Big News

So, I know that this blog has been neglected for quite a while here.  It just seems that my time is very short these days.  Thank God for Facebook updates so many of you can still keep up.  But today is a day to broadcast.

On December 23rd our family will be in court to become a family officially.  That is right folks, the long strange trip called adoption will be final before the end of the year.  Merry Christmas to us!!  After years of struggle our girls will have their case closed.  What a relief!!  Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers the past two years.  

More info to come, but for now raise a glass and say a toast, because today is a day to celebrate!

October 31st

Yeah, Yeah...busy, busy, no other excuse for not posting. I have a few minutes while the girls are napping to give you a quick update and a homage to this day.

Jill has been gone all week in Seattle at a conference so thanks to some good friends, I survived. The girls are really excited to go trick-or-treating tonight. Our oldest has a great butterfly costume but she is rebelling and will most likely go as Tinkerbell. Our youngest was going to be a ladybug but now that her sister is going at Tink, she wants to be Cinderella. We got some pumpkins today and I tried my hand a carving a bat. I think it went pretty well (I used a pattern, I'm not that good). I will post pictures later (maybe). The girls pumpkins are like Mr. Potato Heads. Jill has some cool pieces that make a pirate pumpkin and a princess pumpkin, potato head style. We will do those once the girls wake up.

My time is running out and I still need to do some cleaning up before the girls wake up but I wanted to leave you with a few videos for the other holiday today. Enjoy...

Nail Polish

There are a few things that I do not do as a dad. #1 Playdough- I hate the stuff. It stinks, it gets all over the place, bits of dirt and sand get in it not to mention hair (gross). So the girls pretty much know not to ask me to do playdough. #2 Nail Polish- Some of you know I am very sensitive to smells and nothing sets me off more than nail polish and its evil cousin nail polish remover. That stuff is just vile. So, the girls paint their nails when I am not at home and that was the case a few weeks ago. This time was a bit different because the girls got their first crack at painting their nails by themselves. They loved it and when I got home I was greeted with the following from my oldest, "Dad, know what? Mommy let us paint our nails by ourselves and they are soooooo gorgeous." My youngest chimed in, "You wanna see mine? Mine are adorable!" They proceeded to show me their nails and now I must share with you. So please enjoy the magic that is my daughters self painted nails.  If you click on the pictures you will see a bigger and more glorious version.  

What a month...

I know it has been a while and it may take some of you a while before you find that there is a new post but I have a few minutes to let you know that I am not dead or anything. The past month has been quite full. I have been adjusting to life after seminary and that comes with more meetings and other commitments at church that keep me busy. My ordination is on Sunday and I have been busy getting things in order for that. My home computer was in the shop for a week getting a new hard drive so I was out of computer land for a while. It was weird, I actually read the physical newspaper and a few magazines in the evening. It was quite refreshing. Nothing new to report in regards to the adoption, still waiting.

I did take my oldest to an Angel game a few weeks back. She had a blast and I think she will be my baseball buddy. She loved everything about the game, the snacks, the fireworks, the rally monkey, and dressing in her red shirt. She talks a lot about going back. I can't wait to take her. I leave you with the first picture I have posted of one of my children. My friend Sara took it at the game and I just love it. Enjoy...

Highlights

Sorry for the delay in posting.  We have had various family in town in between trips for me and trying to get in to the office on a regular basis and low and behold, not much extra time for posting.  I guess this will be just be a highlight blog:

-The girls have finished up dance class, swim lessons and the last day of summer day camp is tomorrow so I hate to say that summer is wrapping up.

-The girls got new lunch boxes and they can't stop talking about them.  Our oldest got a Tinkerbell one and our youngest has Disney Princesses.

-Jill has officially gone part time at school so she should have more time to devote to the student success program.

-I am off to San Carlos Mexico for a week of SCUBA diving with some buddies of mine.  We are making the 16 hour drive and I am looking forward to getting away for a while.

- I know I have said this before, but we hope that adoption thing will be final by the end of October.  It has been a long road and knowing how things go I will not be surprised if things go until January.  Please keep praying!!

- We had a lot of family in town over the weekend.  My parents were here along with my aunt, my sister and her family and two brothers.  It was a blast being together again.  

I am sure I could come up with a few more but I have to go to the bank and then get a haircut.  I will be out of communication for about a week (and loving it) so I will post again late next week.  Until then...

VACATION!!

I am under the gun so I will make this quick. No free internet at the Welk Resort so the clock is ticking on my 30 min of internet use. We are all enjoying our vacation here in San Deigo. We went to Legoland yesterday. Very underwhelming. It was not bad, but not great. There were a few things that were run down, and some things that just did not work. It was evident that Disney was not in charge.

We did have an earthquake yesterday. We did not feel it but all the rides closed down for a while so they could do some safety checks. We touched base with our Long Beach friends and all was well with them and with our house as well.

We are taking a lazy day today, kicking back by the pool etc. and are on our way to Sea World in the morning. That is about all I have time for. I will post more later. Until then...

Standard Update

I am back from Alaska and have just about caught up on sleep.  This summer is turning out to be the babysitter shuffle with Jill and I passing at lunch.  Jill has been working mornings and I go in at lunch when Jill gets back.  This morning I took the girls to a movie.  The Regal Cinemas in California show free movies on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.  There is always a G and a PG option.  We choose the G option today and saw The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything- A Veggie Tales Movie.  The girls liked it but I thought it was a snoozer.  In fact I think I did doze off a few times.  

Jill also had to take a continuing ed class for our foster care license so I was on my own for swimming lessons, dinner, bath, and a video.  As I type, the girls are watching Marry Poppins in the living room.  This weekend is our niece's birthday party.  She loves the color orange so she is having an orange party.  It should be fun.  We are also going on a short vacation down to San Diego.  We will see some friends, spend time in the pool and go to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World.  It should be fun.  I will let you know how it goes later.  Until then...

In Alaska

Hey all. I am writing to you from beautiful Big Lake Alaska where I am joined by a team of others from church to teach VBS this week. Time is really short so I just wanted to direct you to our church's blog where we will be posting updates and some pictures from the week. Feel free to click here to go to the Bethany Blog. Talk to you all soon.

I am in Alaska mode!

Well I made it.  It is Tuesday and here I am giving an update.  Not much to say today other than the countdown for Mission Alaska 2008 is on.  I leave on Friday with 27 others from church to go to Alaska to teach VBS.  I hope to blog about our experience next week on my work blog (www.bethanylutheran.blogspot.com).  If it doesn't update then we have not found internet access but I am hopeful.  This week brings with it the avalanche of phone calls to the airlines, the rental car company, the mission trip organizer, the site administrators, and a few others.  Not to mention fielding questions from our own group.  I am really looking forward to this year.  Last year I had to leave early to attend class (boo!) but this year I am in for the duration.  We have the largest group going this year every and that has its own challenges, but I am looking forward to seeing some old friends and meeting new ones.  Well it is getting late and I need some rest.  

One last thing, nothing new on the adoption front.  The court date went well and we got good news regarding it but we still have not heard anything about finalization yet.  I will keep you posted.  I doubt I will post next week from Alaska unless we find a great connection.  Talk to you in a few weeks.

A day late and a dollar short...

Well it is now Wednesday night and I am typing up my Tuesday update.  I guess better late than never.  I really don't have much time but I did want to mention that we took the girls to their first movie in the theatre today.  It was one of the girls friends birthdays and we all met at the beautiful El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.  Disney owns the place and they sure know how to do it up right.  The place is beautiful, the pre-show was great and we all loved the Pixar movie WALL-E.   I would highly recommend this film for all ages.  If you are not fond of sharing a theatre with copious amounts of children, steer clear of the El Cap for this one.  

The girls loved the movie.  Our oldest was in heaven.  She loved the "giant TV screen" (her words) and she was transfixed throughout the film.  She laughed, she snuggled, and she asked a lot of questions.  Our youngest was fine at first but towards the end she asked to go home.  She even talked to the movie a few times which was super cute.   After the movie we all went to their friends house for pizza and cupcakes.  On the way home the girls fell asleep and are now zonked out in the next room.  It was a great day and I am looking forward to taking them to another movie sometime soon.  This is not a trailer but you can get an idea of what WALL-E is like from this short clip:

Have a great week and I will talk to you soon...

Where has the week gone??

So my brother did a VBS post this week so I guess I will join him.  This week is VBS at my home church.  It is a blast but oh so much work.  For the past few years I have coordinated the opening skits and this year I have taken over the whole opening program.  I have not been the biggest fan of the curriculum that we have used the past few years but perhaps I can have some input next year.  Our theme this year is "God's Big Backyard".  It is a theme with potential and the kids seem to be having fun.  Our girls are really liking VBS.  I don't know what they will think next week where there is no more VBS to go to.  

Our mission Alaska team also does a hot dog lunch as a fundraiser at the end of VBS so between directing puppets and cooking hot dogs it has been a busy couple of days.  Not to mention that we had a flamingo triage set up today to fix a number of broken legs of our plastic gold mines.  These birds have brought in over $2200 so far!  If you are not sure what I am talking about you might want to scroll down and read the post about flamingos.  Anyway it was quite a site with over 30 plastic birds lying on the stage in the gym.  After about an hour they all got a clean bill of health and are off to infest more yards tonight.  

Our mission trip to Alaska is coming up soon as well.  We have been feverishly working on fundraising and we only need about $2000 more to make our goal.  We leave on July 11th and return home on the 20th.  It will be round two of VBS for many of us since that is the main thing we do in Alaska.  

Tomorrow is a court date for the girls.  We are cautiously optimistic that we may see the light at the end of the tunnel.  We ask for your prayers so that this long and drawn out procedure comes to a close and everything will be final.  I will keep you posted.

Well, I am going to cut it short tonight so good night and have a great week here in God's Big Backyard (sorry had a VBS flashback.......)

Summertime!!

Summer has begun in our house and our schedules have been turned upside-down.  This week the girls are going to Vacation Bible School with their cousins in Orange.  So far it has been good but it is a drive in the AM and Jill and I have been juggling our work schedules to make it happen.  The girls have been singing the songs and loving their time at VBS.  Next week all the girls will be at VBS in Long Beach so the fun continues.  The girls also started swim lessons today.  This is their second year in swim lessons and they did not miss a beat.  Our oldest was back at it floating on her back and jumping in the water.  Our youngest was simply a fish...she was awesome and jumped in from the side on multiple occasions.  We hope that by the end of the summer they will both be able to take some breaths and make it to the side of the pool without help.

With the end of the school year came a great surprise for me.  When we picked up the girls last week we received a portfolio of the girls work for the year.  It was a blast seeing the difference between what they did back in September compared to what they can do today.  One thing that was neat to me was a sheet called "all about me".  I found it fascinating how things have changed.   Here is what our youngest said back in September:

Where do I live? (no answer)

My family is...mommy

My favorite animal is...a giraffe

My favorite food is...pizza

My favorite toy is... (no answer)

Here is what she said at the end of May:

Where do I live? A red house (well our door is red)

My family is... mommy, daddy, nanna, sister

My favorite animal is...an elephant

My favorite food is...bananas

My favorite toy is...cars

But the thing the really amazed me was her measurements.  In September our youngest weighed 31 lbs and was 2 feet 3 inches.  In May she weighed 36 lbs and was 3 feet tall.  She grew NINE inches in one school year!!!! I knew she was growing but that is amazing.

Our oldest also had an "All About Me" page and here are her answers from September.  It is a bit different because she had a different teacher.

My favorite color is...Red.

I like to eat...chicken nuggets

My favorite toy is...colors

My favorite story is...Mulan

I like to play...Teddy Bears

I like to wear...a skirt

When I am at school I like to...play on the swing

When I am at home I like to...play with toys

For those of you who know our oldest you can see that there are a few differences in this list today.  Our oldest is not shy in telling you that her favorite color is most definitely blue, her favorite food is just about anything but she loves fruit, she still loves to color.  Her favorite story is anything from Veggie Tales.  She likes to play Barbies and still loves skirts.  She loves to swing and at home she likes to sing and play with the housekeeping corner.

Well if you know me, you know that I like to keep stuff.  I have a few boxes of treasures in the garage and in a few minutes the girls preschool portfolios will be added to the collection.  I can't wait to pull them out in a few years and reminisce.  Talk to you next week, until then....

Pedometers

As I was strolling the dollar aisle a few weeks back with my girls, looking for celebration prizes I saw that there was a pedometer for just a buck. What a deal! (What does the Moorman bird say? Cheap, Cheap, Cheap!) I had always thought that having a pedometer would be cool. It would be neat to see how far one walks each day. I also thought that it would be a good motivational tool for me to stay active. So on May 23 I started wearing my new pedometer and did so every day for over a week. It was a good gage as to how active I was during the day. I started logging my steps every day as well. All was going well until on June 4th the darn thing broke. What can you expect from the dollar aisle? The thing did have a fatal flaw. The reset button was right up front and I unintentionally hit it on many occasions (see below). So now I am committed. I have gotten into a good habit and now the cheap step counter was not working. So off to Sports Chalet I go. After a bit of searching I found the pedometers and "walked" away with a new one (see picture) for a bit more than a buck. So my counting of steps continues and my goal is 10,000 a day. I will say I have made it only twice this past week but I did have two days of 9000+ so I am on my way. Today was 14,610 which included time at the gym and a walk to the grocery store. I guess my encouragement to you is to find something that works as stick with it. Until next week....

Flamingo Season

I know, I know, two more weeks have gone by and no post from me. It seems that in all of my spare time since school has been out I have found ways to stay busy. Right now I am in the middle of flamingo season. What is flamingo season you may ask? Let me tell you...better yet, let me show you:



So I have been knee deep in flamingos and the season closes the end of the month. I hope that in the end we will have raised a good amount of money for our mission trip to Alaska. Well I am off to spread another flock to another yard. See ya!!

Wow...two weeks since my last post!

Hi folks, so sorry for not posting last week but I was at the happiest place on earth with my girls. It was the first real day off I have had in a while so I used it to spend the day twirling in circles, waiting in line, and watching for princesses. I had to work all day today because of some scheduling reasons but I still wanted to post today.

Nothing new on the adoption front. Once again we are waiting for a court date. The next date is June 26th. And once again, we are hopeful that this will be the last one until a finalization hearing. I will keep you posted. We did find out that because things have taken so long, Jill and I have to renew our foster care license. That means that we have to take 18 hours of continuing education in the next few weeks. I have already completed six hours and Jill has done three. We both have to take the entire day off on Thursday to attend a foster and kinship care conference. It will be a long day but they will feed us breakfast and lunch at no cost. We hope to get at least six hours of continuing ed hours each for the day.

One quick thing from from our youngest. Her new phrase is "What in the heck in the world!" She says it when she is excited. We have just had a spell of hot weather here (90 + degrees) and we went to a friends condo to use the pool and when we told the girls, our youngest busts our her new phrase, followed quickly by her big sister who says, "Rock on Dude!" I am not sure where they pick these things up but they sure are funny.

I guess the biggest thing was my graduation a week or so back. Here are some pictures (thanks to my friend Josh for being the photographer).

My Great Aunt

Tomorrow my Great Aunt Edna turns 100!  What an accomplishment.  She is my fathers aunt, my grandfathers sister and she lives in Indiana.  She is something else.  I have come to appreciate her more and more as I hear more about her.   I want to share what her local paper said about her so you can get to know a bit about this wonderful lady.  The following is from the Jackson County Tribune:

Her life, Her way

By JOANNE PERSINGER

Edna Moorman Dye remembers exactly what people said when she came home from Indianapolis and went to church at Borchers one particular Sunday.

"Edna Moorman's got a car!" was the first thing that was gasped.

"Oh, and she's driving it!" was the second.

That was in a time when women didn't, as a rule, drive a car, let alone own one. They didn't usually finish high school, either, and they especially didn't go away to the big city to go to business school.

Why should they, when they could go to work right away in a factory, or marry and settle down?

That might be what other young women did, but Edna had plans of her own, even when she was a youngster in school.

"When we were studying geography, I said, ‘I'm going to see that,' and everybody laughed at me."

As it turned out, Dye, who now lives in Seymour and will mark her 100th birthday on May 7, has been to all 50 states and several foreign countries. She lived for a time in Alaska before it became a state, and when she was 87, she visited the Panama Canal.

It would have been hard to predict the adventures she would have when she began life on May 7, 1908, in Bartholomew County. Born at home to August and Elizabeth Moorman, she grew up on a farm, complete with cows and pigs and chickens.

"We'd come home from school and Mom would say, ‘Change your clothes and feed the chickens,'" Dye said.

Kids today, she added, "don't know how good they've got it."

Dye and her sister, Frieda, and her brother, Roy, would walk two miles to school. Later, Dye drove a horse and buggy to school. She would get out for lunch 15 minutes early so she could feed the horse.

"Oh, those were the horse and buggy days," she laughed.

She graduated from Cortland in 1927, an accomplishment in itself. Many girls attended school only until they were 16, the required age at which the law allowed them to leave, but Dye was determined to graduate.

"I liked school," she said. "A lot of girls quit at 16."

Frieda had gone to work and was already making money, and, "the neighbors thought it was terrible" that Dye's parents were going to pay to send her to college when instead she could have been working and making money.

"Then, when I bought a car ...," she said, laughing again.

But Dye was off to business school in Indianapolis, studying shorthand and typing. Her first job was with the U.S. Rubber Co.

She kept busy with work and friends and enjoyed dancing. On a visit home, she also was planning to go to a dance, but this time, Frieda put her foot down. Go to the dance Edna might, but she would not be wearing that flapper dress.

It was at a dance, in fact, that she met her future husband, Byferd Dye, who was from Kokomo. Edna had a friend who had a brother at Fort Benjamin Harrison, where Byferd was stationed with the U.S. Army, and Edna and Byferd met and hit it off.

On April 25, 1935, they married - eloped, actually.

"We were married two or three months before we told anybody," Edna said.

Secrecy was required so that Edna could keep her job; she wouldn't have been allowed to work had it been known that she was married. So they said their vows in a chapel in Indianapolis, and eventually, Byferd got a promotion, enabling Edna to quit work.

Byferd stayed in the service, and a couple of years after they married, he and Edna started their family. Their two sons were both born at Fort Harrison. William lives in California and James, a pastor, lives at Southport. The Dyes' daughter, Jacque Schultheis, who was born in Texas, lives at Seymour. There are seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

When Dye's husband retired, they moved back to the Cortland area. Dye worked for the Indiana Telephone Co. for several years. She started out as an operator and eventually became a night supervisor before she retired.

Through the years, Dye has enjoyed dancing, quilting, playing cards and doing volunteer work.

She mowed her own grass until she was 87, and drove her 1975 Hornet until she was 91.

An open house is being held in her honor from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. May 11 in the social room at Lutheran Community Home. All family and friends are invited.

Lets all take a moment and thank the Lord for the blessings of life and family and give a shout for 100 years of life for Edna!

With final exams next week and a ton on my plate this will be a highlight blog today:

(In no particular order)

#1- The girls had a court date on the 17th but their case was extended and the next court date is June 26th.  Once again we are delayed.  I pray that this is the last time.

#2- As a direct result of #1, Jill and I each need to put in 8 hours of continuing education for our foster care license.  We had hoped not to have to do this but we have no choice.  I will be in class for three hours tomorrow morning (not looking forward to that one)

#3-  Our youngest had a nightmare last week and nighttime has been an adventure ever since.  When the sun goes down the tears start.  Our saving grace has been Nanna with the "monster spray".

#4- Even though Seminary is almost over it is looking more and more that ordination will not take place until later in the summer.  I was hoping for June but it looks like it will be later now.  More info to come...

#5-  I have to make another trip to the doctor with the girls on Friday.  If you know the history there you will be praying.  

#6-  Our oldest went to the dentist the other week and was a trooper.  She had a great check-up and wants to go back.  We will see how long that lasts.

#7- The girls just got back from a walk with Nanna so I got to go and do jammies and teeth.  Have a great week...

The joys of a 3 year old

Today I want to talk a little about the three year old I share a house with. She is just the cutest little thing you have ever seen but there is a good reason God makes them so cute at this age. Our youngest has been a bit of a pill the past few days. She has been a bit crabby and whiny and doesn't like to listen right now. I want to share a few of her stories with you.

On Saturday we were at Jill's sisters house in Orange. Our families try to get together at some point every weekend. At around nap time our youngest was being quite a pill. She was tired and needed to sleep but did not want to give up having fun. Jill finally scooped her up off the floor where she was moping and told her to stop being so cranky. Without missing a beat, our little princess quips back, "I'm not cranky, see my happy face!?!" She then proceeds to flash the greatest smiley face you have ever seen. It was hysterical. We were all rolling. Finally after some drama about a water cup she finally fell asleep for about 3 hours!

On Sunday night before bedtime, the girls were talking about what movie they wanted to watch. It was our youngest's turn to pick and she told us that she picked "Buzz Lightyear". OK, no problem we pulled out Toy Story put it in the VCR (yes we still have one) only to have her collapse into a ball on the floor of the living room in a tizzy saying, "NO! I don't want this one!!!!" Jill and I tried to make peace and tell her this is what she chose, but she would have none of it! I finally calmed her down with a few deep breaths and asked her again what movie she wanted and she told me "Bugs Lifeyear". For those of you who know your Pixar Animation movies you can see how she got confused. What she really wanted was "Bugs Life" but got confused with the character of "Buzz Lightyear" from Toy Story. She finally pulled herself together and settled in and enjoyed her movie.

We have been having a few glimpses of summer around here and last week during nap time it was quite warm. Now our youngest likes to be completely covered up when she sleeps. From head to toe. She calls it "hiding". Well it was over 80 degrees outside and she covered herself up with a double layer fleece blanket for a few hours. When Jill finally came to wake her up she was soaked. Not just moist but she left a spot the size of seven year old on her bed. She soaked through all her clothes,the blanket, the pillow, etc. Thank God for waterproof mattress pads! She was wreck! She thought she wet the bed, but no, it was just a few gallons of sweat from a three year old (YUCK!!).

One more...Our littlest disparately wants to be 40 lbs. Why? Because that means she can ditch the carseat and use the booster seat. We keep telling her that she needs to eat all her dinner and veggies, etc. so she can grow. We have been taking full advantage of this at nighttime too by telling her that she needs to sleep so she can grow. So the other day she gets into the van and goes right to the back where we have a few booster seats for our nieces. She sits down and tells me that she has eaten all her dinner and is bigger now so she can sit in the booster seat. I could almost see her heart break as I told her that she was not 40 lbs yet. After some tears and some coaxing I finally got her into her carseat. As of yesterday she was at 36 lbs so we still have four pounds of encouragement time to use.

OK enough about our little one. I will try to give equal time to our oldest at some point but the short story is, she is growing into a very polite young girl. She has her moments, but she has me wrapped around her finger and I love it. Talk to you next week

The Week that was...

So here we sit...without a blog from last week.  Believe me, I heard from the adoring crowd.  Many of you waiting with baited breath for the happenings in my life.  But lets say that life has gotten the best of me for a few weeks and blogging has not been a part of it.  So to appease the masses here are the highlights of the past two weeks:

-I went on two field trips this week, one was to help the Jr. High at Bethany and chaperone a trip the California Science Center.  Very cool indeed.  The other was to the Santa Ana Zoo with the preschool.  The girls loved to watch the monkeys and learned what an Emu is.

-I have been knee deep in my Seminary class and in particular Franz Pieper's Christian Dogmatics Vol. III.  I have read and digested almost 400 pages in the past three weeks.  I even had a presentation on a portion of it (can you say ex opere operato?)

-My last research paper for Seminary is almost done.  Let me know if you want to read a paper titled "The Sinners Role in Conversion".  Lots of Greek and the dreaded crux theologorum (don't ask).

-Taxes....blah!!!!!!!

- Confirmation was this past weekend at Church.  I had two mentees that I have been working with this year go through the witness service and were both confirmed in the faith on Sunday.  I could not be more proud.  Good job Alex and Ryan!  I am proud of you both!

-The girls have a court date this Thursday and I have been feverishly been getting all the needed paperwork in including going to necessary doctors and dentist appointments.  Talk about time killers.

-  I started teaching a new round of Bible studies last week and things are going quite well but it is taking more time than I anticipated.

-  The best news of the week came in the form of an email I received this week and I share it with you:

Dear Brother in Christ:
As Director of Certification at Concordia Seminary, I am very happy to let you know that you were included in the motion that the faculty passed at its meeting on Thursday, April 10. The motion reads as follows: Moved, that the faculty express its satisfaction that each of the following men will meet all personal, professional, and theological requirements for the office of ordained minister, declare each of them to be of entry level competency and qualified for a first call, and recommend each of them, subject to the satisfactory completion of the appropriate course of studies, his receipt of a Theological Diploma or Certificate, and his receipt and acceptance of a call assigned to him by the Board of Assignments.
We praise God for his work in your life, and we rejoice with you as you move closer to service as a pastor in our church. May the Lord keep you safe and joyful as you complete your studies and prepare to serve.
Cordially in the Risen Christ,

Dr. Jeff Gibbs

Concordia Seminary
Office of the President
801 Seminary Place
St. Louis, MO 63105

So even though I have not had time to blog, things are going well for me.  Please understand that you may not get another update for two weeks or so.  Please don't think ill of me.  Talk to you soon....

Celebration Charts

Last week Jill and I decided it was time to get some motivation rolling with the girls.  Getting dressed in the mornings and putting on PJs at night was starting to become a chore.  The girls are big enough to do it on their own but would prefer some help.  Jill and I were done "helping" in the normal way and decided to help with the use of a "Celebration Chart".  Jill made up some good old sticker charts with spots for each time the girls get dressed without any help.  It has been working great and we have been singing "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang as our theme song.  Today our oldest finished up her first page and we went to Target to choose a celebration treat.  We listened to "Celebration" on the iPod as we went and our oldest was so excited!  She chose a dinosaur coloring page with some markers from the dollar aisle and she was just beaming.  Tonight the girls each earned a sticker and our youngest will be making a trip to Target soon.  The only downside to all of this is the fact that I can't get Kool & the Gang out of my head so would you please hit play on the following video so I won't be lonely in my funk groove.  Please....

The Long and Winding Road

Hey folks.  With my tease from last week I bet you were all waiting for the great post about spring training baseball but lets just say I am TIRED!  We left for the Phoenix area on Sunday afternoon and soon into the trip I remembered that traveling with two vans and five kids under six years old makes for a long day.  We arrived in the valley of the sun way past sunset and promptly went to sleep.  I shared a bed with my oldest and Jill had our youngest next to her.  What that means is that mom and dad don't get much sleep.  So after a long road trip and not much sleep I found myself in Maryvale Stadium watching the Milwaukee Brewers play the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday.  At one point, as I was baking in the sun (because I forgot to pack my hat) I looked at my friend Matt and said, "I will buy you a beer if you can tell me what inning it is and what the score is."  No answer from Matt and I could not help either.  Needless to say, two Angels fans watching national league teams play as we were "catching some rays (not the hint of sarcasm)" did not make for intent watching or critiquing of each pitch.  We did have some great conversation and the group from my church had a blast.  The best part was that as we were going into the stadium a bus pulled up and a bunch of the Angels got out to have an unannounced inter-squad game.  The kiddos in the group got to watch it up close and got some cool autographs.  

Today was another long day in the car and I am happy to be home.  Now it is off to bed looking forward to another long day tomorrow.  This time it is work and school.  Overall the trip to AZ was great.  It was wonderful to see family and catch a little bit of baseball.  If you ever get a chance to go to spring training I highly recommend it.  Good night and I will talk to you next week.

Totally forgot...

It has been quite a week and as I was in my office working on the details for Holy Week, Easter, and beyond I realized that it was Wednesday and I did not blog this week. I tried to rationalize it by remembering that I did post twice last week but here I am typing away. I really don't have much time but I did want to say that I really feel like I have had a big weight taken off my shoulders. My time in St. Louis was hard but the outcome was great and I realized when I returned how many people were praying for me. One quick story. On Wednesday afternoon, Jill told one of her classes that I had "passed" and a few of the students thought I died. How funny is that! The mind of a junior-high student, sharp as a marble. Needless to say things are busy but I have some renewed energy. In a few months I will be done with school. I can't wait.

Well I am off to the grocery store with the girls so I will wrap this up. Talk to you next week from beautiful Phoenix Arizona, spring home to my favorite baseball team the ANGELS! Go Halos!!!

The result....

I have been tested by fire and I have survived. I entered my interview at the seminary with many nerves and sweaty palms. After 90 minutes on the grill I was asked to step outside and about three minutes later they brought me back in and said that they would recommend me for certification. It was a big relief to be done and I didn't get myself into too many tough spots. I did get into a bit of a jam but one of the interviewers threw me a rope and saved me. I am sure I will have more to say later but right now I am in a bit of a fog, just happy to be done. Tonight we are going to Lenten service with some of the profs. and that should be great. I will be up early to get to the airport and will be back in SoCal just in time for class tomorrow night. Well that is about it for now. Talk to you later....

The Seminary

Greetings from beautiful Clayton Missouri. I am in a Panera Bread establishment (actually the Saint Louis Bread Co. but the same thing) they have free wi-fi so here I am. The manager just told me that they are closing in 15 minutes so this will have to be short. I am here for my theological interview at the Seminary tomorrow. I am a bit nervous but think I will do OK. My interview will be at 1:30 PM Central time so your prayers will be appreciated. I got to spend some time with family yesterday that live in the area. I stayed with my folks and had dinner with my brother and his family and my grandparents came over as well. The weather is very nice. It was in the 50's today and won't get too cold tonight either. If you have never been to the seminary in St. Louis I highly recommend it. It is a beautiful place and it would have been neat to study here but that was not part of the plan. Anyway, I head back home on Thursday morning and am back in class in CA on Thursday night. No rest for me. Check back tomorrow for a longer post and an update on the interview. Until then...

Happy Birthday

Today my youngest turned 3.  She has been waiting for this day for a while now.  She has been so excited to tell everyone she is 3 and has been practicing holding up 3 fingers.  It is so cute.  Today when she woke up we brought her two presents that she opened.  She got a new pair of sunglasses and a new Barbie.  She also got some cards in the mail which she opened.  Of course she wanted to have cupcakes for breakfast but settled for yogurt.  She said she had fun at school and came home with a great birthday crown.  We went out to Ruby's for dinner tonight and she got her favorite- Mac'n Cheese.  She also had some chocolate malt for a special treat.  Over all it was a good day.  I proudly say that today I am the father of two three year olds.  Now that will change on Monday when my oldest turns four but it is kinda fun to say that at least for a week.

In other news.  I am off to St. Louis next Monday for my theological interview at the seminary.  I have some serious butterflies because no matter how much you prepare you never really know what direction things will go.  It freaks me out a bit to sit in a room with some seminary profs who don't know me and I don't know them and what happens in that room could make or break my future.  I would feel much more comfortable if the professors that actually taught me and know me would do the interview but that won't happen.  For the past few weeks I have been pouring over my preliminary questions and rereading a few books, but I know I won't feel good until it is all over.  I will get a chance to see some family when I am out there and I am looking forward to that.  Of course this could not come at a worse time because I am preaching the next two weekends and am still taking one class and Easter is right around the corner.  Anyway, I covet your prayers for safe travel and that my brain works next Wednesday.  I will give you an update in a few weeks.  Have a great week...

The Scorecard...

So I am digging out from the avalanche that was last week.  If you have not read last weeks post you may want to scroll down before you continue today.  I will give you an update by the numbers from last weeks list.  Here is the scorecard:

#1- Got an extension from the professor and am about 80% done with my project as of today.  One more day and it should be good to turn in.

#2- Done...not done well but done none the less.

#3-  Wow!  Way behind on this one.   I have 16 questions to answer and I am on #5...not good news for me.

#4- Done, and it looks pretty cool.  I will put it in the mail to the Seminary in St. Louis by the end of the week and hope for the best.

#5- Done, and I felt pretty good about it.  I have received more email about these sermons than any other I have delivered.  I will be honest and I really just modified my morning sermon for the evening service and did not write a totally new one.

#6- All the music went well.  I am always leery when the Sunday night service is the Seth show, meaning I do the music and the message, but it seemed to go well (until I kicked my guitar over after the last song.  It would of been cool if it was a Who concert but it was church.  Oh well...)

#7- Things are going quite well for chapel, but I did find out that I will be out of town on the day that I am supposed to be leading chapel so now I have a bit more work to do to make sure the students can do it on their own.

#8- The presentation went well.  There were a lot of people there and we gave out all the applications we made and then some.

#9- Got a good start on my reading and we are on Spring break this week so no new reading until Monday.

#10- One down, one to go.

#11- Yikes!  Got to get this done this week, not much time left either........

#12- I did get to spend time with Jill's brother for a while, but did not do everything I wanted (Jill took him to The Getty, I worked all day, I loose on that one.)

#13- I tried to be home to tuck the girls in each night and see Jill while we were both awake.  I reached my goal.

#14- Did some good sleeping...and napping.  But need to do more so off to bed for me.  

Over all I give myself about a B- for the week.  Not great, but not a total failure either.  I still have a lot to do.  So back to work and I will see you next week...

The avalanche is coming....

Today is Tuesday.  Before the end of the week I need to:

1.  Write a three part Bible study as the final project for a class

2.  Start and finish a paper for school

3.  Finish my questions for my Theological Interview (more on this in another post)

4.  Finish my ministry portfolio

5.  Write two sermons for Sunday

6.  Practice music for this Sunday night

7.  Work on the day-school chapel that will be in a few weeks

8.  Develop a presentation for the mission trip to Alaska

9.  Do reading for my next class that starts on Thursday

10.  Visit with my two Confirmation mentees (is that a word?)

11.  Set up some meetings at Long Beach State

12.  Try to spend time with some family that is visiting from out of town

13.  Be a dad / good husband at home

14.  Sleep

So enough said, I am going to bed and try to knock a few of these off the list tomorrow. Talk to you next week.

Steroids

No, this is not a rant about Barry Bonds or the allegations lobbed toward Roger Clemens. This is not going to be an opinion piece on major league baseball or professional wrestling. No, this is about my youngest child….she is on the juice…well not the juice, the cream…no, not the cream but the puffer. Our little girl is pumping up the puffer to combat asthma. It would be nice if we were grooming her for a lucrative career in professional sports, A.K.A. “daddy’s retirement”, but we are not. Our youngest can’t get through the night without having some major coughing fits. If you are a regular reader of this blog you already know that when our youngest starts coughing it usually ends up as a street pizza, a technicolor yawn, calling Ralph on the big white phone, a…you get the point. So to have something that will quell these spells is quite welcome in our home. We are three days into the steroid era at our house and I will let you know how things are progressing. So far no asterisks on the floor. 

btw- the image on this post is the actual chemical makeup of the steroid that is in my house (Yeah, I'm a nerd)  Talk to you next week...

The Dentist

I do NOT like the dentist!!  I have had a few very bad experiences in the past with the good folks who spend their days with their fingers in other peoples mouths.  When I was in high school I had a procedure that hurt so bad I didn't go back to the dentist for about 12 years.  Some of you might be saying "EeeGads, really?  Twelve  years?  Your teeth must have been a mess!"  Well sorry to say, they were fine.  No cavities, no problems nothing, just a good cleaning, the admonishment for not flossing and a check up card for six months, which I promptly forgot about and waited another few years before having to go back because of my wisdom teeth.  Now I do not have time to tell that story but let me tell you, it is a doozie.  The short version is, only a local pain killer and four hours later I stumbled out of the office.  NOT FUN.  

So my oldest had to go for her first trip to the dentist and the guy at the appointment center asked me, "So what about you?  When can I schedule you in for a check up?"  I almost said, "No thanks, I'm good." But something inside said, "O.K., how about next week?"  So today was the day.  I got there at 1:30 for a 2:00 appointment knowing I would have some paperwork and was seen promptly at 2:00.  Twenty-two x-rays later the dentist poked around and said he wanted some more detail of tooth #14 (left side, top, near the back).  Four more x-rays and he dropped the bomb.  "Well, I think you need a root canal."  "WHAT?!?!?  I was just here for a check-up and some fluoride and a chastisement for not flossing.  This is not what I was expecting."  My heart began to race and then it got worse... "I can get you in today."  I sighed, and relented, three hours later and after six more x-rays I walked out of the office not being able to feel one side of my mouth and freaked out a bit because I peaked at some of the tools that were going into my mouth, not to mention the cost after insurance (NOT CHEAP!!) 

 

So here I sit, hopped up on Vicodin, and dreading going to sleep.  I even have to go back in a week and a half to get a permanent crown.  Well, I hope the worst is over, and it is probably for the better that it was done now and not later.  So, the dental profession is still on my bad list but at least I have my teeth.  Talk to you next week...

EXTRA, EXTRA!!! ADOPTION UPDATE!!!

Got a call tonight from the girls attorney and found out that the appeal on their case was heard today and was denied (that is good news for us).  However, one pice of paperwork was out of order and it needs to be taken care of by DCFS before a final adoption hearing can be set.  So this is GREAT NEWS but we will have to wait until after April 17th which is when the judge will check to see if the paperwork as been complete.  After that we can schedule the final hearing!!  Thanks for all of your prayers but please continue to pray for patience as we wait the last few months until things are finished.

Wow...school...blahhh!!

Yikes! It is the third week of the new semester and I am buried already. I just spent the entire day (8:00 AM to 4:00 PM) reading, and that was just to catch up to yesterday. I haven't even started on my next reading assignment. Needless to say, this will be brief today. My class is on Biblical theology and Exegesis. It sounds big and fancy but what it means is, "Seth has a lot of reading to do and one of the books is a dictionary!" Yep, the picture on this post is my book and it has, like a bagillion pages to it. Mind you I don't have to read every word but so far it reads like a dictionary...not fun. The class is very interesting and I am enjoying it but I am a bit fried right now. Off to get the girls from preschool and just be daddy for the rest of the night. I will be content to watch preschool programs, dress up like a princess, have some tea, and even paint fingernails just no more big words.... please....!

"I gonna huff and woof and blow you away!"

Those are the words that came out of my youngest's mouth tonight at dinner.  She is a little confused and is mixing up a few stories but they are all great.  A few moments later she even said, "I gonna cough and huff and blow you away!"  You see this morning on Sesame Street was a story about the Three Little Pigs and since then the girls have been trying to blow things down.  This is not the exact scene from Sesame Street but it was quite similar: 

This comes right on the heels of one of the funniest few minutes of the past week.  Our youngest got her jammies on all by herself the other night and Jill tells her, "Honey, you blow me away", which was followed by our little one blowing on mommy.  Jill was a bit confused and then she did it again and said, "Go away mommy!  I blow you away...good-bye!!  It was the darn funniest thing I have seen in quite some time.  Our life is just a barrel of laughs these days. 

On another note.  My oldest did blow me away on Sunday when she proceeded to parade around the house carrying her little girl broom up in the air and singing a song about church and Jesus.  I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm carrying the cross like at church!"  It was awesome, she was doing her own procession and opening hymn.  It is amazing what God can teach a three year old.  Until next week....

Razor Scooters

Jill and I have been wanting to get the girls some scooters ever since the preschool got some new ones a month back or so and our girls just love them.  Our little daredevils are still in three wheel territory in scooterland but the razor scooters are not to far off.  Now a new razor will set you back at least $30 minimum and can go for much more.  That being said, razors would have to wait for at least the girls birthdays (both in March) or even next Christmas.  But last Saturday my youngest and I were headed to Trader Joe's for some one on one time when I spotted a garage sale.  It was still early in the day (8:30 AM) so I though we should swing by and see if there was still anything good.  As we got out I spotted three well loved razor scooters and a mini skateboard.  I asked for prices and was told $3 for the skateboard and $15 for each of the scooters.  Now I never have cash so this would pose a problem since my wallet had a total of $4 in it.  I called Jill and told her of the find and she said to go back home and pick up some cash.  Back in the car we went to get some cash and then back to the garage sale.  I walked up to the money guy and told him I would give him $20 for all three scooters and the skateboard.  He countered with $25 and I pulled out all my cash and said, "All I got is $24, will you take it?"  He nodded and I gathered up my new found treasures and put them in the back of the minivan.  I was stoked to say the least.  On Sunday the girls tried them out without much luck but their older cousin was pretty good on it.  That evening we had a few people over to watch football and for dinner and we had a blast (Go Chargers!!!!)  Later that night, I realized that we were out of coffee.  This is not an acceptable state of affairs in our house!  Jill promptly dug out some Starbuck's cards and directed me to get some beans.  I asked a few of our guests if anyone wanted to walk to get some coffee.  My pal Ingrid agreed and then we were followed by my brother Josh, and our friends JT and Ben all on the scooters!  It was a hoot.  Three grown men racing around the streets of Long Beach on razor scooters.  You would have laughed if you would have seen them but they did not care, they were loving it.  Well to wrap it up the boys had one final race down Pavo street and we were all safe and sound back home.  It was a great weekend and I can't wait until the girls are able to zip up and down the sidewalk on their scooters.  

Pictures from Mammoth

Thanks to my friend JT here are some pictures from the weekend. Scroll down for the regular Tuesday post.

My minivan is under there somewhere!

Digging out the Subaru.

Ben and I stuck in a snowdrift.

The Tuesday Tease...

Not much time tonight to write a full post so here is a tease of what is bouncing around my head tonight:

#1- Spent the weekend in Mammoth with the college ministry of the district and witnessed about 5 feet of snow in three days.  I had to dig the van out twice.  Pictures may be coming if I can get them from JT.

#2- School starts next week and I am not quite ready for it to begin.

#3- The other night we forgot to put a sippy cup in the fridge for my youngest and she was found at 3 AM sitting on the floor staring into the open fridge moaning, "Where's my Miiiiiiilk?????"

#4- The Chargers won a playoff game!!!

#5-  My sister is selling Shaklee.  Don't know what that is?  If you want to go green in your house in 2008 check out her site by clicking here. (More to come on this topic, I promise!!)

#6-  I stumbled across some great music the other day.  Do yourself a favor and check out Cary Brothers on iTunes or just pick up his CD titled "Who You Are"  you won't be disappointed.  You might know him from the movie Garden State.  Here is a sample:

Well that is just a tease, more to come later...or next week.  Until then....

French Toast and Fire Trucks...Happy New Year

With the drop of the new million dollar, energy efficient, crystal clad ball in times square 2008 is officially here and let me say to all of you HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  New Year's Eve around our house was not to eventful (New Year's Day is another story but that will come later).  Jill's sister and family came over as well as my brother and some other good friends.  We ordered a bunch of pizza and had some "adult style beverages" and tried to survive five loud cousins having a great time with each other.  There were some screams and some misunderstandings (mostly from the kids) but for the most part all were well behaved.  The kiddos and a few grown-ups that will remain nameless turned in early and there were five of us who watched the ball descend from its lofty perch above Times Square for the 100th time.  We popped the corks of a few bottles of bubbly and toasted to the new year.  Then by about 12:45 I was dozing off on the couch.  I guess I can't party like I used to.  

The one thing about having five short ones in the house who all got to bed at a decent hour is that they woke up with the sun.  Needless to say the late night revelers were a bit groggy and not too excited with the pitter-patter of little feet at the crack of dawn.  Eventually I shook the sleep from my eyes and started creating a breakfast feast which included bacon, sausage, french toast, OJ (mimosa style for those needing a bit of the hair of the dog), and fresh fruit.  Soon after starting, the house smelled of coffee and bacon.  It doesn't get much better than that.  After breakfast the cousins watched the rose parade and my oldest loved it!  She loved to see all the princesses and I think she might have watched it twice (got to love KTLA channel 5 for all day coverage).  

The rest of the morning was spent playing, having lunch and resting on the couch.  The grown-ups had appetizers for lunch / dinner while the Rose Bowl was on.  And my wife cut up her wedding dress to make dresses for the girls (but that is another post all together).  Soon after that the real fun began.  While cooking said appetizers our smoke detector went off.  Now this is not anything new.  Let me give you some history.  As a child there were times where things got a little too done in the kitchen back in Garden Grove and our smoke detector was close to the source of the smoke.  Now when it would go off we would all jump into action.  Not to get out mind you but to quickly make the ear piercing sound stop.  We all had jobs, it was like the military.  One of us would grab a Time magazine to wave in front of the offending  nine volt air-horn, another would open the back door and still another would open the front.  It all worked like clockwork.  Fast forward to 2003 and with the addition to our house we received brand new smoke detectors.  Our first big meal cooked with the new addition finished we were greeted with the most haneous noise of all five smoke detectors working in concert to make our ears bleed.  I of course jumped up in great Pavlovian style and grabbed the nearest magazine and began furiously fanning to stop the noise before I went deaf.  I soon had trained friends and family and when the horn would sound we would be at battle stations in a matter of moments.  Every time we cooked we had to be ready.  Today was no different.  Soon after the first blast we all had our duties completed and the sound was abated.  Abut five minutes later it started again and would not quit.  I went to the garage and got out the big guns and brought back the box fan to do the fanning job.  We seemed to be in the clear when the smoke detector started to beep, telling us of a low battery.  I feverishly tried to determine which of the five was the culprit but in the end I just changed all of the batteries.  In the midst of this the chirp became a full fledged alarm again.  This time the cooking was done and the children were starting to get annoyed.  Ten minutes later, with all the batteries changed, golden silence was heard once again.  Just as I grabbed another drink and settled in to the couch for the second half of the game the real fun started.  The smoke alarms started up again and this time there was no stopping them.  I dashed around and checked the batteries again with no luck and eventually I gave up and called the fire department.  Thanks to my good friend Josh T. I had the number for the Long Beach Fire Department in my cell phone so no need to tie up 911 on New Year's Day.  In about 10 minutes the fire truck arrived and we were busy feeding children oranges and cheese on the porch in the glow of the Christmas lights that are still on the house.  The firemen combed through the breaker box and crawled in the attic, they checked all the offending little white beasts and eventually identified the culprit.  In their estimation the detector in the hall was somehow faulty and when they unplugged it, silence was most graciously greeted once again.  So my thanks go out to the brave men of station 18 from the LBFD for helping us out tonight.  

Looking back it makes sense that this one smoke detector was the one that would not allow us to open the oven on Thanksgiving and would force us to keep our windows open even in the chilly winter evenings while we were cooking.  Since about 6:30 tonight we have had peace in the land.  We didn't want to risk it and the kids all had cereal and milk for dinner tonight.  So lets review:

Late night and and early morning...check.

Fabulous French Toast and a mountain of breakfast meat...check

My wife cutting up her wedding dress...check

The Fire Department at my house.. check.  

Cereal for dinner...double check with milk on top!

Well that was my day I don't even have time to tell you about my nephew Logan and how he shows his muscles.  Lets just say, Legend........(wait for it)...........dary!   I hope your day was as memorable as mine and I pray that this was a good sign of things to come for 2008.  Until next week...

P.S. Sorry for no pictures today, my internet connections is really slow.