Something to blog about--and a little time to do it!

Well, I don't think this post needs many words. The pictures tell it all.

Yes, we're still alive

It seems like such a long time since we posted, and it has been. It just seems that life has been flying by. I keep wondering when things will slow down. We did take some time to carve pumpkins recently. We also invited a friend from church over for pizza and games. We laughed alot and that helped us to relax. Abby's classmate came over too. I should have taken some pictures but I didn't. We need to do things like that more often. The laughter and fellowship are good medicine for a busy life.

Catch Up

Abby played in her recital on May 21.

Steve didn't get to march in graduation at Institute for Creation Research Graduate School when he graduated December '07 so we did graduation pictures at the AWC graduation this year.

At the SWA Awards Banquet, Major Brad Forrider presented the school with a flag flown over Iraq by a C-130.

Mr. Guntrum recieved a Lost Contact Award at our Award's Banquet.

We visited Steve's Mom for a few days after school was out. We had a BBQ with his Mom and Aunt Glady

Mom's In Touch gave the teachers a picnic tub. We went to Salem City Lake for ours. Thank you MIT for the gift and the thought.

Our house is being painted. This is what it looked like when we left last Saturday afternoon.

This is what the house looks like this evening. The trim and the final coat are not on yet, but we are making progress. Weather permitting, we'll have a new house (kind of) by next Saturday.

Spring Break '09

Continuing our annual tradition, we went tent camping. We decided to go the same place that we went last year for a couple of reasons. One was that the rates are very reasonable and the second was that that there seemed to be something for everyone to do. The place is in Winesburg, OH and it's called Amish Country Campsites. During this time of the year, the tent area is basically empty. This year it was completely empty and last year it was mostly empty. During the day, we visited some of our favorite places in Amish country and tried out some new places. We did spend late afternoon and evening at the campsite with a fire. Instead of bringing food with us we decided to buy local food. We went to Troyer's Trail Bologna and bought some Trail Bologna directly from their store. We visited Heini's Cheese Chalet and got some samples as well as buying some bricks of cheese to take with us. We got some baked goods at an Amish Bakery and some other supplies at Troyer's Market. It worked out OK but I think we may make some adjustments next year. Wednesday night/Thursdsay morning was very cold. Later we found out that it had gotten down to freezing. Thursday night/Friday morning was significantly warmer. I still like it a little warmer for sleeping but we survived. I'm going to try to add a few pics at the bottom of this post. Who knows where they will end up though.

Harper's Ferry

About a month ago we took a weekend trip to West Virginia and Maryland. Steve spoke at the Fairview Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church on Creation/Evolution. On Saturday we were able to spend some time with Steve's sister Glenna and his niece Annette. We went to Harper's Ferry. Here are some pics from that trip. There was a lot of history that happened in that little town. Abby has been learning about it this year in American History so hopefully this will help her picture it a little better.

Science Fair at SWA

Last night was the Science Fair at our school. Every other year we have it in late winter or early spring. On the years that we don't have science fair, we have Heritage Day and emphasize history. Once again everything seemed to go well. Some like it more than others but I heard a lot of nice comments. I'm sure that even though it's alot of work for the kids and parents and teachers there is a sense of satisfaction when everything is said and done. This year, the kindergarten class used a farming theme--there were even some live chickens! The first and second grade class had a jungle theme. Third and fourth used a breakfast theme and each of them took a different breakfast food and researched it. That room was probably the most popular because of all the samples. Fifth and sixth grade had a variety of projects but at this level they were required to use the scientific method to approach a topic and make a hypothesis, etc. The same rules applied to the jr. high and high school students. Steve's classes were required to choose a topic within the discipline they were studying. The Physical Science kids had to choose something related to Physical Science and the Chemistry students had to choose a Chemistry topic. The General Science kids did coordinating projects on fireworks. They used black lights to make a neat display. I think I managed to get pics of every student's display but I'll just post the two that I was the most involved in and one pic from a group that I helped out with. Congratulations to everyone--students, parents, and teachers for a job well done!!

Happy Chinese New Year

On Monday, January 26th we celebrated Chinese New Year. After living in Taiwan for 8 years we have several fond memories of New Years spent with our Chinese family. We have tried to keep up the tradition of celebrating here. Most of the time that means going out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. This year we celebrated by helping Ron High Rock cook a Chinese dinner in the AWC cafeteria. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun but I had a lot of help. It was fun cooking when I had so many helpers and such a BIG stove to cook on. Steve, Stevie, and Abby came over after school and helped decorate tables and serve the food. We wanted more pictures but since we served the meal in courses, once we started there wasn't much time to take pictures. Below, you see the crab rangoons that were the first course and Ron and Debbie putting the finishing touches on the General Tso's Chicken.

Winter again

On December 30, I said that winter must be over. I should have known better. Last Saturday, it snowed. We had about 8 inches by afternoon. Ben came to pick up Joel from college. Joel had been here for a week taking an intensive class during the winter break. It ended on Friday and Ben was picking up Joel. We talked Ben into staying in Salem for the weekend and so they came over Saturday night for pizza and games.

We had snow every day this week, I think, but we didn't get out of school for the snow (why did the 8 inches come on Saturday?). Thursday we had a two-hour delay and Friday we cancelled school because of the cold. It wasn't as bad as it was farther west, but we still recorded temperatures of -10F or so, so it was cold. I was fighting a sore throat so I took Nyquil and slept most of Friday.

Now it has warmed up, but it started snowing again. I think this is one of the snowiest January's since we moved to Salem.

Another Ice Age is coming! Better get ready.

Sewing

I'm so glad that Abby finally has something that she really enjoys to do apart from Stevie. It seemed that she was always following him and doing what he liked to do. They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery but it was not flattering to Stevie. We tried so many things with Abby and nothing seemed to click. Recently, we helped her start saving money to buy a sewing machine and we did alot of research on what model and brand would be a good choice. She saved up her part (we helped her with it) and we got the machine right before Thanksgiving. Since then, she has made a number of small projects--several Christmas gifts for family and friends. One thing that she enjoys--as long as it doesn't take too long-- is to applique letters on shirts. She first made one for herself with SWA on it. It had its problems so we did some research and found out how to do it better. She did an SWA sweatshirt for her teacher and an ICRGS (ICR Graduate School) one for her dad. Then, on New Year's Eve she did these hoodies for herself and her friend Rachel. We were keeping our annual tradition of bringing in the new year with our co-workers. I think she did a really nice job. Someone said that she should start taking orders. I put in an order but she hasn't delivered yet.

Christmas Up North

We headed north for Christmas this year. While visiting Steve's Mom, we went to a Christmas Eve service and drove around Lawrence Park looking at Christmas lights. We also tried pulling taffy and played some games. While visiting Debbie's parents, Debbie made Chinese food (including Black Pepper venison) and had homemade Ice Cream. We also celebrated our anniversary. Abby really enjoyed watching Grandma decorate three cakes, one of which was our anniversary cake.







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Most of the snow was gone in Erie, since it was warm and rainy Christmas Eve. It did snow just enough for a White Christmas. Coming home from Spring Creek, it was in the sixties. I guess winter must be over already.

Christmas Play

It has been a long time, but this time of year is always like this.

This year for the Christmas Banquet the Jr./Sr. High School put on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Stevie was in charge of the sound effects (with Mr. Guntrum's supervision) while Abby was a society lady collecting money for the poor and attending Nephew Fred's party.

Chicken Pox

What a week! Abby noticed them first on Monday evening. I checked Stevie and sure enough, he had them too. It was quite a surprise because they had been vaccinated for them when they were small. Stevie had them worse than Abby by far but both of them were itchy. I think that they are pretty well over them but they still have some scabs. Thankfully, the vaccination prevented them from having a severe case but it was bad enough. Steve brought their homework home from school and they are pretty much caught up but they are more than ready to get back to the real world. The first part of the week wasn't so bad. They both slept alot and took lots of oatmeal baths. As they got to feeling better, they wanted to to more things. Fortunately for Abby, the sewing machine that she's been saving for arrived Monday evening and she has had fun sewing some things on that. Stevie did alot of reading--of course, and some computer games. Friday night, we needed to do something but we didn't dare go out in public. Steve made a chart on the computer with the names of several fast food places around Salem at the top and down the side he put "sandwich, side, drink, and dessert" We bundled up and went through the drive through at Wendy's, McDonald's, and Kentucky Fried Chicken to get our supper. We actually went to Arby's too but Steve went in because he had a coupon. It was fun--and more expensive--but we kept our insanity intact. Yesterday, the kids stayed home alone while Steve and I did some grocery shopping. I was happy to get out too. I told the kids that I wanted to take some pictures of them to post and they protested. Steve said that we could zoom in and get just a spot or two but they didn't like that idea either. We did take a picture of the table with all the fast food bags and food spread out on it. Maybe I'll post that one later.

Veteran's Day

On Veteran's Day, it is appropriate to honor my Dad who fought in WWII. When Dad turned 18, he was drafted out of his senior year of high school. He was trained in the deserts of the Southwest to be sent to North Africa. He was then sent to Europe instead. He was a member of the 95th division. They landed on Normandy in September after D-Day. They traveled through France, Netherlands, and into Germany. They captured the city of Metz November 22, which had not fallen for centuries. It was protected by a number of castles and walls. My Dad told about helping relieve the troops in the Bulge during the Battle of the Bulge but I didn't see it in the histories. I wonder if his section was transferred at that time.

Dad was a medic under fire. He worked in a field hospital as well as on the front lines. He told of seeing a soldier fall under gunfire and an officer telling him "Go help him."

Thank you Dad for serving your country and keeping us free.






P.S. Here are a couple of websites I found that weren't around when I was looking a couple of years ago.

http://mathieu.gitzhofer.free.fr
http://www.lonesentry.com/gi_stories_booklets/95thinfantry/index.html

Elections

The election board prepares for their first voter of the day.



Stevie the poll worker gives directions for inserting the ballot into the ballot box.



A student excercises choice in the voting booth.



And the winner is . . .


Well McCain lost, but Cocoa won. As a family, we are happy for Stevie and his Love at First Bite Party. Congratulations to all in a well fought battle.

McCain Rally

Friday morning, Stevie went on a field trip with the government class to a McCain Rally. Rudy Giuliani was there as was Lindsay Graham and the McCain's (of course). The rally was at United High School in Hanoverton-Middle of Nowhere-OH. There were between 2500 and 5000 people there. Stevie was at the front of the crowd so he had a good view. He didn't get a handshake because he got behind Mr. Forrider and he isn't that aggressive but he did enjoy it.

The 5th and 6th grade teacher, Mr. Duvall wanted to go with his family. Since Steve's classes all went to the rally, he substituted. That was a bit of a different experience, but it went really well.

Check out http://www.McCainBloggette.com "America is Worth Fighting for" The first two pictures are of the rally Stevie was at. In the first picture, Mr. Duvall is on the left in the green sweater (I think its green at least).

New Blog

Check out Steve's new blog, Defending Genesis. Just click the link on the left.

Autumn in Grape Country

This past weekend we headed to North East, PA to visit Steve's mom. While we were there, we got to see a grape picker in action. Of course this was commonplace for Steve and his mom but Stevie, Abby and I enjoyed seeing it. It was funny how the leaves of the grapevines were yellowed and shriveled but there were still beautiful clusters of grapes hanging on the vines. In fact, some places there were no leaves at all and yet there were large clusters hanging from the bare vines. The smell in the air was wonderful. I think it was primarily the grapes we were smelling but there were loaded apple orchards too. It was a beautiful fall day and we had a nice, relaxing visit with Steve's mom. Aunt Gladys came over too and of course we had to play some games. Unfortunately, I had a headache and missed out on some of them.





Here are a couple more pictures. One is the grape picker and the other is just some of the beautiful countryside.

The Great Cookie Debate

Well,today was the great cookie debate at SWA. The two candidates, Cocoa and Chunky, expressed their views on eating cookie dough, cookie economics, cookies in the military, and cookies- a right or a responsability. Cocoa is a chocolate cookie with white chips, Chunky is a normal chocolate chip cookie.


Stevie had his first experience in politics today, as he was the spokesman for the "Love at First Bite" party that nominated Cocoa. His classmate Stephen Fish spoke for the McFlamen Party that supports Chunky. One highlight of the debate was when Stevie told of Cocoa's war experience as a member of the Cookie Marines fighting radical food. (I do wonder what kind of food is radical. Sauerkraut? Dragon eyes? Durian? Gummy worms?) Cocoa lost his leg fighting a suicide bomber. Cookies gave him the strength to go on so he wants every soldier to have the opportunity to eat Cocoa cookies. Another highlight was when Stevie decried sending millions of dollars overseas to import cookies. He also recommended dunking milk in your cookies. (The other side actually agreed with that stand.)



Stevie really did quite well and we were proud of him. Even Abby admitted he did a good job. The polls show that the debate changed a lot of minds, but they also reveal an election too close to call. Stay tuned. On November 4, we will carry the very important news of who won the Great Cookie Election. May the best cookie win!

School Pictures

Well, today was picture day. I decided that since our enrollment is down, I would be able to get pictures of the entire school in one day . . . and I would have if my camera batteries and charger had worked properly. I got a new camera this summer and it takes special batteries. I bought two batteries and a charger so that I wouldn't have the kind of problem that I had today. I was down to the last class and the battery went dead. No problem! Just put the other battery in and keep on going. Wrong! Even though the charger said that the battery was charged, it was not. After two hours, it still was not charged. AAAAAUUUUUGGGHHH! I did get the school camera and finish up the kids--except for one who had put blue highlighter on his lips and couldn't get it off and another whose picture, by no fault of her own, came up missing amidst the battery issues. I still need some pictures of the faculty and staff but I will try to get those this week--if I can get my camera to work. There are a couple of pics that I want to retake but I was happy with the majority of the pictures. Some of them are better than others but I'm still learning--and having lots of fun. I'll try to post a few of the pics that I especially liked. I don't know if I'll have sucess on this computer with dial-up but if not, I'll get them up later when I have a better connection.