Going to the chapel: Neil had the privilege of officiating
two weddings this summer, both outdoors.
Jenny’s brother, Jazz, married Taia Huls in rural Nebraska in June. They had a beautiful, country ceremony
complete with horse-drawn carriage.
In July, we celebrated the big day with Liam’s soccer coach, Steve, and
his fiancé, Shelle in a gorgeous backyard ceremony southeast of Sioux
Falls. When he is not busy tying
knots, Neil continues to edit, write and provide quality resources to
missionaries worldwide with CruPress, the publishing division of Campus Crusade
for Christ (now called Cru Global.)
A new, rewarding challenge this year is co-leading a 6th
grade boys’ small group at church on Wednesday nights. From time to time, Neil preaches, plays
drums and performs skits for preschool Sunday School.
Leaving on a jet-plane, don’t
know when I’ll be back again: Jenny
went on her first cruise in March…a short one to the Florida Keys and Bahamas
to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday. She was to meet up in Miami with the rest of her group who
flew in from Wisconsin, but her trip got off to a dubious start when she became
thoroughly engrossed in a novel and missed the connecting flight! Jenny discovered that a cruise is not
the ideal getaway for someone who desperately craves peace & quiet and
relaxation, but she still made lots of fun memories. Neil had a LONG flight to Tel-Aviv in August. A former USD student invited Neil on
this expense-paid trip to Israel, which was a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity. Hurricane Irene and
Neil’s return flight were both due in NYC simultaneously, and all those
cancelled flights tacked on four more days in Israel, poor Neil! (Let’s just
say “Shalom” was not the reality back home.)
Bust a move…followed by…Can’t
touch this! Jenny signed
Neil and herself up to play in the adult soccer league, but it was a brief foray
into that sport. In game one, Neil
rolled his ankle. In game two, Jenny
blew out her knee, suffering a torn ACL, sprained MCL and damaged
meniscus. Jenny had just run
her first ever 5k the week before this injury and was looking forward to
pursuing new levels of fitness.
Instead it turned into the summer of surgery and the long journey of
rehab, which is still in progress.
Humbling, to say the least.
From now on she’ll stick to
managing soccer teams.
Oh, Canada! We made the trek to Melita this Easter
and beheld Sunny, the huge banana statue that symbolizes Neil’s hometown being
in the “banana belt” of Manitoba.
We don’t get to be with Neil’s brother and his
family very often since they live in Calgary, so it was a grand time having all
the cousins together. It made for
a lively Easter Egg Hunt. It’s
hard to say what Manitobans are more excited about: expanded oil exploration or
the return of the Winnipeg Jets.
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed
so far away: 20 year class
reunions for both of us in August.
Jenny, who graced two campuses during her high school years, was
thrilled to reconnect with friends from Alta, IA and Brandon, SD. Neil grew out his mullet in honor of
the big milestone but had it confiscated at the border.
Livin’ la vida loca! Hope’s debut as a freshman at
Lincoln High School has been nothing less than a dive into the deep end. People who call Hope to babysit have a
higher likelihood of seeing her than we do, because there is $ involved! Otherwise, you’d find her at JV
soccer, club soccer, piano, youth group, choral ensemble or last but not least,
Oral Interp, the new love of her life. Even so, she rocked her grades and squeezed in a full social
schedule with her zany, talented friends.
In all her spare time (???), Hope wrote music and lyrics for her guitar
and piano. In August, she took the
plunge (literally) and was baptized at Wall Lake (a very cool experience). She
hopes to take Driver’s Ed this summer and would like to mention she is looking
for a dependable, affordable vehicle (preferably not a beige Buick.)
Put me in coach, I’m ready to
play! Liam made a seamless
transition to Patrick Henry Middle School, in spite of missing the bus on the
first day. He takes a workmanlike
approach to getting good grades, even in band and chorus. You might even say he’s become a
reader…who knew? Baseball, soccer and basketball keep him active during
evenings and weekends and, of course, he loves all of them too much to give
anything up yet. Liam jumped right
into middle school youth group and is blessed with a solid bunch of teammates,
classmates and friends.
Liam’s personality dictates that he always wants to know what is going
on: who, what, where, when, why and how.
Though his questions drive us a little nuts, those investigative skills
might serve him well in the future.
Let’s get this party started! That’s our Cameron…a party
waiting to happen, a laugh a minute.
His clever humor and witty comments seem to flow effortlessly; powerful
proof of genetics at work. You
never know when Cam will respond with a movie quote, song lyric or foreign
accent -- a chip off the old block.
Cameron’s high need for a social life prompted our return to LLA, a
homeschool co-op class day. Another
highlight was his first season of soccer and baseball. Like most seven year olds, he fancies
himself at the same level as his older siblings. Cameron would like to go to school next year, but we haven’t
heard back from any schools about any openings for a class clown.
Wild thing, you make my heart
sing! (Hmmm, who could we be talking about?) Our pastor recently said that to love someone is to believe
God’s best for them. As we embrace
the craziness Griffin brings to our life, we trust that God has great plans for
all the energy and determination He poured into one kid. In five years, Griffin has provided an
abundance of adventures and stories to treasure. This fall he managed to slow down for a few minutes each day
to learn how to read! We’ll soon
find out if he gets to attend the Spanish emersion school this coming
fall. It has been such a
successful program that they do a lottery drawing for the waiting list. Mucho gusto!
Let every heart prepare Him room. May you experience true peace in the
person of Christ this Christmas.
