The Szymczak Family Blog

Christmas Concert

2010-12-20T13:54:00.000-08:00

Last spring Aly and Jessi both tried out for children's choirs in Casper. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Jessi made it into Bel Canto and Aly made it into the Casper Children's Chorale. They've been practicing hard since September to prepare for their annual Christmas concert. It was a beautiful concert! We are very impressed with the children and their directors.

We were not allowed to take pictures during the concert, but were able to take these pictures of the rehearsal. Hope you enjoy them. If you want to hear a short video of the rehearsal, click on the link to the Hubert blog and view the video.

This is the Casper Children's Chorale. Aly is 3rd from left in the top row.

This is Bel Canto. Jessi is in the front row, 2nd from left.

They were depicting a sleeping baby Jesus in this song. It was precious.

My Ruby Jane -by Jessi

2010-12-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

Ruby is my baby. After I lost my gerbil, Angel, I was so sad. In March I went to Driggs, Idaho with my dad to pick up Ruby. She is now 11 months old. She and I have a good friendship. I know someday she will grow up, but I will still call her my baby. When she is older I may breed her, and name the baby Fred. But for now it's just her. I love, love, love my baby, Ruby! Hope you enjoy these cute picture of her.

Art Class

2010-12-14T14:25:00.001-08:00

Grandma Cathy generously takes the kids every Monday afternoon and teaches art lessons. She is very creative with their projects. They have made some really neat things this year. She is a watercolor artist so they have all been blessed by her wisdom with this type of painting. She also taught them how to make wire sculptures this year. (And I have to admit, I've gotten addicted to making wire wrapped rocks for crosses- thanks to her introduction of this type of art). We are all very thankful to Cathy for the time and energy she puts into their learning and loving art!

This week's project was gingerbread houses! It's hard to compete with that, grandma :)

This is by far their favorite subject in school this year! Aly loves art class and usually produces beautiful pieces.

Her house was brightly colored, unique and cheerful.

Blake's house was really meticulous.
The M&M roof was perfectly color-coded, and nothing was out of place.

Jessi always adds animals to all of her projects. There are "creatures" all around the house and decorating the rooftop.

One day, the kids made homemade pasta with grandma and grandpa then served it for dinner.

I was in Texas but heard that it was delicious!
Look at Blake......Hopefully he'll keep this up for his future wife!

Birthday Dinner Fit For a King

2010-12-14T14:12:00.000-08:00

Well, we can't belive our boy is 14! It really seems like just yeserday when we brought our sweet little baby home from the hospital. We were up at the crack of dawn (thanks to some subtle Christmas playing in the livingroom around 4:45 a.m.) Blake loves his birthday! He wanted to gather the family together and hear the hilarious story about our hospital experience when he was born. Then, he had us wait until 6:24 a.m. to open his presents because that is the exact time he was born. December 9, 1996. Can it really be 14 years ago???He liked his new TCU Baseball shirt. He put it on in the morning and kept in on all day.

When asked what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he requested crab legs, a lobster tail and steak. It's a good thing his birthday only comes once a year!
Jess and I were enjoying Blake's pleasure- and taking a small breather after dinner.

Thanksgiving Day

2010-12-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day turned out to be a pleasant surprise. We thought it was just going to be the five of us. My mom was scheduled to have surgery so we weren't planning on having her and Doug with us. Her surgery was cancelled because she caught a head-cold. Then, our good friends, the Huberts, had to cancel travel plans due to poor weather. We invited them to join us. So, we went from preparing for a dinner for 5 to preparing for dinner for 14! We love to have a full house on the holidays. Our friends Paul and Kim, were able to join us after the meal for some desserts and football. It was a wonderful day. Jessi and Lindsay are ready to eat! Too bad the food isn't ready yet!
Blake and Aly created cartoon-character place cards for all of us. This is Savannah posing with her place-card. By the way... Blake made this card in the morning before he saw her hairdo for the day.

I snapped a picture of the feast just before it began.

We had turkey, mom's famous stuffing, beans, potatoes, salads and plenty of pies. At dinner we all gave thanks to our Lord for his many provisions this year- especially the gift of wonderful family and friends.

Aly and Allie helped Timothy and Savannah play dress-up while the rest of us watched football. The best part was when Timothy came into the room dressed as a fairy. Phil had left the room and came back to hear Timothy yelling "Look Daddy...I'm a fairy, I'm a fairy!" He was a proud father.

Aly snapped this picture of Pete and me just before our guests arrived.

Although the meal was fully prepared, I still had my fancy apron on!

True Women in Texas!

2010-12-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

In October I had the opportunity to travel with 11 women from our church, Cornerstone E-Free, and one lady who used to belong to our church before they moved to Arizona, to Ft. Worth, Texas. The event was a True Woman Conference, and it was amazing. The premise behind this movement is to draw women's hearts back to Biblical Womanhood. To do this we must understand how God designed us, and live according to what His Word says-not according to what our culture says. The speakers were wonderful! There were some tears shed as the Word of God convicted our hearts about how we, as a culture, have abandoned the instructions given to us by God, and have instead embraced a very worldly culture that opposes the standards set by God. We had several "belly-out-loud" laughing moments, both during our sessions and as we ventured off around Ft. Worth. A trip to a chocolate factory proved to have us all laughing so hard we cried! And the giggles still spill out of me when I think about that evening. We all came back rejuvenated in our faith and trusting God to work his transforming power in our hearts to help us become more like the women He intended us to be- beginning first in our homes, then our church and also in our community. Here's our group picture taken in the lobby of our hotel.

Aly's Photography

2010-12-10T10:40:00.001-08:00

Last spring, Grandma and Grandpa Faler noticed that Aly had an interest in photography. They sent her a camera, and she has had a wonderful time taking pictures. Below are just a few of the many pictures she has taken this year. At Pinedale ranch

Pete and Jessi checking out the fishing prospects.

A storm was rolling in.

Our cat, Joey, enjoying a leisurely afternoon.

From a flower lamp her Aunt Linda gave her for her birthday.

This is Sam. He's a resident at the ranch.

A ranch chicken.

A wonderful week on the ranch

2010-12-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

At the end of baseball season, we packed up the camper and headed to Pinedale to spend a week on my dad and Claire's ranch. We had a wonderful time, and it was very difficult to leave at the end of the week!One evening, Pete got the camera and the kids just before the sun went down and took these beautiful pictures.
You probably recognize this picture from our Christmas card. We used this because we knew we wouldn't be able to duplicate their pure joy in another picture.

Our sweet girls!

These two love each other too.

This is Beau's daughter, Maria. She is a precious, hilarious little character. She has the voice of an angel and intelligence far beyond her years. Whenever we need to lift the spirits in our home, we tell funny Maria stories and before they are over we all are laughing. Look out Beau and Wyatt! We think you have your hands full!

Ruby loved her week on the ranch. Daisy is afraid of the camera so it is almost impossible to get a picture of her! One night the dogs chased down the smell of a skunk. Ruby was smart and didn't approach it. However, Daisy charged forward on an attack mission! Dad and I were cooking dinner and suddenly smelt an awful smell as Daisy ran through our outdoor "kitchen." So, what do you do when you only have the supplies in your camper, you are 30 minutes from a grocery store and your dog has been sprayed by a skunk? Well, dad and I dug through both of our cupboards and found vinegar, v8 juice, garlic powder and some hydrogen peroxide. We gave her a shower (wearing gloves) at his outdoor shower.....and we laughed the entire time. Dad kept making me see the good in the situation and we laughed through the whole showering and throughout the whole week. I won't ever forget that blessing in disguise of a skunk attack. By the way....our concoction worked better than anything I've ever used to get rid of the stink before!

This is my grandpa's home on the ranch. It was wonderful to spend our week with him. He always tells us wonderful stories and he and Blake are kindred spirits. Both ornery as can be, but you just can't help but to love them dearly!

The sunsets are beautiful on the ranch. There is something so beautiful about admiring God's creation out in the middle of nowhere.

One day, my dad asked us to help him paint the tepee he placed outside near the pond. When we were through, he and Jessi took a little break to love on each other so I snapped this picture of them.

My dad had the girls each pick out new cowboy hats at the Cowboy Shop in Pinedale before our adventure began. The looked so adorable in them.

The kids were usually up at the crack of dawn playing with the farm animals. Aly took this picture of the geese and chickens.

The ranch is also home to three sheep. On this day, they were returning to their home after taking a walk down to the pond.

A New Baby to Love

2010-12-08T16:03:00.001-08:00

My sister, Beau, had a darling little baby boy, name Brutus, on July 26th. We went to meet him the first week in August. He's almost 2 weeks-old in these pictures.

Ahh....is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby?

Just look at those precious cheeks!

Jessi's Birthday

2010-11-19T10:03:00.001-08:00

It's really hard to believe that our "baby" is already nine years old! She celebrated in the heat of July with her closest of friends, cousins and a party at the pool!Lindsay, Faith, Jessi and Kade took a break from swimming

to enjoy some popcicles and laughs.

Jodi was there for moral support-
My friends Lizz, Megan and sister-in-law Jaime, were there enjoying the sun and party too.

Joseph finally let me snap a picture of him, but only when holding tightly to his mom's leg.

Who could have a party without party faces? Can you guess the faces behind the masks?

Jessi gave a cold and wet hug to Savannah after a plunge in the pool.

Not sure Savannah was very happy about that, but the cake brought a smile to her face.

Baseball 2010

2010-11-19T09:19:00.001-08:00

Aly and Ruby at the very long (3.5 hours) Colorado State Championship game.The singing of National Anthem at Colorado State Championships. Fortunately, two of the boys from the Longmont team were in a city choir, so they volunteered to sing for the crowd.

There's our boy!

As usual, baseball season kept us very busy all summer. Blake moved up to Division 5 in the city league. Pete coached the Pirates team this year. They were one of two teams that had to be added to the league so they were a very young team. Most of the kids were 13, while the other teams had several 14 and 15 year-olds. It was a big "step-up" for the 13 year-olds, but a great experience. The future looks bright for the Pirates next year!

The 13 year-old Casper Cannons had a dynamite season. Pete assisted in coaching this team again this year. They won tournaments in Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. In Casper, over the 4th of July, the Cannons beat a 14-year-old team from Colorado Springs, who defeated the Casper 14 and 15 year-old travel teams and won the 14-year-old tournament in Casper. It was an amazing victory.

The highlight of the season for the Cannons was when they travelled to Denver to compete in the Division II State Championship tournament. There were 40 teams competing for the title. The Cannons went in to the tournament ranked as one of the bottom teams. (Mainly because they hadn't played enough Colorado teams to earn a higher ranking) However, they quickly earned the respect of the Colorado teams when their talent and discipline led them to win all 8 of their games sending them into the finals against a team from Longmont. The game didn't start off so well for the Cannons. In fact by the end of the 3rd inning, they were trailing by 10 points. Did I mention that our number one catcher broke his hand in the semi-finals and was at the E.R. when this game started? Anyway, their courage and stamina led them to prevent the other team from scoring for several innings and each inning the Cannons scored a few runs. It was the bottom of the sixth inning and the score was Longmont 15- Cannons 12. There were two players on base and Blake was up to bat. Low and behold- he nailed a triple up against the fence and the two runners ahead of him made it in. The kid after him hit another rocket which sent Blake in to score. Top of the 7th inning and the score is 15-15. Longmont is up first and the Cannons held them- 3 up, 3 down as they say in baseball. The Cannons are up to bat- one out-no runners on .... then everything went black. Literally, the lights in the stadium turned off and could not be turned back on again because they were controlled by a satellite. After a long time of debating the umphs made a phone call to the state director who told them to give the victory to the Colorado team. It was a bittersweet night. In September we had a knock on our door late one evening. It was a pleasant surprise to see Blake's coach, J.C., at the door. In his hand was a ring (similar to the superbowl ring) for Blake. Apparently the Colorado Board reviewed what happend and decided to make the championship a tie, and sent J.C. the championship rings for all of the Cannons. Whew! What a journey!!

Well, even though I said the highlight was the Colorado tournment, Jessi and Aly would probably disagree. They enjoyed the Babe Ruth State tournament- not because the team played well- (they had a really bad weekend) But, because many of us stayed at a campground and enjoyed swimming in the river, roap swings and toasting s'mores by the fire in the evening. Ruby travelled all summer as the unoficial team mascot and learned to love baseball too. Next year will be the last season of Cannons and we will all really miss the adventures, the boys and their families. They've become our summer family.

Volleyball and Soccer

2010-11-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

Jessi enjoyed a cold -but really fun -season of soccer in April and May. Her favorite position was Goalie, and she fought really hard to keep those balls out of the net. We all enjoyed watching her determination and hussle while she played.And she looked super cute in her bright yellow jersey!

Aly played for a travelling volleyball team from February through April. Every Saturday she played in a tournament that usually included at least 10 games.
Her team won or placed 2nd in every tournament they entered!

Below is the team celebrating their victory after the state tournment.

Here is a picture of Aly just after she set the ball over the net.

Something "clicked" in Aly this year with her serving. She was very consistent and quite the powerhouse of a server for such a little, sweet thing.

It was always a lot of fun watching the girls play sports in the spring.

They are both a joy to watch- and have proven to be tough and dedicated little gals!

Ruby Jane

2010-04-01T19:30:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday Pete and Jessi drove to Idaho to pick up the latest addition to our family. Her name is Ruby Jane....sorry Aunt Kristie....Jessi insisted on this instead of an Italian name :) As you can see from the pictures...she is loved by all the kids already. She is soooo sweet! Daisy's tail is wagging all the time again. She is very happy to have a friend to play with again.

Ruby is constantly being carried, held, and loved on by one of the kids.

Lordy, Lordy.....looks who's 40!

2010-04-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

You find out a lot about someone when you throw a surprise day-at-the-spa for them on their 40th birthday. Step 1- Lizz and I picked up Jodi at her house. She had gotten ready for what she thought was a special day with her husband. Instead, we blindfolded her and loaded her into my car without telling her where we were taking her. Once we arrived at the spa, a room full of friends were waiting inside to surprise her. We had to wait out front for a few minutes for our friend, Teresa. Hard as she tries...poor girl never makes in anywhere on time :) Jodi almost chewed off her lovely fingernails waiting in anticipation for her surprise. Lizz and I shared our giggles while we truly discovered that Miss Jodi does not like to not be in control.

Step 2. We placed her in this chair, put the birthday hat and necklace on her then unveiled the hidden friends and the pampering plan of the day.

Step 3. Jodi was swept away for a massage.
The rest of us enjoyed a table full of goodies and some spa treatments as well.
Below is Christie enjoying a manicure.

Danette shows off her pretty, pedicured toes.

Here's the initial group...others joined us later.
Me, Teresa, Christie, Christy and Lizz -back row
Danette, Jodi and Larissa-front row.

Lizz gets her fingernails manicured below. We learned this was a daily event for her in high-school. She planned her 30-day clothing calendar and painted her fingernails each day to match her clothes. Is it any wonder she and Jodi are such good friends???

Teresa looks radiant after her facial. You'd never guess she was a day over 30!

This is Jodi just after her massage. Still to come....a facial and pedicure.

Lynda gets her toes polished and prettied. She had a wedding to attend earlier that afternoon but showed up in time to enjoy a few hours of celebrating Jodi's special day.

What a wonderful day! My cheeks were hurting in church the next day from laughing so hard! Jodi has been a wonderful friend to me....and to so many other people. It was our pleasure spoiling her and giving her back a little pampering for all that she has done to bless our lives.
Happy Birthday My Sweet Friend. I'm glad you went there first!

An Arizona Spring Break

2010-03-30T14:38:00.001-07:00

On the 5th of March,we left a winter snow storm and headed south for two weeks in Arizona.

Aly and Great Grandpa enjoyed a little hug time in Tucson.

We watched Pop Pops sing in a very entertaining choir concert in Casa Grande.

Mom was singing with the ladies. It was beautiful!

It was so nice to get to see My dad and Claire in Tucson. My mom and Doug in Casa Grande. And, we also met up with Pete's parents in Tucson for a baseball game and a couple of dinners.

Back in Tucson, I snapped this shot of four generations of some of my favorite men.

Pete, Grandpa, Blake and Dad.

We saw some spring baseball in Tucson. Jessi's favorite part was meeting Dinger.

Aly wants to be a photographer. She had plenty of practice with these beautiful Arizona sunsets.

Jessi enjoyed many, many hours in grandpa's hot tub.

The Huberts spent a few hours in grandpa's hot tub and pool too.

Jodi is officially fired from finding us hotels after this experience in Flagstaff at the Rodeway Inn. Don't let the nice hutch and table fool you! For more information see her blog :)

Hockey Aunt

2010-02-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, my brother's twins, Brent & Vincent were in Casper for a hockey tournament. We had a wonderful time watching them play four games in 24 hours. Boy, I thought baseball was intense.....but soon discovered that hockey games (and parents) are much more intense!! I was wiped out after the weekend. But we are already looking forward to many more years of watching the boys play hockey.

Had to take the opportunity to get a picture of the 6 of them together. This was after game #3.

Who is that masked man??? It's Brent! He looks so tough!

Here's Vincent. His yellow socks made him easy to spot on the ice!

A Sweet Surprise from Canada

2010-02-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

Aly had to say good-bye to the closest friend she has ever known, last summer when Abi and her family moved to Canada. Abi was practically part of our family, as the girls had been close friends since the day they met in 1st grade. We were all sad to see her and her sweet family move away. The girls have kepts close thanks to texting and cell phones, but it has still been a really hard transition for Aly. Well, last week, Abi called me to tell me she was coming with her father to Casper and she wanted to surprise Aly. I told Aly she had a surprise package coming in the mail so we had to stick close to home. The look on her face was priceless when Abi walked through her bedroom door. They hugged and cried and giggled....just like the good old days. We had several days with Abi, and it was wonderful to see her again. We're hoping to go to a Bible Camp with their family in Jackson Hole this summer.

The Love Test

2010-02-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

On Valentine's Day, Blake had a proposition for his dad. He had recently purchased a new airsoft (or Pete will say..."not so soft") gun, and he wanted Pete to be his "test dummy" to see if it hurt when the pellets hit you. Pete, being the faithful, all-loving father (i.e. sucker) agreed to the test. I made them wait until I got the camera ready, then Blake fired away. I'm a little bit concerned at the pleasure he seemed to have while doing this. I only wish we could have video-taped it instead of just taking snapshots. Then, you would have heard Pete screaming "OUCH....OUCH....KNOCK IT OFF....THIS HURTS....IT'S NOT FUNNY....STOP IT....I MEAN IT.." I ran out of space on my memory card just about when Pete slid on the snow and fell down. Needless to say, it was an interesting start to our Valentine's Day- and it definitely provided a lot of laughter. However, when Pete came back inside and removed his coat, we saw a few little red welts on his back and chest. So I caution you not to let your 13-year-old son convince you that this is a good idea.

Seeking Him

2010-02-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

Over the past several weeks I have been co-leading a Bible Study at our church entitled Seeking Him. The study was written by Nancy Leight DeMoss & Tim Grissom with Life Action Ministries. God has done some amazing things in the hearts of all of us women attending the study. It has been such a blessing in my life that I have decided to share with all of you reading the blog the highlights of each week's study and discussion topics. Here's a recap of what we have learned thus far. Each week we begin our study with worship music, a video of Nancy Leigh DeMoss teaching on the weekly subject, small group discussion and prayer time, then we end the morning with a brief lecture digging a little deeper into the topic or sharing personal testimonies.

Week 1. PERSONAL REVIVAL
Memory Verse Hosea 10:12 "Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and rains righteousness on you."
We had a short lesson about "farming" this week. The message focus was to understand that God initiates revival in the hearts of his children, and that this revival process is sometimes painful at first, but it will produce a harvest of blessings if we persevere and allow God to work. Breaking up the fallow ground is the first step in the process of plowing. It is a labor intensive, painful, slow process. It is the most difficult step in plowing because the ground is hard and the plow has to dig deep to break up the hardened surface. So, how does this relate to us? This is how God initializes the process of revival in our hearts-by breaking up and exposing what is hardened on the surface of our hearts. This is the beginning of God's work to restore us to our First Love-Him, to rebuild a desire for God's Word, prayer,praise and obedience, to help us resolve conflicts in our lives and repair broken relationships, to remove bitterness, fear and worry, to refresh our spirits, to renew our minds and to reform our lives. This sounds wonderful, doesn't it? So, how do we allow God to revive our hearts? James 4:7-10 will help answer that question. "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will life you up and give you honor." Revival, refreshing, restoration- it all begins with our humility.
My friend, Teresa, spoke that morning and shared her testimony about a time in her life when God took her away from everything and everyone she knew so that she would seek and find Him. It was in that place that she experienced His healing, grace and love in a very powerful way, but it didn't come without tears and honesty. Her advice to all of us was to "hang on"- as difficult as this process may become, the end result of a wonderful harvest will be worth it all. Thank you, Teresa, for sharing your sincere and transparent heart to begin a heart-changing study. What an amazing way to begin our year!

Week 2: HUMILITY
Memory Verse Luke 14:11. "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Biblical humility-recognizing oneself as a sinner before the holy God-is a prerequisite for starting down the path of revival. As God begins preparing your heart for revival, He will convict us of our sin and call us to return to Him. See Chronicles 7:14. From this passage, we learn that there are four conditions set forth for God's people. They include humbling ourselves, praying to God, seeking God's face and turning from our wicked ways. Each of these are steps we must take to fully experience personal revival. This week's focus is on the first condition-humbling ourselves before our God. C.S. Lewis stated "It was through pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind." So, how do we know if we have humble contrite hearts? The way we respond to Him in moments of conviction reveals the true condition of our heart.Our view of who God is and who we are plays a key role in our humility or our pride. Humility comes with a great awareness of God's holiness and our sinfulness. Our awareness of His holiness is what drives us to acknowledge our sin and receive God's forgiveness. Humility and brokenness are essential for the process of revival.C.S. Lewis offers this advice for acquiring humility; "If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud....if you think you're not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed." There are numerous examples throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament of God's opposition to the proud and His favor to the humble. And we, as God's children, have two choices: we can be proud and have God oppose us, or we can be humble and have God dwell within us and draw us near to Him.
My friend, Jodi, spoke that day and shared with us a wonderful acronym to help us become humble servants of our Lord. It was BOW. B-end my knee in prayer. O-open my Bible with eagerness. W-orship the Lord with thanksgiving. Prayer, Bible and Worship-that is where humility begins. Thank you, Jodi, for gently and humbly reminding us that God's revival in our hearts begins on our knees.

Week 3: HONESTY
Memory Verse: Proverbs 28:13. "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them with obtain mercy."
Our study on humility led us to the truth that the first prerequisite for revival is the willingness to be honest with God and others about our true spiritual condition. God cannot bless or revive a heart that refuses to acknowledge the truth. Our Bible reading led us through Psalm 15 and Psalm 24. In both of these Psalms, David speaks with profound wisdom through experience, of the need to speak truthfully to God before one can walk blamelessly before Him. If you ask God to search your heart, He will reveal to you what is inside. The discussion in our small group revolved around the sin that, for the most part, only God truly knows about- not the sins that are displayed for all the world to see- but the sins generated by our thoughts which reveal the true condition of our hearts. The good news is that God is willing to "cover" (with the blood of Christ) every sin that we are willing to "uncover" before Him. Our study book reminded us that no sin is so large that God cannot forgive it; and no sin is so small that we can afford to keep it hidden. The truth that we are all sinners is known to God and God's Word warns us against pretending or even convincing ourselves that we have no sin. 1 John 1:5-8 says "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." The willingness to be honest and confess our sin is an evidence of genuine salvation and is vital to experiencing God's forgiveness and restored fellowship. God's faithfulness leads us to conviction of sin and genuine repentance. When God reveals the sin in our hearts the best response for true liberation is an honest one. The workbook ended this week with a quote by Charles H. Spurgeon: "Nothing can enter heaven which is not real; nothing erroneous, mistaken, conceited, hollow, professional, pretentious, insubstantial, can be smuggled through the gates. Only truth can dwell with the God of truth."
My friend, Christy, was willing to expose the "two-sides of Christy" in her lecture. The first was what we see on the outside of her, the second was what was happening in her heart. For example: The outside Christy had a sign that said "you look nice today." The inside Christy was holding a sign that said "Jealous." Her lecture brought tears to many eyes because we personally understood our "surface-self" compared to our "inner-self." Thank you, Christy, for willingly exposing your heart to all of us. Your honesty led me (and others...I'm sure) to fall before the throne of God and agree with Him about the sin he revealed hidden deep in my heart. Confessing that sin and asking God to give me the strength and grace to continue this revival process was truly liberating.

Week 4: REPENTANCE
Memory Verse: Psalm 51:10. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."
This week we gained a better understanding of what produces and results from genuine repentance. The act of returning to the Lord, forsaking known sin, and obeying what He says- is repentance. This is a crucial step for all who are seeking God for revival. Repentance is both a change in the way we think and a change in the way we act. I liked the definition that it is a change of mind that results in a change of behavior. So, what is is that we need to change about the way we think? It is the way we think about our sin. We must learn to hate our sin because God hates our sin. The humility and honesty phases were critical to helping initiate the process of repentance by the honest exposure we had to sin in our hearts. If the sorrow we feel over our sin is genuine than we will turn away from that sin and turn toward Christ for forgiveness. This is process that must be continual in the lives of God's children. Nancy L. DeMoss explains it like this "from the point of regeneration until the day we are finally free from the presence of sin, our heart attitude must always be: Lord, I am willing to forsake any sin that You show me, in order to have a pure heart and glorify You. In other words, once a repenter, always a repenter."
My discussion that day was taken from 2 Corinthians 7. In this scripture, Paul describes how he felt after he sent a letter of rebuke to the Corinthians- and their reaction to his letter. It grieved Paul to have to cause pain in their lives but the purpose of his rebuke was only to restore and reconcile them to their Lord. The sorrow he caused was Godly sorrow (as opposed to worldly sorrow) and it led them to repentance, reconciliation to God and salvation. So, as Christians, we should cautiously follow Paul's loving example to be willing to cause Godly sorrow when the salvation of a believer is at stake. And we should follow the examples of the Corinthians to humbly go before the Lord when rebuked and allow His searchlight to penetrate our hearts, exposing and convicting us of our sin, confess our sin, then completely turn from that sin. Jesus told us that if our hand causes us to sin, we should cut if off. So in order for repentance to be genuine, we must take measures (no matter how extreme) to insure that we will not be tempted to fall into that same sin again. Changing what we think, how we act, and pro-actively looking forward to a life of holiness are all vital for genuine repentance in our lives.

Week 5. GRACE
Memory Verse: Hebrews 4:16
"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Grace, God's grace....what an amazing gift. This week we had a slight reprieve from the soul-searching and sometimes gut-wrenching walk we've been walking on the path to personal revival. It's been amazing seeing the way God has convicted the hearts of His women in the study and I have to admit that this "plowing" process has been difficult. God has been breaking the hardness of many hearts and gently softening and healing them. The topic this week was refreshing and humbling. We discussed God's wonderful gift of grace. We know that God has expectations of His children, but the good news is that He does not ask us to meet His requirements on our own-in fact, He knows we can't live humble, holy, obedient lives without His grace. It's amazing, it's extravagant and it's powerful.So, how do we get this amazing grace? Well, God's only requirement for His grace is our humility. See James 4:6. I liked John Piper's explanation of grace. He said "Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon." We studied the passage in Titus 2:11-12. From this we gained a better understanding that God's grace helps us to have the desire to no longer sin, as well as the power to not succumb to worldly passions and to be self-controlled. Jerry Bridges had this to say about grace. "Your worst days are never so bad that you're beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you're beyond the need of God's grace." Praise God for his wonderful, free gift.
My friend, Lizz, discussed the differences between saving grace and sustaining grace. She led us to Jeremiah 32:37-42 to show us a Biblical example of God's sustaining grace and four promises of this grace. 1)God will be our God. 2)God will change our hearts and cause us to love and fear Him. 3)We will not turn away from Him. 4) God will do this with Infinite Intensity. Thank you, my dear friend Lizz, for your wonderful insight and for reminding us to be extremely grateful for the benefit, gift, and divine influence of grace in our hearts.

New Spinone Puppy

2010-02-12T15:20:00.001-08:00

As you may have guessed, I am posting these pictures because one of these adorable pups will soon be joining our family. These are Italian Spinone pups. They are quite rare in America. In fact, only about 200 are born each year. My dad introduced us to this breed when he bought his little "Sophie" a few years ago. They are wonderful hunters as well as great family dogs. My dad called us last week to see if we would like the name of the breeder he used. We emailed her that day and found out that she had just had a litter of 9 puppies two days earlier. All of the pups were spoken for until one person cancelled a female she had been holding. We were offered that puppy. We thought about it overnight and emailed the next day to let her know we would love to take the available pup. She will be ready to come home at the end of March. Jessi gets to name her because Blake named "Barney" and Aly named "Daisy." She and Grandpa Jud have been discussing and deciding upon a name. Last I heard, "Ruby Jane" was their favorite choice, but we'll know for sure once we get her home.

Sleeping puppies ....storing up their energy.
Soup's On.

And it's on again!

Spider Web Supreme

2010-01-31T14:27:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday morning, the kids and I were on our way to a field trip at Old Chicago's when we spotted this spider web just above our front door. My first thought was that Blake was playing a joke on me. It looked more like someone sprayed silly string all over this corner than like a real spider web! The temperature had gotten well below freezing the previous night, and it was only 18 degrees when we found this web. We finally came to the conclusion that the web froze and expanded to turn a medium-sized spider web into a huge web!

Your Body/ God's Temple

2010-01-26T14:27:00.000-08:00

On Friday mornings, the kids and I go to a homeschool co-op at College Heights Baptist Church. This semester I am teaching a fitness and nutrition class titled Your Body/ God's Temple. The joy of education in a Christian setting is being able to tie God's Word into everything we teach. Last week we studied the importance of taking care of our whole body because this is the place where God has chosen to dwell. Our first memory verse is from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. It says Do you not know that your body it the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. We spend about 15 minutes in devotional time, then 30-45 minutes in physical exercise. I have a class of 17 kids between the ages of 8 and 13. I'll be posting pictures , updating topics and sharing with you what I learn from teaching. And I'm sure I will learn a lot!

Blake's First Duck

2010-01-26T14:12:00.001-08:00

Pete didn't want me to close out 2009 on the blog without including some pictures of Blake, Grandpa Mike and Pete hunting ducks. Blake shot his first duck during this hunt. Grandpa is all smiles celebrating his grandson's first successful hunt.
And look at that proud papa!!

Can't say I understand it all myself, but I do know it sure bonds those boys together!

Good-bye Barney

2010-01-25T16:15:00.000-08:00

Little did we know when we went on this family adventure that this would be our last day with our faithful dog, Barney. That evening and the next day he was acting very tired and wouldn't eat or drink anything. We took him to the vet in the afternoon and waited as she ran several tests on him. She discovered that his spleen was swollen and there were malignant tumors on his spleen, heart, lungs and intestines. The spleen was leaking and we were told he would not survive. He passed away that evening. He was a part of our family for 10 years. The void in our home and our hearts will be felt for a long time.

Barney always let the kids lay on him, tickle him and do whatever they wanted. Jessi gave him a lot of love on his last day. We found comfort in knowing that he spent his last day doing what he loved the most, running freely and playing with his family.

Blake gave Barney his football one afternoon while he was resting. Barney was such a good sport that he kept it there and held it during his afternoon nap.

This is Barney smiling for the camera. We loved this face. He was the greatest escape artist I've ever known. We never found a fence that could keep him in! When we thought we had built the perfect fence, he figured out how to climb up our camper then jump over the top of our fence. We had to pay a few tickets for our roaming dog but he was worth it. We trained him as a pup to hunt birds with Pete. On one of his adventures he returned home wet and muddy. Posted on our front door was a ticket warning us that Barney had been caught harrassing ducks on the creek. We received calls from several schools over the years asking us to come retrieve him from the playground where he had found some kids with which to play. We can only imagine all the people and places Barney discovered on his adventures. But he always came home and looked through the back door, wagging his tail and barking until we would let him back inside. We love you boy and will miss you and your wonderful smile.

Winter in Wyoming

2010-01-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of days after Christmas we ventured up to Casper mountain for some sledding, snowshoeing and exploring.

Blake convinced Daisy to jump on board for a ride on the sled. She bailed off the first opportunity she had and ran away as fast as she could. One ride was apparently enough for her.

Jessi and Barney were ready for a nap, but Pete and Aly were just getting getting started.

We found this magical winterland tucked back in a little valley of trees. The first time around we didn't have a camera but it was so beautiful that Aly and I left the others in the truck and we went back by ourselves to take some pictures. The kids said it reminded them of Narnia.

Aly blended in with the snow-drenched trees in her new Christmas coat.

Pete took this snapshot of the girls, Barney, and me at the end of our adventure. Days like this make winter in Wyoming bearable.

Art Show and Piano Recital

2010-01-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

In December we hosted an art show and piano recital for all of the kids. We had a wonderful time and it was fun to share the kids' accomplishments with friends and family.

We had an interesting dinner experience that night when Jodi put too many jalapenos in our corn chowder. She might try to blame me for the burning hot chowder on her blog, but don't be fooled. Okay...okay...just kidding. She did put the jalapenos in the chowder but only because I told her to when she offered to help. The recipe said that it had a little kick! Boy you can say that again! I think Carolyn and Richard are probably over the heartburn by now, but I'm not sure if they'll ever trust me to make dinner for them again!

Jessi's piano teacher says she has a natural gift for playing the piano. She loves piano lessons and is very serious about playing the piano, as you can see by the look on her face.

Blake played Angels We Have Heard of High, Jingle Bells and two other songs.

It was perfect music for the Christmas season.

Grandma Karen bought them new outfits for the show.

This might be the only picture you will see of Jessi in a dress.

Grandma Cathy has become the kids' art teacher this semester.

Each of the kids had their own wall decorated for the show.This was a portion of Blake's wall.

And this face hiding behind the mask is Aly.
Her wall has art projects from last year and this year.
Pretty impressive.

Ocean City, Maryland

2010-01-20T18:01:00.001-08:00

In October, my mom and Doug took our family on a wonderful trip back east.

Our favorite location was Ocean City, Maryland. We are all so thankful for this wonderful opportunity to study our history, eat wonderful seafood, share a part of my

mom and Doug's history and play, play, play at the ocean!

When My mom and Doug took me here in college, I fell in love with this place.

I watched several families play in the sea and sand and I couldn't wait

until I had children and could bring them here to enjoy the ocean.

Get up Aly....fast!

Do they look like they are having fun?
Aly has already informed us that she is moving to Ocean City when she is older.

Anticipation...

Quick kids....say cheese before the next wave hits!

I know I am their mom, but how can you help but to love those sweet faces?

How blessed I am to have the awesome priviledge of being their mom.

Grandpa's Ranch

2010-01-20T17:32:00.001-08:00

We spent Labor Day weekend with my dad and Claire at thier newly acquired beautiful ranch just outside of Boulder, Wyoming.

This is one of the many old buildings at the ranch.
They worked hard last fall cleaning and gutting all of the the structures on the ranch.

This picture actually follows the one below.
Ms. Maria decided she was big enough to climb the fence and join her cousins.
She kept Blake, Aly & Jessi laughing all weekend.

Blake, Aly and Jessi sit on a fence...enjoying a little rest at the end of the day.

Dad and I enjoying a little love and laughter.

You wouldn't believe some of the "treasures" like rat skeletons and stacks and stacks of magazines from WWII timeframe that we found. We hunted for and found several arrowheads and chips on the property. Beau, Pete and I had the lucky job of cleaning out the attic of the old home that weekend. The dogs had a wonderful time....chasing mice and other critters as well as swimming in the creek. They came home with fleas....but at least they had fun!

Grandpa made sure to bring the go-cart for the kids.

Aly just finished a spin around the property here.

Blake's World Series

2010-01-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

We spent the last week of July in Steamboat Springs for the Triple Crown World Series.

Blake claims that this was the best week of his life.

But it wasn't all fun and games...he and his teammates worked very hard.

Now that is a look of pure determination.

Who knew that the secret to his success was holding his breath?

This is the whole team at the start of the tournament.

Did you notice how handsome the coach on the left is?

He's going for the kill....on your marks, get set, throw!

And he was safe!

Go Blake....go!

Blake's first up-to-bat against the Texas Senators. The Casper Cannons pulled off a big surprise by beating this team in their opening game. It was so exciting!!

The team won a few games and lost a few, but the experience is one they will never forget!

Aly and Jessi's Baptism

2010-01-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

Katelyn, Aly, Allie, Sarah and Kylee are just a few of the friends gathered for the baptism.

Jessi with friends, Abby, (left) and Lindsay (right). Abby was baptised at her church this morning. Jessi went to Abby's baptism, then Abby came to Jessi's in the afternoon.
The baptism was held on a hot July day...celebrated with good friends, famiy and a church picnic.

What a great joy it was for Pete to actively participate in the baptism of his daughters.

Look at Jessi's face after being baptized! Is that joy and excitement you see or just very cold water??

Clown Night

2010-01-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

Aly and Jessi dressed up for "Clown Night"

at AWANAs. They found everything they

needed in Pete and my closet.

Look at those sweet little faces!

Volleyball Season 2009

2010-01-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

Aly just before her last volleyball

game at a tournament in May.

Baseball Anyone?

2010-01-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

Blake in March 2009.
We suggested sledding, he suggested baseball.

Soccer 101

2010-01-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Here's Jessi getting ready to play her first soccer game.

My Technical Incapabilities

2010-01-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

Well, my blog started off with a few challenges-not surprising since I'm not exactly known for my great technical skills. I'm just thankful for my friend, Jodi, who is a patient teacher. My Christmas letter said that I would include pictures from many events in 2009, so I guess that's a good place to start.

Christmas 2008

2009-07-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

This is Pete and me just before the kid's Christmas play at church. I had planned to start my blog in January 2009 instead of January 2010. Oh well....better late than never. Seems to be the story of my life.