Baby On The Way!!

We've been waiting to let everyone know, but now that we are 12 weeks along and we were able to hear our baby's heartbeat this morning at our doctor visit, we felt like now was a good time to share the news that NATALIE IS PREGNANT!!

We praise God for the progress so far and continue to pray for His goodness and grace. Please keep us in your prayers over the next 6-7 months. We will keep you posted. DUE DATE: August 9th, 2008!

The Original Human TETRIS Performance by Guillaume Reymond

I received the link to this video in the Youth Specialties update I received this week. Thought I would post it for all of you TETRIS fans out there to enjoy.

We Heart Cynthia

This is a video that Joel and some of the kids at church put together for Cynthia. Enjoy!

Blog for Cynthia

I wanted to encourage all of you to check out the blog that was put together for our friend Cynthia. The blog will be used to provide everyone with the latest updates, as well as to give all of us an opportunity to leave encouraging words and comments for Cynthia to read.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Cynthia is a 10 year old girl from our church who recently found out that she needs a heart transplant. She has an important surgery tomorrow (Wednesday). We will let you know how that goes. Please continue to pray for Cynthia and her family, and if you get a chance, leave her a note of encouragement on her blog.

CLICK HERE to go to the blog.

Lost

Due to the writer strike this year, most of our favorite shows will not be on or will not have any new episodes this spring. Since there are at least some new Lost episodes coming, Natalie and I have been trying to catch up. We have never watched the show, but in the last week we have watched nearly the entire first season (thanks to the Bakers for letting us borrow it). It has been great and addicting. I know a little bit about what happens in later seasons, so it is great to fill in the gaps a bit.We have enjoyed it. Now we only need to get our hands on the second and third seasons before the end of January.

New Posts for the New Year

Sorry for the absence of new posts for such a long time. We have been very busy and have not had a lot of time to update. Hope you enjoy some of the new "old" posts for the new year. We will try to keep things updated for you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's Eve with our friends, Drew and Ashley Baker and their little Baker boy, Evan. Before we went to their house we played a quick game of Rock Star with Joel, Nicole, and some of their friends.

Then it was off to the Baker's. We ordered subs and wings and watched some old Office episodes while we waited for the ball to drop. Thanks to the Bakers for a great time!

We spent the night at Natalie's parents then and are just hanging out here at their house today watching football and updating the blog.

Cynthia

Sunday after church, Phil, Kathy, Natalie, and I went to Indy to visit with a girl from our church who found out last week that she will need a heart transplant. She is down at Riley hospital and will have to stay there until a heart becomes available.

The news was very upsetting for us, but we are trusting God to work out what is best in all of this. Please keep Cynthia in your prayers. We will keep you posted. You can also check out our friends' (Phil and Kathy) blog for updates.

We are working on the possibility of creating a page that will be a part of our church's website. We will keep you up to date if we get something up and running.

We love you Cynthia!

Coney Island

Every year we go with Natalie's family to Coney Island at Christmas time. We check out the huge Santa Claus light display and eat plenty of coney dogs. Every year I consider going for the record (24 dogs in an hour), but have never wanted to spend the money on that many hot dogs. Maybe next year!

Christmas Get-Togethers

We had our normal 7 family get-togethers for Christmas this year. We started by getting together with the Spaw's (Natalie's dad's side of the family) early on Sunday December 9th. Then, we got together with my dad, Becky, Taryn, and Arin at our house on Friday 12/21. Later that night Natalie and I opened each other's gifts to each other (she needed one of the gifts that I got her to make the chocolate bark that she made the next day).

Then we got together with the Todd family (Natalie's mom's side of the family) on Sunday 12/23 after church. On Monday 12/24 we went to the Ward's (Tyler's dad's side of the family) and then headed up to my mom's to get together with her and Greg. We finished up our Christmas Eve with a special service at church.

On Christmas day we went to Natalie's parents' for brunch and gifts. Then we went to the Nelson's (Tyler's mom's side of the family) for lunch and gifts. Finally, we ended the day with games and fun back at Natalie's parents' house.

Dad and my uncle Wayne (dad's brother) at the Ward's.

Playing cards at the Ward's.

Opening our new toaster oven from John and Mary.

Group picture at the Todd's.

Opening cologne from Natalie.

One of the fake gifts I gave Natalie to throw her off. I got her a bigger gift this year that I didn't want her to suspect, so I put a few fake gifts under the tree to make her think she got a bunch of smaller gifts rather than a few big gifts. It worked like a charm!

Natalie holding the calendar of me that I made for her.

Becky opening one of her gifts from us.

Natalie fighting with Taryn over the gift dad got her.

One of the shirts that dad got me.

No Church

On Sunday December 16th, for the first time since I have been pastor at LWC we cancelled church due to the weather. Since we didn't have church, Natalie, Jenny, Aaron, Christy, and I all got together for breakfast and then hung out all day napping, watching TV, playing games, and eating food. It was a nice unexpected day off.

Jordan's Birthday

For Jordan's birthday this year, we went to eat at Texas Roadhouse. We hadn't been there for long time so it really hit the spot. Afterward we came back to our house for some yummy cake.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with the Spaw family this year at Jerry and Beth Spaw's house. We had plenty of great food and enjoyed some good football and fun.

Notre Dame vs. Duke

For the last ND home game of the season, Natalie, Aaron, and Jenny came with me to the game. We enjoyed the only home win of the season for the Irish. Natalie, Aaron, and Jenny had great seats, and we all had a great time.

Trunk-R-Treat

On Halloween we had our annual Trunk-R-Treat event at LWC. We park a bunch of cars in our church parking lot and the decorate them for Halloween. The kids then Trick-Or-Treat walking from car to car. Below are a few pictures from the night.

Youth Specialties Conference

The first weekend in November Natalie, Joel, Aaron, and Jenny and I headed to St. Louis for the National Youth Workers Convention. Natalie and I went several years ago when I was a youth pastor and we loved it so much that we wanted to have all of us go as a ministry team together.

We left on Thursday night November 1st and drove about 4 hours. We stayed the night in Effingham (what a name right!) and only had about 2 hours left on Friday morning. The conference started at 1 pm on Friday and wrapped up on Monday around noon.

It was a great experience for all of us. We enjoyed the speakers, the worship, the comedy night, and the good times together. On the way home we added a little more to the story by accidentally taking the wrong exit out of St. Louis heading north instead of east. We had a nice tour of Springfield, Illinois.