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!