Christmas program at Hesston Mennonite

Madisyn and Alexa were in a Christmas program tonight at Hesston Mennonite church.

Maddie is a shephard. The who group of kids singing. Alexa the angel is to the right of the screen and Maddie is all the way to the left.

Here is Alexa with her two buddies Alyssa and Courtney.

A recap of the past couple of weeks. It really doesn't include too much.

We had our pictures taken for Christmas cards and the church directory. We used this one for the church directory. We sure had a time of it getting everyone to look at the camera and smile nicely. Dan and Riley were the worst.

Riley started getting grumpy. She didn't want her picture taken anymore. Couldn't even get her to make a funny face.

This is our friend, Becca, with the girls. She was the one taking the pictures for us.

Back on Nov. 26...the day before Thanksgiving and Madisyn's birthday we had a gathering of the Pastoral Ministries Families at a cabin owned by the college. We had a really fun time, singing, eating, talking, and playing games.

We were pretty cramped in the cabin, but that's ok we still had fun.

Dan is taking finals next week on Monday and Tuesday. Friday we are heading home!!!!!! I can't wait! We are really excited!

Happy Birthday to Madisyn!

Today is Maddie's 9th birthday!

A missing tooth

Alexa lost her first tooth tonight!!!!!! She was really scared at first, but finally let Dan pull it!
Also, we had Alexa to the eye doctor last week and learned that she has astigmatism. The dr said she could get glasses but because of her age is going to leave it up to us. If it doesn't cause her problems she doesn't need them, but we do notice her squinting occasionally and will also get headaches sometimes. So we are going to moniter her and see how it goes.

Here is Riley posing. :)

This is the girls and their new friends. From Left to Right: Emberlynn, Riley, Alexa, Courtney, Alyssa, and Maddie.

The weather has been beautiful the last week or so. So last night we went to the park with the girls before it got dark.



Dan, Lexie, and Riley

Madisyn and our friend Bekah.

Riley is learning to ride her bike with training wheels!

High School Musical 3

Tonight we had a fun night! The girls have been wanting to see High School Musical 3 for a very long time and it finally came to the theaters last weekend, so we all went to see it tonight!! Another PM couple, Nate and Becca, went with us (it's the same couple who kept the girls for us when we went away for our anniversary). There were only 3 other people in the whole theather and the girls did very well. It was Riley's first theater experience and she did very well for the most part....there was some roaming and a bathroom break....but all in all they did really well!!!

After the movie we went to Nate and Becca's house for homemade pizza and visiting!!! The girls enjoyed watching their lizard eat crickets and playing on Nate's guitar!

Tomorrow we will be going to Wichita...Madisyn and Alexa both need new sneakers....

Spiders...blah

This spider was in one of our bathrooms today! We had another was just about the same size yesterday in the same bathroom!!!! I don't know where they are coming from, but they are huge and freaky!

another sick one!

Madisyn woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat, but no fever. I wasn't sure if it could be strep without a fever. We kept her home from school and she actually went to class with Dan. (she did very well by the way). After Dan's class was over she said she felt better and wanted to go to school. She still didn't have a fever so we thought it would be okay. When she got home from school she looked miserable and by then did have a fever.

The doctors office here is awesome and very close. I talked to the nurse in the morning about the possibility of strep and she wanted me to let her know how she was feeling after lunch. So I called her after Madisyn got home and she said if I could get there in the next 10 minutes before the lab closed she would to a strep test. so we did and she did and it was positive. At least we know now if Riley gets sick what it is and the dr will just call in the antibiotic...we won't even have to go in.

My new ring

I thought I would share the new wedding band my wonderful husband bought me!!!

Our weekend

Our anniversary was on Friday...Dan made arrangements for us to go away for a night. He even arranged for a PM couple to come here and stay with the girls for the night. We stayed the night at Clover Cliff Ranch Bed and Breakfast. It was a beautiful old ranch...it is in the Flint hills (not all of KS is completely flat). So we did some sight seeing Saturday, went to a wonderful steak house (supposed to be the best steak in KS) and went to see a movie. Sunday morning we had breakfast...there were several other couples there that we very friendly. Then the owner of the ranch gave us a tour of the ranch.



The owners of Clover Cliff Ranch...Jim and Joan Donahue.

A beautiful old courthouse in Cottonwood Falls, KS.

The flint hills of Kansas.

Dan and I in front of a Sheep herders wagon...shown below.

The two horses on the ranch. They were huge and very beautiful and friendly.
A view on the Ranch.
The cows kept following us. It was so funny!

Happy Anniversary to Us!!!

blah...sickness!

Well Alexa woke up this morning with a temp of 102.6...Poor girl felt miserable with a sore throat and a headache. I took her to the doctor this afternoon and she has strep throat. So she has to stay home from school tomorrow yet, but she can go back Monday.

On a brighter note....tomorrow is Dan and I's 10th anniversary!!! I'm in shock I can't believe it's been 10 years. So he (my wonderful husband, that is) went and made reservations at a bed and breakfast, arranged for a babysitter and even planned where we are going to eat for dinner! This is going to be Saturday night! I'm so excited! We haven't eaten at a restaurant let along gone on a date since we got here so I am thrilled!!! Yay!

Happy 3rd Birthday Brayden!!

Today is Brayden Edward Miller's birthday!!!! Have a Happy Birthday Little Man!!!! I love you and we miss you very very much!!! :)


Riley misses Brayden very much! She talks about him constantly and thinks everyone should know her cousin Brayden! :)

So glad this weekend is over!!

Oh my goodness!!! It has been a weekend I never care to repeat! It was Homecoming weekend here in Hesston and way too busy! Of course it was my weekend to work.

I was scheduled to be at work at 7:00am this morning and guess what time I woke up????? 6:55am!!! I never set my alarm last night. But being the super woman that I am was at work at 7:05am. I don't know how I did it but I woke up and was at work in 10 minutes! Am I amazing or what? I felt disgusting all morning and half of the afternoon, but I get to come home from 2-4 so I got to take a nice long shower!

Thank goodness I have tomorrow off!

Ups and Downs

I can't believe how one day can be so bad and the next day and be so good!

Yesterday I just had a bad day. Stuff went wrong at work and I was rushing all day trying to get things done before our staff meeting...I was stressed out, annoyed, and therefore emotional. Of course it leaked into my evening and I was just ready to put the kids to bed.

So then this morning I was not looking forward to go to work afraid of a repeat of the day before. At first things seemed like they would go the same way...but things started to turn around and the day itself wasn't as busy. Dan came in for lunch with the other PM students. I gave him my phone so he could listen to my voicemail for me and there was a message from Barb Opel. She was in Hutch visiting her family and wanted to stop by on her way to the airport!!!! YAY!!! I was so excited!!! To see someone I've known longer than 2 months!

After that the drink machine at work that I had to take apart yesterday because it stopped working...stopped working again....but before I left it started working again without me taking it apart!!! Whoo Hoo!!! I was so excited!

The day in general at work was just good and much much better. We had a lot of fun at break time and that always helps.

Now if only I can make it through the weekend! I have to work and it's homecoming weekend...yikes! It's going to be busy!

Hayrides and Campfires

Tonight the PM students and families were invited to a picnic and hayride. The couple who invited us is actually a co-worker of mine and her husband. They own this really neat farm and have this perfect place to have cook outs. We had a really good time visiting and laughing and having a good time! It was a nice break from everything! So we all thank Don and Rachel for having us, it was a good time.




Madisyn caught a fish that she is so proud of!!!!! She was so excited!

Some more pictures...

We had a lot of rain last week!


The girls were out there playing in it!! :)

Pictures...finally! :)

Here are a few pictures for you! The first one here is Maddie with here new bike! The next is Riley riding her bike...unfortunately Dan backed the car over her bike a couple of days ago and one of the back wheels is now smooshed!


Next is Maddie with chicken pox! Her back was the worst and even that wasn't too bad. It did look worse than this picture is portraying though. She was very lucky to only have a very mild case and was able to go back to school Monday already.
This picture is a bit blurry and was easier to see the pox in the regular size than on here, but I think you can make out some!

Update.

Maddie did really well today! She has not been sick at all other than a stuffy nose. She does itch and some of the spots are sore. I didn't notice any new ones today either. So I'm assuming that the vaccine really did help! Yay! Now hopefully the other two don't get it.

It has been raining a lot today! Water has been running everywhere. There was even a flash flood warning in our county and surrounding counties! I think it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow too. Fun Fun!

It's a epidemic!!

We woke up this morning to find out that Madisyn has chicken pox. If I had the cord for my camera I'd post pictures. (sidenote: I ordered one on ebay and should get it in the next week...so that means more pictures and not so much of my crazy rambling)

She doesn't feel too bad yet. I'm hoping maybe the vaccine she got as a baby will keep her from getting it too bad. (she never got the booster at age 5 because it wasn't required for school at the time and some how got overlooked I think) I had to go to work late today at 10 rather than 8:30, because that is what time Dan got home from his only class today. Tommorrow Dan doesn't have class till 10am. So I will work from 6:30-9:45. Monday and Wednesday they found someone to work for me and Tues and Thurs another PM wife will help with the girls. I sure hope she's back to school by Fri.

Please pray that she feels better, doesn't get worse, and that Alexa and Riley don't get it!!!

It's Friday!!

It's really nice that it's Friday! I worked last weekend....a split shift both Saturday and Sunday. Both went really well! They weren't as busy as during the week and everybody helped out alot. I had Monday off but worked the rest of the week...so I'm ready for the weekend!

I'll highlight a couple of this from our week

- Got a prank phone call Monday night that thoroughly confused me because of the number that showed up in the caller ID. It ended up being the mastermind of the youth group kids! :) So that was fun to hear from them.

-Got a nice box in the mail from Megan full of stuff from the 100th anniversary celebration at Glade...she sent mugs, pens, candy for the girls, the booklet of the history of the church, and like 5 different CD's with pictures, power point presentation, the morning service (2), and the afternoon program! That was a lot of fun to open. Looking at all the pictures made me miss everyone though! :(

-The girls had Monday and Tuesday off school due to Labor day and an improvement day.

-Had our first weekly meal with the PM students and families last night before formation. Every week we will take turns bringing either a main dish, a lactose free main dish, salad, bread, and dessert. Plus we have a week off from bringing something every couple of weeks. That was a lot of fun and will help in getting to know everyone.

-We also had formation last night. In my group we are taking turns each week in telling "our" story. We are supposed to share about our lives from birth up...I guess hitting mostly the highlights and spiritual journey. Dan's group is doing it a little differently in that I think they are sharing their story in parts rather than a whole.

I think Dan is feeling more at ease this week and getting into a routine as far as far as school work is concerned. So that is a good thing! He did really well on the speech I mentioned last time!

Please keep us in your prayers!

The weather

Oh my goodness....just so everyone knows it is so hot here! Yesterday it reached 100 degrees and although I don't know for sure I would say it's close today.

Maddie had her first soccer practice yesterday after school. Dan is coaching. It was pretty rough for Dan I think, especially with the heat. Next practice is tomorrow (saturday) at 10am. First game is next Saturday I think.

We had our first formation meeting last night. It's kinda like a small group for the pastoral ministries students and their spouses. This first semester they split up couples, so Dan and I are in different groups. It was a little weird at first because the way they had the groups split up, it had me in a group with no other women! So they worked it out that our friends Delbert and Sabrina flip flopped groups...so Sabrina was in with me. That made things a little better. I really think I am going to enjoy that time!

Dan had his first speech in his Speech communications class. He thinks it went well, but he is anxious to find out what grade he got.

I have to work this weekend so Dan has the girls....

We are working our way through another week!

Dan started classes on Monday! He is rather overwhelmed with all the homework he has already. He is supposed to read 123 pages tonight just for one class! Progress report...he just informed me he's on page 24! 99 more to go.....

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's are our big days. It's a full day of classes for Dan and my busiest days at work, plus I have to get Riley from day care and pick Maddie and Lexie up at school. Tues and Thurs Dan only has one class in the morning, but it's a two hour long class and a lot of work!

I have to work one weekend a month and this weekend is my weekend to work. So I have tomorrow off and then next Monday off. I work a split shift both Saturday and Sunday...8-12 and then 4-7pm on Saturday... Sunday I work 8-2pm and 4-7pm.

Riley seems to be doing well at her day care. She is staying with a lady who has the day care in her home. She is a very nice lady and I think Riley will do fine there.

Maddie and Lexie continue to like school! They get almost no homework here. Alexa hasn't gotten any and Madisyn is just supposed to read every night and go over spelling words. It is so different from Grantsville.

Tomorrow night we have formation. That is where all the first year pastoral ministries students and spouses get together and talk and go through things. (the second year students meet separately). We will be doing this every Thursday night. I am looking forward to it. I am going to enjoy getting to know everybody better.

Well I need to go to bed......

I don't have any pictures to post this time, but thought I'd get in an update!

We went to a new church on Sunday. It was very very long!!! The first hour was singing, followed by a second and a third hour. After the first hour they had a nursery where I could take Riley, but then she didn't want me to leave. It was a very long morning. There was no Sunday school either. So we probably won't be going back there.

Sunday afternoon the girls and I tried out two of the parks in town (there are at least 4 maybe 5). The first one didn't hold Maddie's attention very long, so we moved on to the second and I think they all liked that one more. We weren't home very long when Dan got a call from another PM student who was letting us know they were headed to the Arboretum to feed the fish and turtles with their girls. So we walked down the street to join them. I have pictures, but can't get them on the computer right now. We had fun visiting with them.

Tonight and tomorrow night is orientation for the PM program. I was a bit out of my comfort zone sitting in a circle with about 15 people I don't really know. We played a name game and then went over a personality test we had all taken this summer and mailed to Dave Greiser, the director of the PM program.

Work is going well. This week is the first we are serving meals. I worked yesterday and today, then I have tomorrow and Thursday off. I will like it a lot better when I know what I'm doing and don't have to follow someone around and constantly ask questions.

I do have to brag on my husband a little bit!! I got home from work today and he had completely cleaned the house for me! I was going to do it tomorrow on my day off, now I can find something else to do. I was so happy!!! He's also been really good about getting supper the nights we need it and I work and doing laundry! I do know he is ready for classes to start!

Thursday night we have parent night at the girls school. No kids are allowed so we need to find someone to watch them for us.

More and more students are starting to arrive at the college. I think this weekend is when most of them will get here. So it will be interesting to see how things play out then. This place will be a lot more busy I think!

More of Kansas!

Here are a few more pictures. First here is Alexa and her new friend Alyssa. Alyssa's dad is in the pastoral ministries program and it just so happened the girls are in the same class in school, which made Alexa very happy! This is the girls bedroom after we have it all unpacked. Unfortunately it doesn't always look this clean. It is a huge help though that we have a nice basement to put all the girls toys in. It makes picking up the house so much easier and so much less clutter.

This is our bedroom.
This is the living room. This picture is while we are still in the unpacking process so there's a bit of clutter. In the rest of the living room there is a fireplace.
I started work this week. Mainly training and orientation so it's been rather tiring. I think I will like it. There are many different jobs to do in the cafeteria and they are very organized so it's all mapped out as to who is doing what on a certain day...which is nice!

If failed to mention in yesterdays post that since both the girls were out growing their bikes and because Alexa was riding with just two wheels now that Madisyn needs a bigger bike and Alexa would then take Maddie's old bike. It just so happened Paige Weaver had a bike just the size we needed that she was going to get rid of. So the girls are just loving having bigger bikes now!

I love it when things work out like that!

Dan's Tattoo

Ok I already posted on post today, but after going back and reading my comment from Angie I decided to post a picture of Dan's tattoo.

The word at the bottom is greek and means "Paid in Full".

We are in Kansas!

Well we are here and our house is unpacked and we finally have internet!!! I am so excited I can finally check my e-mail!

We have been very busy just unpacking and checking out town! I really need to get in the habit of taking more pictures so I can post them. But I do have a few of our house and various things.

Here are the girls with some new friends playing at this neat little water park in town! It was so incredibly hot when we got here. It was 105 out when we had to unload the truck and unpack...plus our air conditioner didn't work for the first three days. So the water felt wonderful.

Plus we were incredibly greatful to Sheri Weaver. She invited us to go swimming with her and the kids at Chris' pool! So we have had great fun getting reacquainted with them!

The girls first day of school was Tuesday! In Madisyn's words "It was awesome!"

One of their favorite activities so far is riding bikes on the sidewalk and in the colleges back parking lot which is right across the street.

Here is Alexa learning how to ride a two wheeler for the first time and doing awesome at it!