One more little one!

Ok... not long after i posted the last post...another slid out like he was coming out of the bottom part of the water slide...you know....when you burst into that little pool at the end of all the water slides. yeah. he was the cutest one too! I'll put up mug shots of each one in a day or two once they open their eyes.

Miscount...only 9 not 10

New members of the family!

There are 10 so far, i will post later if anymore come, but i pray that's it. 8 girls, 2 boys. mostly black, 2 are brown, and 1 has the typical rotty brown markings. they are adorable though. if you know anyone that wants a puppy let me know.

Our new home

Claudia and I have been pretty busy lately with several things, not least of which being that we have been house hunting. Well, it looks like that search is over.

We came to an agreement today (we'll sign the contract tomorrow) for a house in Lake Zurich, IL. It is about 28 miles from work, but less than 5 miles from church--and we could ride our bikes to the beach!

Here are some pictures of the house:

This one is from the yard looking at our front door and the back of the garage. The house is a quadraplex, and we will own our quarter of the structure as well as the land it sits on. The door between the trees (on the right) leads into the garage, and the white door toward the left is the front door of the home.

This is the living space on the first floor. There is a sliding door to the left leading out the the patio, just out of the view.

There is also a half bath on the right outside of the picture.

Here is the kitchen. This picture was probably taken from the same spot as the last one, just turning about 90 degrees to the left.


This is the finished basement, with a third bedroom and room for a pool table (if someone wants to get us a pool table).
(And convince Claudia that we want a pool table).

Here's a closer view of the front door and the planter box if we want to keep it





This is the back yard, and the picture doesn't do justice to the quality of the landscaping. The grass could use some help, but the bed in the back is well done and looks really nice in person.

We're scheduled to close on May 30, so if anyone wants to come visit on May 31, we'd have plenty of work for you. :)

Update: The contract is signed, so the deal is done, pending inspection, mortgage, etc.

Cole is ONE

Where's Cole? He has been learning many new things and now is one year old (4-6-08). Here are a few pictures from the party that Karen and Scott had for him.

Doodlebops are Kennedy's favorite

We took Kennedy and Cole to the Doodlebop's concert, and she was so excited, she dressed up in her DeeDee Doodlebop costume. She keeps asking us to go again. A picture of the Doodlebops are included, in case you didn't know who they were. But of course, everyone knows who the Doodlebops are!! See Kennedy dancing to the songs in the first picture.. she loves to dance (if no one is watching)

Alma's trip to Tampa

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I have added anything. Mom asked me to put up these pictures of the Katya and Isaiah so everyone can see how beautiful they are.

Christmas with everyone home

It was great having everyone home for Christmas. We took the opportunity to have some more family pictures taken since Cole wasn't born when we took the last ones. I only posted a couple, so let me know if you would like to see any more.

Here are the stockings--all lined up and ready to be opened. The stockings have been a fun part of our family tradition ever since Norm and Liz gave us the first one for Karen many years ago.

Hi guys, I just wanted to let you know that since last friday until today I have received three job offers. I will keep you posted on which one I will accept. Thanks everybody for your prayes.

Love ya.

Winter is Here! :(

I just wanted everyone to know that I am sad that winter is here. It is cold and the only good thing about it is Christmas. I am looking forward to Christmas. I still haven't posted my pictures of my paint job. I guess I can never get the apartment clean enough to be able to show it off to the hold world.

What has Keith been up to at work?

For the last two years, I've been giving the great majority of my time to a major project here at Tyndale called the NLT Study Bible. This is a pretty massive undertaking, conceived in 1999, begun in 2001, and ultimately culminating with publication in September 2008.

This product made it's first "official" appearance on Amazon.com recently, as the sampler (basically Genesis 1-11 from the Bible as well as some explanatory material about the product as a whole) was posted for pre-sale. This thing has caught the attention of a couple of bloggers as well.

To be honest, I'd encourage you not to buy this sampler; you'll probably be able to download much of its content for free, or you could look at it in a bookstore. I'll actually have a sampler or two that you folks can look at if you are going to be at Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving.

I may be biased, of course, but I think this is a really good Bible. If you're thinking about getting a solid Study Bible with notes about the text, interpretation, and theology, this is a great option and it really is worth waiting a few months to get it. It was all written by top scholars, over forty authors in all. And it will include the most up-to-date text of the NLT, with updates to the translation from our scholar team.

[/advertisement]

Pumpkin Fest at Keehner Park

It was a delightful weekend with Mark and Connie visiting Grandmother and staying at our house. Rachel brought her fiance, Jeff, to meet the family. Poor guy! We had good times talking, eating, shopping, worshiping, playing with kids, reading, doing word games, and enjoying each other's company.

On Saturday, Connie, Rachel, Jeff, and I took Kennedy to the Pumpkin Fest at Keehner Park while Scott and Karen had Cole at Portrait Innovations getting his sixth month pictures taken. His pictures are great--he is a real cutie. The top picture is Kennedy in her favorite inflatable, done bouncing and ready to climb up and then go down the slide.She also enjoyed the straw maze and going down the park slide, with Rachel and Jeff giving assistance as needed.

On Sunday, after church, Connie, Rachel, Jeff, and I went the rounds of the Half-Price Bookstores, and Graeters as well. The others watched football. We had ice cream from The Cone at the Pumpkin Fest, so they also had to try Graeters. On Monday, everyone went to the Creation Museum (except for me). See Rachel's blog for pictures.

Apple Picking

Last weekend, Claudia and I went apple picking at our favorite orchard in Hobart, IN. Since it is pretty much exactly halfway between us and Notre Dame, our friends Jon and Karen Peach came out as well (Jon is getting his MBA at ND) with their kids Abby and Caleb. Our friend Emily also came with us (her husband Mike stayed home to read--that's the kind of guy he is).

We don't have as many pictures as Sarah does from her trip, but we did have a good time. And Claudia is going to use some of the apples we collected to bake a pie for our small group this Friday night.

Emily Allen, Claudia, and I in the back; Karen, Abby, Caleb, and Jon Peach in the front

Keith watching Abby and Caleb compete for apples

whatever!

no matter what i do my quarterback sucks. i put romo on the bench and mcnabb on the roster, and romo scores a million and donavin scores a turd. i put romo on the roster and mcnabb on the bench and mcnabb score a million and romo scores a turd and a half. its like they call eachother and the dialogue is as follows: "hey whats up? Luis put me on the roster and you on the bench, so make sure that you play awesome and meanwhile im going to throw interseptions and think about ice cream instead of football". i hope they both get a flat tire on their way home.

Keith and Holly Ray

Steve and I went to Faith Bible Fellowship in Lebanon today where he was leading the congregational singing. We were surprised to see Keith and Holly Ray, Mitchell, Wesley, and Summer. Keith was there to speak briefly about Student Venture during the missionary moment. Keith thought it was ironic that we were there because he had already planned to mention Claudia as part of his description of the mission of Student Venture and how it played out in her life at Lakota as she was discipled by Holly, then discipled others herself, who in turn discipled others. The legacy that you were a part of continues on. It was also good to see Neil Fairweather and his family.

Welcome Tia Glenda

I also wanted to say "Welcome" to Tia Glenda. I'm so glad you are going to contribute to our family blog. Now Contribute! Also, were are the rest of you. Don't let the family blog die.

I Deleted Myself

I just wanted to say welcome back to me. I accidentally deleted myself and my dad off the family blog. But I'm back. Everthing is going well, I am excited because I might actually finish painting this weekend. I also decided that my life goal at the moment is to finish my thesis. I can't believe it's almost December and I am still not done with it. I'm so sick of it, I just want to finish.

Future Hall of Famers cont...

I just wanted to say that speaking of Hall of Famers...I do believe I belong in the Fantasy Football Hall of Fame for my miraculous win and points championship this week!!

Future Hall of Famers

Here's our two Hall of Famers (according to Scott). Today is Cole's first day to be able to wear his Bengals outfit, and Kennedy is happy to be wearing her Daddy's number on an Ohio State Jersey.

Fun with Grandpa

Kennedy and Cole both spent the night with Grandpa and Grandma last night. Who do you think had the most fun?