Photo Catch-Up

All of the photos in my digital camera have been screaming to get out and be published, so here it goes - a rewind from the past couple of months...

Over Daniel's birthday weekend, Adam had a game up at Moody in Chicago, so we packed up and headed up to Chicago for the weekend... We left early and captured the sunrise...

Adam scored the winning goal of the game...

Huntington's homecoming game...

The next weekend, we headed up to Mishawaka as Todd was helping lead worship in a church up there and got to hang out with Todd for the day. We went to a corn maze and pumpkin patch...

I had the privilege of accompanying Daniel's class to Mississinewa for the re-enactment of the War of 1812. It was quite fun...

Look at the sea of kids waiting for the re-enactment to start...

Senior night for South Adams football... Yeah, Calvin!

More soccer...

November 1 Todd played the piano for Lara Sprunger and Mike's wedding. It was a beautiful, God-focused wedding! Ashley got to come spend the weekend with us, too!

Last Friday night was homecoming for Bethel. Todd was nominated for the Junior Class court. We got to go watch the "pageant" and hang out at Starbucks for a little while...

And now I think I'm all caught up, for now :) ...

Soccer Saturday

Daniel had his first soccer game of the Parks and Rec season. The team looked great and won 7-4. Daniel played so well. We were so proud! He played most of the game as forward and then relieved the goalie for the last few minutes of the game. Off to a good start, five more games to go...

Right after Daniel's game we packed up the SUV and headed straight over to Bluffton, Ohio, where Huntington U was playing Bluffton U. We knew we were only going to see the second half of the game because of travel time and walked in just after halftime and Huntington was down 0-2. The game was intense and HU was playing well, but we couldn't get the ball in the goal. With ten minutes left in the game, I leaned over to Rachel and said, "Adam's got ten minutes to score two goals, minimum."

With about five minutes left in the game, HU scored making the score 1-2. So the excitement was building... With one minute left, Adam was taking the ball to the goal. The goalie rushed him and he kicked the ball, it bounced off the goalie towards the goal, Adam kept charging... and... and... and... (how do you like the suspense?) was fouled BIG TIME just before he could put it in the goal. Well, the guy who fouled him was red-carded and sent off the field, and we were given a penalty kick.

We tied up the game with the penalty kick and 1 minute left to go. The game ended in a tie, and after a 10 minute break, they came back on the field for a 10-minute tie-breaker "golden goal" which means the first one who scores, wins.

About 5 minutes into the tie-breaker, Adam got tangled up with one of the Bluffton players and fell as the other guy was kicking and Adam got kicked square in the ribs. Stop the time clock, bring out the trainer, Adam thought he broke a rib or two. After a few minutes on the ground, Adam walked off and play resumed without him. Within just a minute or two of Adam's injury, he was running on the sidelines assessing whether he would be able to return to play. As Adam was running, HU scored. Adam missed it because he was running the opposite way. Rachel missed it because she was watching Adam, but Todd and I saw it, and it was SWEET! So HU won 3-2 in overtime! It was a good soccer day. The game was so good that I ended up putting my camera down and missed all the action shots, so only one of Adam this time, but doesn't he look like a man? Seriously, baby number two has grown up!

Friday evening at the lake

Todd, Daniel, and I took a trip to Celina Friday evening for dinner at Bella's overlooking Grand Lake St. Mary's and then hiking around the lake. When I say around, I don't really mean around the entire lake - It's huge - 13,500 acres huge, and incredibly the entire thing was dug by 1700 German and Irish immigrants for the whopping wages of30 cents per day. Legend says that they also received a jigger of whiskey a day to fight off malaria... right, for the malaria... It took six years to dig the lake, and all the dirt/mud was hauled off by wheelbarrows and especially built one-horse drawn dump carts. It has an average depth of only 10'. I just had to share all of that because I thought it was fascinating.

Anyway, after dinner we explored, rock climbed, caught falling leaves, hiked, chased birds, took pictures and dreamed of fishing. The fish were actually jumping out of the water and taunting us - not just little fish, either - big fish. We have plans to go back Friday evening to fish and hang out - can't wait! I love to fish, and more so, just love to hang out with the guys. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment.

Todd's a junior, Adam's Freshman Orientation, Daniel and the Dunes

Well Todd left on Wednesday morning to go back to school. I can't believe he's already a junior in college. I'm just simply not old enough to have a son that old! I've been caught in a time warp somewhere. I'm 29 and have a 20 year old. Actually, though, I'm happy to be my age because hopefully along the way I've gained some experience and wisdom - but seriously, when did I get to be 41?

Todd (Sr) and I went to freshman orientation/dedication at Huntington Friday night for Adam. It was a neat service. The worship time was awesome, and then everybody said prayers for everybody else (students, parents, staff) and then it was time to say our goodbyes. Since Adam's already been there for two weeks because of soccer, it wasn't as hard to say goodbye, besides we'll get to see him at soccer games fairly frequently. Speaking of soccer, he's had two games and scored two goals. One game was a friendly alumni match, and the other was a scrimmage against Defiance College. Their first season game is Saturday, Aug. 30 (Adam's 19th birthday). As part of the freshman "initiation," the freshman are not allowed to shave their moustache until a freshman scores in a season game. They are all hoping someone scores on Saturday because none of them are too thrilled with their cheesy looking upper lips.

Yesterday, Daniel, Todd (Sr) and I took Darcy and went to the Indiana Dunes State Park. The water was beautiful and we were able to hike quite a bit. We played in the water for a while and just enjoyed a day away. It helped to get out of the house for a while. I'm just not quite adjusted to having so few at home. I've gotten really good at freezing half of the meals that I cook. Todd says I need to quit cooking as much, but I haven't been able to do it yet. It always looks like it's not enough, so for now anyway, the freezer is filling up with quick and easy frozen meals. That's a good thing too!

Preview

I thought I'd give you just a preview of what's to come... I'm working on putting together a slide show of some of Adam's pictures from Kenya, but I thought I'd give you just a preview of one of my favorite ones. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll get a closer view. Apparently the giraffe REALLY liked Adam!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Weekend Fun

Well... Todd (Sr) and Daniel headed off to Huntington and the Little Turtle Campground at Edward Rousch Lake for a weekend of guy stuff - camping, hiking, fishing, being one with nature :), etc. They had a great time. I'd show you pictures if I could, but there aren't any, so just insert your favorite camping pictures/memories here.

Todd (Jr) and I stayed home and had some time to hang out together which was fun. We made a trip to Logans Steakhouse (our favorite) and did a little shopping on Friday night.

Saturday Todd and I and Rachel headed to Huntington and picked up Todd (Sr) and Daniel at the campground and went to watch Adam don his Huntington jersey for the first time for the team versus alumni game. The team won 2-1, and Adam scored the first goal of his college career. We had a great time!

After the game we along with Josh (Adam's roommate) and family helped move the rest of the guys's stuff into their dorm room. It's a brand new dorm, not even completely finished yet. They've got it configured for maximum leisure space complete with a small couch, and it looks like home. (We left before all the stuff was put away, but at least the beds were made.)

After we unloaded the stuff, we headed off to Don Rafael's Mexican Restaurant for a wonderful meal. I envision many more trips there after soccer games. I have three words for you - Arroz con Pollo. I didn't get it, but Daniel did, and Todd, and Adam, and Tyler (Josh's brother), and I wish I did! Next time...

After dinner, we dropped the guys and Rachel off at the dorm. Rachel and Adam hung out for the evening and then he brought her home, so we got to see him at home for a few minutes too. Then we dropped Todd (Sr) and Daniel off at their campground, and Todd and I headed back home. We ended up watching the Obama/McCain question/answer time with Rick Warren, which I'm glad we did because it was a great forum to compare and contrast the two candidates (and confirm what I already knew).

Sunday, the guys came back and we had some family time, went walking on the River Greenway in Bluffton (3+ miles) and ate at my favorite (fast food) place - Wendy's. For some reason, I am hooked on Wendy's these days and can usually talk the family into it once a week or so.

And so, Sunday marked the end of summer vacation for Daniel... and us... Here he is eating his breakfast before school Monday morning. His first day of fifth grade went well. We're off to a good start!