Worship Dance Recital

This past year, the twins and I were blessed to join a worship dance troupe. I had done ballet for several years when I was younger, but we moved away and I never found a studio to my liking that was close enough. But some friends of ours told us about the group they danced with and we decided to give it a try this year. We were very glad we did, as we enjoyed it immensely!

This year, due to different circumstances we didn’t have a recital with all of the dancers, but instead did a worship night with 3 different Celtic dances at the director’s church. The young girls' class danced to “Holy God We Praise Thy Name” by Michael Card. The dance was breath-taking because of the words and the genuine worship that took place during the dance.

Our class danced to “Starkindler” by Michael Card. We had worked very hard on this song and were very excited to open the worship night with it.

Our dance class all dressed up and ready to go!

The twins and I in our lovely dresses (which we were sorry to give up! J)

The women’s class danced to “Be Unto Your Name” by Robin Mark. It was beautiful. That is one of my favorite worship songs, especially since it gets more and more climatic as the song goes on.

During the rest of the worship night there was a drama performed, songs sung by the choir and congregation, solos, and a message given by the Senior Pastor. We look forward to continuing worship dance next year and look forward to the ways the Lord is going to use this ministry!

Remember

We were standing in the check-out lane, picking up some last minute groceries after our church picnic Sunday afternoon. The store was pretty crowded, something we hadn’t noticed before since we try to avoid shopping on Sundays. Dad asked the cashier if it was usually this busy on a Sunday afternoon. She said, “Yes, plus with a holiday tomorrow there’s more people.”

It really saddened me to hear this. Yet another sobering reminder of what our American holidays have become: opportunities to party. When you think about it, nearly all of our holidays were created to remember something. At Thanksgiving we remember our forefathers and God’s providence towards them, at Christmas we remember Christ’s birth, at Easter we remember Christ’s death and resurrection, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day were meant to remember these two saints of old, and Memorial Day and Veterans Day were created to remember our soldiers, those living and dead. Instead the only thing we try to remember is to pick up the burgers, chips, and potato salad.

The Israelites were notorious “forgetters.” In one book of the Bible they are praising and thanking the Lord for His providence, and in the next book we see the next generation forgetting all about the Lord and serving other gods. The book of Deuteronomy cautions many times not to forget the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:12, “be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”) God wants us to remember all that He has done for us, His protection, His deliverance, and His love for His children.

But we keep forgetting! We forget God, we forget what our forefathers taught us, and we forget those who are sacrificing their lives even now for our sake. This Memorial Day, I encourage you to remember our soldiers and pray for them. We should remember those who have died and honor them, but we shouldn’t stop there. We also need to remember and pray for those who are still fighting for our freedoms, and for our protection. We shouldn’t just remember and pray for them on Memorial Day or Veterans Day; we should remember and pray for them all year long.

So take some time today to thank the Lord for His providence and protection for the citizens of the United States of America, and pray for the safety of those who are still fighting to preserve our nation. God bless America, my home sweet home!

Paradox

“Christianity is an unusual paradox. In the Bible we learn that those who pursue their own freedom and agenda end up in slavery, while those who submit to God’s holiness and authority end up the most free.”

--Pastor Jay Childs, MEFC church, quoted from his blog.

(posted by Betsy)

Recipe--Chocolate Chip Cookies (Not From a Mix! :-))

Ok, I know this isn’t really the healthiest recipe there is, but when you consider that we used to only make chocolate chip cookies from a mix or frozen package, homemade is better. I made these for a Boy Scout fundraiser recently, and they turned out very delicious, especially hot out of the oven.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/8 cups of sifted flour

½ tsp of salt

½ tsp of baking soda

12 TBS of butter (1 ½ sticks) melted and cooled

½ cup of granulated sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 cup of chocolate chips

1 cup of walnuts, chopped large

2 tsp of vanilla

Blend sugars, pour cooled butter over and beat; beat in eggs and vanilla; mix in flour by hand; stir in nuts and chips.



Feel free to sample the cookie dough as you shape the cookies. J I won’t say a word.



Heat oven to 325°F. Use 2 racks; bake for 8 minutes and switch racks; bake for another 8 minutes. Makes 18 large cookies.

Tricks: Use parchment paper or aluminum foil to line pans. Grease lined pans as well.

Put only 9 cookies per sheet.

Use a quarter cup measure—make ball; break ball in half; leave broken part on top.



This trick works pretty well!



This recipe makes a few extra cookies. They’re perfect for “test” cookies!



Favorite Birthday Trips

As I’m sure most of you know by now, we have a tradition of going on birthday trips as a family to celebrate instead of having big birthday parties every year. We’ve really enjoyed it and wanted to share some of our favorite trips with you.

Mark— I guess I am lucky, as my birthday usually always falls on our family vacation time, so there are many great stories to tell.  However, there would be a few that do stand out.  The year we took the kids to a log cabin for Bianca’s birthday and a family vacation (it was also the week after I had just returned from serving as a short term missionary in Honduras).  Another favorite was the twins trip to Niagara Falls.  We had an awesome room that overlooked the falls.

Betsy—Usually we only do birthday trips for the children, not the adults.:-) But this year, my family surprised me with a birthday trip to see some very dear friends in Midland. We spent the afternoon and evening with them, and it was a birthday I will never forget! And last year, I was able to share my birthday with a young friend and his family, also in Midland. We spent that day offering them love and support after their automobile accident, and being encouraged by them as well. So both of my birthday trips were made extra special by the company of dear friends!

Bianca—Oh, I have so many favorite birthday trips! I really enjoyed celebrating one of my birthdays in northern Michigan in a big log cabin on the lake where we were staying for the week. I also loved our trip to Niagara Falls! That was pretty special. But I think one of my favorite birthdays was one when we didn’t take a trip anywhere. We had missionary friends from Africa over for dinner and to spend the night. Their two boys and my siblings and I had an absolute blast exploring in the woods and playing capture the flag.

Ben—My favorite birthday trip was one involving three parts: part one was going to Walmart to buy a new bike, part two was going to a friend’s high school graduation party, and part three was going to the movie theatre to see “Night at the Museum 2.” Another one I really enjoyed was the Henry Ford Museum. There, I got to sit in the bus seat that Rosa Parks sat in! How cool is that! I also got to see about 7 vehicles used by presidents, including the famous Kennedy car. Other trips I've enjoyed were Niagara Falls and the Detroit Zoo.

Rubia—My first favorite is the trip we took to Niagara Falls. That was really cool! I also really enjoyed the one we took recently to the Detroit Zoo. I also really liked visiting the Saginaw Children’s Museum for one of Josiah’s birthday trips.

Roma—I enjoyed my birthday trip when we went to Canada to see Niagara Falls. I also enjoyed our most recent birthday trip to the Detroit Zoo.

Josiah—I really liked the Detroit Zoo and visiting the Children’s Museum. I also loved the trip to Niagara Falls. I also liked our trip to tour the one and only "Jiffy" factory. And our trip to the Castle Museum for my most recent birthday trip was awesome!

Garden Update

I spent quite a bit of time out in my garden this past weekend! It was time for me to pull the weeds and till things up in preparation for adding boxes and *hopefully* planting flowers Memorial Day weekend. Here is a “before” picture of the garden:



It may be hard for you to tell, but this (was) a garden. Don’t ask me how all of the weeds got in there, because I’d have to tell you that I was a bit lazy at the end of last summer and let them go. Oops, I just told you what I said not to ask. Oh well! J



After I pulled the weeds, I used my Garden Claw to till everything up. We’ve thought of using a rototiller, but since we don’t own one and the garden is only 10’x12’, we do it by hand.



After that, I used my Garden Weasel to break up the chunks. You can kind of see the part where I’ve weaseled on the left versus the chunks on the right.



And here’s the “after” picture 3 hours later! After using the Weasel in the garden, I used a garden rake to level it out.



And here’s my reward for all that work: a delicious Puerto Rican feast with a pineapple juice cooler. Delicioso!



My seedlings have been doing very well. I’ve left them outside for several days now, but they’ve remained on the porch for a lot of that time due to torrential rains that would crush them.



Daddy and I went to home Depot and bought Greek Oregano, Rosemary, English Lavender, Parsley, Dianthus, and an Early Girl Tomato plant. I’m getting so excited to plant! Start praying for good weather!



Roma and Rubia's Birthday!

We recently celebrated Roma and Rubia’s birthday! My Grandparents came up to join us and we had a very full day of celebration.



We ate a delicious breakfast of French Toast to start the day.



As many of you know, our family has a tradition of going on birthday trips instead of having birthday parties. This year was no different; we spent the day at the Detroit Zoo! The weather turned out perfectly for a day at the Zoo.



The whole family at the Zoo (minus me of course. I was behind the camera.)



We took a train ride to the far end of the zoo, and found peacocks strutting all over the place. They are pretty tame and don’t mind walking around in the midst of squealing children and babies. J



You may not be able to see them well, but there are several Kangaroos in the picture. We went through the “Australian Outback Adventure” which took us through the Kangaroo habitat! Unfortunately, they all appeared to be snoozing, so they didn’t hop past us. But it was still neat!



I enjoyed watching the Meercats.



We were able to see the famous Polar Bears! Detroit Zoo is known for its underwater Polar Bear display. Sadly, once we got in the exhibit it was nap time! J Oh well.





We enjoyed a delicious lunch of sky-high burgers and fries.



The seals were awake and swimming around. They were fun to watch!



Here is the view from the underwater display. Pretty neat!



Now do you know why this exhibit is popular?



I think my favorite was the Penguinarium. These are King Penguins. We also saw Macaroni Penguins.

 

After the zoo, we stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home. The twins were told they were going to be picking out new bikes as their birthday gifts! They were so excited! They outgrew their old ones awhile back and were sharing my Mom’s old bike. They picked out very nice ones, and have put them to good use.



After a dinner of pizza, salad, chips, and salsa while watching our new movie, “The Penny” (a movie I highly recommend!) we had the twins birthday cake! They had a delicious “Elegant Chocolate Strawberry” cake, made with chocolate angel food cake, whipped cream and strawberries.



After the movie, they opened their birthday presents. They received many nice gifts, including these convertible tote bags/beach towels.



As a bit of a side note, the same day as the twins birthday, my parents celebrated their wedding anniversary! They will be enjoying a little getaway with just the two of them later this month.

So that was our day in a nutshell! We are so blessed to have Roma and Rubia and are so thankful that the Lord gave us twins! They are not “double trouble” but rather “double the fun!” J

More Invisible Fence® Training

A couple of weeks ago, we had yet another Invisible Fence® Training session. Mikey had been improving on his willingness to go in the yard, and had not yet left the property once! But, there are times when he will have to leave the yard. So, the trainer taught us where his “gate” should be and we worked with him on entering and exiting the property.



Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we actually have a pretty smart dog. J He did NOT want to cross that line AT ALL. We literally had to drag him down the driveway to show him that he wasn’t going to get shocked.



The training went very well and he finally started to understand that when we give him the command “Let’s Go” and take off down the driveway that he isn’t going to get shocked. He’s had a few regressions into being afraid (usually after someone has accidently dragged him down the driveway without taking his computer collar off) but on the whole, he is learning very quickly! And we are learning that we still have to keep a close eye on this puppy. You never know what’s going to happen when you turn your back! The trainer is coming back this week, so stay tuned for more training updates!

"You've Got To Be Kidding Me!"

Ah yes, but kidding I’m not. This is the story of a very naughty puppy. But first I must give you a bit of background. On record, this has been the wettest spring in history. We’ve had torrential rain for several days, with only an occasional respite.



This is the creek/drain behind our house. In the summer time, it is usually a little trickle that can easily be jumped across. I would venture to say that this is the highest it has risen since we’ve lived here. I’m guessing it was 10-12 feet across.



That tree on the right is never submerged under water and most of the brush in the center of the photo isn’t usually covered either.



A small child could pretty easily get swept away and potentially drown at the flood stage of our creek. It’s especially scary if you consider the sand at the bottom that seems to suck a person into it, plus all of the debris that can’t be seen.



Okay, on to the dog tail, I mean tale. J Thankfully, because of the newly installed electric fence, Mikey cannot access the creek. No more going for dips in the middle of winter and having to bathe him in the human bathtubs inside the house. So we thought our troubles with mud and dirty water were over. Not so.

I was sitting at our dining room table doing an Algebra lesson, when I heard Mikey barking and howling, but he sounded far away. The kids had been playing outside with the neighbor kids and the dog. Well, our kids slowly trickled indoors and the neighbor kids went home. But each of my siblings thought that someone else had brought the dog back in. After hearing howling I saw something flash by outside. I walked over to the front door to look out. I opened the door, looked out, and slammed it shut while hyperventilating and panicking because this is what I saw. . .



. . .a black lab. Oh wait a minute, that’s Mikey! Now do you know why I was panicking?? I thought he was going to run straight into the house!



Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this dog had gotten into something. BIG TIME. And he went to the trouble of running all throughout the garage, the sidewalk, driveway, and porch with those muddy paws.



Our front entry way.



We were clueless as to what on earth had happened. I went all around the perimeter of our yard with his computer collar, and there were no “holes” in the fence. But as I rounded the corner portion of our yard, I sloshed through water and some kind of scat. I think Mikey found this massive “invisible” puddle and rolled through the scat. Don’t you want a dog now?



He doesn’t look so happy now does he? He received an ice cold bath and a whole bottle of kids shampoo. It is not easy bathing a dog with freezing cold water. Poor Mikey shivered and never did come quite clean. We tried our best, but how do you scrub mud off his face and other sensitive areas?



In an effort to dry off the sopping wet dog, we walked him around the neighborhood for awhile. Here you can see the creek again. It’s probably waist deep (3 ½ feet deep). I’m thankful Mikey only found a puddle and didn’t go swimming instead.



Thankfully—after more than an hour—we got Mikey clean and dry enough to come inside the house. Then I spent another 30-45 minutes scrubbing paw prints off of the driveway, sidewalk, and porch. We did our best, and were also thankful that he was going to the kennel the next day and could receive a better grooming.

The moral of the story: just because the dog can stay in your yard doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be supervised. Always know where the dog is! Unless of course, you like bathing dogs with freezing cold water, walking him all over the neighborhood, and scrubbing paw prints on your hands and knees. If you do, let us know. We could use some help next time! J

One in Essence

“What is the relationship between the Old Testament Sabbath and the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, when Christians in the New Testament met for worship?...The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day are one in essence, just as the acorn and the oak are one, even though they differ in form.”

--Bruce A. Ray, “Celebrating the Sabbath”

(posted by Betsy)

Recipe--Yummy Casserole

Ever since we tried this recipe, it has become a favorite stand-by. I think we like it so much because—as its name implies—it is very yummy, has only 5 ingredients, and is very fast and easy to throw together on a busy day. This recipe came from one of our favorite cookbooks, “5 Ingredients or Less!” It is actually called “Tomato-Beef Noodle Bake” but we prefer to call it Yummy Casserole, especially when encouraging youngsters to eat it! J

Yummy Casserole

1 pound of ground beef

1 onion, chopped

14-oz. can tomatoes with chilis (or plain diced tomatoes and one small can of chopped chilies)

10-3/4 oz. can of cream of mushroom soup

8-oz. package of fine egg noodles cooked (we like to use colorful Rotini or penne pasta instead)

Cheddar cheese (optional, but recommended.J)

Combine ingredients (except cheese) together; place in an ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-30 minutes. Serves 4. (We double the recipe to serve our family, and cook it in a 9 x 13 dish.)

Favorite Vegetables

Since I’ve been itching to start my garden, I’ve been thinking a lot about the fresh produce we’ll have later in the summer. Having fresh vegetables makes such a difference in how much we like them. Tomatoes fresh off the vine and warmed by the sun cannot even compare to the package of uniformly-sized, tasteless tomatoes you buy at the store in December. It’s the difference between warm, juicy, sweet, and tangy tomatoes, and mealy, plastic-tasting ones from the stores. So, without further ado, here are some of our favorite vegetables:

Mark—My two most favorite are corn on the cob (white corn is the best) and tomatoes. Potatoes are also great to eat (mashed would be the preferred method, followed by young red potatoes). In general, I enjoy any fresh produce.

Betsy—I am partial to root vegetables, like potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes. I love fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes and carrots. Cucumber sandwiches are a big favorite in the summertime. And my all-time favorite sweet corn is Silver Queen!

Bianca—I think my all time favorite vegetable is corn on the cob. I could not get over the Honey and Cream sweet corn we bought at the market last summer. It was out of this world! I also love tomatoes, asparagus, peas, and cucumbers (even though they’re all technically fruits. Yes, I just studied this in Biology. J) I also like chickpeas, potatoes, and carrots. I really love most vegetables, and am willing to try just about anything. It might be easier just to list the ones I don’t like. J

Ben—I like corn on the cob and potatoes.

Rubia—I love carrots and corn! I also like celery, asparagus, and lettuce.

Roma—I like carrots and celery. I also enjoy corn, peas, and potatoes.

Josiah—I like corn, carrots, asparagus, and sweet potatoes.

"Spring Must Be Comin', 'Cuz Her Lip is Large"

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Poor Zinnia.

Every Spring, she develops a funny-looking lump on her lower lip, causing her to have a perpetual pout until the first frost.

In her two short years of life thus far, she has known more burdens—and blessings--than any pet we’ve ever owned.

When she was just weeks old, she and her litter mate, Zack, were stuffed in a cardboard box, and left at the door of our local Humane Society.

She was taken in and nurtured by the kind-hearted souls at this establishment, and by God’s providence, she and Zack were adopted by a family that has a soft spot for kitties with a story. That would be us.

Not long after arriving in our home, she and her brother started sneezing. And wheezing. Their eyes began weeping, and globbing, and crusting over. We put them on appropriate antibiotics, and had our neighbor help us put ointment in their eyes several times daily, as none of us could do this well.

But while we were on vacation, Zinnia’s infection worsened, and her eyeball ended up rupturing. Our neighbor, who was taking care of them in our absence, did such a great job of providing the emergency care she needed at the time, and continuing to treat her afterward. Zinnia is now partially blind in one eye…but by God’s grace, it hasn’t slowed her down a bit.

Since then, she has suffered fleas, tapeworms (multiple occasions), “failure to thrive,” and near-cardiac arrest when a gigantic, white canine beast was welcomed into our home. We recently determined that she also suffers Feline Spatial Disorientation Syndrome (FSDS)—a disorder in which cats mistakenly believe that the dinner table is actually a floor, and they walk across it at will.

And now this. A facial embarrassment that causes the paparazzi to push cameras into her face when she’s trying to nap, and wins her unsought publicity on family blogs.

Yet God, in His mercy, cares not only about every sparrow that falls, but also every cat that possibly pushed that sparrow out of the tree. And Zinnia is high on His list of cats to bless. She has graduated from the boot camp of fleas and worms, and has emerged stronger for having endured this pestilence. Despite her infant-sized, six-pound frame, she now chases the White Beast around the house, her tail puffed ominously, letting him know in no uncertain terms that SHE is The Boss and has NO FEAR of him. She is lovingly scooped off the table and cooed over by family members who apparently believe a little cat hair in their food is good protein. And EVERYONE in the family agrees that, large lip or not, she is an absolutely beautiful cat, and we wouldn’t trade her for anything!

What’s more, she is blessed to be the inspiration for a potential country music song, as evidenced by the title of this post. We came up with the song title…anyone interested in writing the lyrics? :-)

Posted by Betsy

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert!

Earlier in the week, we were blessed with the opportunity of seeing Steven Curtis Chapman in concert! We had seen him once before when he was touring with Casting Crowns and Chris Tomlin, but we hadn’t seen him in several years, and not since his daughter Maria died in a tragic car accident three years ago.

The concert was awesome, and such an encouragement to us! It was actually an acoustic concert with just Steven Curtis Chapman playing a guitar and piano (but not at the same time of course! J) He played old songs, new songs, and talked about his family and how God has been working in their lives since the accident. I could never imagine going through the things they have gone through in the past 3 years, but I know God is allowing them to use this pain for His glory. They truly believe that this pain and tragedy is something God has entrusted to them to steward and use to help others grow closer to the Lord.

I had been praying that the Lord would speak to me at the concert, because oftentimes He uses music to bring encouragement to me during difficult times. But I wasn’t really expecting what impacted me: the discussion of adoption. During the music video, while Steven Curtis Chapman played the song, “When Love Takes You In” I began to cry. I’m not really sure why, because adoption has never been something that our family has discussed nor something that I could be a part of at this stage of life. I think it was seeing the children in the movie that broke my heart. I began to think about all that God has blessed me with in this life, especially a family that loves me. Thinking about all of the children who don’t have two parents who love them dearly, siblings to grow up with, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. saddened me. How could someone grow up without knowing the love of a family?

I struggled with where to go after feeling that conviction at the concert and not wanting to just brush it aside, so for right now I have committed the matter to prayer. Maybe the Lord wants adoption to be a part of my future!

One thing that struck me with Steven Curtis Chapman’s discussion on adoption, was how he paralleled it with our relationship with Christ. John 1:2 says, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” As totally depraved humans, we didn’t do anything to deserve God’s love. He sent His only Son to die for us, even though we did nothing to deserve it! We don’t deserve to be His children. But He loves us anyway and calls us His children. We serve a great God! I am so thankful we were able to go to the concert, so that I could be reminded of this wonderful truth!

Morels

Guess what we found in our own backyard? Morel mushrooms! I personally don’t recall eating them before, but I’m told they’re the “Cadillac” of mushrooms. We look forward to foraging for more and enjoying the ones we’ve found. Does anyone have good recipes that use morels? We’d love to know!

Dog in Training

As I mentioned last week, we had an Invisible Fence® put in to keep Mikey contained on our property. He is generally a good dog, but he has a habit of running away and playing “chase” all over the neighborhood.

A few weeks ago, we had someone come out to the house and tell us about the Invisible Fence® brand and how the fence and training works. We discussed it for a few days, decided which package we wanted, and then made an appointment!

So on Tuesday, the trainer came to our house to begin the indoor training. But first she took Mikey outside to see how much he knew, how pushy he was, and how he responded to different commands. He did really well with her and was very obedient. He just has to know who’s in charge. J We then headed inside to set everything up. After a few difficulties with missing parts, she made holes in Mikey’s nylon collar, put the computer unit on, and did some training.



This is the indoor unit at the top of our basement stairs.
Photo by Roma.



After putting the indoor unit as well as flags at the top of our basement stairs (we don’t want him in the basement because that’s the cat’s personal space) she tested to see how he responded to the lowest level of shocking. He pretty much ignored it and went after the treat she offered him. She let us feel the shock, and it felt like the static shocks you get when you touch something in the winter time. The collar beeps as a warning as well. She turned up the shock one notch, and tried it again. Several times he ignored the beeping and tried to get the treat, but then he finally “got it” and started backing off.



He’s not so quick to run for the treat now.

Photo by Roma.



For the next few days, we left the indoor unit on and Mikey was good at staying out of the basement. Then on Thursday, a gentleman from Invisible Fence® came to actually install the perimeter fence!



This is the machine used to place the wire underneath the ground.



Hard at work installing the wire.


After hitting the phone lines once (oops, we forgot to call the company beforehand! It really is important to “call before you dig!”), it was finally installed and so were the flags used for training.



The flags lining the perimeter of our field.

Photo by Roma.



After the fence was installed, the trainer came by again to work with Mikey. We took him outside to teach him where his boundaries are.



Here she works with him on the command “out.”

Photo by Roma.



Surprisingly, he was pretty afraid of all the flags. This was a shock to us, because he is usually a boundary-pusher and throws doggy tantrums when he doesn’t get his way. But we literally had to coax him to go to the backyard, and then into the field.



Everyone heads to the field with Mikey.

Photo by Roma.



We actually let him play in the yard without anyone holding his leash for awhile. It’s been a few days now since she came, and he is still good about staying inside his boundaries. In fact, for awhile, he wouldn’t even go on the driveway because he was too nervous about the flags. But he is getting more confident, and each day we walk him all around the property to remind him of his boundaries. This week, the trainer will be coming back and working more with him, as he will probably not be bothered by the level of shocking then and she will move it up to a permanent containment level. I will post more about our Invisible Fence® adventure soon!