Christmas Highlights

Well, I've thrown a lot of pictures up here from our Christmas trip to MI.  To sum it up, the break was a wonderful time spent with family and friends, some whom we haven't seen in years!

 I'll start by saying that yes, I did surprise Darcy on the 12th anniversary of our engagement with 12 roses-she had no idea what the roses were for before I told her the occasion.

 We toured a chocolate factory in Grand Haven with friends we haven't seen in a couple of years.  It was great to catch up and we enjoyed sharing about the blessings and challenges of these child rearing years.  We say these girls (below) look like twins!

 One of the blessings we have is enjoying seeing our children with their great-grandparents.  We visited my grandparents house for, most likely, the last time as they will be moving into a smaller home soon.

 The sunny, warmer weather was a treat and we enjoyed many walks to the parks nearby.

 We visited Andrew's neighbor and babysitter growing up, who now lives in East Lansing.  She and her family are an encouragement to us and we had a blast together!

 This Christmas was especially special to spend together as Rachael has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.  She is pregnant with a baby boy who hopefully will be joining the family in June.  It was great to physically be together with her and Daron (husband), to laugh and cry together.  We pray that God would heal her and know that whatever the outcome is, nothing can separate her from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).

 Below are a couple more pictures of the great outdoors in Michigan.  Thanks for tuning in!

He is our satisfaction

 So, here are a couple of pictures from the last year which put the events of the last 12 months in perspective.  Aiden and Elaina are still drinking bottles in this picture from last winter.

Having 3 girls in our household is quite an adventure. Aiden is learning how to hold his own against the powers of estrogen!

 Daraby has become such a blessing as the oldest child.  She cares about her younger siblings and is learning how to put the needs of others before herself.

 Dakota is our artist and doesn't miss an opportunity to leave her mark on things.  Here she decided that Dutch needed a flower in his hair.

This picture captures the essence of my job.  Teaching and working with students in FFA is a formal profession, yet there are days that I get to put my coveralls over my "teacher" clothes to work on an outside project with the students.

I hope you have enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday and are reflecting on the gift of Christ this Christmas season.  A portion of scripture which has spoken truth in my life the last couple of weeks is found in Psalm 107.  Verses 1-2 say:
"Oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good
his steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those whom he has redeemed from the trouble"

Verses 8-9 go on to say:
"Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things."

We have so much to be thankful for, especially the gift of our redemption through Jesus Christ.  I challenge myself to not only live a life that reflects Jesus as my Lord and Savior, but also to "say so" and verbally share the only hope that I have in Christ.  May Jesus be our "satisfaction" as we seek to fill our longing soul with Him.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

 We are always thankful for opportunities to spend outside with our family.  Last Sunday, we took a walk on Farm Island opposite of the beach we normally swim at in the summer.  The kids enjoy finding different shapes of sticks as they hike.

 We are thankful for the many friends God has blessed us with.  Terra used to work at school with us and visited last week. She and Darcy enjoyed catching up and sharing life together!

 We are thankful for the twins growing up and being able to do more things by themselves.  Their skills and comprehension of things before the age of 2 is incredible.

We are also thankful for the independence of our older girls.  I'm sure we will be regretting this soon, but for the moment we enjoy seeing them spread their wings.  Each of our children have unique abilities and gifts that God has given to them.  We pray that God gives us the wisdom and patience to help guide them in the development of those abilities to serve Him!

Flower Girl

 Dakota made her first wedding appearance as a 5 year old in a friend's wedding over the weekend.  She did great and was very excited for the opportunity!

 Daraby was a great support to her younger sister and she enjoyed watching the rehearsal and the wedding-she is starting to get ideas for when she gets older and perhaps marries someday.  

 We went for a walk before the wedding and Darcy shot this picture which symbolizes the day well.

 Darcy and I after a long day, but grateful to have time together-maybe we need a selfie stick?

 Here is a partial picture of the wedding party.  Dakota is re-arranging her flower basket.

An analogy came to my mind this week as I was preparing for my Junior High Ag Class.  I had some odds and ends projects outside I wanted to get done-nothing big or out of the ordinary.  God brought to mind the parable of the talents in Matthew 25.  In verses 21 and 25, Jesus says "Well done good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.  Enter into the joy of your master."

So often I live for the big, exciting projects (like planting trees and creating new landscapes) that I don't pay much attention to the less exciting projects (like raking leaves and watering trees).  My mind drifted to the World Series where the Royals played the Mets.  Now, I'm not the most avid of baseball fans out there, but I did find this series intriguing.  The Mets lived for the home-runs and big plays.  The Royals, however, played smart and were content with singles and getting runners on base for a chance to get a run.  The Royals ended up winning the Series by executing the fundamentals well and not relying on the home-run every time.

My point is that I need to stop living for the home-runs in my life and be content in doing the small things well.  For me, these are the daily opportunities of fathering my children, loving my wife, diligently preparing and teaching my classes at school, and investing in the lives of those around me for the kingdom of God.  Lord, teach us to be faithful in the small things so that we can handle the blessings and responsibilities of more.  Help us also to rest in Your joy instead of continually slaving to the pleasure of ourselves.      

November morning at the park

 We enjoyed a beautiful Saturday morning at a local state park last weekend.  It was one of those mornings that stared off chilly, but, as the time went on, the layers started coming off.

 Dakota had an accident this last week that required a trip to the emergency room and then going to Sioux Falls and getting stitches on her lip.  She's doing well and is back to her normal self-playing and fighting with Daraby!

 Girl power!

Daraby is still the most photogenic child we have.  She is growing up fast and it is incredible to see God working in her life at a young age.  She has academic abilities beyond her years and one of her favorite things to do before bed is look up Bible verses we give her.  We pray that above all else, our children would grow to love Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Sometimes daily life seems like a struggle just to survive.  However, we pray that God would give us wisdom to look beyond the trials of this life to see the eternal hope that is only found in Him!

Weekend Highlights

 We were able to ride along in our neighbor's combine for a couple of rounds during corn harvest last weekend.  What an incredible machine that God has given man the ability to create and use!  Aiden did not want to leave the combine after his turn and I think he would have been content in there for a couple of hours.  Daraby and Dakota both want to be "farmers" when they grow up, so we'll see how that turns out.

 Family pictures are an interesting phenomenon any time including right after church.  Theoretically, this should have been an ideal time as we look relatively nice.  However, getting 6 people to all look one way and sit in position should be an Olympic event!

The kids dressed up and went out for Halloween.  The candy bars they are holding weigh more than a normal meal's worth of food for them.  Aiden's sheep outfit was snug but he fit the part very well!

Getaway

 Darcy and I had a chance to take a trip out to the Black Hills last weekend. We visited Spearfish Canyon on our honeymoon 11 years ago and this was our first time back.

 It's hard to believe the hills are part of South Dakota when we spend so much of our time on the prairie.  It may not be Colorado but it sure is beautiful and many less people to deal with!

 After 11 plus years together, she is still my lover and best friend-thanks for hiking around with me!

 We hiked around Sylvan Lake before sunset.  There was a wedding on the lake shore shortly before we arrived.

I have a hard time formatting pictures correctly and this is no exception.  If you turn your head to the right at a 90 degree angle, you will see me standing on a stairway in between 2 rock formations on the backside of Sylvan Lake.

Thanks to dad and mom for making the trip from MI to come watch the kids for the weekend.  They had a great time catching up together.  Enjoy your extra hour of sleep this weekend and we'll catch up later!

We're Back!

 We are back on the blog trail after a two year hiatus which included the addition of twins.  Last fall, we welcomed home the last two (God-willing) children to our family.  The year has been an adventure to say the least...

 The twins love the afternoon football games, which is a perk to working at a school that doesn't have lights on the field for evening games-so school gets out early on game days!

 The older girls are growing up quickly and have become valuable big sisters in a hurry!  We thank God that He has provided family and friends that can help them specifically with the transition process.  They enjoy playing together and have recently gotten into building "girl" lego sets and playing with their Barbies.  Both are in school and loving it!

 The beautiful fall has given the twins an opportunity to spend much time on the deck and in the enclosed back yard playing with their toys.  At 22 months, they can climb and run very fast.  In fact, this morning they were shoveling rocks over the fence with a full size metal shovel!

 They are learning how to ride tricycles and we fear that bikes are not safe for very long around them!

 Amidst the crazy year, we were able to make a trip to Michigan both for Christmas and for the 4th of July and enjoyed time with family and friends there.  Lake MI was a balmy 40 some degrees when we were there this summer, so we didn't venture into the water much.  The whole family enjoyed a couple of trips down the channel, which is always a highlight!

Those who are reading this hopefully care enough about us to know that while this year has been filled with inexpressible joy, it has also been a most challenging year for Darcy and I.  Adoption is a beautiful, yet unnatural phenomenon that has drained us physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Through it all, we know that this is the journey God has called us on and rest in His unchanging love and grace.  Isn't it amazing that  God has chosen to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1, Romans 8)?  Praise God for His faithfulness and may He be glorified in our lives.

Thanks for caring and journeying with us!

Falling into the school year

 I don't know where summer went but here comes October!  We have been running crazy the last 2 months and are hoping the pace slows down as we head into the fall and get into the routine of school.  Daraby has started kindergarten and so that has been a big step in her educational career.  Dakota started nursery school and is enjoying the fellowship of other 3 year old kids!

 I (Andrew) have been teaching two agriculture classes at SBA this year.  The title of the class is "Exploring South Dakota Agriculture" and that is exactly what we are doing.  In the above photo, Darcy and Dakota came with me and my class to a neighbor ranch where we studied/identified range grasses and plants.  Over the last couple of weeks we have had many opportunities to get out of the classroom and into some hands-on activities.  You may be interested to follow our class blog: exploresdag.blogspot.com

 Daraby and Dakota have been more adventurous in their bike riding experiences.  Now Darcy and I actually have to keep up with them instead of vice versa!

 We also still take family walks with the dogs.  The girls are getting along (at least for the moment) in this pic.

As many of you have probably seen from facebook, we were blessed to have our friend Chad Coppess from Grace Adventures out to our school last week.  He led our Spiritual Life Emphasis Week by using a horse that he was training to illustrate our relationship to God and others from Ephesians 5.  It was a wonderful week of seeing God work in the hearts of our students and staff at SBA.  An added bonus was that Chad used a colt from Darcy's dad that we will continue training with. We named him "Dandy" to keep up with the D tradition!
It has been way too long since we have been able to communicate with many of you.  We hope and pray that no matter what circumstances you are facing, you will put your hope in God and rest on his Word.  In short, the last 2 months have probably been some of the most intense times we have had in ministry.  However, we know that God is faithful and that he has called us to glorify him through the blessings and hard times.  Thanks for tuning in!