Fondue Party And Some Unwanted Guests

Two weekends ago we celebrated Jenny's birthday by having some fondue parties. Jenny prepared lots of great food like pizza dip, cheese dip, and veggie dip, with all the fixings. The girls from the Transition Program made her a wonderfully decorated cake.

The staff bought Jenny a chocolate fountain and it worked wonderfully. It was really neat and the chocolate was very good.

Showing off some fruit and marshmallows smothered in chocolate.

We went to the orphanage as usual and Marius was showing off his strength.

Alina was all smiles as usual, though she did lightly bump her elbow on the table and then put on a show of how much it hurt. She is very dramatic and loves to get sympathy. She usually has someone pick her up when something "happens" and then she points to everyone one at a time to show her owie to. We get a kick out of her pretending, she's so sweet and we always look forward to playing with her.

Also last week we found out that Rebecca picked up some unwanted guests from the kids at the orphanage - head lice. The kids love hugging face to face, you can see a suspect picture at the end of the last post. We used special shampoo that killed all of the lice but unfortunately it doesn't kill the eggs, so we've been spending almost 2 hours each night going through her hair combing out the remaining eggs. Soon we will shampoo again which should wipe out anything that's left once we have all the eggs out, and then it will be over. Such is life when working with kids, especially at the orphanage where outbreaks happen fairly frequently. Thankfully we have the time and patience to work on this, at the orphanage the kids' hair usually gets shaved off, and neither of us would be fond of that solution for Rebecca.

Prayer updates: Rebecca has been struggling with a cough that won't go away, please pray that she will be healed soon (and that the lice problem will be gone soon). Praise God that the baby hospital is back open, unfortunately we won't be able to go until Rebecca is better but at least others can go to take care of the babies. The vans have all been working lately which is very nice, and it's supposed to be getting warmer this weekend. The language learning is going well but is still really tough. Please also pray for staff and short term team members who will be flying in and out of here next week.

Fun At The Big Lake

With our departure to Romania coming up fast we have been trying to get in as much time with family and friends as possible. It has been really fun seeing everyone and spending good quality time together. The weather has been beautiful for the most part lately so we have headed out to Lake Michigan for some fun times. We'll miss the lake, the beaches, and the lighthouses, but they will be nice memories for us.

The lighthouse in Holland.

We walked the pier with Mark's sister and brother-in-law Sandi & Jay after eating out at a Thai restaurant.

Our friends John & Karen took us sailing out of Muskegon Lake into Lake Michigan, this was quite an enjoyable and relaxing ride. They also treated us to a BBQ before and ice-cream afterwards. This was a nice way to enjoy friends and God's beautiful creation.

We spent some time with Mark's Dad & Stepmom in Ludington. It rained quite a bit that weekend but it let up so we could have a nice campfire and bike around Ludington State Park.

As much as we lament the long winters, lots of snow, and often cloudy skies, this still is a very beautiful area to live. There are so many things that nature has to offer in our state, probably more than most people usually think of.

We have really enjoyed the time we've spent with our family and friends, we'll miss you all dearly when we're in Romania, please keep in touch with us.

Peeps Roasting Over An Open Fire

Last weekend we had some really nice weather.  We had our friend Mandy over for dinner and we decided it would be a perfect night for a bonfire.  We had a brush pile in our backyard that we had been wanting to get rid of anyway, and so we lit it up after dinner.  

This is the brushpile as it was being lit.  It was created when we cleared out the woods behind our house, and we had been throwing weeds and dead plants on it for around a year.  Needless to say it was really dry and it really took off.

The conditions were perfect for a rip roaring fire.  The wind was blowing directly away from the woods so we didn't have to worry about burning anything down.  The wind really whipped the flames up until it was so hot that we could stand no closer than 10 feet.

This is our friend Mandy, from Madison Wisconsin.  She brought lots of peeps and we figured since they are marshmallows that we should be able to roast them.  What a great idea!

This was about as close as Rebecca could get to the fire in order to roast her peeps.  Good thing we have long roasting forks.

Here's some peeps roasting away.  We were afraid that the sugar would burn, but it actually caramelized, creating a hard shell around the molten marshmallow.  We liked them so much and we decided that this was the creme brule of marshmallows.

Of course no fire would be complete without smores, so we tried peeps smores.  Yum!  It doesn't get any better than this!

Fun Day At The Zoo

This was my third week being laid off and the weather was finally a little warmer so we decided it would be fun to go to the zoo.  We invited our friends Scott and Kayleen since Scott is also laid off, and our friend Jess.  So we headed out to the John Ball Zoo and had a great time.

Scott & Kayleen's son Sam liked the fish, someday he'll probably be catching them like his dad.  Sam had a ball seeing all the different animals.

This is Lexi, Scott & Kayleen's daughter.  She liked the monkeys and the penguins.

Precious enjoyed watching the wolverine and just about anything that moved.  She is Jess & Jonah's daughter.  Jonah was working so he couldn't make it to the zoo.

Pelicans.

We saw lions...

And tigers...

And bears, oh my!

An iguana just hanging out.

 This small alligator didn't even blink for the picture.

Colorful chameleon.

After the zoo we went to Scott & Kayleen's house and hung out the rest of the day.  We had black bean chili with rice and tortillas and Filipino beef for dinner.  Then we had a chocolate cake roll for dessert.  Even though it isn't good being laid off it was nice to be able to get out of the house and hang out with our friends.  Next we would like to go to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, we just need some free tickets :-)

Holiday Gettogether With Our Lifegroup

Tis the season for holiday gettogethers! Isn't it great to be able to get together with friends and family and enjoy food and fellowship together? We recently had such a time with our LifeGroup from church. We all brought part of the meal and one couple provided the turkey and hosted the group at their house.

Mark enjoyed carving up this massive turkey. He had to improvise to get it out of the crock pot with a fork and ice cream scoop because we couldn't find the tongs and needed something sturdy to get it out with. Whatever works, right?

This great feast included the turkey, sweet potato casserole, broccoli casserole, herb bread, poppy seed blueberry salad, cranberry sauce, jello, and pumpkin pie bars. It was all wonderful! After the feast was done we spent the rest of the evening talking and catching up, we were going to play some games but we never got to them because there was so much to talk about.

This is our group, minus a few who couldn't make it. We always enjoy the fellowship we have with them. Our group has grown from three couples a few years ago to two groups with around six couples each. We aren't in both of the groups now but we still enjoy seeing the other group at church on Sundays.

All The Latest Happenings

Wow, a lot has been happening with us recently, and it's been a while since the last post. Let's back up to Thanksgiving. We had a great time spending the day with our family, eating wonderful food and hanging out having some fun. We watched the classic Home Alone and played a great game of Scrabble.

On Black Friday we did something really stupid, we went shopping. This was something we had said we would never do but there was a terrific sale on a laptop computer at Best Buy, so we went with a friend at MIDNIGHT and waited to get a ticket for the computer we wanted. The whole thing was very badly managed and the first 15-20 people in line ended up getting all the best deals, so before the store even opened we left knowing that there wasn't a chance that we would get what we want. It was really frustrating, but now we know to NEVER get sucked in by what seems to be such a good deal.

The rest of the long weekend was fun, we went hot-tubing with a friend, Mark went to the Grand Valley football game (unfortunately they lost, it was a really bad game), and we had dinner and played Wii with some other friends.

We haven't heard anything from the last people that looked at our house, so we are still praying that they will buy it even though they said they would start deciding last week. We are still trusting that God has a plan so even if they don't buy the house someone else will come along at the right time. We had our meeting with the RCA about partnering with them in our mission, and that went well. There is still a lot to figure out there but we are praying that God will open the doors for this to work as well. Our fund raising started by sending out our support letters to friends and family. God is in control of sll three of these areas and we continue to ask for your prayers.

The kitties helped Rebecca decorate recently. They also had fun helping un-decorate by constantly playing with the decorations and pulling down the blankets and tablecloth.

They also liked playing in the snow on the deck.

Rebecca took some great closeup shots of snowflakes.

The snow is really beautiful, just don't ask how fun it is to drive in it.

Fireproof Movie Was Awesome!

On Saturday we went to see the movie "Fireproof" at Rivertown Crossings Mall. We had heard great things about the movie and wanted to see what it was all about. The movie was so amazing and had such a great message, this is a must see movie. I'll write a little about the movie without giving too much away.

.

The movie is about a couple that is having severe marital problems. They are both constantly at each others throats and are not feeling in love like they used to when they dated. It gets to the point where they both want out and decide to get a divorce. Caleb (the husband) calls his dad to talk about it and his dad asks him to work through a book for 40 days to try and save the marriage. He is reluctant at first but as he works through it some changes take place. It is a hard road but in the end it pays off.

The movie's main theme is that marriages are meant by God to be a permanent covenant, not just a contract that has escape clauses. It places great value on saving marriages that are failing, and that it is well worth the work it takes. It stresses that love is a choice and not a feeling, and that you must put your spouse first in order to have a great marriage. I think that if everyone saw this it would give hope to strong and struggling couples alike.

The movie also gives a very clear presentation of the gospel with nothing held back. This was another central theme of the movie, that marriages work best with God in the center.

Fireproof was a great all-around movie, with lots of action, comedy, and drama, and a heartfelt story. There were quite a few tear-jerker moments too. The only hard part about watching the movie was realizing the pain and hurt that so many people go through in their marriages. It felt very real and it will surely hit close to home for many people. I highly recommend this movie to everyone.

.http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

http://www.fireproofmymarriage.com

An Action Packed Weekend

Last weekend was really great as we got to relax a bit and see lots of friends too. On Friday we watched "Mr. Bean's Holiday," which is a great movie, classic Mr. Bean. It was a relaxing night and we just enjoyed spending some time together.

Saturday morning we went to a fun outing at the Post Family Farm with our LifeGroup from church. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was so refreshing to be outside with our friends. The farm has a corn maze, pumpkin patch, and lots of animals. There were hayrides and some play areas and games for the kids. The corn maze was really fun, and the corn was very tall this year. At the end we enjoyed fresh doughnuts and apple cider, it doesn't get any better than that! I will post some pictures from this in a later post.

We had the afternoon to spend together again, and we ended up watching "Iron Chef" on the computer, that was one of our favorite shows while we were dating and still is to this day. At dinnertime we went to Peppino's Ristorante and met with the group we went to Romania with last spring. Jim Sorrels, the founder of Heart 2 Heart, was up from California for the weekend so we got to visit with him. We had a great pizza and found out that his meeting with our church went really well and was very encouraging. We always enjoy getting together with our Romania group, they are so friendly and caring and are some of our best friends.

Sunday Jim came over after church and we had some Pad Thai for lunch. Then we went on a drive to see some color because it was just such a beautiful day. It was great spending time with Jim, he is a great guy and a great friend. He'll also be our boss when we become missionaries since he's the president of H2H :-) After Jim left we headed out to Mark's sister and brother-in-laws place to visit. We had a campfire which was very nice and relaxing. Mark's mom was also there. We had a great time hanging out with them.

A Very Memorable 5 Year Anniversary

Saturday October 4 was our 5 year anniversary! It doesn't seem like it's been 5 years already since we've been married, time has just been flying. We celebrated with three types of chocolates, and Rebecca made a picture collage for us both to enjoy. We wanted to do something fun and out of the ordinary but we didn't want to spend much because we'll be going to a wedding in California soon, so that will be our big 5 year anniversary vacation. So we looked at different nature preserves and came across the Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve. Rebecca had been there before for some biology classes and had really liked it, so we decided to go there. It was a little over an hour drive but it was a beautiful day so we really enjoyed it. It was brisk outside but when the sun came out it warmed up a bit, such a nice crisp fall day.

When we got out to the bog we were surprised that there was no boardwalk through it, just a couple observation decks to look out over the entire thing. We decided to walk into the bog, because we wanted to do something fun and just looking over it wasn't what we had in mind. As we were walking around our shoes started to get wet, so we took them off and walked around barefoot.

.

Mark had never been to a bog before so it was a new experience, and walking on sphagnum moss was totally wild. With each step the moss would sink in a couple inches and water would fill in the hole. When we jumped up and down we could feel the whole area around us moving up and down, it was a little freaky but really fun walking on a floating land mass.
.

There were all sorts of cool plants, like this pitcher plant. We were really excited because pitcher plants are one of our favorites. There were thousands of them because we have had quite a wet year. Rebecca didn't think the bog had ever been this wet when she was there before.

A natural cranberry.

As we were making our way back to the observation deck, we had to cross a small stream that was running through the bog. As Rebecca walked through she took a step and fell in up to her hip! We both laughed so hard and then we had to figure out what to do with her mucky pants and legs. We were going to go out to eat after we were done at the bog, and going home to change would have taken two hours more of driving. So Rebecca got creative...

She used Marks socks to clean her legs off and then used his sweatshirt to make a skirt. It actually looked pretty convincing as you can see above.

We walked around some more trails after we were done in the bog, and then we headed over to Pietro's Italian Restaurant. We started out with some Bruchetta and great homemade bread. Rebecca ordered Chicken Fontina, which was a chicken breast with Fontina cheese and a sweet glaze, and Mark ordered Talapia Piccata with a white wine sauce. It was all very good and the restaurant was quite nice. We were just about done eating and the power went off. It was really weird but thankfully we were by a window so we could at least see what we were doing. We got to order our desserts since they didn't need to be cooked, so we got some Chocolate Mascarpone, which was very delicious. Anyone just coming in could only order salads or wood fired pizzas since the entire kitchen was down with the power outage. We got a hand written bill and had to use the old fashioned credit card swiping machine. Quite an experience. It turned out that someone had hit a power line or transformer so the whole area was out of power. When we left we were thankful we were going right because traffic was backed up really far going the other way.

We had a great day and had some fun adventures. We are so thankful for each other and are glad that God brought us together and has blessed our marriage. We know we will have many more wonderful years together.

A mostly good weekend

Last weekend was a project weekend with a few free moments thrown in. On Friday we worked on installing some things that we bought on Wednesday for finishing the basement. We put on doorknobs and hung some blinds, both which had their own challenges. The doorknobs had square edges on the strike plates and by the latches, so Dave had to chisel out the existing slots to get them to fit. Then one of the blinds didn't fit the window, even though they were custom cut. It was just a hair too long, so we decided to take it and have it re-cut.

Saturday my friend/co-worker Dan came over to help install the vanity/counter top and toilet. The vanity went in nicely, and looked nice too. Then we put on the counter top and found out it was a terribly warped piece of junk. There was no way we could work with it, so we finally gave up on that. Then as we were installing the toilet Dave noticed that it wasn't what we ordered, so we had to take that back off. Thankfully we didn't go as far as hooking up the plumbing so it wasn't that bad. But we did feel pretty frustrated that we weren't able to finish, and of course the place wasn't open, so we'll have to wait until later in the week. Holly took the blinds back to have them re-cut and had a terrible time with unhelpful workers. They couldn't figure out what to do, saying that the only person who knew was busy. Finally they asked someone else and he was able to figure it out in a matter of minutes. I cleaned out the garage and reorganized using some shelving units that Dave and Holly had. There is so much space in there it is really nice.

Saturday night Rebecca and I watched our favorite show, Iron Chef America. We watched two big brothers beat Bobby Flay, which is pretty hard to do. I always wish that the TV would provide tastes and smells because that food sure looks good. Sunday was busy too, shortly after church I went to Jail for the church service there, and after that we spent a lot of time looking through years worth of photos so that we could back them up on disks.