Currently Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God By Voddie T. Baucham Jr. see related

Christmas stuff

I think it is pretty safe to say that we're not doing much on xanga anymore.  I'm really sorry for those who keep up with us on here, but if that is the case, I would recommend getting a facebook account and friend-requesting me on there.

Here's what we did over December...

We took part in the Singing Christmas Tree again this year.  We were in the drama cast for both nights, and we definitely had another great year doing that.

Hannah is a LOT older now -- turned 29 on December 22!

We opened gifts together and celebrated the birth of Jesus as a family... lit the advent wreath, sang Christmas songs, and such.

We went to Christmas Eve services and took part in reading the Scriptures.

Opening gifts  ^

Calvin likes to play under the tree

"I AM SO EXCITED!!"  ^

Sander Family Christmas in Seward

A new cousin -- Christine Noelle Sander!  12/30/08  ^

Moore family Christmas in Omaha

Shalom & Calvin's Christmas picture

Our Year in Review:

1)  FacePlant ski trip in February

2) Calvin Andrew Moore is born! 6/2/08

3) Summer camp at Timberlake -- I caught a gar on a goldfish cracker! 

4)  Family vacation to northern Nebraska

5)  Thanksgiving cuteness

6)  Shalom is a big helper with feeding Calvin

7)  Singing Christmas Tree drama

Currently Watching Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed By Ben Stein, Richard Dawkins, Robert J. Marks II, Mark Souder, Gerald Schroeder see related

I recommend the aforementioned movie.  Good stuff.  I like that Ben Stein.

I haven't put up any pictures in a while.  Pictures first, then funny stories.

Funny stuff from Shalom this week...

Today Calvin was grabbing for an electrical cord.  Hannah said he shouldn't play with it.  I was carving a pumpkin and asked if he should have the knife instead.  Shalom said, "No, Calvin shouldn't have the knife because he will cut his eye out and then he'll only have one eye."  Well said.  It's fun to watch her start to connect the dots of logic in normal every day conversation.

I think it was last week some time that she had pooped and I came in to find her entertaining herself as she often does by speaking for various characters that she has invented.  In this case, she was throwing little toilet paper wads into her potty.  The little poop fish was saying, "I want to eat some too," but the big poop fish was saying, "No, I'm going to eat them all."  Eventually he decided to share.  [She was not touching the poop, fyi.]

We're getting closer to our new house.  We have taken the First Time homebuyer class to get a $4000 grant toward our downpayment, which is actually $6,000.  It's a bit complicated, but the long and short of it is that because we bid higher than HUD appraised the house, they will only let us get a loan for the appraisal value, leaving us to come up with $6,000.  As with all things, we're just trusting the Lord to provide for our needs, and as always, He is using many and various people to take care of us.

This week we got a free cabinet grand piano and a free fridge from people listing on craigslist.com.  Special thanks to Chris Beaty for helping me load the piano, and special thanks to Ben Reis, Mark Coddington, Craig & Corina Garrison, Chuck Maycroft, Chuck Medberry, Chris Hiegel and Chris & Randy Beaty for being willing to help me unload it.  [I planned better for the loading than the unloading...]  It was really heavy!

Currently Watching The Man Who Came to Dinner By Bette Davis, Monty Woolley, Ann Sheridan, Jimmy Durante, Billie Burke see related

Just a few little updates in our lives.

We're getting closer to buying this house.  We still don't have a closing date, but everything seems to be coming together.  More info eventually, and hopefully some pictures!

Calvin has figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy.  He had already been able to roll from tummy to back, but today he really figured out the reverse.

Shalom has been doing GREAT at chewing and swallowing food!  She is getting really close to being able to get everything by mouth.  She still lacks a bit of motivation sometimes, but this weekend she really started chomping on some chips and other little snacks.  Jell-o and yogurt were already in her diet, but the new move to more solid foods is really encouraging.

A little over a week ago Shalom did a little faceplant in the mall and bled all over when she split her lip open.  She had done the same thing about six weeks prior, and I think that made it bleed a little worse this time.  It healed up pretty fast.

Currently Watching The Great Escape By Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson see related

We're Buying a House!

We've held off making an announcement for a little while to make sure everything looked like it was going through in an orderly manner, and things are looking up -- Lord willing, we're going to buy a house!

This has all happened very suddenly, although we've been praying for the opportunity (but not looking for it).  We'd like to be able to open up our home to kids in foster care with physical disabilities (like Shalom's), and we just don't have the space in our house.  We think God is opening the door at a property not too far from where we are.  It is a pretty good little house that (due to foreclosure) was in our price range and was actually bigger than the house we're renting.  So many of the houses in our price range that we have looked at were the same size or smaller that we began to wonder if we'd ever move into a bigger house (without a lot of work).

The house will need a little bit of work, but nothing that can't be done over time.  We hope to move in around the end of the month.

In church news, Free Life has started up and we're heading in the right direction.  We've got some students that actually like to sing!  What a nice change of pace!  We've really noticed a good turn-around in the respect level and the participation of kids in our group.  Hopefully that will start to translate into students coming to outside events besides Youth Group, but in the meantime, we'll take what we're getting.  We still don't have a high school pastor, but we've got people covering the bases for now.  We also just got a new senior pastor.  We've enjoyed having Pastor Mike Neely (most recently from Columbus) join the team this Fall.  We certainly miss Curt and Fay as well, and we pray they're finding fruitful ministry out in the Scottsbluff area.

Calvin is FOUR MONTHS OLD and growing quickly.  He's got great head control and is a very happy boy (except when he's hungry!).  Shalom is still doing really well as a big sister.  She is experimenting with food by mouth and will consume a little more, especially liquids and things like drinkable yogurt.  Other than landing a full-body rash and an ear infection these past couple of weeks, she's been healthy.

Shalom is excited about the new house and has connected the fact that we could potentially get a dog now.  I wonder if Mommy prompted that thought at all...  Anyway, she has come up with some great ideas for each of us getting our own dog and just knows that our cats will love the new family members.  Shalom will also be able to have more of a play room in the new house.  Hopefully her doll house and puppet theatre can be somewhere useful instead of just tucked out of the way all the time.

People sometimes tell me that they still go to this blog to find out what's going on with us... so I'll try to keep updating it :)

Currently Reading The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre Dumas see related

Our Vacation to Northern Nebraska

 Calvin is ready to play ball!

We had a lovely vacation, thanks to the kindness of Dennis and Caroline Ritchey, who let us use their house in Naper as a launching pad for all kinds of adventures in northern Nebraska.  Suffice it to say that this part of the state does not look remotely like the parts that I am accustomed to seeing, and given its beauty and its remoteness and distance from the distractions of daily life, this was a pleasant albeit short departure from reality.

Our trip vacation started out with a half-day of cleaning the house.  Being afforded that opportunity was great at the time of our return.  We then journeyed up to the north, pausing at a little park in Butte to rendezvous with Jonah and Jessica (and Titus), who joined us on this vacation (as has been our custom these past three summers).

The next day we ventured to find the "ghost town" of Meadville, although it was not so much that as the title would imply.  Rhyolite, Nevada is more what I would consider a true ghost town.  There are new houses going up around Meadville.  But I digress...

We found some spectacular views of the Niobrara River valley from the cliffs south of Meadville...

Then we continued on to Smith Falls State Park.  We also saw Fort Falls and the Ft Niobrara National Wildlife Preserve.  After a full day of sightseeing we headed back to Naper.

On the third day, we went north into South Dakota and visited Lake Francis Case on the Missouri River.  We saw some historic sites, swam and had a nice day at the lake.  We concluded our day at Nebrask Inn (this is the correct spelling) in Gross, NE.  The story goes that if you swear they charge you a dollar and affix it to the ceiling.

 
                                                                                        Just for the record... it's root beer

On the fourth day, we headed east through the town of Lynch.  Just north of Lynch is a hill near the Missouri River called "Old Baldy" (but which picture is it?), at the base of which Lewis & Clark first encountered prairie dogs.  We continued on to Niobrara State Park and took a good long hike, and concluded the day visiting a buffalo and elk ranch.  Shalom always likes to give grass to the animals through the fence.  After leaving the ranch, one of us had to go potty, but I won't say which one of the two people it is.

On the next day, which was Sunday, we attended a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran Church.  I found it ironic that on the bulletin there was a verse from I Corinthians that proclaims the unity of the body, yet when it came time for Communion (think about the etymology of that word), they practice "closed" communion, meaning (this is a short and dirty explanation) that because of differences in understanding of what it stands for, they tell all who aren't Wisconsin Synod Lutherans that we're not welcome to join them.  I'm not blaming these brothers and sisters for all divisions of denominationalism, but it struck me as inconsistent.

After church Jonah and Jessica departed, but Hannah and I stuck around for one for day.  A great regret that I have is that we neglected to bring our camera to Keller Lake State Rec Area, because it was beautiful.  We tried to fish (sort of), but ended up mostly just grilling some supper and reading from The Count of Monte Cristo.  In spite of my ineptitude at fishing, we had a delightful evening.

Monday was our travel day to return home, but we made two main stops on the way.  The first was at the now defunct Zoo Nebraska in the town of Royal.  Although officially closed to the public, quite a few animals are still there and are being cared for until homes can be found.  The zoo closed after a long legal battle which started in 2005 when by human error the chimps escaped.  Three of the four were shot to death in town.  PETA and the USDA stepped in and closed the zoo, which was probably the right thing to do, but still a pity.  Now, however, there are around 16 wolves in two cages that are too small, and they sing a very sad song indeed.  Think of the dogs in the pound on Lady and the Tramp and you're getting close to it.  There are a few big cats including a bengal tiger, but we could only see silhouettes from the road.  We did see the bear, some white-haired creature, and the other animals pictured here.

Our last stop was at Ashfall Fossil Bed, which I recommend with reservation only because you have to stomach a lot of pro-evolution propaganda that always strikes me as surprisingly myopic.  The fossil beds are amazing, though.

And finally, two friends we met on our vacation...
Mom, I ought to tell you that I put the first one on here just for you