Wow time flies

"Time flies like an arrow.  Fruit flies like a banana."  JD Hershberger, others

The beginning of this semester has been a busy one.  I started out with 16 credit hours, plus 3 audited.  I have since gained my sanity and dropped it to 13 credit hours, plus 3 audited.  My schedule for those of you that may be interested:

And if you want to know what we are upto at any given time, here is our family schedule (yellow is my PM schedule, and blue is Suzanne's work schedule):

Any time that is not scheduled is family time, or reading, writing, and discussion time.  Just for fun, I calculated my weekly in class and project time as 24 hours.  I then estimated my weekly reading, writing, and special project time and came up with about 50-55 hours.  School is like fulltime work, except for I am paying them, and they don't provide any insurance, 401(k), or company banquets.  Venture was an awesome place to work, as are many other places that you may currently toil your hours away.  Perspective.

Peanut?

Answer to the previous post

Referenced from Princess Bride movie.

Breathing better now

Classes started on Tuesday.  Syllabus shock set in shortly after.  I am just recovering and beginning to breath again.

Alyssa went back to school on Monday and is doing great.

Courtney started back on Wednesday and could hardly wait.

Emberlynn went to chapel with me and we weren't late.

Suzanne is the love of my life; she is really first rate.

No more ryhming and I mean it.  Anybody want a ......

We had fun in Ohio

Alyssa learned to play the piano with all the fingers of her hand over break.

I am not sure why there is a break here.  I will use an official line from my manual creation days at Venture Products.

This space intentionally left blank.

Grandma broke out her accordion and wowed the girls with the music she could produce.

We rode sleds on a hill that I frequented when I was this age and slightly older.  It is just across the street from my parents.

More sledding fun.  For some reason I am laying on the ground.  I believe I fell giving Courtney a push.

Every family gathering needs a little computer time.

Our three girls with Suzanne's Grandparents on her mother's side.  We enjoyed visiting with them over break.

Sled riding at the Hershbergers.  You may have a sharp enough eye to notice that something is missing.  Suzanne and her sister Christa had the smarts to snap some pictures prior to stopping the fun.  I think the grass is going to make it.

Nolt Cousins, my side.

Alyssa getting her hair blow dried with an "antique" dryer.  It still smells the way I remember it back when I was this age.

Lehman Cousins, Suzanne's side.  The two little ones in the front, we met for the first time over break.

New Family quote

Courtney had a funny one at 3:34am this morning.  I was carrying her upstairs to bed.  As I went to lay her down she said, "Uh oh. I dropped my skunk."

It's probably not what you think:)

We made it home

We left Saturday Morning at 8:01am EST.  We arrived in Hesston Sunday morning at 3:32am CST.  That makes 20-1/2 hours on the road.  The girls slept, watched DVD's, sang songs, told funny stories, ate, and played well, and Suzanne and I slept in this morning.  Now it is clean up, laundry, and settling in.  Great time with family and friends in Ohio.  Good interviews with two churches; one the first Monday in Ohio, and one on the way from Ohio to Hesston (that explains the long trip back).  I am so proud of our girls and how they have traveled and visited these last two weeks.  I am proud of Suzanne too:)

Off to Hesston

By the time you read this, we will probably be on our way back to Hesston.

Road trip, coffee, hamburgers, and some coke zero, and lots of good memories.

It was good to see you and it will be good to see you again.

Pictures

Awesome pastor to be, and his wife.  Just graduated from the PM program at Hesston.  We miss you guys!

Sled riding the big man made hill at Hesston.

Crazy fun place.

Piling on the fun with the cousins.

It looks like they are ready to sleep, but looks are deceiving.  I don't think anybody actually slept in these locations by the time they fell asleep.

Sermon from Sunday

I was given the humble opportunity to preach a sermon on Sunday at Hope Community Church in Mt. Eaton.  This is the church that Suzanne's sister and family are heavily involved at.  They have gone through some tough transitions and losses over the year.  I appreciated the opportunity to worship with them and preach what God had laid on my heart.

For those of you who were praying, I feel it went really well.  There was a lot of seemingly heartfelt thanks and praise (praise doesn't sound like the right word, but...)

May God bless the hard work that they have ahead of them, seeking God's leading for their church.

I mentioned that we had some car work done.  My sermon was from Matthew 6:19-24 on Treasures, Eyes, and Masters.  My focus was on generosity and holding stuff loosely.  I had a number of opportunities to practice what I was preaching through our car, and some other things of this world.

May God be glorified through our lives and teaching.

We are still here

Finally a new post.  We have had more sporadic online access for the last week or so.  We have also been making family and friend time a priority.  But I have a down time that I can listne to the girls play and read some blogs.

We are making our 4th move during the last week and a half.  Family has been very hospitable and gracious.   Thank you so much.  We are trying to feel at home as much as is possible, when living out of 2 duffel bags;  two very large duffel bags for 5 people.  Each move makes it harder for me to find my clothes.  Suzanne's keep taking over more of the duffel bag:)  I love Suzanne.  I realize how much more this is true as the days roll by.

We needed a couple repairs on our car while in Ohio.  Nothing serious.  Thank you whomever, for what you did.  You know who you are and hopefully you know how appreciative we are.  It is hard to express in words.

I am just getting reved up.  More posts to come.