days at the farm visiting grandparents, and the kids really enjoyed taking these pictures while we were there. I'm glad my kids are making some of their own memories there. I know I (Pam) sure have a lot of fond memories from growing up on this farm.

One night Cathy treated us to a delicious dinner followed by hymn singing, which Mom & Dad really enjoyed.

Metamorphosis survives 2 moves!

At the end of last summer we found a beautiful large green caterpillar at Lions' Club Park. We put it in a jar and it started spinning a cocoon right away. A few days later we found another slightly different caterpillar, put it in the same jar, and it also started spinning a cocoon.

The jar traveled with us last fall when we moved and resided for a couple of weeks in Liz's kitchen, then moved into the guest house. The jar made it safely through the move to the camper, and stayed on a shelf in the very small living room through the winter. This spring I set it out on the porch, and a couple of weeks ago Jennifer happened to notice that a beautiful moth had emerged.

The 4 spots were translucent - just amazing.

See his beady little eyes?

I'm so glad God chose to create such interesting creatures. There are probably some good lessons to learn from them. Things like patience, perseverance, and God's sense of timing.

Summer Job & Road Trip!

1. Summer Job

Well, it's official. I am now a certified lifeguard! =D I have been taking a class at the Rec centre in town for the past couple of weekends, and passed the tests this morning. I am pretty happy. =) The class was difficult, but definitely "do-able". Actually, the most painful part for me was warming up at the beginning of class every day. We would swim 300 meters (a little over 3 football fields) using a breast stroke/front stroke combination without stopping. And for someone who hadn't swam since last summer, and who has never been "taught" how to swim using the different strokes, this was a slight challenge. However, I learned the strokes quickly and it became easier each time we did it. =)
I decided to become certified when I heard that Little Prairie Bible Camp was looking for a girl's lifeguard, and since I was looking for a summer job at the time... it seemed like a good option. So, I will be working as a lifeguard Monday-Thursday for most of June, part of July, and possibly part of August out at Little Prairie! Which, is great because one, the camp is within walking distance of my house, and two, because I will be getting paid to be at one of my favorite places on earth for the whole summer! It's a win-win situation. They get a lifeguard, I get a great job. So, yeah. =)




2. Trip to Indiana
We are heading up to visit my mom's side of the family in Indiana and I am pumped. They are such a crazy bunch and I just love them all so much! Be looking for a post about it soon. (Although knowing my sporadic blogging habits, that's not a guarantee. )

God Bless!

~Jennifer Renee

Hmmm, this one's hard to explain...

Hi everyone,

One of the things I love about my family is their ability to spontaneously have fun with each other, and with various props that come their way.

Case in point.

Last week Walter bought a motorcycle. (More about the bike in another post...) Along with it came such neat accessories as a biker dude helmet and leather jackets. Naturally, we couldn't resist!

We surprised Walter with a style show.

Ryan was able to pull off a "cool" look with little effort.

Cordell has an interesting hand thing going on, not sure if he is thinking in a cool way, or what.

I was pretty much a "fail" at achieving the cool look. Couldn't seem to stop smirking!

So not cool!

Have you ever heard of father - daughter look alike contests?

How about this one?

I know, the resemblence is just SHOCKING!Well, I'm sure that now that you have seen for yourself what influences bringing home a motorcycle can make, you will be fully warned before doing this with your own family!

Posted by Pam

Seussical!

Hello Dear Friends!
Sorry that I haven't posted in so long! So much has been happening lately that I just couldn't keep up with blogging about it all. The list of things that I wanted to blog about just kept growing and growing until I was rather intimidated by it. However, my mother has consistantly been dropping reminders that I really should update you all. So, without further adu, a partial update! (I am going to do it in parts because it would be a really long post otherwise. =)

So firstly, the play.

I think that it is safe to say that the one event that has occupied most of our thoughts (and weekends!) since January is "Seussical the Musical". It was Fine Linen Drama's spring production, and Cordell & I both had roles in it. Cordell was a one of the cadets at General Shmitz's Military school and a clown fish. I was in the jungle ensemble, a beach boy singer, and a dancer in a tap & black lights number. It. was. a. blast! I love the Fine Linen Drama group so much! They are all such talented people with a love for Christ that is so uplifting to be around! I feel so blessed to be a part of it.

Here is the group out of costume and in their normal character. These are the real characters who I have gotten to know and become good friends with.

The jungle crowd.

The wonderful little whos from Whoville.

Mr. and Mrs. Mayor with their son, Jojo.

These three did such a fantastic job!

Sour Kangaroo & Young Kangaroo.

They both rocked my socks.

I love them.

The End.

General Ghengis Khan Shmitz and his cadets.

(Cordell is on the far right)

Mr. Steele, who played General Shmitz, is someone who I really enjoy being around.

He has such a positive perspective and is almost always wearing a smile.

He is awesome. For example:

Once while we were building/painting the set, he walks up to me and says, "You know what I used to say? I used to say, God is so good. But, not anymore. Now I say, God is so good to ME. It makes it so much more personal."

See why he's awesome?

Mayzie La Bird and the Bird Girls

All with beautiful smiles, voices, and costumes.

Which, speaking of costumes, aren't they fantastic? Amy and her team of seamstresses did such a wonderful job bringing the Seuss characters to life!

The act 1 finale.

"It's Possible" was a really fun number that included fish dancers doing ballet, beach boys dancing... beach boy-ish?, and clown fish with fish faces.

The Wickersham Brothers.

All of them smooth, cool, and mischievous.

Horton and Gertrude

Amanda and Mr. Goff are fantastic! They are both so incredibly talented in acting and singing.

I can only hope to one day have as great facial expressions as Amanda.

Horten, Gertrude, and the Elephant Bird.

Glory pretty much stole the show every performance.

Hunches! This was one of my favorite scenes! Learning to tap was sooooo much fun, albeit a bit of a challenge! Since most of us were beginners it took a lot of practice to learn the steps. Or, at least it did for me. =)

The crew! Where would we be without them! Oh, yeah. In the dark, not able to hear anybody, and tripping over the props that hadn't been moved... The world would be a scary place without these guys.

And of course, some backstage photos! Here we have Jorin and Cordell just hanging out in the basement.

Jeni & I

(Or Penelope & Petunia) (Or Charlotte & Gail) (Or Clementine & AM) (Or Tanzy & the Sour Kangaroo) (Or the shama and the baboon...) (The list goes on and on...)

I love these goyles. A LOT.

Laura graciously pinned/curled my hair every performance! I don't what I would have done without her! She actually did many of the girls' hair and all of them were very pretty. Thanks, Laura! :)

Jeni & Kelsey

(I think Jeni might be the influence here...)

Miss Clarissa Michelle and I =)

Me and Jenna <3

Well, that's all for now. I really will try harder to keep the blog updated!

God Bless!

~Jennifer Renee