Skiing

I brought Alex along with us on the Sr. High ski trip.  We went up to Ostego, MI to Bittersweet Ski Resort.  It was Alex's first skiing experience and my first in about 16 years.  We had a group of 14 and had a lot of fun skiing on Saturday and then spending the night up in Paw Paw. 

Merry Christmas

Daddy/Daughter Date Night

I took Emma to Merrillville last night.  We went to a couple of her favorite stores in the mall and ate in the food court.  Emma got a purse.  Then we went to see the movie COURAGEOUS.  Great movie. 

We had a great time together chatting and hanging out together.  Emma's a lot of fun and a great daughter.

Louisville

Heather and I took a long weekend trip to Louisville this weekend. We had a great time shopping (well she had a great time shopping), walking around downtown, visting Highview Baptist Church and the Louisville Slugger museum.

It's always fun to get away to a new place and we hadn't ever been to Louisville. It sure doesn't seem like a big city. But it was nice to spend time alone and talk about things w/o distractions.

They are now adding "Phil Conrad - Oct. 2011" to the list.

Some guy trying to give me directions.

You can lead a horse to a diet coke and let him drink.

Me and Clark w/ differing opinions.

Louisville Slugger Museum

Old Settlers and 40th Wedding Anniversary

Last weekend, we went to Cissna Park for Old Settlers, our town's annual festival. We watched the parade and the kids got to ride some of the rides after lunch. The kids had fun w/ their cousins.

We took my parents out to dinner at The Ribeye steakhouse in Champaign for their 40th anniversary. 40 years of marriage can only mean one thing...that their oldest child is herself getting clost to 40...he he. ;)

After dinner we went to Jarling's Custard for dessert. Jarling's is a popular spot with the college kids. Had good memories of that place from my days at U of I.

We walked back up town to Old Settlers after we got home and ran into my friend Eric. I hadn't seen him for a few years so it was great to see him again.

Dessert at Jarling's

My friend, Eric, and me.

Bears v. Bills

Alex and I went with our Pastor and one of his sons to the Bears/Bills pre-season game in Chicago on Saturday, August 6.  We had never been to an NFL game before so this was a fun experience.  Although it was the first game of the pre-season so the starters didn't play much at all.  It was fun to be up at Soldier Field though and get a feel for the NFL experience.  For a preseason game, the place was pretty full.  I'd guess b/w 90-95% full.  The Bears won 10-3. 

Sahara

Our kids have a new cousin!  Heather's sister's family recently adopted a little girl from Ethiopia.  Due to inclement weather, we weren't able to meet them at the airport but Heather and Emma got to go out to see them in Peoria.

Happy Birthday Abe

Long Story Short

I spent this past week at the Biblical Counseling Training Conference in Lafayette, IN learning about helping people see their need for Jesus in dealing with life's issues.  It was my second year and is just a great conference.  I also picked up five CEU's while I was there!

I saw a booth there that New Growth Press had and there was a childrens' devotional there that I was interested in.  It seems difficult to find a really good childrens' devotional to use for family devotions.  They had one that I just loved and by God's sovereignty, got a free copy.  It's called Long Story Short.  The book is divided by each week which includes five lessons.  On day three of each lesson there is a "connect it to Jesus" topic that takes whatever Scripture you are studying and ties it to the Person of Jesus Christ.  I love this about this book because I want my kids to see Jesus in all of Scripture, not just the Gospels and obvious texts.

We started this devotional today and it starts with Genesis 1:1-2.  The cool thing is that the introduction to this week teaches about general revelation.

Romans 1:20 says,

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

This means that God has revealed Himself to everyone through what He created.  The world, the mountains, the oceans, the forests, a tree, a leaf.  Though it doesn't use the theological term general revelation, it is so cool to me that my kids are learning this Truth!

I highly recommend this book for your family and highly recommend the material from New Growth Press.

Playing in the Snow

We had a ton of snow the first week of February.  We did a lot of shoveling and Purdue was closed for two days (Feb. 1 and 2).

At least the kids got to have some fun in it!

Emma's Birthday

Emma turned 9 on Feb. 1.  We had a party for her w/ the family.

More Advent Nights

We finished up with the last two of our advent nights.  I enjoy the review of Scripture and going over the Christmas story with the family.  The third night's craft didn't work out so well.  We ended up not completing any of the three of them.  They were supposed to be ornaments.  We have enough of those anyway.  :)

The last night's activity went better.  It was a Christmas bracelet that Emma really enjoyed!  It was lot easier and more fun to put together than the ornament.  

Lead Me

I put a little slide show together of the G6 and families to the song "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real...a reminder to keep it 'real'.


Lead Me - G6 from TCBC Youth Leader on Vimeo.

Nolan turns 6

I've had these pictures for a while but forgot to post them.  Happy Birthday Nolan!

Trip North

I had the day off work so we made a quick trip north to IKEA to pick up a few things for the office. 

We took the kids with us so we stopped for lunch at Rainforest Cafe and made a stop by the LEGO store too.  A fun day.  This was a great family weekend.  Relaxing and time to just enjoy each other.

Alex is trying to wake this guy up!