Missouri Halls Love Company

Inspiring Story of Teacher with Down Syndrome

2011-05-15T16:20:00.002-05:00

Isn't this an inspiring story? It makes me wonder what God has in mind for Elizabeth's life!

New years morning

2011-01-03T10:31:00.005-06:00

I (Isaac,) stayed up until 1:16 a.m., because my cousin, (Heidi, hi-de) and I stay up late sometimes. Heidi also likes to read a lot, and she just drives me crazy! When we woke up, we got ready for a 3 mile race, which killed me because it was on concrete and I am used to rough trails and the woods. When I lived to get home we had cinnamon rolls and watched the rest of the movie Up.

Properly Scolded

2010-12-27T19:18:00.003-06:00

We were so blessed to be able to talk to some of our dear friends on Christmas Day, and they reminded me that my blog was not up-to-date. It reminded me that the reason I started my blog was to help keep our dear friends who are now far away updated on the activities of our family. Unfortunately, we have been so crazy-busy this fall that I neglected this important job. So, I sat down a few minutes ago and brainstormed a post about each of the last few months. That reminded me of just how busy the fall was! Now I need to upload some photos to help me tell the story.... so stay tuned!

Catching Up - October anniversary trip

2010-12-27T18:58:00.012-06:00

25th Anniversary Trip - Part III
We arrived in New York City, rented a car and started driving out of the city. It was rush hour and it was raining, so it took a LONG time, and we remembered why we left the city...

Our first destination was the highest point in Delaware. We found it, although it was dark and raining!

The next day we started driving down the DelMarVa Peninsula. Here are some views along the way, ending with the bridge that crosses the Chesapeake Bay, going under the water partway (to let boats through)

Traffic delayed our arrival in Yorktown, so we missed the museum, but had enough daylight to see the battlefield and call Isaac to tell him we were there (he is totally into the Revolutionary War)

We spent the night in Williamsburg, and the next morning drove to Old Jamestowne. Ironically, this is the day we decided to wear shorts, and as you can see, it rained all day. I switched into pants and closed shoes as soon as I could, but we should have stopped at the Goodwill to buy raincoats (saw one, but decided not to stop....)

After Jamestowne, we got on the road and drove to Monticello, hoping the weather would clear up. It didn't, but Monticello is still impressive.

Then down to Charlottesville, to see if we could find the original university which was designed by Thomas Jefferson. They don't make it easy to find, but we did!

We drove north hoping the weather would clear by morning so we could enjoy the scenery from Skyline Drive. It didn't. So we stopped at a ranger station and watched a video, because all we saw was mist and fog from the scenic view spots.

Drove on to Harper's Ferry. No pictures because we forgot to charge the camera batteries. It was wet, but very historic and interesting. The day was perfect to visit Antietam Battlefield. Apparently, it was rainy the day before the big battle, so we toured the battlefield in the rain. Did get to the visitor center in time to see the movie and see the famous mural painted by an eyewitness to the battle.

Ended the day by driving through Harrisburg, PA and stopping to see the capitol building, which was completely lit up and beautiful in the rain.. then on to Lancaster, PA where we spent the night hoping for sunshine for a day in famous Amish country.

We started the day with a stop at the tourist center to get an idea of how could get an overview of the area, and decided to go on a tour of covered bridges. We were warned that some roads may be closed due to flooding from the days of rain, and we did, indeed, see a lot of high water, but we were able to see all the bridges and a lot of beautiful country. We stopped for lunch at an Amish buffet and then, lo and behold, the sun came out!!

Our final stop of the day, an old Lutheran church in the city. I guess all the church from revolutionary days had the boxes you paid to sit in.

After touring Lancaster County, we drove to New Jersey and were pleasantly surprised to find it is actually a beautiful state. We headed immediately to Liberty Park, the departure site of our ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We enjoyed the views of New York without the rain this time!

Our ferry was supposed to leave at 8 am sharp. We arrived before 7:30 and before the staff! This is an old railway station which was the departure place of many of the immigrants who went through Ellis Island and serves as the ferry depot.

Pictures can't do Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty justice. We spent 7 hours on the two islands, enjoying the museums and the sunshine! Incredible.

After returning to Liberty Island in New Jersey, we crossed over to Manhattan Island and crossed the island in our rental car, navigating through the famous New York traffic. We returned our rental car, checked into our hotel by the airport and then got on a bus to head back into the city. With the help of some regular Metro riders, we got to our destination, ground zero. We visited the storefront explaining the 9/11 memorial plans and walked right by St. Paul's Chapel, which is the oldest surviving church building in Manhattan. It survived the NYC fire of 1776, and George Washington worshiped there after his inauguration, and then became part of history when it became a makeshift memorial after the towers collapsed on 9/11.

Then we got back on the subway and headed to the Gershwin theatre where Wicked! was playing. We got into the cancellations line, and to make a long story short, got 2 tickets, one of which was in the front row. We sat down and the curtain opened. It was a magical, once-in-a lifetime experience.

We ended the day walking through Times Square before getting on the Metro again to head back to our hotel for a few hours sleep before our 6 am flight!

We flew out of LaGuardia Airport before scheduled -- apparently Michelle Obama was flying into the city that day, and they wanted to get us out of there before they shut the airport down. We were very glad!!

We had a long layover at the Detroit airport, and our friend Jim Pinard came to help us pass the time -- so good to see him and catch up after many years.

Our final flight to South Bend was without incident. The Grobien family brought our car to the airport for us and we took off, stopping in Forrest to pick up Elizabeth and Isaac before heading all the way to Rolla. It was good to be home.

Catching Up - September

2010-12-27T18:55:00.014-06:00

September

My favorite goof

School starts, and along with it come the home experiments...

Soccer starts for Zeke, and they play the first 2 weekends without Dan, their coach, and build up a 4-0 record ....

Abby plays volleyball -- don't have pictures of her, but here are some of her fans at the first annual Volleyball Gameday!

We head out on our 25th Anniversary Trip -- Part I includes Isaac and Elizabeth. First stop is
Cahokia Mounds, the largest man-made earthen work in the Americas. We walked up this staircase and saw the sunset over St. Louis.

On to Springfield, IL. After a night in a hotel we toured Lincoln Home, visited the new Museum, and then went to the cemetery where Lincoln and his family are buried.

On to New Salem, IL, a reconstructed village where Lincoln spent his early years. This is one of the stores he owned and ran while studying to become a lawyer.

Then to Forrest, IL, where we dropped off the kids and went on to Valparaiso, IN, where we attended 25th reunion festivities during Homecoming weekend. Campus has changed a lot since we left -- the latest change is that they tore down the old Union, where we met.. here we are in front of the famous spot where our lives became intertwined :)

After the weekend in Valpo, we went on to Mishawaka and South Bend where we visited our friends the Nelsons and the Grobiens. We spent the night at Grobiens, who delivered us to the South Bend Airport for our trip to New York.

25th anniversary trip...to be continued

Blog Drought

2010-11-14T14:47:00.003-06:00

Yes, I know. I haven't posted anything thing July 28th. I've just decided that this is called
"Blog Drought". After a very rainy summer, we haven't had rain in Missouri in about 2 months...
and I'm in a similar situation of drought, though my lack is of TIME!
Too much to do, too little time. This weekend is the first weekend in almost two months that we didn't have anything scheduled outside the home... but of course there is all that mundane stuff to do, like cooking, cleaning, laundry, ironing, dusting, paperwork
I have so many things to share, but too much else to do right now. I'll try to catch up later :)
(Famous last words...)

The Germans are coming... they came, they're gone!

2010-07-28T19:24:00.007-05:00

Can you tell we studied the Revolutionary War last year? So I stole a famous line and tweeked it a bit. My brother-in-law, David, is married to a lovely gal from Germany, Susann. Thus, their children are all at least slightly bilingual, and they spend a lot of time in Germany (where all of her family still lives), as well as hosting German visitors to the U.S. This summer, they are playing host to 4 German guests -- Julia, 19, Lara 16, Jessica, 10, and Fabian, 14. They brought them, along with 7 of their own 9 children and one girlfriend, to visit last weekend. So we had 22 people in the house for the weekend. It was a blast, but I didn't take many pictures... here's just a taste...

Loaded up for the canoe trip on Saturday -- we also took our mini van, but it just carried people.

A part of the group during one of the meal times...

Besides eating and canoeing, activities included church, paintball, horseback riding, a trip to the Splash Zone, multi-age/multi-cultural wiffle ball, English country dancing,and various card and board games. We had a wonderful time!!! Thanks for being such great guests -- come again!

4th of July Fun

2010-07-28T18:52:00.006-05:00

My grandfather Lindenbaum's birthday was July 3rd, and my mom has fond memories of family gatherings during the 4th of July holiday with homemade ice cream. So, for the past several years, she has hosted a family reunion in Forrest, my hometown, on the 4th of July weekend. The first time we did it, we had beautiful weather, and my then-100 year old Grandma came to sit in the park and watch the fun. Last year it rained, but this year it was clear though HOT. Sister-in-law Kiersten provided the cherries for the traditional cherry-spitting contest, and Andy took over the championship (cousin Brad was not there to defend his title!) Elizabeth even got into the act, and ended up with completely purple hands and shirt... We played tennis, volleyball, & basketball at the park, and ate a delicious picnic lunch before going home for croquet and homemade ice cream. My sister Deb and hubby Brad weren't able to come, so I provided the ice cream (blackberry) and we brought along some Missouri fireworks. Due to a mis-communication, none of my cousins were there, but we look forward to seeing them next year!

Cousin fun on the merry-go-round

Elizabeth in the watermelon spitting contest

Drexel, Isaac and Max - The Three Musketeers!

The Croquet Game

Missouri Weather

2010-07-13T13:57:00.003-05:00

We got hit by a pretty intense storm Sunday afternoon. We left at 3:45 to go to a park in town for a party, and it was raining when we left. By 4:15, however, the rain had intensified, and shortly after that, the tornado siren in town went off, so the party quickly dispersed. We drove home through rain blowing sideways -- crazy, and arrived home to find almost all of the north facing windows leaking -- they aren't designed to keep out horizontal rain at 60 mph. It was pretty crazy for awhile, and we hung out in the basement until it passed. When it finally stopped raining, this is what we saw outside...

Our flagpole over the fence and snapped in halfA river going through our property on the west side of the house

The trampoline on the other side of the fence (in the horse pasture)

The horses hunkered down, acting like nothing had happened; fortunately, since they were in a makeshift corral with no shelter!

The baseball field completely flooded (3rd base was floating away, I'm told)

Later that evening, we noticed that, while it was raining again, the sun was also shining. We looked around, and saw one of the most intense, beautiful rainbows we've ever seen.. Not only was it complete, but it was a double rainbow. Zeke did a pretty good job capturing the sight!

Elizabeth's 6th Birthday

2010-07-13T13:53:00.002-05:00

Elizabeth turned 6! She was in Illinois with her grandparents and cousins on the big day, but we celebrated here at home when they brought her home. It was also Dan's birthday, and that's him in the background with his cherry pie (Elizabeth got blackberry cobbler -- yum)
She was very goofy -- I think maybe running on adrenaline?

Fish Festival!

2010-06-21T11:18:00.007-05:00

The Pashia Fish Festival has become a family tradition. Kim Pashia was Elizabeth's first speech therapist, and we became friends with her family, including her husband Ken and daughter Gabby. They host a kids fishing contest and after 2 hours of fishing, give out prizes (everyone who participates gets recognized, plus the biggest fish in each age group) and fry up a bunch of the catfish, hush puppies and potatoes for a delicious feast.

On the way there... sunscreen slathered...

Ready to fish -- awaiting the signal to start....

Here is one of Elizabeth's 4 fish -- all of them were 19 inches or longer, and she wouldn't get close to them, despite all the nice men who helped us get them off the hook and hold them while I tried to get a picture (Dan wasn't able to go -- he was playing 3 on 3 soccer that day)

Here's Elizabeth getting her "dog tag" from Kim - to explain the sign, the first kid to catch an albino catfish get whatever has been pledged to the contest-- this year it was almost $300, and it wasn't caught until the 2nd hour of fishing, which is quite unusual.

Early Morning Gardening

2010-06-20T21:10:00.006-05:00

We've been trying to get up with the sun three mornings a week to get a couple hours of outside work in before its heats up outside. Last Thursday was a late night (the guys went to a friend's house to watch the Lakers win the NBA championship), so we decided not to push it. However, Elizabeth always is up pretty early, and usually wakes me up, so she and I went out to weed the vine garden...Dan came out to go running and caught us in the act...please forgive the color --- something was set wrong on the camera, and he didn't notice, being color blind.. Picasa corrected it some, but the pictures are just too sweet NOT to save.

Notice that my helper is leaning on my back -- not helpful at all, but very sweet.

Helping put the weeds into the tub
I love you, Mom (patting me on the back)

Mom, let's go...

break time...

A Civilized Garden

2010-06-09T14:28:00.003-05:00

The Civilized Garden

We are so excited to have a "civilized" garden this year --

with rows you can actually see, and REAL plants growing!
but for "old-times" sake, we tilled a new patch of soil (below) and are letting it develop on its own --
after determining that last years' cantaloupe crop was primarily volunteer. I think Zeke did
plant some things, but we aren't trying to weed or anything, and the soil is full of rocks...
we'll see what kind of harvest we get!

Horse, horse, horse

2010-06-09T08:40:00.005-05:00

The first horse, Bourbon , a 19 year old gelding paint, with our favorite little cowboy. He came to live with us Thanksgiving weekend 2009.

Romeo joined us in May 2010 -- he is a 15-year-old bay gelding quarter horse with some thoroughbred blood, possibly one of the most beautiful horses you'll ever see in pasture.
We weren't sure how the boys would get along -- Bourbon's owner had told us that he didn't always get along with other horses. But the fact that Romeo is quite a bit bigger made it clear just who was the boss. They got along just fine :)

Romeo is the right size for Andy! He enjoyed quite a few rides before leaving for his trip, and we were happy to see him on a horse that he didn't dwarf.

Coming next ... horse #3, Riley, a mare, is introduced to the mix...... I need to download pictures and then I will put them on.Here she is -- not a very good picture, but you get the idea. Put her next to Romeo and she looks tiny -- she's actually pretty skinny, so not very fun to ride bareback, which is what Abby was preparing to do as I took this picture.

Andy Baseball

2010-06-09T08:36:00.003-05:00

Andy has had the privilege of getting to play baseball while in college. He just finished 2 years at Three Rivers Community College -- here he is at bat in his final regular season game this spring. Next year he will come to Missouri University Science & Technology right here in Rolla to finish his Civil Engineering degree, and he will also play baseball, so we are looking forward to being able to drive 10 minutes to his home games again. Right now he is in Dallas, TX, at training camp with Athletes in Action baseball, preparing for a baseball/missions trip to Nicaragua. They leave next Saturday, June 12, and will be there through July 1. Please keep him in your prayers.

25th anniversary

2010-06-09T08:32:00.002-05:00

On June 1, 1985, Danny (yep, that's what he went by then!) and Dawn were married in Forrest, IL.
We've enjoyed 15 years of marital bliss -- just kidding, it has been a wonderful 25 years, for better or worse, mostly better (this is a long-standing family joke).
We plan a trip to Valparaiso in late September to attend our 25th college reunion and from there will go to New York and the east coast for several days to see the sights without our kids :)

Roommates

2010-06-07T15:43:00.002-05:00

Tyler , Mike, and Andy

Andy finished up 2 years at Three Rivers Community College a couple of weeks ago. Becky went down to pick up his stuff, and I asked her to make sure she got a picture of him and his roommates this year. They were a great bunch, and I know Andy will miss them both next year, when he's back to his family as roommates :).
P.S. I thought Andy looked kind of short in this picture, and then I found out that the other 2 were on their tiptoes -- he's actually almost as tall as Mike and definitely taller than Tyler!

Helping Hands

2010-06-07T15:38:00.002-05:00

Dan helped organize this fundraiser/work project. Over $9500 was raised, which enabled us to pack over 36,000 meals. About 150 people, mostly Thrivent members, gathered on a Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours to pitch in. It was a great experience. This is us after the event was over. During the event, we wore hair nets and aprons :)

Pictures!

2010-04-10T16:25:00.003-05:00

Follow these links for some amazing pictures of both Pride and Prejudice (this year's show) and last year's production, The Pirates of Penzance. Abby and I were both in Pride and Prejudice -- see if you can identify us in costume and with silly hair :), and Abby is one of the young ladies in Pirates.. Oh, Isaac is a young pirate as well.

http://picasaweb.google.com/billhickle/PrideAndPrejudice#

http://picasaweb.google.com/billhickle/PiratesOfPenzance#

Pride and Prejudice

2010-03-16T16:31:00.005-05:00

I shouldn't be posting on my blog -- our last dress rehearsal is tonight, and I'm not sure I'm ready.... but it is exciting that showtime is almost here! If you haven't heard, Abby and I are part of Fine Linen Drama's production of Pride and Prejudice. I play Lady Lucas, and she plays a lovely young lady at the parties. We are having loads of fun. I'll try to take some pictures tonight, if I'm not too preoccupied trying to remember my lines, when to change my costume, when to go on stage (my stage daughters rescued me last night!), and trying to help coordinate all the set changes (I'm officially Stage Manager this year).

The Lucas family

For more info on the show, go to
http://www.finelinendrama.com/

For some odd reason, the pictures at the top of the website don't show up on our computer, but you should be able to see them -- Abby is the lovely young lady is peach (with all the curls). That picture is from Pirates of Penzance, last year's show..

More to come....
The Mr. Collins Fan Club
The Entire Cast

Big Sister Time

2010-03-16T16:26:00.002-05:00

Hurray for big sisters! Mom had other commitments, but since Becky was home for Spring Break, she was able to take Elizabeth (and Isaac) to Breakfast with Pooh, hosted by Capable Kids and Families. They had a grand time, and I heard Elizabeth ate her fair share of pancakes.It was a beautiful day, so later that day, Becky also took them outside to play -- Isaac tried out roller-blading, and Elizabeth just enjoyed the day, but then she always does!

Empty INBOX

2010-03-01T13:46:00.001-06:00

I just managed to completely empty my inbox -- for the first time in years! I think it was time well spent. Now my goal is to keep it that way -- which means acting on messages, and filing or deleting them.. We'll see how that goes!

Whoonu?

2010-02-09T17:04:00.003-06:00

We like to play games, but sometimes it's a challenge to find a game that works for a variety of ages AND doesn't take forever to play. Thanks to the Ng family (Dawn's sister Denise), we now have a perfect fit -- WHOONU? It's a little like Apples to Apples, but shorter and more satisfying for younger players, because you get points every time...
It's one of those games that helps you get to know the other people better, as you try to guess which one of the cards in your hand they will like the best. Some are no-brainers, like when it is mom's card, and you have the card "sleeping" in your hand (that hasn't happened yet),
but this one has -- a "horses" card for Abby-- almost a sure #1 pick by her!

The smile of a happy kid!

Zeke prepares to reveal his choices...and everyone waits eagerly to find out how well they picked his favorite card -- the higher rank the "whoozit" gives the card you picked for them, the more points you get..

Abby's turn at being the "whoozit" -- these are the cards we picked for her, and the order she put them in, L to R
(her most favorite on the left)
Even old guys enjoy the game :)

Braces!

2010-02-09T17:01:00.002-06:00

Zeke has entered a whole new world -- the world of braces. He's wondering how he will survive, since he only recently started having a huge appetite, and now there is a whole list of things he can't eat -- so he's getting creative. Suddenly zucchini bread is delicious, and he's learning to make himself smoothies...
The color of choice the first time around was red....

Winter fun

2010-02-09T16:51:00.004-06:00

Yet another winter storm passed through last night and today. It stayed relatively warm all day yesterday while it snowed, so the snow stayed wet until overnight, when the temperature dropped. It looked beautiful this morning, but no good for x-country skiing, as the wet snow underneath stuck to the skis. Today it has alternated between blowing and snowing and being clear and sunny. But it is COLD. Nevertheless, the kids are not deterred -- today's project is an igloo in the front yard -- why is it we can't get the kids to work this hard when there is REAL work to be done :)

Zeke, primary builder

Pride and Prejudice/Snoopy

2010-02-04T20:40:00.004-06:00

Our family has had the pleasure of being part of a wonderful theatre group for the past few years -- here is their website, so you can find out more about them (us!). Our first experience was 2 years ago, in The Prince and the Pauper. Zeke, Abby, Becky and I were all on stage as ensemble members, and Zeke and I both had very small solo singing parts. Last year, Zeke and Abby returned to the stage in The Pirates of Penzance, Abby as one of the Generals' many daughters, and Zeke as a policemen. Becky was the stage manager and I just played mom. It was one of the most incredible performances I have ever seen on stage, and I was actually glad I got to watch the entire thing. They are working on finishing a DVD of the performance, and will be selling it on the website-- I highly recommend it!
This year, Fine Linen produced Twelve Angry Men in the fall. None of us were involved, for obvious reasons :) (one of these days we'll get Dan involved!). This spring, we are doing Pride and Prejudice and Snoopy -- quite an undertaking. Abby and I are in Pride and Prejudice, Zeke, Isaac and Elizabeth are in Snoopy.
Pride and Prejudice is being done from an original script, put together just for Fine Linen with a couple of main goals -- to provide many different character roles and to be funny. We are having a great time with it already, and can't wait to see how it turns out when we get everyone together at the same time! I am cast as Lady Lucas, and Abby is in the ensemble.
Snoopy is a musical similar to You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, made up of separate vignettes straight from the comic strip, I believe. It is full of fun but challenging music, but we have such a talented group of kids it is going to be awesome, I'm sure. They are using over 40 kids in the production, so no one is cast fully as one character, but Zeke will be playing many of the Linus parts, including singing his solo and ensemble parts. Isaac and Elizabeth are part of the Woodstock/Pumpkin ensemble (cute kids in costume on stage, doing choreographed dances... or not )
I don't have any pictures, so I'm going to have to borrow some from others who have them out there on facebook or something. In the meantime, look at the website and see if you can come to one (or more) of our performances!

http://www.finelinendrama.com/

The Latest Snow

2010-02-04T20:34:00.004-06:00

After the cold snap in early January, the temperatures went up to way ABOVE normal for a couple of weeks. It rained, the pond levels rose, and we started to wonder if we had seen the end of winter. But then it came through again last weekend, and we got about 5 inches of snow overnight on a Friday night. It was snowing when Abby and I went to play practice, and REALLY snowing when we headed home (we are thankful for Dan's 4-wheel drive Blazer!). We woke up to a beautiful covering of snow, but the roads were plowed by the time we headed out to play practice again, and then the sun came out while we were inside, allowing Dan to take these beautiful pictures.
As I write this, it has almost all melted, but it is snowing again, though no accumulation is expected... but I have more pictures to post of our snow adventures last week -- another post.

The kids and Dan created this giant snowman after a day of sunshine made the snow perfect!

Christmas on New Years' Eve

2010-02-04T20:25:00.003-06:00

Since we were in Georgia on Christmas Day, we opened our gifts to each other on New Years' Eve. A few of my favorite pictures from that day...

Elizabeth sporting my new Thrivent shirt and a "briefcase" --
anyone want to buy some insurance?

Watch out for Drago's younger brother --
Drago is Andy's nickname at school -- Apparently, Andy is a look-alike to this Russian boxer
in one of the Rocky movies
My 3 sons playing a home-made version of "Settlers of Catan", which was the days' project, and a team effort~

Ice Skating

2010-02-04T20:16:00.002-06:00

Early in January, we had a very cold snap in Missouri. While in some ways it was miserable, our kids were thrilled, because it meant that our pond froze hard enough that we could actually skate on it -- and for several days. Many of the skating days were bitterly cold, though the exercise kept all of us warm, including those of us who shoveled the snow off the surface of the ice (this was my foray onto the ice)
These photos were taken on the final day of skating, after it had started to warm up and the snow in the surrounding ground had melted away.

Surprise phone call -- college basketball!

2010-01-11T21:14:00.003-06:00

Andy got an unexpected phone call New Years’ Eve - his baseball coach called to see if Andy Hall would be willing to fill in on the basketball team for a few games, since they were short handed. When he told me about it, I asked him if he wanted to, and he said, yes, but didn't know if it would work. A phone call determined that it would mean going back to school a week earlier than originally planned, actually on his birthday, Jan 3rd.

But what an opportunity! The Raiders have one of the best winning traditions in junior college basketball. They are coached by the legendary Gene Bess, who has averaged almost 28 wins per season in his 39 years as head coach and has lead his teams to 20 Missouri Region 16 championships and 29 national junior college championships.

So, we took care of the remaining things he needed to do and Dan drove him back to school on Sunday for a 3 pm practice. He practiced the next day with them before joining them on a road trip to Alabama, where they played Jan 5th. Andy got 8 minutes of playing time and really got the attention of the announcer, who really seemed to enjoy the novelty of a baseball player on the team, and talked about him alot, even asking the head coach about him after the game.

He got to play again Saturday night in a home game. Even though that means a 2 1/2 hour drive for us, Dan and I made the trip, and it was well worth it, because the team is really fun to watch. It was a conference and region game, so pretty important, but after they built up a 20 point lead at the half, they gave Andy lots of playing time, and he got a couple rebounds and scored. It was amazing how many people seemed to be especially rooting for him. In fact, after the game, several people, when finding out who we were, told us how glad they were to have him on the team. We shook hands with both the legendary coach Bess and his son, who seems to be the head coach during the game. Andy tells us that the elder coach's knowledge of the game is amazing, and that he is very involved in the coaching.

The biggest compliment to Andy, however, is that the basketball coaches told him he could continue to play with the team as long as he wanted. But baseball started today, and he decided that since the basketball team really didn't need him anymore, he would just do baseball. We're disappointed, because it was so fun to watch him play basketball again (tonight's game was a blow-out -- something like 130-40, so he would definitely have gotten to play), but we think he made a wise and mature decision.

So it was a brief, but fun interlude!

Home Again

2010-01-11T21:09:00.001-06:00

We returned home again on December 28th, taking the short way this time (all interstate). It was a good trip, but everyone was glad to be home, especially since we hadn't opened our own presents to each other yet. We did that on New Years' Eve Day, and then enjoyed the day relaxing around the house. Friends came over later that evening, and we played games and talked the New Year in -- pretty low key, but enjoyable.

New Year's Day, we always watch the Rose Parade, though it still seems strange to have to wait until 10 am for it to start! Cinnamon rolls are traditional for Christmas Day, but since they didn't turn out very well in Georgia, Becky made them for us again for New Years Day, and they turned out really good... I ate too many.

Christmas in Georgia

2010-01-11T20:58:00.002-06:00

We got an invitation to spend Christmas in Georgia with the family of Dan's brother, David.

Even though it broke our family rule to not travel for consecutive Christmases, we thought we should go, since they often spend Christmas in Germany (our sister-in-law, Susann, is from the Black Forest region of Germany) and we didn't know when we'd have another opportunity.

So, on Dec. 21st, we loaded up two cars (we don't all fit in one anymore, since our big van was totaled) and drove to Georgia. We made the drive in one long day. Highlights: being able to split up kids who weren't traveling well together!, Abby driving through a city for the first time(Memphis, memorable), Becky driving in city traffic for the first time (Birmingham), culture shock in Alabama (gas station).

Once in Georgia, we settled into a very nice double-wide mobile home which serves as a second home to our family -- their original home and acreage is about 2 miles down the road, and that was the base for meals and fun. With that many people (8 of us, 11 Georgia Halls, plus Grandma and Grandpa), we spent a lot of time in kitchen, preparing meals and cleaning up. But there was also time for a lot of visiting and games inside as well as riding motorized vehicles and the horse outside, not to mention serious Bocce ball competitions after presents were opened.

We enjoyed getting to visit Dave and Susann's church in Perry, which is a mission congregation just a few years old, as well as taking a quick trip to see their original home in Perry, which we had visited 13 years before (Zeke was very little). Funny how different we remember things many years later! I remember the pecan tree groves, though when we were there years ago, the trees were green and bearing. It was funny to see cotton fields that were not harvested yet - In December. It was cold, but not as cold as Missouri, and we were able to spend a lot of time outside, since it only rained briefly on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Ball

2010-01-11T20:54:00.001-06:00

Becky, Abby and Zeke have come to really enjoy English Country Dancing. A highlight of the year is the Christmas Ball, when people get especially dressed up and bring lots of yummy food. Since Andy was home, and a willing babysitter, Dan and I got to go as well. Somewhere we have a picture of us all dressed up -- I think on Becky's blog, since it was taken by her camera. Dan survived a few dances, and all of us had fun visiting with friends and eating very good food.

A late18th Century Christmas Dinner

2010-01-11T20:44:00.003-06:00

On Friday, December 18th, Abby and I hosted 9 lovely young ladies and their moms for dinner. This event was the celebration after spending the fall reading and discussing the book The Scarlet Pimpernel, including learning about the styles, food, and manners of the time. We figured out that by moving some furniture, we could seat everyone at one long table. It was a lovely, several course dinner. The girls prepared and served all the food. After dessert, they had a gift exchange and sang Christmas songs and then, we had tea (as if we needed MORE food!). I forgot that my lovely teapot had been broken and glued back together...needless to say, it didn't hold tea very well, so the tea ended up in a plastic pitcher. Not as lovely, but it worked!
It was a chaotic night, since Dan had to leave in the middle of it to open the church gym, and Elizabeth and Isaac didn't enjoying waiting in the basement with Zeke until he returned with pizza and a movie for them. Then, Becky and Andy arrived home(Andy went up to Kirksville to pick Becky up after her last final Friday morning). To top it all off, we got our first snow of the season, which fortunately, was beautiful and very light!! So we had to put our boots on and tromp through the snow to the shed, where we watched "The Scarlet Pimpernel" in our "theatre" on the big screen -- quite an experience with a bunch of giggly girls. After the movie, the old folks went to bed, though I think Becky and Dan stayed up to talk quite late, but Abby and her friends had a sleep-over. I think they got some sleep :)

RHAA hosts teams from Arkansas, Game day

2010-01-11T20:34:00.003-06:00

RHAA decided to have a "tournament" of sorts right here in Rolla, and teamed it with a visit from the homeschool group from Jonesboro, Arkansas the weekend of Dec 11th. They came up for 3 games between our groups on Friday night, then spent the night for their 14U boys to participate in our Game Day. We also were able to get two other teams to come to town to give their varsity teams another game. It was a total of 14 games, and very exhausting, but a lot of fun! Our teams didn't win many games, but they played well, and I think learned a lot. Our next Game Day, for 14U girls, is less than 2 weeks away.

A little behind..

2010-01-11T20:20:00.002-06:00

Yup, I'm a little behind. Too busy living life to blog... here's a bit of a catch up..

Isaac's Christmas Picture

2009-12-01T20:33:00.002-06:00

From the mouths of babes... (read carefully)

"Little" Horse in the Pasture

2009-11-29T17:28:00.006-06:00

We received a surprise phone call yesterday afternoon, and next thing we knew, there was a horse living in our pasture!

One of Dan's clients knows that we are looking for horses. In fact, he loaned us equipment to help put up our fence. Anyway, he called yesterday to say he was in his way back into town with his granddaughter, and they would drop by with a couple of horses so we could ride one and see if we might be interested in buying him.
To make a long story short, his name is Bourbon, and he's an 19 year old gelding. His owner wants to sell him because he doesn't get along very well with his other horses, but he seems pretty gentle around here. I guess we're going to keep him over the winter, and if we decide we like him, we'll buy him, but no commitment at this point. Sounds like too good a deal to be true, but this is Missouri and people seem to like to work deals :)

Isaac in cowboy gear, with Bourbon (he is very excited)

Elizabeth got the first ride

Abby led Isaac and Becky around before they posed for a picture - then she and Dan, the experienced riders,
got on(separately) and gave him a workout.

Our God is an Awesome God

2009-11-14T23:02:00.001-06:00

How about this for a beautiful vista? That's a front moving through the neighborhood.

Don't Try this at Home

2009-11-14T22:58:00.003-06:00

Today was a beautiful Saturday, without any other commitments. So we worked hard all day on all those fall projects that we haven't gotten to. One is a long overdue cleaning of our vinyl siding... we tried power washing last year, but it didn't work. Seems like the best approach is just plain old-fashioned elbow grease, so Dan tackled the job with vigor. The problem is reaching up that high! So he got creative. We didn't get a picture of him hanging out the windows right above him, through which he cleaned above and beside and below the windows about 18 inches each directions. YIKES. Hopefully the next post will not be a picture of Elizabeth imitating him, since she is a climber... need to get a picture of her up a tree, though usually I'm trying to get her down, not looking for a camera!

Food

2009-11-14T22:49:00.003-06:00

Two adjustments in the area of food for the Hall this year:

#1 We went back to making popcorn the "old-fashioned" way, in a pot on the stove. It isn't all that much work, is cheaper, and we've found it tastes a lot better. We've even figured out how to make it like kettle corn -- basically just sprinkle with salt AND sugar.

#2 "Bread eggs" have been part of my family forever -- I think my dad learned to make them from his mom. I've heard other people call them "egg-in-a hole" and "one-eyed Egyptians" , but they are all basically the same yummy breakfast treat. This year, though, I was amazed when my friend Jan, who was living with us while looking for a rental house, asked me for a biscuit cutter. She used it to cut a nice round hole in the bread. I've always torn a piece out of the middle, leaving a very ragged, random "hole" in the middle. I loved the nice round hole, but I didn't like it so big, so we experimented until we found the perfect tool -- the lid to my half & half bottle. It makes just the right sized hole for the egg, so now I can make beautiful bread eggs (that taste just as good!)

Garden Harvest

2009-10-31T10:22:00.002-05:00

We enjoyed some items from our garden -- here you see Zeke eating one of the 5 or 6 ears of corn we grew!'

I got quite a few tomatoes from just 2 plants, and loads of green tomatoes that I need to figure out what to do with. Next year, the tomatoes will go in a place with more sun!

We also harvested sweet potatoes from 4 plants given to us by our friends the Cooks.

Cardinal vs. Dodgers

2009-10-31T10:18:00.001-05:00

The Dodgers played the Cardinals in the first postseason series. Most of us, having lived almost 20 years in LA, couldn't help but root for the Dodgers. But Isaac, who has little memory of California, was a bit more conflicted. The Dodgers won, but went on to lose to the Phillies without much of a fight in the National League championship.

Rain, rain, go away -- we have a fence to build!

2009-10-29T12:49:00.005-05:00

I don't know what the official statistics say, but it seems like it has rained most of October. I'm pretty sure that it has rained EVERY Thursday, at least, since both Isaac and Zeke had soccer practices scheduled on Thursdays, and had all their practices rained out :) Soccer is over, but it is Thursday again, so it is raining....and the picture above shows you how saturated the ground is -- we don't actually have a creek running through our property!

This has made a long-overdue project very difficult to complete -- putting up some fencing so that we can finally get horses. When we moved in 2004, getting horses was one of the first requests from our kids. We told them we'd start thinking about it in 2006 -- well, here it is, almost 2010, and all we've done is think, until now. Somehow, Dan and Abby found a way to dig 3 holes and sink some fence posts (actually, the rain may have helped some there!), some of it while rain was coming down. All that is left to do now is to string the barbed wire and hang a fence....hopefully before too long I'll be able to post a picture of a horse on our land!

Too busy!

2009-10-29T12:48:00.001-05:00

Okay, I officially declare that I am just too busy to have a blog. Nevertheless, it is the easiest way I have of letting people into our lives, so I will continue, nevertheless. So it is time for a series of posts.....

Isaac starts soccer

2009-09-20T17:13:00.001-05:00

Isaac at his first soccer practice - he is VERY excited to be playing on a team -- finally!!!

TOM

2009-09-20T16:57:00.004-05:00

If you don't know what TOM is, you should be ashamed of yourself! The Tour of Missouri went through Rolla for the second year in a row, and it has been re-enacted in the Hall driveway several times since. Below is Isaac demonstrating his best imitation of the cool biker start (we watched Stage 4 start in St. James).

The bikers rush by me, 100 yds from the TOM finish in Rolla -- crazy!

More Silly Stuff

2009-09-20T16:53:00.002-05:00

Isaac and Elizabeth are goof-balls. They just love to have fun.
Here's a few pictures of them being silly - well, at least it looks that way to us. They are probably VERY serious about whatever they are doing!

Family Devotions

2009-09-20T16:44:00.003-05:00

It's 8 am, do you know where your family is? Ours is almost always in the "green living room" doing family devotions. What you see here is us learning a new hymn, in 4 part harmony. Isaac and I sing soprano, Abby the alto, Zeke the tenor, and Dan sings bass. Elizabeth sings her own part, loudly and enthusiastically. Our current hymn is Stand up, Stand Up for Jesus. We're supposed to start a new one tomorrow -- it's on my to-do list!

Labor Day

2009-09-20T16:31:00.007-05:00

Andy and Becky both were able to get home for Labor Day weekend. Both of their rides worked out so that they could get to the first RHAA volleyball game of the season with us, to watch their sister Abby and her team win their first match of the year!
Abby and Marty

After the game team meeting

On Saturday, we had a bunch of families over. After weeks of gorgeous weather, the day started out gloomy and rain threatened, but fortunately, it didn't rain until later that night. We had a wonderful time inside and out -- so much so that we hardly took any pictures... but here are a couple...

Volleyball outside
Poker inside, and I think a record for # of people in the living room!

The final event of the evening was handball against the garage door. It went on and on and on as various participants struggled with what seems a simple game and tried to find success against the home team! Elizabeth took a turn every other time... once we figured out all she needed to do was to grab the ball and throw it against the wall, it became an easy part of the routine, and kept her occupied and happy. We did decide that she needs to learn to stand in line -- a difficult thing when it is 20 people long!

September's Almost gone!! Yikes

2009-09-20T16:24:00.003-05:00

These are just random pictures from life around our house these days...

Isaac creating something...

Intepretive dance, Elizabeth style...

Nope, she can't match the pictures to the names yet, but we'll keep working it!

Last Week of August

2009-08-29T21:09:00.007-05:00

Now that we have the big kids off to college, we are settling into our routine as a family of 6. We started school on Monday, as well as regular family devotions. We're learning Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus in parts, and the kids already have their parts pretty well down, after just a week! They are amazing. Following are a couple shots that show you what a week at school in the Hall house is like (without Becky here :0)
Up with the sun... Dan and the kids got up and went running almost every morning. I guess one of them caught the sun.....
Abby and Zeke enjoying a light moment together.....while Elizabeth relaxes in the empty Lincoln log box... where are all the Lincoln Logs? Spread out all over the floor in the living room, of course! How else can you find the piece you need??!!

Snack break is always an important part of the day. It's the kids favorite time to get creative in the kitchen so they can make it take as long as possible (can you spell PROCRASTINATION?)
On Thursday, they decided we needed to have "Chapatis". Here is Zeke rolling them out, and Abby cooking them. They were yummy, but they took WAY too much time!! Needless to say, school took longer on Thursday.

Elizabeth got tired of waiting, I guess.....
While "Calvin and Hobbes" is not an official part of Elizabeth's curriculum, she sure seemed to enjoy it this week....
The weather has been gorgeous, so the boys have been playing a lot of wiffleball. Elizabeth and I got in on the action one night when Zeke and Dan were gone, and Elizabeth hit the ball for the first time ever!! Isaac is pretty good being patient with her, and it helps that she will swing, miss and run anyway if we yell "run!"... we give her a few swings before we do that :)

Family Photo

2009-08-27T08:45:00.001-05:00

In Ecuador

2009-08-27T07:01:00.002-05:00

My mom and dad with all of their grandkids...

Happenings

2009-08-23T16:11:00.009-05:00

I'm way behind -- what's new, you say?!
Since I posted last, we've:

had a trip of a lifetime as a family to Ecuador... see Becky's blog for a link to her pictures until I get something else posted... http://beckysbrio.blogspot.com/2009/08/ecuador.html
hosted a get-together for Andy and Becky's friends, which included (not planned) a frog dissection and roasted frog legs, compliments of Zephan. The evening also included great hamburgers, volleyball until it was too dark to see the ball, buck-buck, and star-tripping (those last two are definitely hillbilly games).

The cute froggy just before his demise

bought a vehicle to "replace" the totaled van--a Chevy Blazer for Dan to drive on his appointments, which take him all over rural Missouri, often on gravel/dirt roads. We've decided we will have to do without a 12-passenger van, at least for now.

sent Zeke off to his 4th year of Camp Grandpa with Dan's parents in St. Paul, MN, and got him back a week and 2 very quiet days later....with a sunburn and lots of memories....

gotten Andy off to his second year at Three Rivers Community College (actually, he got himself off - I hardly helped him at all). He's having a ball with his friends, old and new, already, and is looking forward to playing baseball again.

harvested our first ear of corn -- it was pitiful. Hopefully, the cantaloupe and watermelons will be better -- they are plentiful.

made a weekend trip to Illinois to help my mom celebrate her 70th birthday -- all of my siblings were there on her day -- I think we all surprised her. I took advantage of the trip to buy myself an early Christmas gift -- an alto saxophone I found on craigslist -- in Peoria, Illinois. The picture below shows mom (Jeanette) with her mom, my 101-year-old grandmother, my aunt, brothers and cousins who were able to help celebrate her selection as resident of the month at the home where she lives.

celebrated Isaac's 7th birthday, complete with a dinosaur cake made by Becky at his request. He was disappointed that we didn't have a "real" party, so the next day, we had a bunch of boys over to play!

Enjoying his new watercolors- thanks, Rothlisbergers!

took Becky to Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, to start her first year of college (that was just yesterday)

In the courtyard of her dorm, Dobson Hall - her room is in a wing to the left, on the 4th floor

Inside her room, with her messy, as yet unorganized desk (I took this against her will)

Tomorrow, we are supposed to start school here with the other 4 kids.... I still have a lot of prep work to do, so that's why this is short...but at least you're caught up!

Alas, the van is lost!

2009-07-10T20:24:00.003-05:00

The dreaded call came today -- the insurance company considers our van a total loss. I guess the damage was too extensive to make it worth repairing. The thing that is really sad to me is that full size vans with a passenger door on the driver's side are just not that easy to find.... and I'm not sure I want another big van without that feature!
On the bright side, we bought a little green truck today. A friend was selling it, the price was right, and we really need a third vehicle at least until the kids go back to college. It isn't much to look at, but it gets good gas mileage, has a nicely lined bed, and it is a manual, so we can teach our kids how to drive with a clutch, an all-important skill in our minds. Besides, now that we're trying to act like farmers, a little truck will come in handy!

Van Tragedy....

2009-07-09T18:49:00.003-05:00

Our 12 passenger van was on the receiving end of an accident earlier this week. It was in Springfield, Missouri, with Abby, who was attending a volleyball camp with a group of friends. They were on their way to the mall (VB camp was in the mornings), sitting at a red light minding their own business when a car ran a red light, sideswiped another car and rammed into our van. Unfortunately, it is damaged pretty badly. We don't know yet the extent of the damage; they can't get the driver's door off to see what will need to be done inside, but it is possible they will have to replace part of the floor besides the obvious exterior damage. Fortunately, no one in the van was seriously injured (some minor bruises and cuts, and some soreness). Everyone involved is pretty sure that any other vehicle sitting in that intersection would not have provided any protection, and the driver would certainly be seriously injured. So, while we are unhappy that our van is in the body shop for the next month, most likely, it seems that it may have saved some serious injury. The driver of the other car was injured and was taken to the hospital once she was caught (she fled the scene). She, naturally, was uninsured, and is facing multiple tickets and possibly jail time. Thus far our insurance company is being very gracious and helpful, but that doesn't remove the hassle of having to figure out how to get along with our van :)

College News

2009-07-08T09:40:00.006-05:00

I was chagrined to realize that we haven't kept everyone up-do-date on the college plans of our kids... So, here it is, for those of you who haven't heard.

Andy will be going back to Three Rivers Community College for his second year. Move in day is August 11th, and school starts for him August 13th! Yikes.... One of high school baseball teammates will also be going there this year, as well as the catcher from his summer team. They are all hoping for a better season than last year, which was rather disappointing...

Becky has decided to go to Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, which is up near the Iowa border on US 63. It is a lot like Valparaiso University, which was a close second. Both have strong liberal arts programs with good nursing programs. They are roughly the same size, about 5000 students, but the two biggest trump factors were cost and distance from home -- both significantly less for Truman State. Besides, they have way better school colors (purple and gold vs. brown and gold :)) She will still be 3 hours from home, but we know of at least 4 girls from Rolla who are also going there, so I think she'll be able to get rides home pretty easily...no, Becky, you aren't going to have your own car :) She has until August 22nd to move in, and then has 3 days of freshman orientation before classes start the following Thursday, I think...

Happy Birthday to Dan

2009-07-02T14:38:00.005-05:00

Working in the garden inspired me -- I remembered that Dan has always wanted a chipper/shredder, and his birthday is July 7th. I thought it was a perfect idea, until I did some research and found out what they cost. Yikes! But then I found one on Rollanet classifieds, which looked brand new. All the details and timing worked out to allow me to purchase it and pick it up in Salem(30 miles away)after I dropped Zeke off at a baseball game in town there, and get it home without Dan even suspecting. We didn't try to save it for his birthday -- he'll enjoy "playing" with it this weekend since the rest of us will be gone to Forrest for the 4th of July...

For those who want to hear the power!

Garden update

2009-07-02T14:34:00.004-05:00

After many hours of manual labor by Dawn, helped by Isaac and Zeke, and some assistance from Dan on the tiller (for the large areas where we couldn't find any wanted growth!) we finally have the garden looking like a garden. By Missouri standards, it is pretty paltry, but I am happy to have it "under control". Once we get back from the weekend, we're going to get some mulch spread on it in case we get more rain, to keep that grass from growing up again...

Gardens, flowers and sun tea

2009-06-27T17:09:00.003-05:00

So much for having a "real" garden this year. The extensive rains we had in early June turned our nice brown square of ground into a grassy mess. Dan dug trenches around the garden to keep it from flooding, but after the rain stopped, those trenches managed to grow foot-tall grass! We missed the best opportunity to get it weeded a couple of weeks ago when mom and dad were here; I had kind of forgotten about it since it wasn't really my project. But when I went out to look at it early last week, I decided we just couldn't just let the grass win, so I attacked.

Step One - Weed whacking the foot tall grass around the perimeter of the garden.
Step Two -- Removing the plastic fence we had surrounded the garden area with -- not much to be eaten by wildlife anyway!
Step Three -- Removing the pieces of sod that had been dug out of ditches, since they were growing grass like crazy. These worked well to fill in holes all over the yard made by moles/dogs digging. I had fun driving the mower, pulling the wagon. Breaking up the clods to fill holes was not as fun, and very hot work. I actually am praying for a hard rain to help finish the job.
Step Four -- Watering overnight to soften the soil so that it would be workable.
Step Five -- Hoeing, hoeing, and more hoeing.
Step six-- On hands and knees, pulling out the weeds/grass growing right around the plants I did find -- lots of carrots and vining plants -- not sure what kind.
Step Seven-- Removing clumps of grass and weeds that hoeing dug up.
Repeat Steps 5, 6 and 7
Repeat
Repeat
I'm still far from done...

Why I decided to tackle this project this week, I'm not sure. It has been HOT! But tackle it I did. I didn't take a before picture, but in this first picture, you can get an idea of what the garden looked like -- notice the lone corn plant in the background. The next two pictures show the areas I've hoed and somewhat cleared of grass... there is still a lot of work to do!

Among the projects we worked on while my parents were here was starting the transformation of an empty rock beds into a kitchen garden. I decided to buy already started tomato plants, cilantro, and yellow peppers. So far so good!

The annuals I planted a few weeks ago are surviving the heat, though I've put them in the middle of the deck to save them from too much direct sunlight. The heat has been wonderful for sun tea, and we've been brewing some every day, and drinking it up!

Renegade Baseball

2009-06-27T17:05:00.004-05:00

Andy is playing summer baseball with the Rolla Renegades, a team made up of players from all-over, actually. It's a nice bunch of guys that generally have fun together and usually play pretty well. Today they fell apart, unfortunately. But I did get a picture of Andy's one hit.

Piranha Baseball

2009-06-27T07:10:00.008-05:00

What else does summer means for the Halls besides baseball? Zeke is playing on the Rolla Piranhas again, for his 4th year. We spent last weekend in the Kansas City area at a State Tournament. Last year, our family wasn't able to go, and the team placed 2nd. This year, the tournament had 54 teams in it, and we were seeded 54th! Mostly, that means that the other teams all played in a bunch of qualifying tournaments; we only played in one. But I think it discouraged the boys from the outset, and they just didn't play as well as they usually do.

Their first game, they made several errors in the first inning, and by the time they got their hitting going, had dug themselves quite a large hole. They did the same thing in their second game, making errors and giving up 4 runs in the first inning.

Zeke, however, had a very good game. He game in to pitch in the 2nd inning, with one out and runners at first and third. The runner at third scored, but he retired the side and came back to strike out the side. He finished the game on the mound, giving up 2 more runs, but only due to a throwing error on his part... but he also got a 2-run RBI single to score the only two runs of the game for us. By the time we got to our third game, the boys knew they had no chance to advance, and we were playing the number 1 seed. Needless to say, we lost handily. For us, that meant we got to go to Joplin to watch Andy play baseball! What a weekend :)

Elizabeth found the trash truck and wanted to help.

Warm up time.

Zeke on the mound

Swimming Lessons

2009-06-27T07:00:00.003-05:00

Not being a huge fan of the swimming pool myself, helping my kids learn how to swim has not been one of my strengths. This year, Isaac had 4 weeks of swimming at the Centre during homeschool PE, and loved it, so I figured it was the summer to do swimming lessons. I signed Elizabeth up for a Toddler/Parent class at the same time, so the three of us have been pool rats for the past two weeks. The first week it was rainy and almost cold, but this past week we have been glad to be in the water, with 90 degree weather.

Isaac passed Elementary Level 1. This is his teacher, Aimee Warnke.
She's a sort of local celebrity because she does triathlons (and does pretty well in them).

24th Anniversary

2009-06-02T07:36:00.007-05:00

Last year, we went to Newburg to celebrate our anniversary. We took a step up this year, going all the way to Steelville, a much bigger town. We arrived in Steelville in the afternoon and then headed to Cuba to the world famous Missouri Hick BBQ. You haven't heard of it? Obviously, you don't live in Central Missouri, because we're told it's the best BBQ place in this area, and it was very good! After a delicious meal, we headed back to Steelville, and before settling into our home for the evening, the Frisco Street Bed and Breakfast, we took a walk around town, which took about 5 min :) Actually, we just walked around the block, but far enough to see quite a few large old homes, many of which need restoration. We also saw a Edsel parked right up the street -- imagine, a 60 year old car without rust in Missouri! Steelville actually has quite a bit of charm and character for such a small town!

We started our actual anniversary (June 1st) with a delicious breakfast followed by a walk down a city trail to the park, where we've spent many hours at Zeke's baseball games -never knew there was a trail! It was a bit warm for a walk, but there was a pleasant breeze and plenty of shade, as well as some interesting sights along the way.

After picking up a sandwich from Subway, we started on a driving adventure, which eventually led us to the metropolis of Cook Station ...which has about 7 buildings, 3 of which are pictured below. We found out later that the railroad used to run through here. The Meramec River is not very far away, so we saw lots of canoes in the town as well.

The general store and train station

The bank

We thought this looked like an old school, but it now appears to be a home.

A few miles down a gravel road, we found the Missouri University farm that is run by the parents of one of Andy's teammates. We dropped in to say hi and enjoyed our lunch by the spring just 1/4 mile from their home. It has quite an entrance considering it is on a gravel road!

At the spring
The view from our picnic bench

Then we wandered back to Maramec Springs Park, a privately owned park that emcompasses the ruins of the first iron furnace in Missouri. It is a beautiful place, and we enjoyed finally getting to visit after 4 years in Missouri!

Reminiscing

2009-05-23T18:13:00.004-05:00

While cleaning up my desk a bit, I ran across some pictures. Oh the memories!
The first picture was inspired by a Sunday morning when I realized we could do a purple/green color scheme. That was always the worst part of family pictures for me -- figuring out what everyone should wear. Now that I have teenagers, they tell me what we're wearing, so it is a lot easier!! So, I made an appointment at Sears for a family photo on the following Saturday evening, since we were going out anyway. After pictures, we had dinner at Spires, and then went to a community production of The Sound of Music, which was good, but REALLY long
(for a mom with little kids who was planning to go to 8:30 am church the next day!)

Going back a few years -- this might have been a church directory picture.
My kids love the glasses I wore in the 90s :)

And then, more recently, in Missouri, Dan and Becky in pioneer garb. The man in the beard, Carl Heth, raises oxen and hand-built a wagon for them to pull in the Phelps County Sesquincentennial Parade, representing the 1850s.... Dan and Becky were going to carry the banner in front, Cheryl and Brandon Shannon were the "pioneers."But the weather messed it all up: the people in charge decided to start the parade 15 minutes early, hoping to get it done before a huge thunderstorm hit the area... Carl always waits until the last minute to yoke the oxen, and by the time he got them yoked, he'd missed his turn in the parade... and so they had to walk the back way to the County Courthouse, where a few people got to see the oxen and the wagon. (It did storm, but the festivities continued between squalls~!)

Signs of Summer

2009-05-23T12:16:00.013-05:00

Once again, time has flown by, and I'm way overdue on posting. Summer is on its way, too fast. Here are some of the signs around here:

Little children completely disrobing (I guess it is cooler!)

College kids home from school the sweat-stained baseball cap is here, so he must be home :) . I'm used to Andy's smell of Old Spice deodorant -- however, now the smell is raspberry, from one of those room fresheners he discovered while away at college (survival skill).
It's pretty cool when the the easiest way to please your kids is to carry a cold watermelon in from the outside fridge! One of the things I craved while pregnant was watermelon, and I ate a lot of it (fortunately for our budget, we lived in California, where we could get watermelon pretty reasonably year-round). While I hesitate to be too proud, I rarely pick a bad watermelon, and my kids have picked up the habit of watermelon gorging from me... we really should count how many we consume each year! (for the record, this particular one was not all that good!)

Sunburns and bleached out hair -- poor Abby suffered through the summer last year with a make-shift suit, so this year, she splurged and bought herself a "real" one from Land's End. But she managed the sunburn and hair even without the new suit!
Baseball and wiffleball -- the official stuff, and the fun stuff in the backyard, played by all, including Elizabeth -- actually her favorite role is umpire! (I can't find my pictures....)

"Spring-cleaning" and reorganizing -- Dan needed more elbow-room, so we added a corner piece, bought another filing cabinet, and moved furniture around to give it to him.

Confirmation Day

2009-04-07T20:48:00.009-05:00

Part of being Lutheran is confirmation. Unfortunately, for many Lutherans,
it is just one of those things you "check off your list", and it holds little meaning or significance. Though we understand that in a church setting, it is easier to do group instruction,
we wish that it could be more individualized. But our kids understand that it is
an opportunity for them to declare publicly that they wish to confirm their faith,
even if in their heart and minds they have already done so.

Zeke was confirmed on Palm Sunday, April 5th. Dan's parents visited for the occasion --
since they have so many grandchildren, they decided a few years ago that it made
more sense for them to commit to attend confirmations, since they are less likely
to conflict with each other than high school graduations

The official photographs (somehow I don't have one with the grandparents on my camera)

We spent the afternoon after church having a lot of fun -- playing up and down the river
(also known by other, less appropriate names). Grandma Hall won, to her surprise --
she claims she never wins at card games. I guess the game wasn't exciting enough, because Becky colored an entire picture between bids (we bid with our fingers, all at the same time, to keep people from adjusting their bids based on the previous bids) and playing...

Let the dealing begin!

And then it was time for the meal, the cake, and the gifts. Grandma and Grandpa Hall always write a nice letter telling about a member of the extended family, and their gift is always something associated with that person (Andy - Great Grandpa Thompson, class ring; Becky -- Great Grandma Thompson, a picture that was her favorite; Abby -- Aunt Feather, who loves horses like Abby and is a great artist, a clock she painted) Zeke's letter was about his Grandfather, Fred, who was there, and his gifts included a Bible he was given by HIS grandfather, and a picture of Fred as a boy, playing baseball.

Gardening Time

2009-03-25T19:40:00.004-05:00

We decided it was about time to get serious about gardening, so we had our good friends the Hickles over for dinner and asked their advice about how to get started. Not only did they give us good advice; they lent us a tiller to break some ground -- even delivered it to our house! Dan got home from appointments a few hours later and went right to work breaking the ground -- just in time, since the next day we had a big rain! Now we start the gargantuan task of making it soil fit for growing things -- it just ain't Illinois dirt!

Every farmer needs willing helpers -- 2 of the cutest ones around!

More baseball

2009-03-25T07:33:00.003-05:00

We spent the day yesterday in Poplar Bluff. Andy's team had two games.

It was a windy day, but overall, it was a beautiful day for a ball game.
If you squint, you might be able to see Andy out in left field in the first picture. The second picture shows him in his usual position in the dugout while his team is at bat...Elizabeth and Isaac went along and were wonderful, considering the limited things to do and the length of time spent just waiting! Here's Elizabeth with Woody, who tags along about everywhere.

Woody Goes to the Doctor

2009-03-18T13:49:00.004-05:00

Many of you know that Elizabeth is a great imitator.
Yesterday I learned how closely she pays attention.

Step 1 -- bring the doctor toys from the basement (she took the picture after the visit)

Step 2: Find Woody (Wee-wee) -- again, she took the picture :)

Step 3: Heart check with the stethoscope (I missed this one)

Step 4: Throat check .. Say AAAHHHH

Step 5: Ear Check -- she checked both ears, from various angles...
I absolutely loved this one!!

Step 6: Shot time -- no preliminaries or soothing words-- but she did put on a band-aid,
visible in the picture after this one.

Step 7: Temperature time -- first, the doctor takes her own temp, then it's Woody's turn....

Isaac's Turn

2009-03-16T16:41:00.003-05:00

Isaac's SELF-Portrait 3-16-2009

Isaac had the opportunity to participate on an "Odyssey of the Mind" team. The team was given a problem to solve, and were to come up with a creative way to solve it, which they presented in a skit. The idea is that it is completely student-driven. The "coach" is not to give ideas, but only to facilitate (I wouldn't have done very well with that job). It was a perfect "fit" for Isaac, and he thoroughly enjoyed himself. The pictures below show the boys setting up for their competition and then during the skit. Isaac was a scientist...

Of Buttonholes and Life . . .

2009-03-16T15:29:00.006-05:00

Okay, hang on everyone -- I'm going to get philosophical on you!

A couple weeks ago I decided I wanted to make Elizabeth some dresses. I found a simple pattern, and I have lots of fabric lying around that needs to be used. Everything went along pretty well until this morning. On Saturday, I decided to try to finish it, but realized all that was left to do was the buttonholes. Since I don't sew very often, I wasn't very excited about doing buttonholes, but then I remembered that my sewing machine has an automatic buttonhole function, so I set out to learn how to use it. This is like a dream come true -- an easy way to make buttonholes. Several hours and at least 10 false starts later, I only have 2 of 6 buttonholes complete, and one 1/2 done. So much for the automatic buttonhole function making it easier!

Who would guess that such a simple, assuming little "tool" could actually be so complicated?! The problem lies in following the directions EXACTLY. I started off on the right foot, making myself a sample fabric of exactly the same layers as my garment. Then I started off making a sample buttonhole, and it worked great! So I immediately went to the garment and started the process over.... But I had forgotten to turn the page in the instruction book, so I neglected to see that after making each buttonhole, you have to RESET the machine! So, each time I tried to make a buttonhole, it just didn't work -- it just kept doing step 4, I guess. I tried it about 3 times until I looked at the book and discovered my mistake. So I reset the machine and went to try again. But by then, I had run out of bobbin thread, so I had to redo that, and in the process I messed up the carefully aligned foot. So, the next few had a NEW problem -- It kept getting stuck about 1/2 way through the 2nd step. Again, it took me several tries before I decided to look at the instructions again and fix THAT problem.

At this point, I'm pretty proud of myself for being so patient and perservering. Until the next problem, when some glitch with the bobbin thread messes us the next one... and then I decided it was time to take a break for the day :)

It's just like me -- looking for shortcuts in life. Not that shortcuts are always bad, but I tend to want them to be easier, and to require less diligence. I started off pretty good for me, reading the instructions. But it is so easy for me to not read carefully and to assume I've got the basic idea, not realizing how crucial a certain part is...

So today, my buttonholes taught me a lesson. I don't know when I'll get back to them, but every time I put that dress on Elizabeth, I'm sure I'll remember it!

1/2 finished buttonhole on the left, completed one on the right!

Brrr...

2009-03-13T11:27:00.003-05:00

Isaac and Elizabeth dressed for our last snow (Feb 28th)

Isaac keeps asking me how long until spring. We keep telling him that though it officially starts March 20th, it may not be warm right away. Today, it seems a very long way away-- somehow, we managed to run out of propane, so we have no heat and no hot water, and of course, it is COLD outside, so the temperature inside is dropping as well. So, if you have your own propane tank, be sure to check that you're not running out! Fortunately, we're told the propane tank is on the way, so we should have heat(and be able to shower) by tonight!

Spy Doctor

2009-03-12T10:48:00.005-05:00

I think Elizabeth is playing spy doctor here -- in her mouth is the cover of the thermometer, which is probably in my mouth. Always something creative from her :)

Back for a day

2009-03-12T10:35:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Becky for jumping in and updating my blog. I really have been feeling guilty about it, but when I'm not doing anything else around the house, it's hard to justify spending time on the computer :)

Elizabeth's speech therapist has been working on having her answer questions. One of the first questions was "What do you throw?" The answer, of course, is ball, but E. quickly turned that into "baseball", so we added a new question: "Who plays baseball?" Andy. . . Zeke. . . Isaac.. . You'd think we lived at the baseball field or something! Not yet this year, anyway.... Then the weather turned warm for a few days, and Isaac dragged out some baseball stuff, and Elizabeth started doing her thing with the bat. She has most of batting routine down, complete with hitting the plate with the bat. Unfortunately, her hand-eye coordination and bat speed aren't so good yet :) But she sure is cute, in my opinion!

The News

2009-03-09T15:11:00.005-05:00

(This is Becky, giving anyone who checks out this blog a little update of sorts.)

2009 has been a busy year for our family, already! Basketball games and practices were the main focus of most of January and February. Abby and Zeke both played on our home school teams, and Dad coached Zeke's team. Mom and I stayed busy coordinating the schedules, helping things go smoothly at the games, handling weather cancellations, etc. We all enjoy the games so much - it's been so encouraging and fulfilling to see the gym fill up with home school families for our home games! We have found that sporting events can be a great time of fellowship, although Mom sometimes has a hard time chatting with her friends as she chasing Libeth around the gym! Thankfully, many of our friends are willing to help babysit her during the games, the lovely Hickle girls in particular. :)

Abby and Zeke are both in book clubs this winter/spring - Abby's group is reading Pride and Prejudice, as well as sewing regency dresses. This is Abby's first sewing project, and she is doing and awesome job! Zeke's group is reading and discussing Johnny Tremain - although, when I picked him and some of his buddies up last week, they were slightly more inclined to tell me about all the star wars things they had played after book club. :) Both kids enjoy getting some time with peers who share their interests.

We also, in January, started the second Fine Linen play our family has been involved in! Every Saturday, we have been at rehearsals for the "Pirates of Penzance." It's a very fun musical, although the music is challenging. Mom, Abby, and Zeke all have roles in the play itself, while I am props manager/babysitter. Performances are the weekends of April 17/18 and 23/24/25.

Mom has been enjoying the fellowship of several other ladies each Tuesday afternoon, as they have a Bible Study time. She experienced quite a disruption to life when her calendar was lost at the end of January. I found it yesterday, behind one of the couches in the living room. :) This past weekend, she and Dad went down to Poplar Bluff to watch Andy play baseball. He is played left field, and DH-ing, as well as really enjoying his college/baseball playing experience in general. They got to visit the church he normally attends, and have dinner with him twice. Luckily for us, they forgot to take the pile of baked goods we had prepared for him - and we now have dessert for the next week or so! Yum! Andy is headed down to Florida and Georgia for spring break, playing 4 ball games down there.

For the past two weeks, Mom has been feeling very under the weather. She finally went to the doctor this morning, and is now being treated for strep, since she has swollen glands, and nasty white spots all over the back of her throat (they didn't even think a culture was necessary, the spots looked so bad). She kept hoping the sore throat would go away, but it hasn't and got worse over this past weekend. Right now, she is napping . . . she keeps saying that it makes her feel so lazy and useless to just lie in bed, and I keep trying to convince her that it's what she needs! :) Please keep her in your prayers, that the medication she is now on would work quickly!

Our camera has been broken for the past month or so, and so I don't have any pictures to post at the moment. However, we now have it back and in working condition, so I may give either Abby or Zeke that project later this week.

It is finally snowing!!

2009-01-27T20:57:00.002-06:00

We are finally getting real snow. The forecast told us it was going to happen, but in Missouri, I've learned to be very cynical about precipitation forecasts. There seems to be a line that follows I-44 that usually gets a mix of snow and ice during a storm. Sometimes it makes for beautiful ice storms, but rarely do we get an honest-to-goodness snow! We got 1/2 inch of sleet last night -- for those of you living in a different weather pattern, sleet is like sand in its consistency, but consists of little ice pellets. It doesn't pile up quite as fast as snow, and isn't nearly as fun to play in. We watched it sleet all day and kept hoping for a change to snow, which finally came late in the day. It has been snowing steadily for a few hours, and I am looking forward to cross country skiing tomorrow!

World Record Blog-Neglect?

2009-01-27T20:55:00.003-06:00

Anyone know what the world record is for neglecting a blog? Maybe I should try for it, as my accomplishment for Jan 2009...
If you want to know what we did over the holidays, check out Becky's blog. She's got pictures and everything!

Preparing for Christmas, Week 3

2008-12-20T18:35:00.006-06:00

The week started off with Kay's Music Studio Christmas concert, which encompassed quite a gamit, from beginning violin (YIKES!)to Elementary choir. The concert treated us to quite an ecclectic mix of holiday music, with a very nicely arranged crescendo to the REAL meaning of Christmas. Once again, I've relied on my friend Kim's picture -- Above, Abby, Rachel Hickle, Anna Nisbett and Zeke eagerly await their turn to play. They did really well.
Here is the whole crew (actually, I think quite a few students had already left) -- many of these kids were in multiple groups throughout the evening...Monday is homeschool day at Kay's, and many families just come and participate in as many classes, bands and choirs as they can fit in, since she has made it very reasonable. We are blessed to have been part of it!

Tuesday, the threat of freezing rain (which didn't materialize) cancelled everything in the evening, and gave us a nice night off!

Thursday we had another wonderful night of basketball, starting off with Zeke's junior high team winning a game -- he scored 8 points. Abby's team also won, and she scored her first 2 points of the season :) -- she just told me those are her (only)two points for the season. Then Andy and a couple other young men teamed up with some old men (including Dan, and two other basketball dads) to take on the Varsity boys team. The game started off pretty close, but eventually experience won out -- I think Andy is quite an intimidating presence in the middle.

Friday we had company -- my brother Dave, his wife Kiersten, their two boys, Max and Drexel, and dog Gus stopped by on their way to Kiersten's parents home in the Dallas area. They left Illinois earlier than planned to allow extra time, since Illinois had an ice-storm instead of our December thunderstorm, and that got them here earlier, which gave the boys lots of time to play. Here are Zeke, Max, Drexel, Isaac and Elizabeth enjoying cousin fun!

Elizabeth enjoys Uncle Dave's lap, while Isaac gets "grossed"out by Aunt Kiersten's squishy ball
(trust me, you don't want to know any more than that)

Preparing for Christmas, Part 2

2008-12-16T20:40:00.006-06:00

The second week of December started with Becky getting sick. We knew it was going around, so we braced ourselves to all get sick, and it did go around the family, though I think Becky had it the worst. It was pretty mild for most of us.

We were very excited about the start of our basketball season, and then our opponents called to cancel an hour before the scheduled start when they started to experience ice on the interstate. One car of girls arrived, though, so we had an informal girls game anyway, and then Varsity boys practice afterwards. It was amazing that there were almost 75 spectators there even though there wasn't a game -- our homeschool sports organization is really beginning to have a following, and it is really fun!

Fortunately, the weather cleared up enough that we were able to drive down to Poplar Bluff to pick Andy up from school. We decided to combine it with a visit to a couple of Missouri landmarks which we had not yet visited, and took the whole family except Abby, who was taking her turn being sick. After Poplar Bluff, the first stop was Taum Sauk Mountain, the highest point in Missouri. Only Dan braved the look-out tower, which had some ice on the steps and railings that deterred the rest of us -- the following photos give an idea of what he braved and what he saw. The rest of us decided it will be much more worth the climb in the spring!

Looking down from the top -- where we are trying to stay warm in the van!

Looking out from the top of the tower.

Panoramic view from Taum Sauk Mountain overlook

About a 1/2mile away from the lookout tower is the actual highest point. A "rugged" path takes you right there, the long way. Dan took a short cut through the woods, the direct way and beat us back to the van!the rugged path

Seven Halls at the top of Missouri -- wow!

Next stop, Elephant Rocks state park. These huge granite rocks are an oddity in Missouri -- but they may look familiar to those of you who live in California and have ever hiked in the Sierra Mountains! They mined a lot of beautiful red granite blocks out of this area, but these rocks were too soft to be of any use in building, so they got to become a state park. The kids want to go back with friends -- lots of places to explore and hide.

One of the places they quarried out of, now full of water -- but no swimming allowed!

We finally played our first basketball games on the weekend. All three teams - Dan and Zeke's junior high boys team, Abby's girls team, and the varsity boys -- started off with a win. Unfortunately, the last two were mismatches. The girls' game wasn't too bad, since we have 14 players and this gave the coach the freedom to give the less experienced girls more playing time. But the varsity boys' game was painful to watch. We could have probably scored 100 points and held them to zero, but the boys did a good job of not turning it into a total slaughter, by practicing their passing and allowing some of the weaker players to shine...the other coach was very appreciate of our team's attitude and character, and thanked us for being willing to play them and for being so nice about it....and we all agreed these kinds of games are an opportunity to build character..The next day the Junior High boys got to be on the other side of the character building coin as they were outmatched and pretty badly beaten twice (they were in a tournament). But they really did pretty well, considering it was their first season, and only a few weeks of practice. It is a good solid group of guys that have a lot of potential, especially if they keep playing together year after year. Dan does a great job coaching them in the basics of basketball, which are so quickly left behind by many coaches, it seems.

Zeke preparing for a rebound.

Jockeying for position against Lebanon

Because we got through the tournament so quickly, we were able to get back home in time to participate in our church's Live Nativity. This was the third year, and Isaac is still wearing the shepherd costume I made for him for Christmas Eve that first year, after he insisted while we were visiting the Live Nativity that he had to be a shepherd. That first year we tied a kitchen towel around his head and sent him out to be a part, and he went up to people and asked them if they had seen the baby and then took their hand and led them to the manger, proceeding to tell them not only the Christmas story, but also the Easter story! What a witness! It has become a family tradition. This year more of us got involved (Abby reading scripture, Isaac as a Shepherd, Dan and Zeke as wise men) -- Dawn stayed inside and made sure people felt welcomed!

Elizabeth checked out the manger scene, including climbing over the bales to look into the manger. It was precious!

Can you find Isaac in the wooden nativity display?

Sunday afternoon, Dan and I enjoyed the Rolla Choral Arts Society Christmas concert, in which Abby's choir participated. It was fabulous. We are fortunate to have an opportunity to hear such fine music from people in the community. We rushed home after to host our church youth group who arrived to watch Christmas movies in our shed, which has become a do-it-yourself theatre. When we started the evening, it was 60 degrees and dry; 3 hours later the temperature had dropped to 35, and the rain had started....

Preparing for Christmas Part 2

2008-12-16T00:09:00.001-06:00

Isn't a big part of getting ready for Christmas getting well-rested? It is past my bed-time, so the REAL part 2 (the 2nd week of December), will have to wait. Good night!

Preparing for Christmas

2008-12-15T23:19:00.011-06:00

It's a little hard to get ready for Christmas in Missouri, with temperature swings from the 60's (Sunday afternoon) to 8 degrees (Monday morning!). Yet, the marching of time inevitably brings Dec. 25 closer whether we are ready for it or not. We started December with a light snow (see previous post), and later that week, Abby and Zeke marched in a Christmas parade with Kay's Music Studio Homeschool Band. It was a tiny parade, but they did a great job, considering how little practice they had marching - not to mention playing!Abby, our gifted trumpeter

Zeke, the drummer with a sense of rhythm!

Rachel and Sarah Hickle, our band carpool buddies

Isaac in a "Nisbett sandwich" on the float for the elementary choir and siblings of band members --
Kim Nisbett, Nathaniel and Anna's mom, talked us into doing band this year -- and we're glad she did.. most of the time :)

Maybe even more fun than the parade was the evening following, as we spent time with our friends the Hickles, whose girls are also in the band (see above)-- warming up, singing, making more music (or noise, maybe), visiting, and, some of us, sleeping....well, in Becky's defense, she WAS getting sick, and it was pretty late by the time she fell asleep on the weight bench.....
the conversation going on in the living room was obviously MUCH more stimulating!

The next day was the Rolla Christmas parade, with the usual small town parade stuff, and enough candy to fill a grocery bag full. Our church had a float, which we used to advertise our Live Nativity. Isaac is on there somewhere, and Zeke walked alongside, handing out -- you guessed it -- candy! Later that day, Abby's choir, the Rolla Community Children's Choir, sang in the Old Courthouse, which dates from the time of the Civil War.

Hall Christmas Letter 2008

2008-12-15T12:50:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sorry I just had to get that out of my system - I do believe that this is the first annual letter our family has ever sent out before Christmas. Kudos to Mum for being on the ball in ordering our pictures, and for continuing to bug me about writing this. J So what has 2008 held for the Hall Family?

Well, we branched out when it came to activities this winter and spring, adding a musical to our usual sports schedules. A local home school group called Fine Linen Drama put on a production of “The Prince and the Pauper”, which Dawn, Becky, Abby, and Zeke were all a part of. It was an amazing experience for all of us -- we made many new friends, enjoyed the dramatic side of things, and felt it was definitely worth the extra schedule tweaking. Basketball for Andy, Becky, Abby, and Zeke, and baseball for Andy and Zeke were, once again, a major part of the winter, spring, and beginning of summer. We also celebrated the graduation of our two oldest, Andy and Becky, from high school with a small ceremony and party. Immediately following that, Dawn and the five youngest kids took a trip out to upstate New York for a family wedding. We took Dawn’s parents along, and were able to stop at several historic sites and cities, giving the kids a tangible experience to connect with the history they had studied in school that year.

The summer was a busy one. We kicked it off with a great, week-long visit from friends from Norway, which we used as an excuse to visit several new places in Missouri. Dan, Dawn, Andy, and Becky also took a weekend trip out to California, to be a part of the final celebration of Trinity Lutheran School. We had a visit from Dawn’s sister and her two sons, who currently live in Dubai, U.A.E., as well as a weekend with the rest of Dawn’s family in Forrest. Then, the final hurrah of the summer was a family reunion/50^th Wedding Anniversary for Dan’s parents, which we celebrated in grand style at Camp Windemere, right on the shores of the Lake of the Ozarks here in Missouri.

The school year began with mixed feelings, as we drove Andy down to Poplar Bluff to start his first year of college. Our fall so far has been full, with volleyball, soccer, basketball, band, choir, Sunday School . . . Oh, and of course, a little bit of home-schooling on the side. J With Andy and Becky in college, Dawn now has one high schooler, one middle schooler, one first grader, and one pre-schooler -- talk about a spread!

Dan single-handedly saved the Rolla economy by shopping for the first time on Black Friday. He is still working for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, and enjoying it immensely. He has found a challenge with the economic dip of the past several months, and spent a lot of time reassuring his clients. In June, he had a chance to give the graduation address at the final graduation of Trinity Lutheran School, an occasion that can only be defined by the cliché “bittersweet”. Several weeks ago, he found the fulfillment of a life-long dream, by getting to mow his own property with a tractor. He can now claim to be a Midwestern farmer. J This basketball season, his schedule has loosened up enough to permit coaching the JH boys’ home school team.

Dawn organized the world last March, but still finds the time to be involved in nearly everything new that comes her way. She has declared that this is the year that she works herself out of her many commitments, but she still continues to be involved in various events throughout the school year. She was asked to serve as Sunday School Superintendent for this year, and has done a great job at it of course. This fall, she volunteered at the Republican headquarters in town, and continues to serve on the board for Capable Kids and Families, a local organization that provides equipment and support to families with special needs children. A project she took on this fall was to rearrange our rooms, so that we now have a “school room” in the basement, separate from our living areas and her office. This has made the school year run more smoothly, and has made life easier on Dawn as she is still balances (and masters) the roles of wife, teacher, mom, household administrator, schedule coordinator, and beautiful daughter of the King.

Andy, 18, decided to start a band and cut a record. Last spring, he finished up his senior year at the high school in Rolla, playing basketball and baseball and is now in his freshman year at Three Rivers Community College, in Poplar Bluff Missouri. He is on the baseball team there, and has impressed the coaches with both his skills and his willingness to hustle. He rooms with 3 guys, two of whom he already knew, and they have been great friends for him, helping him stand for what is right in every situation. We enjoy seeing him every few weekends, and are looking forward to having him home for Christmas break.

Becky, 17, spent the summer scuba diving off the coast of Australia and slaying sharks. I finished up high school at the end of last school year, and graduated with Andy in May. This fall, I began taking college classes at community college in Rolla, as well as getting more involved with the home school athletic association by taking over a lot of Mum’s administrative work, and helping out with the teams when I can. I babysit twice a week, co-lead the high school girls’ Sunday School class at church, and drive the siblings to various events all over town. I feel like God has taught (or at least tried to teach) me so much this year. If I could narrow it down, it has been mostly about relationships - those with my friends, my family, and of course the most important of all, my relationship with Jesus Christ. Life can be hard to balance when you live at home and go to college, but I am slowly learning. I’m looking to transfer to a four-year university next fall, although I have not yet decided where, or what major I will pursue.

Abby, age 14, became a world-class ice-skater, reaching new heights with her jumps. She has become quite a beautiful young lady this year, and is nearly as tall as Becky. Still very passionate about singing, she is part of a choir in Rolla and has also taken up trumpet, playing in the homeschool band. She plays both volleyball and basketball, and continues to help babysit several times a month. The love of horses is still the primary focus of her life, and she is pushing for getting some of her own this spring. Right now, she spends time each week with a lady from our church, learning about the basics of caring for horses and helping out with chores. As a high school student, she is learning a lot about time-management, as well as getting more involved around the house.

Zeke, age 12, set the world record for words spoken per minutes this past June. Since Andy left, he has started to fill the role of the young man around the house. He still plays 3 sports - basketball, soccer, and baseball, and was very excited to be old enough to play on the homeschool basketball team this year. The find of a xylophone at a local garage sale by Dad has led him to play in the homeschool band as well, and he rotates between that and bass drum.

Isaac, age 6, joined a Viking ship and has plundered most of the East Coast. He is a typical “pseudo first child“, often-times shocking us with the grown-up ways he thinks and talks. He still loves to draw and play “pretend” - his “pretend life” is often more elaborate than real life, and certainly more interesting. This fall he has developed a love for games, and has quickly picked up Sorry, Rack-o, Yat-zee, and several others. He finished up Kindergarten in May, and has started First Grade this year. He constantly amazes us with the things he can read and remember, following his brother Zeke in being a wealth of random information. He also enjoys going to the homeschool PE group once a week, and having play-dates with a number of homeschool boys his age who we have met.

Elizabeth, age 4, ran away to the jungles of China, and was adopted by a family of panda bears. She goes to pre-school 3 mornings a week, and there she gets speech, physical, and occupational therapy. While she has yet to begin “really” talking, she has many words and signs that she uses to communicate, and has no trouble understanding our verbal communication. She is very active, and has “run away” several times, giving us a good scare. Many times she tries our patience, but is learning to obey and be a good listener. This year has been an adventure in potty training, which started entirely on her own initiative during our vacation to NY. It is fun to watch the things she learns each day, and cuddling with her makes us wonder why God doesn’t bless every family with a child who has Down’s Syndrome.

God has certainly been good to our family. As we look back on the year, there are so many ways he has blessed us. Mostly during this season, we remember the greatest blessing of all -- as Isaac asked me in the car yesterday, “Becky, isn’t Christmas the most important day of the year?”

I responded, “Well, why would you think so?”

“Because, it’s when God sent Jesus for us,” he stated simply.

Need we say more?

May God bless you and your family this Christmas season!

The Halls

P.S. In case you didn’t catch it, this letter was written by Becky, and the first adventure in each life is made up!

Late Night Blogging

2008-12-03T01:10:00.000-06:00

Some of you may pay attention to the time of posts -- I just noticed that the blogger clock isn't very accurate. It makes my last post seem somewhat reasonable, and this one will seem to be reasonable as well. But the TRUTH is that it is 1:11 am according to my computer clock, and I can't sleep. Lesson learned: decaf coffee has some caffeine, and if you drink 4 cups of it after dinner, it might actually affect you. Sigh. But at least I have an opportunity to catch up a bit on my blog. Some of you will appreciate that. Oops, I just heard a door upstairs. I might need to go check on night wanderers :)

December Arrives

2008-12-03T00:48:00.001-06:00

Some of my friends think I'm crazy, but I love snow! When we decided to move to Missouri 4+ years ago, I was excited about the possibility of snowy winters. What I didn't realize is that Missouri is actually a Southern state, at least as far as climate (well, a lot of other things as well!). So, although we sometimes get real snow, usually we just get a nasty combination of rain, sleet and snow which makes driving treacherous and isn't very pretty. Occasionally this nasty combination is beautiful, like when it freezes, but then the roads are even more dangerous, and we're lucky to get out of our driveway, which is ever so slightly uphill.
In 2008, though, winter is off to right start, at least in my book. The snow flurries started on Sunday morning, though they didn't stick because the ground was still too warm. But by evening, it started to accumulate a little bit, and Monday morning we woke up to a beautiful sight!

Isaac is now at the age where he can dress himself, so he was out the door as soon as I let him go, after breakfast and family devotions. Eventually Elizabeth wanted to join him, and the first thing she was to imitate Isaac, and make a snow angel. But she stayed out and played with him for a good 1/2 hour before I heard her crying -- and Isaac said to me; "I think you forgot her gloves." When I went to investigate, she was gloveless and crying because of cold hands -- time to invest in one of those string mitten sets, I guess!

Jenga creativity

2008-11-12T07:41:00.001-06:00

The game Jenga has provided hours of entertainment recently, though I don't think we've played the actual game!

More Elizabeth

2008-11-12T07:38:00.001-06:00

Elizabeth took off up the driveway the other day, right after Becky brought her and Isaac home from the park. She obviously had something in mind -- well, Isaac had been dropped off to bring in a trashcan, and there was another one still out there, so she went out to retrieve it! She brought it all the way home and then went back to get the lid that had fallen off. I was amazed at her perseverance.

Elizabeth Antics

2008-11-12T07:28:00.001-06:00

My character, Elizabeth. We dressed her up for Halloween to attend a local church carnival that opens its doors an hour early for special needs kids, and so they don't have to fight the crowds. Elizabeth loves the inflatable play equipment and ran from one thing to another for the entire hour.

Catching Up

2008-11-12T07:27:00.001-06:00

Becky thinks she has neglected HER blog -- almost a month has gone by -- sigh! I'll try to get caught up!

A Blessing From God

2008-10-14T16:41:00.001-05:00

I am starting to enjoy the "other" end of parenting -- being blessed by wonderful kids! Becky is "just" 16, but she is sure a blessing to me. Today, I was gone for two hours and returned to a picked up house, dinner in the oven, and the table set. I'm sure she got the other kids to help as well, but a sure sign that she was involved is the sink piled with dishes -- definitely a "Becky" sign. I, on the other hand, pile them on the counter by the sink or just wash them as I go.

Becky's friends tease her about being "second mom," but what they don't know is that sometimes she is actually the first mom, because she ends up mothering me (in a good way, of course). It is scary how much she is like me--she understands my frustrations, and a bit of what drives me to overdo. On the other hand, she is a lot different than me. I think she is more balanced in her lifestyle, taking time to do things that are important, not just doing what is urgent. She gives of her time freely, and while she enjoys earning money babysitting, she doesn't expect to get paid every time she helps someone. She enjoys cooking and she has a good sense of style, decor, and color, so she has become the #1 clothing choice consultant in the house! Most of all, she loves the Lord and really tries to let that shine through her life.

In short, I am very blessed, and today am very thankful for my daughter, Becky.

A New Template

2008-10-12T20:45:00.000-05:00

Hope you like the new look -- I got frustrated trying to figure out why my text wasn't showing up -- even though it was supposed to be white on the black background, it wasn't doing it automatically. So it was easier to start new -- kind of like moving furniture around :)

Zeke and Soccer

2008-10-12T20:12:00.001-05:00

It isn't easy to take decent pictures of soccer action. The one on the left, Zeke had just done a header, and in the one on the right, he is chasing after the ball. His team is doing well this fall, and he is right in the middle of it all.

More Andy Baseball

2008-10-12T19:41:00.001-05:00

Last weekend in Springfield, MO, Andy's team had 4 baseball games. He played in 2 1/2 of them, and went 6 for 8 at bat! An awesome outing for him, and good timing, since Grandma and Grandpa Douglass were there to watch. These are the only pictures I got of him, from foul territory. Yes, baseball can be very uneventful!

Trains

2008-10-12T19:29:00.000-05:00

The last couple of days the kids have been busy creating elaborate train systems. Everyone gets into the act, from Becky to Elizabeth. It's a great school avoidance excuse, since it can be argued to be somewhat educational.

Elizabeth Update

2008-10-12T19:06:00.000-05:00

Physically, Elizabeth is stretching out. I see less difference between her and others her age than I used to. She wears 4T on the top to cover her belly, and 3T on the bottom, or they are too long :) So far 3T still goes around the middle. She weighs 33#, and is 35 1/2 inches-- almost 3 ft-- tall! She has been to the dentist 3 times and each time we've made a bit more progress. The first time she wouldn't open her mouth, the next she opened and let the hygienist count her teeth, this last time the hygienist actually spent some time looking at her teeth, but the cleaning tool scared E. and that was the end. They say her teeth look real good, though. We go to St. Louis for a yearly evaluation in November.... hopefully the tubes will have done their job and hearing will be normal. Most likely she will need glasses. Fortunately, we know it is a good time for them -- 2 of the boys in her class wear them, and her teacher told us that she regularly takes them and puts them on. So she will just feel part of the gang!

Academically, Elizabeth is attending developmental pre-school 3 mornings a week -- out of a possible 4 that are offered. She is in a class of 5, with a teacher and an aide. While there, she gets physical, occupational and speech therapy. We are seeing improvement in her fine motor skills - she can draw both horizontal and vertical lines connecting things, and make smiley faces. Physically, she is doing well -- she climbs stairs up and down without much trouble, can climb just about anything, and has good balance. Today, she ran up and down a hill at the school where Abby was in choir, and then she started to roll down -- don't know where she got that idea! She also likes to put her hand down on the ground when we say "ready, set, go" -- you know the Halls, everything is a race, and she has joined right in. Her speech is still slow in developing. They tell us she is quiet at school, but she babbles all the time at home, and has many recognizable words and phrases. My personal favorite: "Stop, Zeke." Mommy, Daddy, Jesus, book, are others we hear commonly, along with "Wee-wee" (Woody), "Baby" (one of her dolls) and "Doll" (a different doll).

We take her to school Tues, Thur, and Friday -- Becky most of the time, on her way to classes or babysitting. But she rides the bus home, and she loves it. They bring her right to the door, pretty close to the same time every day, which is wonderful. It gives me an extra 40 minutes to finish school with the boys and Abby and to start on lunch. Usually I let her watch a video before lunch -- amazing how quickly she latched on to THAT routine. She loves videos -- "pooh" is one of her favorites, but she also likes the old Donut Mans and 3-2-1 Penguins, as well as Veggie tales. Every now and then she comes up to me with her cute smile and a full-length movie. When I say no, she goes and gets another one -- until I give in, usually!

Spiritually, she seems to be aware of being loved and special. She sings and signs Jesus Loves Me, and she loves to pray -- obviously in the Spirit, since none of us can understand a word she says. But it is interesting how she changes her voice inflection -- she must be mimicking what she hears when we pray.

Around the house, she is starting to help with chores -- she loves to help unload the dishwasher (we just have to be sure she goes somewhere else when we are loading, since sometimes she tries to put dirty dishes away), and she can fill the dog food bowls pretty well, and she loves to give them "treats". She's also good at closing drawers and doors that her mom leaves open, and at putting toys away before she responds to the dinner bell.

Socially, she still manages to charm almost everyone she meets. Amis, a boy with Down Syndrome in her class, is a special buddy. Several of the parents of Andy's teammates already know her by name (I don't know theirs, and they probably only know me as Elizabeth's mom!), and she scared the assistant coach last weekend when she screamed, and then flashed him a big smile (I think he thought she got hit by a ball or something). She loves to play with other kids, but quickly mimics bad behavior. Elizabeth also doesn't quite understand her boundaries and often takes things away and has even been known to choke another kid who has something she wants...

Potty training is still kind of hit and miss. We have victories, like a BM in the toilet this morning early, followed by accidents -- not more than 2 hours later, another BM in the pants. She still doesn't seem to have the idea of letting us know beforehand -- but she does tell us after the fact, usually... the biggest problem is a preoccupied mom. But they struggle at school, too. I appreciate that they are patient with her and me, and that they work on it!

More of the bounty

2008-10-12T18:47:00.000-05:00

Some of our discarded cantaloupe seeds decided to grow in our compost pile -- we actually had 3 full size cantaloupe! Unfortunately, they didn't taste very good :), but it was amazing to watch things grow we had not even planted!

More of Nature's Bounty

2008-10-12T18:45:00.000-05:00

We tried planting some sunflower seeds that were a year old. Only one of them grew, and it got HUGE -- unfortunately, the kernels didn't all have a seed in them. But we did get a few edible ones.

Andy Baseball

2008-09-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

Andy at bat and with the team -- the Three Rivers Raiders. He had a pretty good weekend. In his first game, he got a nice hit right before the game was delayed on account of thunder and lightning (real close!), and later hit one to the wall (390 ft) that would have been a home run in many baseball fields. He also made a real nice throw from left field to catch a runner off the base after a fly ball. He's having a great time, though college baseball is more physically demanding -- running before classes, and 3 - 4 hours practices after!

Weekend in Springfield

2008-09-24T17:18:00.001-05:00

Andy had 4 games in Springfield on the weekend, so Isaac, Elizabeth, Dan and I went down to watch. Well, we did some playing at the park, too :)