the_comforts

3 months

2012-01-12T20:39:00.002-06:00

Trigg turned 3 months this week! I can hardly believe it...he seems like he changes a little everyday! Here are a few pics of the dude.
His usual big smile!
I love his laughs!

...and of course, our monthly photo shoot with his tie!

Lots of smiles!

Cheese!

He keeps right on growing! We have packed away most of his 0-3 month clothes and rotated into his wardrobe 3-6 month clothes! What a dude!

Christmas in Indianola

2011-12-30T07:12:00.000-06:00

Christmas Day we headed down to Indianola to celebrate Christmas with my family.
Morgan digging into her stocking finds a new doll!
Piper dressed up in her Christmas outfit, which was her mom's Christmas outfit when she was a little girl and her older sister Morgan wore it too!

Morgan finding more presents in her stocking!

Wade, Heather and I with our stockings!

After brunch, we made our way into the other room to unwrap presents! Heather and Morgan can't hardly wait!

Christa and Wade chillin' on the couch

Trigg and Morgan are both wearing their Christmas red!

Morgan unwraps a Cinderella barbie!

After opening gifts, the girls changed into their Central shirts...Go Dutch!

...Trigg has a sweet onesie with the Central "C"!

Piper telling me how awesome her new Central shirt is...and me agreeing!

Morgan and Trigg both with smiles

Grandma Keri and Trigg...all of this celebrating makes for a tired little guy!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas in Indianola with my family. Lots of good food, time spent with family and plenty of new memories made with the kiddo's. Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Ankeny

2011-12-30T07:11:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve we headed to Ankeny to celebrate Christmas with Heather's family. Trigg wore his one piece red Christmas sweater!
Heather, Addy and Trigg chillin' in the chair!

Rob, Toby, Chad and Brent (the dudes) hanging out in the kitchen!

...and the kiddo's chasing each other around the house...I was able to capture one of the rare moments when there were all together and not running!

Our meal was fantastic, turkey and all the fixins. I made a Kraft Foods recipe: Cider Glazed Brussels Sprouts that turned out pretty good. (I included a link if you want to try them)

After lunch we all headed downstairs to open presents!

Aaron helped pass them out...

...waiting for all the adults to make it to the basement.

Trigg taking in all the excitement that comes with 7 cousins!

All the kiddo's open presents as the same time...have you ever been to the zoo, to the koi pond and thrown fish food into the water...it becomes a frenzy of fish...that is kind of what this scene was like, paper in every direction as everyone ripped open their presents to see what was inside!

Karys and Gracie unwrapping gifts!

Our staple gift this year was books. My personal feeling is that kids, in general, have way too many toys, so if I have any say in the gift giving, (spoiler alert) it will be books! Today's readers, tomorrow's leaders! We got Aaron the book, I Love Monkey, since he loves monkeys!

Aaron and I

...after the presents, it was craft time!

We had a great time in Ankeny celebrating Christmas with Heather's family. Good food, time spent with family and plenty of memories made! Merry Christmas!

Christmas at the_comforts

2011-12-29T21:43:00.000-06:00

Our church had Christmas services on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday! It fit in our schedule to go to the Thursday service, the Christmas Eve Eve Eve!
Trigg got dressed up in his dress shirt and cords!

Then we told him the dad was going to wear a matching shirt...he is still young enough to think that is awesome!
Trigg and I ready for church!

...looking pretty sweet!

After church, we changed into our Christmas jammies!

With Heather's parents in Ankeny and mine in Indianola, we are home for Christmas (which is nice!) So Christmas morning, we all headed downstairs in our Christmas jammies!

Trigg was excited to find his stocking!

...he reached his little paw in there to see what he could find...

Animal alphabet flashcards! Perfect!

I got some new shades! Riley is just as excited as I am!

We had a great Christmas, the Christmas Eve Eve Eve service was fantastic, being with family and friends on Christmas is wonderful and seeing Trigg smile when he wakes up in the morning (after sleeping 8+ hours) is the best present for new parents! Merry Christmas!

Early Christmas

2011-12-29T21:22:00.000-06:00

Great Grandma Gloria headed down to Texas for Christmas, so we got together with her, the Pella VL's and the Strouds the weekend before Christmas.
The Pella VL's latest addition to the family, Camille, hanging out with Heather.
Grandma Great and Trigg

Nathan and Aaron are super excited about their presents!

Trigg fell asleep so we opened his present for him...included in his present, the sweet Secret Agent badge we clipped on his blanket!

We had fun celebrating an early Christmas with Grandma before she flew down to Texas!

Fun in December!

2011-12-29T21:15:00.000-06:00

December is full of celebrations! Christmas parties, work parties, New Year's Eve...here is a few we celebrated this December.
Dawn, Heather, Joni and Kim got together for their annual Christmas party. They went out to eat and then back to our house for games and fun!
Heather's small group of gals also got together for a Christmas party with lots of laughs and plenty of good food!

Heather and I also celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary in December! Grandma Doreen watched Trigg for the evening so we could have a date night! We went to Cafe De Scala, it's so good, I highly recommend it. But it finally sank in...our dinner reservations were at 5:30, we are officially parents!

December flew by...but it was filled with family and friends and lots of fun!

2 Months!

2011-12-13T07:11:00.000-06:00

Trigg turned 2 months old last week...and it amazes me how fast he is growing. We snapped a few pics. Check out the sweet hat!
All smiles!

Chillin' with his hat and tie

He loves to move and kick!

...and more smiles and giggles!

What a dude!

Trying on more hats!

All these pictures make for one tired baby!

What's better than a tired baby? A tired baby and a tired puppy!

After nap time, more kicking and moving and smiles...

...and giggles!

I can hardly believe that our little man is already 2 months old. We love this little guy to pieces and it is so fun being his parents!

Christmas Tour

2011-12-11T12:34:00.004-06:00

Our house is ready for Christmas...now we could just use a little snow! Here is a photographic tour of our home.
We added a strand of lights and a fun red berry wreath to our ladder!
Heather does a fantastic job of wrapping presents. I think they look great under the tree...

...and our tree! Again this year we used our red ornament garland that we put together last year...and lots of lights!

The red garland is made up of several different sizes and finishes of ornaments.

We used some twigs at the top and topped the tree with more ornaments.

Red berries are popping up all over our house...they are mixed in with the green grass on the front table! (You can see the ladder in the mirror)

The red stars hanging above the sink in the kitchen.

Our home made Advent calendar keeps count of the days till Christmas!

Down in the basement, we have our other tree with the ornaments that Heather and I had as we were growing up!

"Joy" on the bookshelf!

This year's mantle...with a new stocking for Trigg! (Riley's stocking got moved, sorry pup)

This year, we made a "Merry" banner to hang across the mirror.

...and the snow globes on display in the window!

My parents started the tradition of giving us a snow globe each year...so our collection keeps growing! Here is this years snow globe...Santa!

...and there's the tour! We love decorating for the holiday's and it's hard to believe that Christmas is only 13 days away!

Dress for Success: Tip #3 - collars

2011-12-07T21:55:00.000-06:00

Today's topic addressed the collar on your shirt. You may be thinking that in today's business casual world not too many people care about my collar...you may be right, but like a boy scout, always be prepared. When you buy a dress shirt you mainly have 2 options for the collar: buttons or no buttons.

The general rule of thumb is that a non-button shirt is considered to be more formal than it's counterpart, the button down collar. Both are considered appropriate for the work place. For me, if I am wearing a suit, I will make sure that I go with a more formal, non-button collar. If I am just going with a tie or a tie and sport coat/blazer, either option will work!

Another option is the white collar with different color shirt...wouldn't be my everyday selection, but a fun choice to rotate into your wardrobe.

Does all that make sense? Button down = less formal, no buttons = more formal. Next up on my dress for success tips...knots for your tie!

Trigg Update

2011-12-01T13:58:00.004-06:00

Trigg keeps growing! He no longer fits his newborn clothes...we have officially moved into 0-3 month range. He smiles a ton and he is starting to giggle!
We put this outfit on him and he started to sing "My heart's a stereo. It beats for you, so listen close. Hear my thoughts in every note, make me your radio. Turn me up when you feel low, This melody was meant for you, Just sing along to my stereo...uh oh oh..."
...Trigg is also a big fan of "tummy time"

...and of course, we love to read books together!

He has also received the nickname "Snooze Bomber" as he can fall asleep just about anywhere!

He makes fun faces!

...and will talk your ear off!

This week, during tummy time, he pulled out another trick...

...and rolled over from his tummy to his back!

What a dude!

We are head over heels for this little guys and can't wait to see what he will do next!

Getting Ready for Christmas!

2011-12-01T07:11:00.000-06:00

The weekend of Thanksgiving in the Comfort household is reserved for getting the Christmas decorations out and starting to decorate and this year was no exception! With temperatures in the 50's on Friday, I was able to hang all the outside lights! We even found a strand of lights to wrap around our ladder!
This year, we did some Black Friday shopping at Lowe's and their Christmas tree's caught Heather's eye. So we returned on Sunday and found a winner!

Trigg helped us decorate the tree in the basement!

Trigg was also helping us put the lights on the tree...but he fell asleep!

...so we got him in his snowman jammies and he and Riley played on the floor for a little while.

With the tree in the background, Trigg pointed out spots that needed more lights!

...but mainly he showeed off his sweet new jammies!

We finished putting up the tree and got a family picture!

...all this decorating makes for two tired boys!

...we are 95% finished with our decorations! More pics to come once we get finished!

Give Thanks

2011-11-30T19:34:00.000-06:00

We are very thankful to have family so close! Heather's folks are up in Ankeny and mine are in Indianola, so either way we have about a 30 min drive for Thanksgiving or Christmas or dinner...This Thanksgiving we went to Ankeny on Thursday and Indianola on Saturday.
Heather and Toby are excited for all the food!
Aaron and Addy found a cool hang out in these ottoman's, lined with a blanket they were pretty cozy!

Thursday night Heather, Doreen, Erin, Rob and the kiddo's went to Disney on Ice! Karys, Nathan and Gracie could hardly wait for the show to start!

Goofy, Micky and Mini on ice skates!

...making "silly" faces!

Toby, Erin and Doreen enjoying the show!

Belle and the cast of Beauty and the Beast performed...

...as did all of the Disney Princesses! From what I heard, it was an awesome show!

Toby's Baptism

2011-11-30T13:28:00.002-06:00

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we headed up to Orange City for Toby's baptism! The whole crew was there and it was great to celebrate Toby's big day!
This was Trigg's first road trip and he did great...slept the whole way and hardly heard a peep from him.

Trigg, Rob and Toby...a similar picture was taken at Trigg's birth, the baby boys sure are growing quickly!

Dress for Success: Tip #2 Shoe Shine

2011-11-16T11:53:00.002-06:00

Last week I started some Dress for Success Tips
Tip #1 - Socks and Shoes
Since I mentioned socks and shoes last week, I thought I would continue with the shoes. Even the sharpest suit can look shabby when worn with dirty and scuffed dress shoes. So this weeks tip is to shine those shoes!
For starters, I would recommend picking up a shoe shine kit, generally they come with one or two colors of polish, a foam application brush and a soft bristle brush.

Shining your shoes is easy! Let me break down the steps for you:

Step 1: Clean/Dust off your shoes, wipe them down with a damp cloth to remove dust and dirt.

Step 2: Pick your polish color that matches your shoes

Step 3: Use the foam applicator brush to apply a thin coat of polish to your shoe. I generally apply in small circles and make sure the polish gets in all the cracks and creases. Wait 10 to 15 minutes for the polish to dry, you applied enough polish when it dries to dull or hazy coating.

Step 4: Brush polish off with the soft bristle brush.

Step 5: Buff to a nice shine with a clean rag. I use an old cotton t-shirt.

Optional Step 6: For extra shine, use a spray bottle to apply a small amount of water while buffing.
If your shoes haven't been polished in a while, you can repeat steps 3 - 5 until your shoes are looking good!

A freshly shined dress shoe can put the finishing touch to any outfit!

11/11/11 Mustache Party

2011-11-15T07:11:00.000-06:00

Last week was 11/11/11! To celebrate, we threw a Mustache themed party! We used this crazy squirrel for a "photo booth" backdrop...with mustache added, of course! Riley wasn't too sure about the giant squirrel hanging on the wall.
Andrea stopped by while we were getting everything set up, so we used her to test the photo booth!

Since it is "No Shave November" I had a pretty scruffy beard going...

...that turned into a pretty solid mustache!

Even Riley got to sport a 'stache!

The party got started and out came the mustaches! Derek brought over some stick on mustaches but since Aaron already had a 'stache going, he improvised...

We thought Jon's 'stache made him look like Ed Rooney from Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Trigg rockin' out the 'stache!

Brandt is looking good with his mustache too!

...and for the photo booth: The Siskow's

The Vocelka's

The Pine's (Joni wasn't feeling good, so Riley got to sub in for the photo)

The Comfort's

The gals

We had a ton of fun celebrating 11/11/11 and rockin the mustaches!

1 Month Already?!?

2011-11-09T13:25:00.002-06:00

It's hard for us to believe but today Trigg is 1 month old! This past month has flown by! We feel so blessed by our great family and friends and the support that we have received this past month! Thank you so much!
1 month old just happens to land on Wednesday, so both Trigg and I were dressed up for "Dress Up Wednesday!" ...and thanks to Aunt Christa for the sweet baby ties!

Trigg and Mom!

The family (minus Riley, she was outside playing in the fresh snowfall!)

It has been so fun this past month to watch the little man grow and become more alert! He is such a content baby and for that we are very thankful! It has also been fun to watch Heather become a mom and she has done a fantastic job at being a mom!

Dress for Success: Tip #1 - Socks and Pants

2011-11-09T07:11:00.001-06:00

I am not a fashion expert by any means but I do know a little bit about a little bit, so I am going to try and share what I know with the dudes out there.
If your like me and I think most of the corporate world, you work in a "business casual" environment. Unfortunately, I think most men lean more towards the casual and less towards the business. There are a few things that catch my eye and I am going to address them.
Tip #1: Socks are an extension of the pants. A general rule of thumb, your socks should match your pants. If you have khaki pants, go with matching socks. Navy pants, navy socks...I think you get the picture.
White socks are not for work, period. Sure, if you are wearing jeans, fine, put on those white socks, but if you have on "business casual" pants, go with socks to match! I have seen this combo more times than I like...
Trust me...people notice! Stick to this rule of thumb: Socks are an extension of the pants!

Book Review: Unbroken

2011-11-07T07:11:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, subtitled A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption and was it ever! This book grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let go.
This is the story of Louis Zamperini – growing up as a rebellious boy he funneled his energy into running and became a high school and college standout in the 1930’s. He was such an accomplished runner he competed in the Berlin Olympics in the 5k, although his bread and butter race with the mile and many people speculated that he would be the first to break the 4 minute mile barrier. Then WWII rolled around and Louie enlisted in the US Air Force and became a bombardier. Stationed in Hawaii his plane crashed on a search mission for another plane that had gone down. Surviving on a life raft for over 40 days in the Pacific Ocean only to be picked up by a Japanese ship and sent to a POW camp. Barely surviving in the POW camp until the end of the war, he finally makes it back home to his life!
This book was fantastic, very well written and it amazed me the details of the events that took place some 65 years ago. I’m not a history buff by any means, I knew a little about Pearl Harbor and the war that was fought in Europe but I learned a lot more about the battle that took place on the Pacific theater. My eyes were really opened to the harsh and terrible conditions that the POW’s suffered in Japan and it amazed me to read about the will to survive!
Hillenbrand does a fantastic job of telling Zamperini’s story, the book reads like a thriller and the 450+ pages fly by and you get caught up in the story. I would highly recommend this book and I can see why it is on the New York Times bestseller list.

Tummy Time

2011-11-03T07:13:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love tummy time! I know I do...and Trigg does too!
Just chillin' on his tummy, working on his neck strength!

Heather thinks that Trigg has my hair...I can kind of see that.

Trigg also like to snuggle on his tummy...

...and the little man can fall asleep anywhere!

Visitors!

2011-11-03T07:12:00.000-05:00

Trigg loves having company over to our house...although he usually sleeps through it, he loves to see his family and friends! The Pella VL's stopped by one night!

Nathan was so excited to hold Trigg! Not much longer and he will have a new baby sibling to hold!

Since Trigg was sleeping and not wanting to play...Nathan asked if we could go downstairs for a guitar jam session!

Grandma Great stopped by to see the little man!

...and Grandpa Great was in town and stopped by with my folks!

Morgan was super excited to meet her new cousin, so Christa and Morgan stopped by!

We have been so blessed by our great family and friends! Thanks so much for all the gifts and for the meals! God has given us a wonderful community of support and love! We appreciate it!

Trigg Update

2011-11-03T07:11:00.000-05:00

So our little man is almost 4 weeks old...and the time is flying by. It feels like he is getting bigger each day. He is doing all the things newborns should do: eat, sleep, poop, pee and grow! I took a week off of work to be at home with Heather and Trigg. It was the best week of my life! Grandma Doreen came to hang out the Heather and Trigg for the second week and then Grandma Keri came for the third week! We have felt very blessed by all the support of our friends and family!
Trigg working on his hand and arm strength!
This is the outfit he wore home from the hospital...the mighty lion! When we came home he weighted 5lbs 10oz. At our first appointment he was 5 days old, he weighted 5lbs 12oz, and then at our 2 week appointment he was up to 6lbs 11oz! Needless to say, this outfit is now fitting him a little on the snug side!

Trigg and Mom!

Lots of people have been asking us how Riley is doing with the new family member. So far, she isn't too interested in the little man. She has sniffed him once or twice. I think she is more upset about the interruptions to her sleeping schedule, she doesn't like that we get up in the night to feed the little man...and lately she has been giving us the cold shoulder!

Happy Birthday Piper!

2011-11-02T07:11:00.000-05:00

A day before Trigg was born we celebrated my niece Piper's 1st birthday! I am a big fan of making my own birthday cards so I made one for Piper! Using some twine, some fun paper and a Sharpie...
...I was able to create a Happy Birthday card with mini-pennants!

I customized the envelope with a "P" for Piper!

The party had a fall theme, naturally with her birthday in October!

This was Piper's first experience eating cake...she was a little hesitant to dig in.

Her older sister Morgan thought she could help her out with some encouragement!

By the end...she loved it!

Wade, Christa, Morgan and the birthday girl!

After getting cleaned up, Piper was showing Heather her tricks..."How big is Piper?" So BIG! (Who would have thought 12 hours later Heather's water would break!)

Morgan was playing with a orange balloon and wanted to let it go outside, but didn't want it to fly away. She and Grandpa were discussing what would happen if she would let go of the balloon. Morgan wanted to see it fly, but also come back to her...that gave Grandpa an idea...

Tie the balloon to his fishing pole...let the balloon fly into the sky and then reel it back in!

There goes the balloon over the neighbors shed...

...and back into the hands of Morgan!

We had a great time celebrating Piper turning 1! Lots of good food and fun with the family! Happy Birthday Piper!

Welcome Trigg Uriah

2011-10-17T07:11:00.000-05:00

Last week, on October 9th in the wee hours of the morning (2:30am) Heather's water broke at home. We got ready for a big day, called our friend and doula Laura and then headed to the hospital around 10 that morning!
We had a great staff of nurses and doctors helping us through the day. Laura was fantastic and we are both so grateful that she was with us through the day. We got to our room about 12:15 and Heather was started on pitocin to help contractions get closer (they also got a lot stronger). By 6:24pm Trigg Uriah was born! Heather was amazing, she did the whole thing without pain meds or anesthesia!

The next day, Trigg got his first bath...and he seemed to enjoy it!

All bundled up in his octopus outfit!

I am one proud papa!

...and Heather is a very thankful mom!

God's timing is perfect. Trigg was 3 weeks early, but he weighed in at 6lbs and he is healthy!

We feel so blessed to be surrounded by great family and friends! Life truly is better together and we love the community around us.

4 generations!

The grandparents

Our friend Laura, thanks so much for all you did for us...and Happy Birthday!

My sister Christa stopped by to see the little man.

The OC VandeLune's and the Pella VandeLune's drove over when they found out that we were headed to the hospital, they were excited to meet the new addition to the family.

Trigg, Rob and Toby

Derek stopped by to see how we were doing.

Jen and Sarah also stopped by to see Trigg

Kim stopped by, her little guy Brant and Trigg are sure to be great friends, only 2 weeks apart in age!

Margaret and Dean

Sarah and Lainey stopped by to visit

After 2 days, we were all set and ready to head home to get some good food and sleep in comfortable beds!

We are so thankful to all our family and friends for their prayers and support through this last week. Mom and Trigg are both doing great! Throughout this last week, we have both seen God's provision and grace and this new little man came into the world! Despite only sleeping in 2 to 3 hour shifts, this week has flown by...they grow up so fast!

Nursery - before and after

2011-10-10T16:15:00.006-05:00

So we got our nursery finished just in time for baby to get here. We have had most of it done but we were waiting for the rug as the finishing touch. In case you don't want to see all the before and after pictures, here are two pictures of the finished product.
It has a "CityScape" theme with buildings and splashes of orange and blue.
This is what the nursery looked like before we started. It was painted yellow and was our guest bedroom.

We already had the chair rail up, so we left it, the closet got a make over with some storage and organization cubes.

We did an "exposed wall board" finish on one wall. I bought 1/4 inch hardwood and ripped it down to 4 inch boards.

...and then I started covering the wall, staggering the seams as I moved up the wall.

I worked all the way up the wall with the boards, then primed with white...

Worked all the way to the top...I primed everything and then gave it a coat of white.

Here is the wall once all the boards were installed.

We found a great deal on a crib at a garage sale! This is the bedding we got...City Scape.

We found these curtains at Ikea. We also got the floating shelves at Ikea too.

We also hung a longer shelf below the chair rail for books

We also got the dresser from Ikea and we are using that as the changing table. We hung a magnet board with some fun orange magnets!

We also picked up these orange containers that store shoes, blankets, socks, all sorts of good stuff, and they match well with the stripped rug!

...and the finished product.

...and we got it done just in time!

Pumpkins

2011-10-07T08:22:00.003-05:00

We picked up some nice pumpkins last weekend at the Pumpkin Ranch in Winterset and were trying to figure out how to best display them. Heather did some searching on the world wide web and found some glittered pumpkins that looked fun...so we decided to give our pumpkins a little sparkle.
We brushed the pumpkins with Mod Podge first and then dumped on the glitter. We used a pink on the orange pumpkins and an orange glitter on the white pumpkin. After the Mod Podge dried, I gave it a coat of clear poly to try and seal the sparkle!
...and the finished product!

Pumpkins with sparkle!

How are you displaying your pumpkins this year?

GARRETT'S POPCORN!

2011-10-07T07:11:00.000-05:00

If you want to bring a smile to Heather's face and happen to be going through Chicago, stop into one of the Garrett's Popcorn shops and pick her up a bag of their Chicago Mix...pick one up for yourself too because it is AMAZING!
Heather's mom flew through the Chicago airport yesterday on her way back to Des Moines, so Heather asked her before she left...and texted her that morning to pick up some Garrett's popcorn. The airport does have a Garrett's Popcorn kiosk!

The Chicago mix is a blend of their caramel corn and their cheesy corn

Everyone at our house loves this popcorn!...but Riley rarely gets a taste of Garrett's popcorn!

...and if you are running the Chicago Marathon this weekend, good luck and get some popcorn while you are in town!

Fall Food

2011-10-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

With fall sneaking up on us, we officially made the switch at our house, our fall decorations came out, we switched our bedding to our fall bedding and our recipes have more fall flavors. One of our favorite fall recipes is Glazed Stuffed Pork Chops from KraftFoods.com (click on the link for the full recipe)
Stuff the pork chop with stuffing made with apple juice (we have used apple cider) and apples and a raspberry mustard glaze! They are dynamite!

For dessert, peanut butter rice crispy treat with pumpkin frosting!

Welcome to fall! (get the rakes ready, the leaves have started to fall too)

Book Review: EntreLeadership

2011-10-06T07:11:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey and I would say that the subtitle is very fitting for this book: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches.
Ramsey unpacks how he runs his business and gives very practical advice to leaders, owners and workers that can be applied to any business. He covers wide range of business topics such as being a team player, pursuing your dreams, setting goals, making decision, selling by serving, and delegation. He talks about his faith and shares the lessons that he has learned through bankruptcy.
I ended up taking about 12 pages of notes because he covers so much material. He also has a lot of extra material on their website! This is solid business knowledge that can be applied to any business. I would highly recommend this book if you own your own business or every want to start your own business. I would also recommend this book if you are a leader in your company or have direct reports. I wouldn't sit down and read this book just for fun, but it is a very useful tool for the business world!

Pumpkin Ranch

2011-10-02T21:10:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, Heather and I headed to the Pumpkin Ranch in Winterset to get some pumpkins. We met my family there and had a blast. Dave and Jen have done an awesome job with the Pumpkin Ranch, so much to do and a ton of fun for the kiddos!
Morgan was a little nervous at first, but she loved the zip line!
There was also a trampoline, surrounded by hay, to jump on! Heather, baby and Morgan all loved it!

...fun for everyone!

Christa, Rhonda, Morgan and Keri on the hay rack ride out to the pumpkin patch!

Tom and Piper looking for the perfect pumpkin.

Heather and I enjoying the ride.

We got out to the pumpkin patch and the search began...Heather found it, our pumpkin!

My dad and I with our pumpkins.

Welcome to fall!

We had a great time hanging out at the Pumpkin Ranch, there was a ton to do...and we didn't even have try the corn maze! It was a lot of fun to watch Morgan explore and find pumpkins!

Chair Recovery

2011-10-02T20:15:00.003-05:00

We got this chair from Heather's folks with the plan to reupholster it. I have never reupholstered anything before, so this was new territory for us.

After lots of research online, a few youTube video's, I was ready to jump in.

My basic strategy was to undo the chair and make a pattern from the existing fabric and reapply the new fabric onto the chair! After pulling more staples than I could count, I was able to make a pattern with the new fabric. I also cut out a piece of wood to straighten out the back of the chair.

After several more staples...the chair was reupholstered!
We are still planning on painting the legs black, but for now, we have a chair!

Book Review: With by Skye Jethani

2011-10-01T13:09:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading With by Skye Jethani and I thought it was excellent! Subtitled "Re-imagining the Way You Relate to God" Jethani unpacks 4 common ways of relating to God and how those fall short and then devotes the last 4 chapters to look at how we can live a life with God.
He starts out his book with looking at common ways we all relate to God. We live life under God, life over God, life from God and life for God. With each of these styles of relating Jethani unpacks the good stuff we get but also how each of these falls short. Life Under God essentially means that if I do all the "right" things and follow all of Gods rules, he will bless me. On the surface this looks great but dig deeper and there is no relationship with God. The prophet Isaiah sums it up well (Isaiah 29:13) "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules that have been taught."
Next he tackles life over God, he mentions atheism but more so he looks at Christians whose understanding of faith leaves little room or need for God. This way of relating to God reduces faith to principles, divine laws and applicable instructions. Basically a way to exert more control into our lives. This exchanges a relationship with God for applicable principles.
Life from God, this posture looks at God to supply whatever we want or need. We become the consumer, putting ourselves in the center of our universe and God is around to help us be the best we can be.
Life for God, this posture looks at how we can live our lives to accomplish his mission however we may define it. On the surface this looks great too, and it would be great to have more Christians doing Gods work, but a life spent for God is not what God desires. God's mission shouldn't define our lives, God himself should. Jethani looks closely at the life of Paul in this chapter and in Paul's life we see that he understood that his calling was not the same as his treasure. The problem comes when we find our significance and worth in serving or obedience instead of in God.
The last 4 chapters Jethani unpacks what life with God looks like. He starts with looking at the Good News of the Gospel and reminds us what Christ did for us all on the cross. He looks at a life with God, life with faith, life with hope and life with love.
He ends the book with an appendix that gives some good practices; praying with the scriptures, praying with the Church, praying with the Holy Spirit. For small groups, he also includes discussion questions!
All in all, I really enjoyed this book, Jethani does a great job of unpacking how we can live a life with God. I would recommend this book!

Crafts and more!

2011-09-30T22:09:00.003-05:00

So we have been busy crafting and got a ton made. We made a bunch of these fabric wrapped words. We wrapped "home", "fall", "boo" with fall colors and "hope", "home" and "fa la la" with Christmas colors.
We also made these slatted signs with both Christmas themes and home themes.

We also wrapped a bunch of galvanized buckets with fabric. We sealed them so they can go outside or be kept inside. Great for gifts, planting plants in or for storage!

We also launched a new website for our crafts, check us out at Rooted.

Also, if you want to check out our crafts in person, they will be at the Pumpkin Ranch in Winterset!

Adventureland

2011-09-30T21:25:00.003-05:00

It's a yearly tradition with Heather's family to go to Adventureland, this summer was crazy for everyone, so we ended up heading to Adventureland on the last day of the season. It turned out to be a great day!
Grandma Doreen, Nathan, Chad and Aaron headed to the Galleon first...Aaron wasn't too sure about the flying ship.
...but Nathan loved it!

Next Papa Brent and Nathan got swung around in the "de Flinger"! Despite his frown in this picture, Brent was actually smiling and laughing most of the time!

Then for a ride in a hot air balloon.

Aaron got up his courage to fly an airplane.

...but had a little trouble getting it off the ground.

Before the day was over, we all took a ride in the Giant Skywheel.

Heather couldn't ride the rides because she is pregnant, I couldn't ride the rides because I just had surgery 2 days before...but we both could ride the train!

All aboard!

The whole crew!

Big thanks to Grandma Great for the tickets, the tradition continues!

Happy Birthday Doreen

2011-09-29T21:02:00.001-05:00

I am a little late in posting this, but for Doreen's birthday this year, we met up with the Pella VL's for diner at Red Rosa followed by some bowling! The pizza was excellent, as always.
We got to the bowling alley just in time for laser bowling, black lights and everything!
Nathan showing his little brother how to bowl...

Brent steps up to the lane and knocks the pins down.

Nathan and I discussed the best way to throw a bowling ball.

Heather and baby showed us how it's done...yes, that is a baby not a bowling ball

Aaron sends his ball down the lane with a little help from the ramp.

Nathan and his green ball

...and a victory dance!

Nathan shows Heather how to properly dance in the bowling alley!

Happy Birthday Doreen, we had a great time celebrating!

Book Review: Secure Daughters Confident Sons

2011-09-02T07:11:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Secure Daughters Confident Sons by Glenn T. Stanton and I thought the book was fantastic. In this book, Stanton address the issue of gender differences and how those shape us, our kids, and our families. Everyone is different, but when you boil it down, you are either a boy or a girl.He then jumps into the topics of what makes a good man and woman. Granted the list is not all inclusive, but he hits on major issues.
For me, as I am preparing to become a father, the section on what makes a good man was very good. Stanton reminds us that good men seldom develop naturally, we must intentionally teach boys to become good men. One way we can do this, as father's, is to invite our boys into manhood. Stanton explains that for boys, mom should be the "corrector," the one who says, "No, boys don't act like that." Dad should be the "inviter," the one who says, "Hey, buddy, when I was a boy, I loved to dress up like a safari hunter," and then lead him in that direction. Let the boy have the opportunity to be welcomed and invited into his father's world of manhood by his father.
Stanton then goes into the topic of what boys need most followed with what girls need most. He talks about the journey to manhood and how parents must recognize the journey and encourage our boys through the various stages, struggles and successes. Similarly, parents need to be aware of the metamorphosis to womanhood.
In part two of the book, he turns from what the kids need and look at the differences in parents. Stanton looks at the difference between mom and dad and how those differences influence development in children.
All in all, this was a great book, I ended up taking 9 pages of notes while reading this book, too much to fit into a book review! I would highly recommend it to parents with kids at any age. Stanton covers a lot of material spanning childhood development into adulthood.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER!!!

2011-08-29T07:11:00.000-05:00

Heather and I have made it a tradition that we don't work on each other's birthdays. That's right, a birthday is a day to celebrate! This year was no exception, so last week, we both had the day off. We slept it, I made us some breakfast burritos, we went to the grocery store (not apart of the birthday celebration but still important). We were planning on heading up to Ledges State Park but time got away from us, so instead we headed downtown. Our first stop was to the Asian Garden, situated on the east bank of the Des Moines river, just south of the Botanical Center.
Heather does her best dragon impression!

Then we made our way out on the new Center Street pedestrian bridge. (They are working on the west side approach to the bridge, but you can still access the bridge from the east) If you haven't been to this bridge yet, you should really check it out, it's very cool!

After the bridge, we stopped at a few shops in the East Village and then headed home to get ready for supper. We met up with Brent and Doreen and headed to Firecreek in West Des Moines for a great meal!

Me and the birthday girl!

No birthday is complete without the traditional birthday cake cookie!

Happy Birthday Heather! I love you and hope you had a great birthday!

Family Weekend

2011-08-28T07:11:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was also "Family Weekend" with Heather's family, so everyone was in town.
Addy was showing us how she can play "airplane"
We celebrated some fall birthday's with Karys and Nathan opening some presents...all the kiddo's sitting nicely on the fireplace...

...doesn't take too long before the "silly" faces come out, along with the giggles!

Alright, open!

Nathan was pretending to be a Transformer, so I helped he play the part by cutting a hole in a box...transforming him into a robot!

You can't celebrate birthdays without a birthday cake!

After cake, Heather and I took Karys and Gracie to the pool to swim off some energy.

There aren't very many weekends left for the pool, so we enjoyed it!

Karys, Heather and Gracie getting ready to go down the big blue slide.

...and down they go!

We had a lot of fun at the pool, it's always a good time!

Baby Shower

2011-08-27T07:11:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, Heather had a baby shower with both our families. The shower was Saturday morning, the decorations turned out great and there was plenty of good food too! My mom brought us the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" and used it as the guestbook to have everyone write a message Baby Comfort.
My mom also brought my old Tonka truck and it was used for decoration...and it stayed at our house, so I am super excited about that!

I managed to get the nursery done in time for the shower (those pictures are coming), we used gray, blue and orange colors in the room...and the decorations for the shower matched! And look at all that good food!

The blue and orange pennants turned out great...and I am a big fan of the dump truck filled with cake balls!

The bigger pennants have pictures of Heather and myself from our baby days.

All set and ready to party!

We feel very blessed by everyones generosity and all the gifts that we received!

Karen, Brenda, Doreen, Heather, Jana and Jana's two girls having fun at the party

Keri, Doreen, Erin, Heather, Shay and Christa, the awesome co-hostesses of the party!

Heather and Doreen

Christa, my aunt Susan, Heather, Keri and my aunt Judy

...and managed to make it back to the house with the dogs for the last 2 minutes of the party! There was still lots of food left over, so it worked out perfectly.

All in all, Heather had a great baby shower, it was a lot of fun to see all our family and for everyone to check out the nursery! Big thanks to the hostesses for all your hard work, everything looked great!

2011 Iowa State Fair!

2011-08-26T07:11:00.000-05:00

No summer is complete without a trip to the Iowa State Fair and last week we did just that! The past couple of years we have parked at the capitol and taken the bus to the fairgrounds, I would highly recommend this mode of transportation, it works out really nicely! Anyway, our first stop was at the Family Center to check out the cakes...and look at this one, this cake basically is the fair! It has the sky glide, the butter cow, a pig, a cow...everything one would want to see! Heather was amazed!
Outside the building, I was amazed by the hydrangeas, we just planted two of these bushes in our front yard, but they are no where near the size of ones at the fair...again I was amazed! Inside the 4-H building we found a soda cow, not exactly the butter cow, but I am sure it took some work putting this one together.

Of course, we made a stop in the horse barn, one of our favorite stops, to see the Percheron horses.

We went from big horses to the big bull!

...and then the big boar, Tiny weighing in at 1,196lbs, he is a purebred hampshire from Postville, IA!

...and then we walked through the cattle barn...watch wear you step!

We swung through the Agriculture Center to see the famous butter cow!

...and out to the Grand Concourse for a little people watching.

This year, with baby on board, we jumped on the sky glide and took it to the top of the hill!

At Pioneer Hall, this quartet was playing...on the left, the banjo, then the fiddle, the washtub bass and the guitar, yes that is a washtub bass, awesome!

This years sand sculpture was a tribute to the butter cow!

As the day was winding down for us, we stopped in the Pavilion to watch the dog show...it was awesome!

We, of course, loved the beagle!

As we were getting ready to leave, we made a stop at the giant slide!

Who doesn't love the giant slide!

We had a great time at this years Iowa State Fair, we saw a ton and we left with soar feet, so I take that as a successful year!

BBQ Fest

2011-08-25T07:11:00.002-05:00

A few weekends ago, Heather and I hosted our annual BBQ fest. I woke up about 6:00am Sunday morning and got the smoker started. We smoked brisket, grilled ribs and chicken legs. For some added fun, I cut out some vinyl moustaches to put on all our glasses!
In both black and brown...and in four different styles!

Like I said, I started the smoker nice and early and got the red needle to "ideal"! The brisket was on there for 12 hours and it turned out wonderfully!

Our friends came over around 6:30 that evening and we enjoyed the spread!

Showing off the moustaches!

The gals liked the moustache glasses...

...and they were a big hit for the guys too!

We had a great evening, good company, plenty of good food and moustaches for everyone!

Curb Appeal

2011-08-10T07:15:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we did a little landscaping to the front of our house. We have a ton of hostas. I love hostas, don't get me wrong, they are hearty and good ground cover, but we have way too many in the front of our house...too much of the same green color. Here is the "before" picture.
So we pulled out this bed of hostas...

...and planted two Limelight Hydrandea bushes. We also planted some flame grass that is supposed to turn red/purple in the fall! We did add a few of the hostas back in the front of the bed to fill it out. The rest of the hostas we moved to the side of the house to help hid some down spouts.

We have been reading up on hydrangeas, but are definitely new to the hydrangea world, so hopefully these guys last a long time! I really like the way this project turned out!

Any suggestions on how to care for our hydrangeas?

Balloons 2011

2011-08-10T07:11:00.001-05:00

No summer would be complete, for me, without a trip down to Indianola for the National Balloon Classic. This year, we didn't make it down till the very last night, but it was worth it.
Not too much wind and depending on how high the balloons were, the wind was changing direction, so balloons were taking off from all sides of the field and flying in, it was a lot of fun to watch!

Lots of balloons dotting the skyline!

New this year was the Panda Shaped balloon

...and there was a bald eagle shaped balloon too!

It kind of feels like a family reunion going out to the balloon field, most of my actual family is there and then lots of people (who feel like family) that I have gotten to know throughout the years are there too, so it is always fun to catch up on how everyone is doing. We had a great time watching the balloons fly, as always.

Big 5 for Nathan

2011-08-09T07:11:00.001-05:00

Last week our nephew Nathan turned 5 years old! Heather and I were at her Grandma's in Monroe, I was mowing the yard and Heather and Grandma were making corn to freeze. We met the Pella VL's at Jersey Freeze for some ice cream cones!
The ice cream was melting fast on a hot day but it sure was good!

All smiles for Nate-dog turning 5 years old!

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Pool Party!

2011-08-01T07:15:00.000-05:00

The past two years, we have rented a pontoon boat at the end of the summer to spend a day out a Big Creek Lake, but this year 2 of the 4 girls are pregnant and wouldn't be able to get in the water at a lake, so instead we headed to a pool for an afternoon of fun!
The girls really enjoyed the rafts and relaxing in the water...

...and the boys enjoyed plenty of shenanigans!
Aaron with the flying suplex/belly flop onto the floating blue mat
Derek pulls the six-gun shooter salute!

...flying smile, over Derek and the fountain!

Heather and Dawn enjoying the water!

Then the guys started to get creative. In this photo, Aaron is catching the football in mid-air and then flipping it to Derek as he is also jumping into the pool!

Heather and I are all smiles on a beautiful day!

This one is more complicated...Derek started with the football in corner, threw it to me as I jumped in the water, I tossed it to Aaron, Aaron to John and John back to Derek...the 4 pass hand off without the football hitting the water...simply amazing!

...another one of my favorite pictures or Derek jumping in the water!

After the pool we had some pizza and celebrated the two birthday girls, Heather and Kim!

...and the whole crew!

A day well spent at the pool!

Weekend with Girls from the OC

2011-08-01T07:11:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, Heather and I got to spend the weekend with our nieces and had a blast. We picked them up Friday evening and hung out with them till Sunday. Saturday evening, after a fun filled day, we headed to the park up the street to check out the playground equipment. Addy loved the twirly slide!
...Gracie did too!

The girls even got Auntie Heather to climb up!

Karys and Gracie made it across the monkey bars!

Sunday rolled around and so did the clouds, we were hoping to go to the pool but with the cloudy conditions, we decided to set up the sprinkler in the front yard...that was a big hit!

Addy loved it, she kept coming over to us to tell us how wet she was getting!

...this is one of my favorite pictures...summer fun!

No better way to end a summer day than with popsicles!

We had a lot of fun hanging out with the girls for the weekend! They did awesome and I am pretty sure they had fun too!

AP's 2nd B-day

2011-07-31T07:11:00.000-05:00

A few weekend's ago, we headed to Pella to celebrate AP's 2nd birthday. He had a Curious George themed party out at Red Rock Lake.
Brent, Doreen and I enjoying the birthday celebration!
Nathan and Grandma Doreen playing Bags...

...with the birthday boy and Chad. Having so much fun we scream!

Heather tosses her bean bag.

AP got a little tired playing organized games and decided to start a stick collection!

After some games the birthday boy opened up his birthday presents...and we got a big thumbs up!

Me and the birthday boy!

We had a great time celebrating Aaron turning 2, it was lots of fun to hang out with the family for an afternoon. Happy Birthday Aaron!

July 4th Adventure (part 3 of 3)

2011-07-15T07:22:00.001-05:00

No trip to the Twin Cities would be complete without a stop to IKEA. Sunday morning, we said our good byes and made our way to IKEA. A couple hours later, we left with a ton of great deals and stuff for the nursery!
After IKEA, we headed over to our friend Seth and Nicole's house in Eden Praire. We had a great time catching up and hanging out with Seth and Nicole. We saw some great fireworks Sunday night and then Monday we went and played a little mini-golf!

Seth and Nicole are also expecting and Nicole is due 3 days before Heather!

Some action shots from our golf outing!

It was a great day and we had a ton of fun!

...but all good things must come to an end. Monday afternoon, we said our good byes and headed back home (with a trunk full of IKEA buys). We had a great long weekend, 3 nights, 3 different beds, we had a lot of fun with family and friends, it was a great way to spend the 4th of July!

July 4th Adventure (part 2 of 3)

2011-07-15T07:15:00.000-05:00

Saturday, we hung out in the OC until early afternoon. It was such a nice day, we headed to the backyard with the girls to swing!
...and swing we did!

We also had a picnic in the backyard!

Karys loved our picnic and I agree, it was really nice!

Heather and the kiddos!

Gracie tried her hand at the camera, not too bad!

We said our good byes and headed towards the Twin Cities. There isn't an interstate to get to the Twin Cities so we took highways cutting across Iowa and Minnesota. I loved it! I am not a big fan of 4 lane Interstates, sure they get you where you want to go quickly, but I love driving through the countryside and stopping in little town...such as this one that had a fun ice cream shop, The Porch on Main, in Sibley, IA.

We made it to the Twin Cities and stayed with Sarah at her folks place. Dueling baby bumps!

Big thanks to Dave and Toni for letting us stay and for those breakfast burritos (so good!)

July 4th Adventure (part 1 of 3)

2011-07-15T07:11:00.000-05:00

Over the 4th of July weekend, Heather and I took a small tour of the Midwest. We started our trip off with a drive up to northwest Iowa to see the OC VL's and the latest addition to their family, Toby!
We brought the kiddos a 4th of July goodie basket that included some bubbles...so we thought we should test them out!

Gracie, Karys and Heather making bubbles in the front yard.

Rob and Toby checking out all the action.

Addy was super excited to show off her new bike!

...and she has been practicing her "silly face", its getting pretty good!

As the sun went down, the lightening bugs came out and the girls are really good at catching them.

We also brought some sparklers...nothing says Happy Birthday America like a good sparkler!

Or if you slow down the shutter speed, it looks like a fireball!

Heather and Karys trying some sparklers!

...having lots of fun! Unfortunately, one of the sparkler ends fell off and Karys stepped on it with her bare foot and burned it. That put an end to the sparklers, but Karys was a trooper and after running some cold water on her foot she let her mom apply some ointment and a bandage and she was as good as new!

While Rob and Erin were tending to Karys' foot, Auntie Heather got to hold Toby...and put him right to sleep! (Hopefully she has the magic touch to put infants to sleep!)

Book Review: In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

2011-07-13T07:11:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Mark Batterson's book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and I thought it was a pretty good book.
Batterson takes a look at a passage buried in the Old Testament book of 2 Samuel 23: 20-21. He unpacks the story of Benaiah, a valiant warrior and one of King David's finest men. Specifically, Scripture tells us that Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit and despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught and killed the lion. Batterson then looks at that experience and how that became the frame work for Benaiah to climb the ladder of David's men to become head of David's bodyguards. Batterson unpacks how sometimes God gives us opportunities that don't always look like opportunities but sometimes look like 500 pound lions.
Batterson goes on through the book to look at how we can identify these God opportunities and make the most of them. He talks about unlearning your fears, reframing you perspective, uncertainty and risk and looking foolish.
All in all, I thought this was a good book, through personal stories of his own, Batterson explains how God gives us dreams and how he has chased those dreams.

Stay-cation

2011-07-05T07:11:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I took off from work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and Heather and I had a little "stay-cation". We did have a trip planned, but with the baby on the way and lots of house projects on my list, we stayed at home and got some things done!
1st project: living room. I pulled all the stuff off the walls, moved everything into the center of the room...
...I also patched the cracks in the plaster. When we did the window project, some cracks appeared after we had to cut out the old windows. Using some tape and mud...

...and some spray texture, the cracks disappeared!

On the west wall, we extended the green from the kitchen...

I wasn't too worried about edging the ceiling because we installed crown molding.

The rest of the walls got painted Mark Twain House Gold from Lowe's

We added the crown molding and crown corner blocks to give the room a nice finished look!

2nd Project: Shutters

Last fall, we had a painting party and got the outside of the house painted in one day with the help of a lot of friends! I have been wanting to make some shutters for the new windows and now I had some time! Here is a before picture...

...and another before picture.

The shutters are pretty simple, constructed out of 1x4's, two coats of paint and a coat of poly.

...and here they are, installed on the house.

I really like the looks of them and I think they make a big difference!

We got a lot of work done in a few days off and had a lot of fun too! You might be wondering what Riley did while all these house projects were going on...she was in her typical place, on the couch sleeping!

...the next project, the nursery!

Registry

2011-06-30T07:11:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Heather and I took the afternoon off work to have a lunch & registry date! We grabbed lunch at Flarah's...awesome!
...and then headed over to Babies 'R Us to get registered! We parked right up front, thanks to Heather!

It took us a couple hours and I still don't think we are finished, but we got our list started! I tested out this jogging stroller in the store...it should work great! (I refer to it as a "running" stroller, not a jogging stroller)

We have 3 registries going right now:

(Mom, I added links, just click on the name and it should take you to our registry)

Babies 'R Us:

Target:

and Amazon.

I think we have most everything covered, any suggestions about must have items for soon to be parents?

Riley's new toy

2011-06-12T10:48:00.002-05:00

We went to a friend's garage sale last week and got a ton of baby stuff (thanks Elizabeth!), as we were unpacking the garage sale finds, we found a green bouncy dice at the bottom of the bag. Heather bounced it on the floor and discovered that it lights up. Riley instantly fell in love!
She chews on that little dice and makes it light up. She will paw at it...

she grabs it in her mouth and then tosses it in the air...

so far, it has been hours of fun for her and lots of entertainment for us!

We are hoping Elizabeth's kids don't notice that this green dice is missing because we would have to pry it from Riley's jaws to return it!

Book Review: Tithing

2011-06-10T07:11:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading Tithing by Douglas LeBlanc. This was the last book in the Ancient Practices series that I had left to read and I thought it was very good.
LeBlanc, I feel, takes a fresh perspective on tithing with this book, he thinks the answer to tithing is clear in Malachi 3:10, where God tells us, "Test me in this." and he points out that it is the only place where God tells us to test him. Yet, LeBlanc doesn't unpack a sermon about why we should tithe, instead, with each chapter he profiles people who have tithed and tested God in their tithing and the effect on their lives has been profound.
Though each chapter, LeBlanc shows us the true impact of tithing in action in real lives. He interviews a vast array of different people from different backgrounds living in different communities, but the one thing that they all have in common is the joy that they have found in tithing.
I really enjoyed reading each chapter and discovering how God is changing lives and impacting the world. This was a fast book to read but it also challenged me to look where my money is going...who is getting my "first fruits"?
"'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,
' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'" -Malachi 3:10

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

May Day Baskets

2011-06-08T07:11:00.000-05:00

I know this is about a month behind, but Heather and I sent May Day "baskets" to our nieces and nephews. We started with these Caffe Frappe glass bottles...
peeled the labels off and spray painted the lids silver...

added some treats, fabric, twine and a tag...

and we have fun May Day baskets.

I also thought it would be fun to cut out vinyl letters and use those to write a fun message on the bottles.

Happy Birthday Aaron

2011-06-04T19:11:00.001-05:00

Last week was Aaron Siskow's birthday, to celebrate we went to Felix and Oscar's for some deep dish pizza.
Aaron, Derek and I are in a book club and Aaron is the last one of us three who doesn't have a pipe yet, naturally, that is what Derek and I got him for his birthday!

...now we can smoke our pipes while we discuss books! (and by this picture, gaze off into the distance)

No birthday is complete without birthday cake...DQ ice cream cake to be exact!

That gals are pretty excited that we all now have pipes!

Happy Birthday Aaron and welcome to Pipe Club!

WWHPBMD?

Garden Club

2011-06-01T07:11:00.000-05:00

This summer, Heather and I have joined a Garden Club. Well, that's what we are calling it anyway. We decided to plant a garden with the Pines and the Schardts, Derek volunteered his backyard (less area to mow). We marked off some plots along the fence line and started digging up the grass.
Then we tilled the soil, big thanks to my dad for letting us borrow his tiller!

We also set up a rain barrel, to collect rain water to use to water the garden! We got all that done on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

The next day the sun came out and we got the garden planted! Joni, Isaiah and Heather brought us ice cream for a mid-day treat!

The garden starting to take shape.

We made stakes to mark the different veggies we have planted...

Derek getting his hands dirty in some good old fashion soil.

Derek and Graham planting a few tomato plants.

Derek stringing up some twine to encourage the beans and snap peas to climb!

...and the final product, all the beds planted, the rain barrel painted brown and that's me giving the plants a little root start! Now we wait to see if anything will grow...

From our own garden, our peonies are in full bloom!

OC Birthday/Graduation Celebrations

2011-05-31T07:12:00.000-05:00

There was a lot to celebrate in May up in Orange City. Erin graduated from nursing school (and passed her boards this week, awesome!) as well as Gracie and Addyson's birthdays!
Addy was really excited about the cake!

...and it's always fun to open presents!

Lots of presents to unwrap, with so many, Nathan decided he needed to help out the girls!

Gracie and Heather are all smiles with her bucket of birthday fun!

The gals!

We had a great time celebrating in Orange City with the family. Good food and lots of fun.

On a final note, I was floating around the party and found these two little ones on the couch with lots of smiles, what a cute picture.

...well with some prompting from Uncle Seth, we got a few "silly" faces out of these two!

Awesome! I guess that's what uncles are for!

Tulip Time 2011

2011-05-31T07:11:00.000-05:00

I am a little behind on this update, but Tulip Time this year in Pella was a blast. The weather was great and the tulips looked wonderful!

We went Friday evening with our friends, the Pines, and had a great time. We found plenty to eat and lots to see! Heather, Joni and Miya even waited in the Poffertjes line to get those delicious treats!

...nothing like the Dutch Touch!

A little rivalry ensued while we were waiting for the evening parade to start, as both Derek and I laid out our blankets...it was Central vs Wartburg...the epic battle!

A new float this year that looked great in the night parade!

Saturday, Heather and her former court walked in the afternoon parade. 4 of the 5 gals made it back and they had a blast catching up over lunch. Meanwhile, I had a blast at Pella Books bookstore (highly recommended, but I didn't take any pictures)

Go Tulips!

Big News

2011-05-25T07:11:00.000-05:00

In Pella, it is a tradition to bring chocolate chip cookies when one is announcing that they are pregnant, so we did just that, since we are expecting a new addition to our family on October 27th!
Heather and I took a day off work and packaged up some chocolate chip cookies and hit the road to tell our families the exciting news, Announcement Day!

We told both our parents prior to our big announcement day and to our surprise, both parents didn't tell anyone...good work you guys!

Our first stop was to Newton to see Heather's grandparents.

...then it was on to Pella, we sure did surprise Shay!

Nathan was really excited about the cookie!

We made a stop to see Heather's friend Beth.

...and then on to Indianola to tell Wade and Christa.

Morgan was excited about the cookie too!

...we didn't make the drive to Orange City on Announcement Day, but managed to send some cookies up to the OC VL's!

...we stopped by the Pines, Derek was really excited about the big news!

...and the Siskows were excited to hear our big news too!

We had a lot of fun driving all over and sharing our exciting news with our family and friends, it was fun to see everyone's reactions!

Book Review: Love and Logic

2011-05-24T07:11:00.000-05:00

With Baby Comfort on the way, I have started reading some books to get prepared (as much as I can). I just finished reading Love and Logic - Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years and I thought it was outstanding. The father and son team of Jim Fay and Charles Fay do a fantastic job of laying out the fundamentals of this parenting style they have deemed "Love and Logic".
The offer simple steps that are easy to remember and lots of examples of these methods.

Basically there are 2 rules that they unpack:
#1 Take care of yourself by setting limits in a loving way
- Act without frustration or anger
- Stop using threats and repeated warnings
- Set a limit once
- Make statements you can enforce
- Give kids a healthy sense of control
#2 Turn every mistake or misbehavior into a learning opportunity
- Always provide a strong dose of empathy before delivering a consequence
- Replace punishment with logical consequences
- When possible, show your child how to solve his/her own problems
The rest of the book provides explanation of these two principals, lots of information and plenty of examples. They also give experiments for parents to try, sort of easing parents into these concepts.
All in all, I thought this is a great book and I already planning on how to use these strategies in my own parenting style. I would highly recommend this book to any parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or anyone who is around kids.

Book Review: Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps

2011-05-23T07:11:00.000-05:00

I listening to Podcasts from Mars Hill church in Grand Rapids, MI and Shane Hipps is one of the pastors of that church, so when I saw this book on the shelf at Pella Books bookstore, it caught my attention. Subtitled "How Technology Shapes Your Faith" this book takes a look at how the message of Jesus is delivered and the medium used to deliver it.
Shane does a great job of unpacking how technology has changed through the ages and also looks at how the message of Jesus has been influenced by those changes, both positively and negatively. For example, he talks about moving into the print age, books became available to everyone (positive) but people no longer needed to pass on oral traditions and peoples memories weren't as sharp (negative).
Shane also looks at how the medium impacts the message, or how what we say changes by how we say it. He then unpacks how that has shaped the church and the message of God.
Ultimately, Shane makes the statement, and I agree with him, that the church is God's medium and message.
All in all, I thought this book was excellent. It really made me think of not only what message I am communicating and but how do I communicate, I would highly recommend this book.

Klompen Classic

2011-05-06T07:11:00.000-05:00

Every year, the Wednesday before Tulip Time is the Klompen Classic 5k. I have ran in this race every year since 2005 and this year drew the largest crowd yet with just over 2,000 runners and walkers completing the 5k!
Before the 5k goes, there is a kids race. Nathan was running in the kids race this year and he was super excited to be wearing his fast Nike's!
...all lined up at the start!

We asked him if he won and he replied "No, but I did get a ribbon and a popsicle!" Just as good as winning!

As I was getting warmed up for my race, Nathan wanted to give me a high five to wish me good luck!

...all lined up at the start!

...and we are off and running.

Thumbs up and smiling as I pass all the tulips!

My cheering squad trying to keep warm in the wind, thanks Pella VL's for cheering!

...and here I come down the home stretch.

...and into the finish. I finished in a time of 17.27 for 8th place. If your interested in the complete results, click here.

After the race I talked with Julius Rotich, the winner in 15.40, he's a really nice guy and really fast! Heather and I after the race, she is always on the course cheering me on! Thanks babe!

My dad and I, they came to cheer me on too!

Chris Lauman ran with his son Chase this year, Chase finished in 30.54...pretty fast for a 6 year old!

I also talked my friends, Doug and Heather Gaumer, to come and run in the race, Heather wasn't too sure about running the 5k, but the both finished with smiles! Nice job guys!

What a great way to kick off Tulip Time, nice weather and a fun 5k. It is always fun to see friends, family...and the tulips!

Happy Birthday Derek!

2011-05-05T07:11:00.002-05:00

Saturday evening, we went out for Derek's birthday. We went to Gusto Pizza, of course, great pizza and they have outside seating!
Derek, Aaron and I are in a book club and we thought since we read books...maybe we should also smoke pipes. They got me a pipe for my birthday, so Aaron and I got Derek a pipe for his...Aaron, can you guess what you are getting for your birthday?
Derek, his pipe, and Joni are all smiles as we enjoy some great pizza and a sunny evening!

Dawn and Aaron (nice photo-bomb Derek!)

Heather and I

We had a great time celebrating Derek and his birthday, great friends, great food, lots of stories and lots of laughs!

Drake Relays

2011-05-04T07:11:00.001-05:00

The end of April signifies a couple different things for me, spring is in the air and it's time for the Drake Relays! This year, I ran in the Drake Relays On-the Road Race, they have an 8k and a 1/2 marathon. I ran the 1/2 marathon Saturday morning, it turned out to be a great morning for a race!
After the race, Heather and I hopped on our tandem bike and pedaled to Drake Stadium to watch an afternoon of great track and field. My friend, Anthony, is a Marshall for the relays and he got us two tickets, thanks Tony!

At noon, there was a huge jet that did a fly by and these guys jumped out of the plane, the Navy Seal Leap Frog's gave us an aerial show!

...they locked together, spun in circles, all sorts of cool stuff!

...flew right over us...

...and landed on the football field, it was awesome!

...I have never seen anything like it before.

...and then their huge jet flew right over the stadium.

The winner of the best bulldog competition got to take a lap around the blue oval!

Another impressive performance was from this young gal, Shelby Houlihan of Souix City, she crushed the field in the high school girls 1500m run. She received the award for the girls most outstanding performer, winning the 3200m, 1500m and 800m all at the same Drake Relays, an accomplishment that has never been done before in the history of the Drake Relays!

Heather and I had a lot of fun at the Relays but we did get a little sunburned, oh well, welcome to spring!

Book Review: Radical

2011-04-29T07:11:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Radical by David Platt and I thought it was a great book. If I had to sum it up in one word, that word would be "challenging".

David subtitled the book, Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, so that was a good hint at what he was going to cover in this book. He jumps right with a question that has stuck with me; if Jesus were to walk into your church on any given Sunday, would he recognize it as the movement He started? Platt makes some pretty big criticisms of the church today and how we may have the concept of church upside down to what was started 2000 years ago. He looks at how we have adapted church programs to grow much like the businesses we run and often times the church leaves out the Holy Spirit and manages to run and grow a successful church, but something feels missing. Platt recognizes that he is making a broad generalization about the church in America, but at the same time it is good to take a look at why we do church the way we do it.
Platt also looks closer at the American dream of bigger is better and how we have applied that to church. There is some irony here in that fact that Platt is the pastor of a mega church and this book made it to the NY Bestseller list, the book became so popular that you can find it on the self in Wal-Mart (I wonder what David thinks about that...). Platt recognizes that fact, he tells several stories of different mission trips he has been on to impoverished countries where people are living on less than $2 per day, only to be back in his church preaching that Sunday in a multi-million dollar facility and walk out into the parking lot to see a sea go vehicles worth millions. All of this makes him question if we are spending our money the way Jesus would want us to.
Platt not only questions how we spend our money but also how we spend our time. He unpacks Jesus commandment for us to make disciples of the world and challenges the church to get out of their comfort zone and go out into the world.
In the end, I really liked this book because not only did Platt raise a lot of challenging questions, but Platt leaves the reader with a challenge. He challenges the with one year, 5 point challenge.
1. Pray for the world
2. Read through the Word
3. Sacrifice money for a specific purpose
4. Spend time in another context
5. Commit to multiplying community
Not only does he lay out these 5 challenges, but he provides resources to achieve these challenges. He asks challenging questions but then provides plenty of explanation and resources to help answer those questions in your own life.
I would highly recommend this book!

New Tattoo

2011-04-25T07:11:00.000-05:00

For my 30th birthday, I asked for money for a new tattoo! I had been thinking about this idea for a few years now. I already have a tattoo on my chest. It is a portrait of Christ with a crown of thorns and it covers my heart...symbolizing the Christ guards my heart.
My idea for this tattoo was an olive tree, that would almost intertwine with my tattoo on my chest and wrap around my shoulder. Here is a picture for the olive tree outlined (I took this picture in the mirror, so it is a reverse image).
...and here is the tree with color!

Here you can see how the two tattoo interact with each other. To me, it symbolizing that through Christ's death, we are given new life. The tree is dead on the front and then as it wraps around my arm, the green or new life appears! The olive tree is also symbolic, the olive tree is used in the Bible to symbolize God's children, as Christians we are grafted into God's family!

Budha, my tattoo artist and myself after the color and shading session!

Budha did a fantastic job with this tattoo, I was very impressed with him and his shop. I would highly recommend him to anyone in the future! His shop is Iron Heart Tattoo, right up the street in Beaverdale!

Book Review: Average Joe

2011-04-21T07:11:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Average Joe by Troy Meeder and thought it was a good book. Subtitled God’s Extraordinary Calling to Ordinary Men, Troy unpacks what it means to be a so called Average Joe and how God uses Average Joe’s to change the world.

Troy starts the book at the beginning, looking back to childhood and the hopes and dreams boys have. Boys’ dreams are big dreams, dreams of being an astronaut, a fire fighter or a football player. Yet we are not all star athletes or pilots, so what happened? Well, life happens and we seem to get caught up in the small things in life and forget what is truly important.

Section 2 of the book looks at some examples of Average Joe’s that have been in Troy’s life and how God has used them in big ways. He unpacks the importance of mentors and having friends you can trust. With each story he shares what he learned and what we can learn about ourselves and who God is and how God is at work.

Section 3 finishes up with some stories from Troy’s life and lessons that he has learned along the way. He digs into his own story, triumphs he has had, mistakes he has made, and through all of it, shows us how Christ has been at work in his heart.

All in all, I thought this was a good book and I would recommend it to anyone to read. Troy knows what it means to be a man after God’s heart and it shows through this book. He opens up his heart and shares what most men would be uncomfortable sharing and he is able to do this because Troy knows his value in Christ. I really resonated with Troy when he said “My concern is that we often forsake the ver best things in life for the pursuit of the seemingly good things.” He continually calls men love; love God, love your family, love your friends, love your enemies, love your neighbor. Troy says at the end of the book, “If you understand nothing else within the pages of this book, understand this: Jesus Christ is the Rock of our salvation. He is the one and only son of God. He is the only way to eternal life. Life begins at the Rock, at the Cross.”

Book Review: I Am Not but I Know I AM

2011-04-15T07:11:00.002-05:00

I just finished reading Louie Giglio’s book “I Am Not but I Know I AM” and I thought it was a great book. The back of the book sums it up like this: “If you see life as your own one-act play and history as your story, you could be in for a rude awakening when the curtain finally closes on your tiny tale and you discover that life wasn't all about you after all. The real story of life is God – I AM – the main character and true star of time and eternity. He is at center stage in all of Creation, and He wants you to know Him by name. Knowing I AM means celebrating your smallness in light of His greatness. Embrace the true meaning of life as you learn to work and rest in His power, spending your life for what lasts forever, the unending glory that is God’s alone.” Louie starts out the book with a couple of great personal stories that bring to light how big God really is and how small we truly are in this world. He then jumps to the story of Moses and the burning bush. Moses meets God and God gives him a better story to live, God invites Moses into God’s story and gives him a role to play. Moses asks God His name so he can tell the Israelites who sent him, and God responds with “I AM who I AM. Tell them I AM sent me to you.” Louie then goes on to explain that if God is I AM, then that means that we all are “I am not”. He unpacks just how big God is and how small are and yet God loves us and knows each one of us! Giglio does a great job of moving from the Old Testament story of Moses to the New Testament and how Jesus fulfills the name “I AM”. Giglio looks at the role of John the Baptist and how John really started the movement of baptism and yet when Jesus appeared on the scene, John didn't try and keep the spotlight on himself, he gladly pointed to Jesus saying in John 3.30 “He must become greater; I must become less.” Giglio also looks at the Sabbath and how the Sabbath is meant to take in God’s creation and worship God for all that he has done for us. All in all, I thought this was a great book. It is a good reminder to me that I am playing a role in God’s story. As Donald Miller puts it, I am a tree in a story about a forest and the story of the forest is way better than the story about the tree! God’s story started long before I was around and will continue long after I am gone, but for now we are all called to join with Him in His story…and that is awesome!

Running with Alan Webb

2011-04-12T21:25:00.002-05:00

The Drake Relays are right around the corner and that brings track & fields finest athletes to Iowa. One of those such athletes is Alan Webb, he holds the American record in the mile at 3.46. He was in town Tuesday to promote the Grand Blue Mile and the runners who run over the lunch hour downtown got a chance to run with him. I gave a big thumbs up to be in the background of a photo with him, Rob Best took matters into his own hands... ...and we got a group SCRC photo with Alan Webb!

And we were off to run a loop around Gray's Lake.

This event brought the finest out of the wood work, Cindy Elsbernd, Martin Popp, Ryan Elsbernd and Joe Aulwes, just to name a few...

On the way back, Greg and Joe got to pick Webb's brain and ask him about his training.

After the run, he stuck around to snap some photos, I am all smiles standing next to an American record holder!

Webb noticed my new tattoo and pointed it out to his wife, Webb is wanting to get some ink done in the future!

It was a great event and a great way for some local runners to rub elbows with one of America's finest runner! He will be back in town April 26th competing in the Grand Blue Mile, be sure to come out and show your support!

Book Review: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

2011-04-12T07:11:00.003-05:00

I just finished reading Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in A Thousand Years and it was fantastic. The back of the book says this: “After writing a successful memoir, Donald Miller’s life stalled. During what should have been the height of his success, he found himself unwilling to get out of bed, avoiding responsibility, even questioning the meaning of life. But when two movie producers proposed turning his memoir into a movie, he found himself launched into a new story filled with risk, possibility, beauty, and meaning.” That pretty much sums it up. Miller talks about how his life stalled out after the success of his book Blue Like Jazz. Then Steve and Ben, two movie producers, contacted Miller and wanted to turn his book into a movie. As they are starting to write the screen play, they are essentially re-writing Don’s life, making it a “better story”. Miller starts to wonder, if I can write a better story, how can I live a better story? I really like how Don digs into what it means to live a better story and how we can live a better story too. He boils it down to a simple definition: A story is about a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it, that is the basic structure of a good story. He goes on to unpack the different parts of this definition and how God is calling us to play a role in His story too! One chapter called, A Tree in a Story about a Forest, really made the clear for me. Don talks about the book of Job in the Bible. It is supposedly the oldest book in the Bible and it is a book about suffering. Don says, “it reads as though God is saying to the world, ‘Before we get started, there’s this one thing I have to tell you. Things are going to get bad’” Several things bad happen to Job and in the end God basically tells Job, “I know what I am doing, and this whole thing isn’t about you.” It is as though we are trees in a story about a forest, and the story of the tree is good but the story of the forest is better. Miller also talks about how a good story is memorable. Our lives are filled with stories that we aren’t going to remember. Miller challenges the read to start planning to make our stories memorable. It is going to take effort, we won’t remember sitting on the couch and watching the news or a sitcom, but we may remember watching a sunset with our spouse. Miller then talks about some very memorable stories in his life. All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I think Donald Miller is a great story teller and he has inspired me to start making my life a better story. This was a great read and a fast read, I would highly recommend it!

Book Review: Sabbath

2011-04-01T07:11:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Dan Allender's book "Sabbath" and it is fantastic. One of eight books in the Ancient Practices series, this book digs into the different myths about this "day of rest". Allender builds a case for "a day of delight" by looking at this day as a festival that celebrates God's re-creative and redemptive love, he does this by using four components: sensual glory and beauty, ritual, communal feasting and playfulness. This book really opened my eyes to what the Sabbath is and what it could be in my life. The Sabbath is more that just a day off of work, it is a day to delight with God in his creation and to renew our spirits to His great love! Allender breaks his book down into three parts: Sabbath Pillars, Sabbath Purpose and Sabbath Performance. Part 1: Sabbath Pillars: The book starts out with Allender unpacking, what he calls, the Sabbath Pillars, which are sensual glory and beauty, ritual, communal feasting and playfulness. He does a great job of explaining the history of the Sabbath and the meaning of the Sabbath. He addresses each of the four components and explains how they each serve a role in the Sabbath. Part 2: Sabbath Purpose: This part of the book digs deeper into the purpose of the Sabbath and what emotions that Sabbath brings about. Part 3: Sabbath Performance: This part of the book explains the different ways the Sabbath can look and how it can play out in our lives. This book is packed full of great wisdom, Allender shares from his own experience of observing the Sabbath. He does a great job of explaining the importance but also with that, what obstacles will pop up along the way. Allender really opened my eyes to this ancient practice and I am thankful for his insight. As with these ancient practices, it will take practice, but I am looking forward to becoming more intentional in my observation of the Sabbath.

Book Review: Through Painted Deserts

2011-03-28T07:11:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading "Through Painted Deserts" by Donald Miller, I really enjoyed this book.

Donald Miller is a storyteller, he does an excellent job of getting me interested in his story and what he has to tell me. As I was reading this book, I felt like I was right there with him on his journey as he traveled across the country. The book follows Miller and his friend Paul on a three month road trip as they travel from Houston, Texas north to Oregon in a VW camping van.

I really enjoyed how Donald Miller shares both the highs and the lows of the trip. From the van breaking down numerous times to hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon to watching the sunrise over the desert, all the while, we get a glimpse of what Miller is thinking and how he is contemplating his relationship to God. We get to tag along with these two guys as they are on a pilgrimage through life. In many aspects I can see how their journey relates to a pilgrimage that, what I think, we are all taking.

All in all, this was a great book, a quick read and it made me want to move to the Pacific Northwest!

Chicken Club Pizza

2011-03-25T07:11:00.000-05:00

Heather subscribes to Kraft Foods magazine and we are always looking for new recipes to try. We also meal plan two weeks at a time and we have been looking forward to trying out this recipe all week! Click here is you want the Chicken Club Pizza recipe.
Heather is gluten sensitive so we also tried a pizza dough recipe with this meal. The Pines made this almond crust pizza that they found here, and said it was pretty good, so we thought we would try it too. We didn't have the almond flour, we used a plain gluten free flour but next time I think I would use the almond flour.
The dough is made and in the oven...

After 15 mins, we added mayo/ranch sauce, cheese, chicken and bacon and back in the over for another 7 - 10 mins.

Once it was done cooking, we added the lettuce and tomatoes on top and the a little ranch and BBQ sauce drizzled on top!

And the finished product

It was a pretty tasty pizza...next time I would roll the crust a little thinner, the crust to pizza ratio was too much in favor of the crust.

Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa!

2011-03-10T20:56:00.003-06:00

Last week my Grandpa celebrated his 80th birthday. Sadly he has battled Alzheimer's for several years and he is unaware of his birthday and that his family came to celebrate him. Regardless it was still special to think back about all the fond memories we have with Grandpa and to celebrate him, it was fun to see him smiling. Grandma topped off the party with her famous angel food cake..yum yum!

Seth and I with the birthday boy.

The whole gang gathered for the celebration...

.....all the grand kids with Grandpa and Grandma.

Good Bye "Toby"

2011-03-10T19:50:00.006-06:00

After almost four years of working at America's Family Coaches, my season there has come to a close. Two weeks ago the staff threw me a great going away party. Seth and my parents were invited to join in the festivities. We laughed, we cried, and some of us might even have tinkled in our pants :)
The staff usually put together some sort of skit - I was honored with a rendition of "Good -Bye Heather" which was taken from the famous show The Office when Micheal sings Toby the HR guy a good bye song as he leaves. I must say they did a pretty good job...but would advise them not to quiet their day jobs...haha
My "sweet" and "thoughtful" co-workers thought it would be a great idea to gather some photos from my mom to highlight my "early" years.

Everyone gathered around while Mama Doreen told stories about all the pictures...trip down memory lane.

After song and dance the staff went around and shared memories or encouraging words and of course this brought on the tears....

I am so thankful for my season at AFC, the friendships I made during these past 4 years are ones that will last a lifetime! What an amazing group of people and ministry to be part of -

not too many employers will throw such awesome going away parties and then cover you in prayer. Seth and I feel so blessed and are grateful! Good - Bye Heather!

Book Review: Mere Churchianity

2011-03-09T07:11:00.002-06:00

I just finished reading Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer and I really did not like this book. Reading the back of the book, Michael Spencer asks the question "Have you left the church in search of Jesus?" and right from the beginning, in the acknowledgments he states "Everything in this book has been written with a specific group of people in mind: friends and fellow Christians who have abandoned the church for various reasons." Maybe that is why I didn't enjoy this book, I haven't left the church...
I feel like the first half of the book mainly criticized the church and pointed out all the flaws with Christianity in America today. For sure, the church in America is far from perfect, I also really liked Spencer's question he posed, if Jesus were to walk into your church this Sunday, would he recognize it as the movement he started? I think that is a great question that we need to continually ask ourselves.
The second half of the book showed promise as he started to unpack who Jesus is and why we choose to follow him, but he quickly got back to all the mistakes that the church is making in the ways the church follows Jesus.
One part that particularly rubbed me the wrong way was when Spencer criticized the church for their use of adjectives. He complains about such terms as the "victorious" Christian life, a "good" Christian witness, "dynamic" worship, "extreme" youth ministry. Yet then he goes on to coin the phrase, which he uses throughout his book, Jesus-shaped spirituality...didn't he just do the thing that criticizes the church of doing?
I do agree with him as he finished his book, he addresses those who have left the church and encourages them to find community, find a spiritual mentor, stay saturated in the scriptures, and grow in relationships.
All in all, I did agree with him about his ending points, but I thought there was way too much of pointing out the problems with the church and not enough of giving solutions.

Million Miles in a Thousand Years

2011-03-07T13:23:00.001-06:00

What story are you telling? from Rhetorik Creative on Vimeo.

Check out this video...and Donald Miller is releasing his book Million Miles on paperback today!

Keystone

2011-03-04T07:11:00.000-06:00

Skis + Snowboard + family + snow + sun = fun time in Keystone, CO!
Heather and I spent 4 days out in Keystone, CO with her family and we had a blast! Chad, Shay, Nathan, Heather and I headed out Saturday morning...bright and early, we were on the road by 6am! We made a pit stop in Omaha to pick up Rob and we were back on the road. Brent and Doreen were already out in Colorado, so they met us in Keystone (technically we stayed in Dillion). Sunday we hit the slopes, it was awesome! Great snow and plenty of sun!
Heather and I are all smiles as we take the lift to the top...
What a beauty! Colorado is really pretty too...

Heather and Rob having a great time on the mountain.

The crew at the top of the mountain.

Chad and Heather riding the lift!

Heather and Shay are all smiles as they plan their way back down the mountain!

Nathan ripped it up in ski school. By the end of the third day, he had concurred the learning hill and the instructor said he was ready for the big ski lifts!

Here he is tearing up the bunny hill!

...and here comes the snow cats, off to groom the mountain!

Heather and I enjoying the mountain view!

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of Brent and Doreen in their ski gear, but I am an eye witness that they both were on skis! Brent tore up the blue runs and Doreen concurred the bunny hill...very much a success for both of them!

We had a great time in Colorado, we had a lot of fun hanging out with the Pella VL's, Rob and the Stroud's. It was great to watch Nathan learn to ski. After the third day, as we were watching him come down the hill, he said to me "Did you see that Uncle Seth, even better than snowboarding!"

We can't wait to go back!

Happy Birthday Morgan

2011-02-22T07:11:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, Heather and I headed down to Indianola to celebrate our niece Morgan's 3rd birthday! She was super excited to be turning 3 and we were just as excited to celebrate with a pizza party!
My dad and Morgan get the party started by playing with some toys!
My Grandpa Lew came over from Omaha to join in the celebration. Piper isn't too sure about the Nebraska Cornhusker jacket that he is wearing...

Morgan and I are all smiles as we are checking out the pizza!

Upside down for the birthday girl!

Heather and I are all smiles but Morgan seems to have a sad face on...as her little sister Piper said as she stares at Morgan "It's her birthday and she can cry if she wants too"...

...but those frowns quickly turn to smiles as the whole family dishes up some pizza!

Even bigger smiles once the birthday cake is brought out.

...and Morgan is overcome with joy as we sing "Happy Birthday to you..."

After some cake...bring on the presents!

We had a lot of fun in Indianola hanging out with my family and celebrating Morgan. She got a lot of cool presents but the one that really caught her eye was from Grandma and Grandpa Marchant, her very own microphone with stand that plays music to sing along with and even claps for you...it's awesome! Happy Birthday Morgan!

Book Review: In Constant Prayer

2011-02-21T07:11:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading In Constant Prayer by Robert Benson and I thought this book was fantastic. This is one of the 8 books in the Ancient Practices series and in this installment, Robert Benson unpacks a structure for our lives where we can live in continued awareness of God's presence.
Benson does a great job of unpacking the daily office. Personally, I wasn't too familiar with the daily office, but I am now! The daily office, in simplest of terms, is a regular pattern and order for formal worship and prayer that is offered to God at specific times throughout the course of the day. Each set of prayers, known as an office, is made up of psalms, scriptures and prayers.

Not only does Benson unpack the structure of the daily office, he also unpacks the importance of the office. It is humbling to think that people have been praying these prayers at fixed hours of the day for thousands of years and we have the opportunity to take part in this great tradition. He really drives home the point that we can talk about prayer and break down the structure of prayer but at some point, high-minded discussion about our life of prayer has to work its way into the dailiness of our lives. At some point, we need to move from talking about prayer to saying our prayers so that the divine moments will be possible and have a chance to appear.

I also love how Benson clear states that there will be some divine moments in our prayer lives when we come face to face with God, but in order to get to those divine encounters there will be a lot of moments when we don't hear from God...and that is normal. He stresses that in order to be a person of prayer...you have to start praying and what better way to implement prayer than to start praying!

Benson also points out, and I am guilty of this, that most of our prayers are for us. We spend a great deal of time and energy telling God all of the things that God already knows and is already working on in our behalf, in ways far better than we can desire or pray for, those prayers are for us, the prayer of the office is for God.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. Robert Benson did a great job of opening my eyes to a world of prayer that I was not aware of...and this world of prayer has been going on for thousands of years. This is one ancient practice that I plan on starting in my own life!

I recieved this book for free through BookSneeze.com blogger program. I was not required to write a raving review, the opinions expressed are my own.

Cone of Shame

2011-02-18T12:12:00.003-06:00

Last week Thursday was d-day for Riley. We finally got her into Brett the Vet to get her cherry eye fixed. We woke early Thursday morning to be in Pella by 7:30am, Riley was calm and cool for the entire car ride until she spotted DQ on the corner across from the Vet's office and it was down hill from there. She busted out the cries and the claws. It was awful...I hope our kids don't cry when we leave them places...I'll be a mess. We left Riley in good hands and Seth and I got to enjoy a day in Pella hanging with family and friends. When we returned to the vet to gather our sweet little pooch and were excited to see that yes indeed the cone of shame would be sleeping at our house. Riley's eye looks much better and is healing slowly but she really hates wearing the "lamp shade." She'll run it into our legs to remind us of her sufferings...needless to say Seth and I have some nice scratches on our legs but it's all worth it to not see that nasty cherry in her eye anymore.

Aren't they so cute!

Book Review: Run with the Horses

2011-02-09T08:47:00.004-06:00

"So, Jeremiah, if you're worn out in this footrace with men, what makes you think you can race against horses?" - Jeremiah 12:5
I just finished reading Eugene Peterson's book, Run with the Horses, and I think it was fantastic! In this revised edition, Peterson uses his own version of the Bible, The Message, when he quotes scripture. Surprisingly, not about running or about horses, Eugene Peterson takes a look at the life of Jeremiah the prophet and reflects on what it truly means to be fully and genuinely human. This book is packed with humor and self-revelation that helps us set the course in our quest for life at it's best.

Peterson does a great job of unpacking Jeremiah's life and highlighting the big events that took place that shaped Jeremiah into the prophet. I ended up learning a lot about the history and context of Jerusalem and the issues the Israelites faced. I also learned more about the different kings that ruled during the time of Jeremiah and about the Recabite community!.

One idea that was emphasized in this book that has really stuck with me it that we are all created for a purpose! There is a set-apart place that only I can fill. No one can substitute for me, no one can replace me. Before I was good for anything, God decided that I was good for what he was doing. I think that is a great daily reminder, especially in our culture that is centered around performance, it is good to take the time and remember that God has given each of us a purpose that only we can fulfill! God has called us to a life of purpose far beyond what we think ourselves capable of living and promised us adequate strength to fulfill that purpose.

Another lesson from Jeremiah that has stuck with me even after I have finished the book is to be patient and determination. Jeremiah didn't wake up one day and "boom" he was a prophet. He spent years and years praying to God and studying the word of God. He spent 23 years preaching it to God's people without them listening or changing their ways, but Jeremiah didn't give up. Every morning, he would wake up and spend time with God and everyday he would share with his community God's word.

All in all, I thought this was a great book. I really enjoyed getting to know the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah and there are a lot of lessons to be learned from his life that can be applied to my life!

Google Doodle

2011-02-08T07:11:00.000-06:00

Have you ever notice how amazingly cleaver Google is and how many different ways they can display their own name in their banner? It seems like for every holiday they come up with a different ways to show their name...It is simply awesome! Good job you guys, I want to give you a big high five.
Sometimes it is a simple change, other times it is interactive and other times it changes as you watch! Today, I found Google Doodle site where they have listed the Holiday and Events going back to 1998, Google Style!

Here are a few fun ones I found on the first page!

This one was for the 50th anniversary of JFK's inauguration.

This one was for Bruce Lee's 70th Birthday

This one was for Thanksgiving:

...and this one was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Flintstones

Good work Google!

Groundhog Day

2011-02-01T08:46:00.003-06:00

February 2 marks Groundhogs Day, celebrated in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end! If on the other hand, it is sunny, the groundhog will see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow and winter will continue for 6 more weeks. I know this year, I am hoping for an early spring!

Groundhog Day is celebrated all over the country, but the biggest party is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, with crowds as large as 40,000 come to celebrate this little creatures weather predictions!

How do you celebrate Groundhog Day?

Book Review: The Liturgical Year

2011-01-26T07:11:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading "The Liturgical Year" by Joan Chittister, one of seven books in the ancient practices series, and I wasn't thrilled with the book. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.
I didn't grow up following a liturgical year so I was very interested in finding out some specifics of this ancient practice, I was looking forward to knowing names and dates of fasts and feasts, finding out more about the history of the church calendar and why we celebrate when we do. It took me 4 chapters before Sister Chittister explained that the liturgical year is made up of 4 parts: Sundays, 2 major seasons (Christmas and Easter), sanctoral cycle and ordinary time. Yet later in the book she explained the year as Advent followed by Christmas, then ordinary time, then Lent followed by Easter and Pentecost and then another ordinary time.
Sister Chittister did do a great job unpacking each of the aspects off the liturgical year and how every year our lives should continue to look more and more like the life of Christ. I really enjoyed the history and wisdom she shared discussing Christmas and Easter and how those two events are the two poles that the year centers around.
I did feel that there were too many chapters to this book, with 33 chapters spanning 212 pages, I felt like we were just starting to unpack a topic and the chapter would end and we would jump to the next topic. I do understand that there is a lot of information to unpack in the explanation of the liturgical year, but I still felt a little rushed.
After finishing the book, I did walk way with a greater knowledge and respect for the liturgical year but it left me wanting to know more. I did learn that "the meaning and message of the liturgical year is the bedrock on which we strike our own life direction. Rooted in the Resurrection promise of the liturgical year, whatever the weight of our own pressures, we maintain the course." The liturgical year is the experience in both the present and in the mysteries of the past, those combined with the promise that the reign of God will be fulfilled in the future.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing more about the liturgical year, but I would also couple that with a recommended read through Wikipedia regarding the liturgical year for some extra details.

I was given this book free through BookSneeze.com and Thomas Nelson Publishers but I am under no obligation to give it a positive review.

Birthday Fun!

2011-01-23T21:12:00.007-06:00

Birthday week was full of surprises and fun. Heather and I have the tradition of not working on each other's birthdays, so we both took the day off on Thursday to celebrate my 30th birthday! We started off the morning off with some waffles and then it was off to Half Priced Books, I-80 Flea Market and Brass Armadillo. We had some lunch at Noodle Zoo and then headed home for a nap. That evening we met up with the Siskow's and the Pine's for dinner at Flying Mango!
The Siskow's gave me "The Duke" by Dr Grabow. My first pipe. Aaron, Derek and I have started a book club and our thought was we should smoke pipes while we read books...now Derek and Aaron need to get pipes!

The Pines gave me some money for my tattoo fund and this sweet card!

When we got home, Heather and I cut out the moustaches according to the directions on the birthday card! Heather is showing off "the Frenchie"!

Saturday, we went out with Heather's family for supper to Smokey D's. Nathan tested out "the Handlebar" and Doreen is sporting "the Biker" moustache!

Gracie is also a fan of "the Handlebar"

Heather and Karys with their moustache's

After dinner, I thought we were heading to a bowling alley to bowl, Heather said "Let me drive, we need to go pick up your gift" She led me to believe that my gift was going to be a new tattoo. As we were driving, she handed me a blindfold...something was up. Sure enough, Heather has been planning and scheming since before Christmas to throw me a surprise party! Blast from the past, it was an 80's themed party...and Heather even managed to have fun outfits for us to change into at the party! Nice work babe!

Sweat into the 80's!

The Harbert's were rockin' the headbands, even little Miles had a sweet headband!

The dudes!

The Siskow's, the Vocelka's, the Comfort's and the Pine's, all rockin' the 80's style!

Morgan and I are all smiles in our sweatsuits

Kip "the Hulk" and Eric both sporting super sweet moustaches!

Christa, Piper, Wade and myself having a great time at the party

Jarrett gave us all big smiles as he yelled "CHEESE"

The Lubach's were looking awesome in their get-ups

Ryan went with the "preppy" 80's look with 3 polos with "popped" collars...reminds me of Saved by the Bell (Zach attack)

My parents and I showing our purple pride...go Indians

Grandma Gloria, the Stroud's, the OC VL's, the Pella VL's and the Comforts all smiles...surprise!

I had a great time and was very surprised. I am amazed at how sneaky Heather is and how she was able to pull this party off without my knowledge. Big thanks to everyone for surprising me (lying to me)! Big thanks to my mom and my sister for helping Heather pull this off. I had a great birthday and thanks to everyone for reminding my that I am now an "old man"! Here's to 30

30 Goals for 30 Years

2011-01-21T17:36:00.001-06:00

So every year around my birthday I set goals for the next year and this year is no exception.

This year, I set 30 goals for 30 years.
Here they are (not in any particular order)
1. Run a race
2. Read 30 books
3. Read through the Bible
4. Go Snowboarding
5. Go Camping
6. Road Trip
7. Refinish a bathroom
8. 7,000 push-ups
9. 7,000 sit-ups
10. 3,000 pull-ups
11. Run 1,000 miles
12. Bike 1,000 miles
13. Go ice skating
14. Go sledding
15. SAF
16. Paint living room and patch walls
17. Go to a concert
18. Tandem Bike one day of Ragbrai
19. Become more flexible
20. Invest in friendships
21. Throw 4 parties for no reason
22. Landscape the front step
23. Become quick to listen and slow to speak
24. Paint doors and trim work
25. Install new storm door
26. Install new garage doors
27. Build a desk
28. Weekend Unplugged
29. Pay off car loan
30. Take my wife on a surprise weekend get-away

I know full well that I won't get everything checked off my list, but it is fun to have a list and check off stuff that I do get accomplished. I have been setting goals since I turned 25 and it is fun to go back through my list and remember what I got done each year!
Have you set any goals this year?

Happy 30th Birthday Seth!

2011-01-20T15:59:00.002-06:00

I am so excited to celebrate Seth today as he turns 30. I love that he's my best friend and we get to share life together. It's hard to put in words his AWESOMENESS but below are a few highlights in pictures. He likes to dress up like a cowboy and go to the rodeo once a year. So fun!

He loves getting dressed up and taking me out on dates.

We can just sit at home and be silly together

I love his natural gift of running and how he's learned to persevere through anything. Thanks for always pursuing me babe!

I love that he's an awesome uncle and enjoy watching him play with our nieces and nephews. Seth you are celebrated today! I love and appreciate you so much...even with your thinning hair. :)

Backyard Sledding

2011-01-17T19:09:00.005-06:00

Saturday afternoon, the Pella VL's had some errands to run in Des Moines and then they were meeting up with some friends for dinner, that left a few hours in between for us to tackle the backyard sledding hill! Not too long, but you get going pretty fast and if you negotiate the trees right, you can make it all the way to the frozen creek!
Heather and Nathan test out the orange sled!
Shay and Aaron head down the hill with a little push from Chad, but judging Shay's face, it might have been a bigger push than she wanted!

Chad gives two big thumbs up as he heads down the hill

Heather and Nathan speed down the hill in a flurry of snow!

Nathan brought along the sled I made him for Christmas, so he and I tested it out...

...it worked great!

Aaron wasn't super excited about sledding but he did enjoy hanging out with Auntie Heather and watching all the action.

Chad and Shay tested out the new runner sled!

Aaron didn't like the sledding but he loved the snow and he even started a snowball fight!

The whole sledding crew...all smiles except for Aaron, who was definitely ready to head inside.

After we finished sledding, we headed inside to defrost and Heather made some fresh cookies! Nothing warms you up as well as fresh cookies. We had a great time sledding with the Pella VL's, we laughed a lot and it was so much fun watching Nathan fly down the snow, crash in a pile of white dust and stand up laughing and yell, "I want to go again!"