GCC Staff Retreat

In October, Steve and I were blessed with the opportunity to spend some quality time with our brothers and sisters on staff at Grace Community!   I forgot my camera, but am blessed to know the very talented Missy Isbell who took these cool shots and put together some collages of our time together.  Full disclosure -- I also stole some of the details from her blog post about the same retreat b/c I am delinquent in blogging about it and she wrote it up while it was still fresh in her mind :)

The van ride there was miraculous in that with 26 people (including 3 babies) crammed into 2 big church vans, there was almost no crying, no motion sickness (that I know of), and we didn't even make a stop until we were about 20 min from our destination.  Even then, I'm pretty sure we stopped just because P. Hansen needed a Starbucks fix :)

We stayed at the most beautiful old Victorian mansion that was not just a bed and breakfast, but more like a bed and breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  There were some really cool ladies that made delicious food and took amazing care of us!

When we first arrived we had a chance to check things out and enjoy the beautiful setting. Funny -- just like I remember doing as kids when we arrived at a hotel on a school or sports team trip-- the first thing everyone wanted to do was check out everyone else's room!  They were all beautiful.  Ours was the one in the center of the top row on this collage.

That night after dinner, worship and teaching, we played the most raucous game of "I Have Never" and Paul's hilarious rendition of capture the flag meets ghosts in the graveyard "Underground Church." 

We were blessed to have a dedicated morning quiet time as a couple (well, couple +E) and the grounds were so breathtaking that we spent it outside each morning despite temps in the 40's.  Breakfast the next morning was amazing, but I wasn't quite warmed up yet from being outside that am.

Group photo time!  Can't believe they got a shot this good in just a few tries!  This is the staff of Grace Community + spouses and Ben Blakiston (Amy Hansens dad who blessed us by spending part of the week with us sharing insights he has learned in his years as a pastor).  Sadly, we were without Steve Anderson and Steve Scheperle.

A piece of advice for those 35 and older.  Do not challenge a group of 20 somethings to a game of ultimate frisbee.  It will end badly for you.  This particular game was 5-0, but we had a blast!  Stacy Simpson was such a trooper and played on a broken ankle from the previous weekend when Brooks dropped her doing a cheerleading stunt at Hawkeye homecoming!

That afternoon the ladies spent hanging out in Chi-town.  Missy is not only talented at photography, but also at doing u-turns in Chicago, in a 15 passenger van!  All the ladies + babies at the top of the Hancock building, although I guess it's called something else now. . . can't remember what.

Chicago pizza for dinner!  One thing we'll certainly miss in WA!

Me and my honey in my favorite spot in the whole city!

Elias just looking cute and entertaining himself during mealtime.

Although I was disappointed by the lack of staying up late to play games and talk (maybe that's what happens when you hang out with the 35+ crowd and people with babies, or it could be that Dave turned everyone off with his outrageous fart stories the first night :), the whole trip was so restful and I cherish the time we had in the vans together of all things b/c it just gave us a chance to get to know the team on a deeper level.  Oh, and if you ever have a chance to sit down with Deb Kirk, ask her to tell you the story of how she and Dave got together -- it's a great one!

And how excited were we about jumping in the leaves?

We have one very small maple tree in the backyard that dropped a couple of hundred leaves at most.  Regardless, one afternoon Grace asked for a rake, determined to produce a pile big enough to jump in.  Never willing to admit defeat, she insisted that her pile of perhaps 25 of those leaves was sufficient.

Greta contributed by standing by to offer commentary when necessary :)

She also had an obvious opinion on Zeke's batting skills.

Despite the obvious abundance of mucus, Elias was as cute and content as ever!

How excited are we about the first snow?

My kids insisted on having a "Snow Party!" They dressed up in full snow gear to go play outside, despite having only just the lightest of flurries :) It's so cold that even with all that bundling they were out for MAYBE 5 min before coming in begging for hot chocolate.

Zeke's 2nd Birthday

 In theory, taking a 2 year old horseback riding for his birthday seems unnecessarily extravagent, but in reality it was a perfectly relaxing low-key family activity that has made a horse-lover out of our little Z-man.  This is all thanks to our amazingly generous friends and brother and sister in Christ, Tarryl and Anne Bockelman.  When Steve aproached Tarryl about taking him up on his offer to let the kids come ride their horses as a fun activity for Zeke's birthday, we were only expecting to show up and let Zeke sit on the horse for a few minutes.   They made it so much more!  We rounded-out the afternoon with a cookout, 2 rounds of riding, feeding the fish in their pond, and some playtime in the hay pile in the barn.  The pictures themselves tell the story of what an awesome time we had!

Zeke had requested breakfast food for his birthday meal, but I wanted to make the pancakes and eggs "extra special!" 

Banana birthday cake (what else for our banana king?) complete with a "2" candle that Grace (our little eagle-eye) found in the Bockelman's barn!

The Princess is 4!

Ok, so she's been 4 for almost two months now, but we've already established that I'm behind on blogging and playing catch-up!  When my mom called on September 2 and inquired, "Oh, Terryn, can you believe she's 4?" I told her I certainly could.  Not a typical mommy reaction (usually it's all "I can't believe how big they are!"), but we'd been talking about Greta's birthday so often and for so long (probably at least since Grace turned 5 in April) I was relieved that the big day had finally arrived.  I wondered if on September 3 we would have to begin discussing Greta's 5th birthday, but thus far we've been spared her constant, but cute birthday babble :)

Filling the kids rooms with dozens of balloons while their sleeping is fast becoming a favorite birthday tradition at our house. 

Greta desperately wanted to camp out and we agreed that the backyard was the best venue for our first attempt.  It's a  blessing that I have generally easygoing kiddos b/c a thunderstorm hit that evening and changed our plans.  Praise God we weren't out in the woods somewhere!  Anyways, Super-Daddy came to the rescue and created am impromptu indoor campout complete with hotdog roasting . . .



. . . and a couch/blanket tent reminiscent of the forts of my childhood. 





Our God is so good!  Wouldn't you know he followed up that thunderstorm with the most beautiful birthday gift for our little princess!

 

Summer Rain

"Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God? We set out hope on you, for you do all these things."                                             Jeremiah 14: 22

There is something so sweet about rain without storms.  I love a good thunderstorm and I love that they illustrate how awesome and mighty God is.  But, to me, rain -- just rain, is a picture of God's grace.  It is refreshing, cleansing, life-sustaining, and yet he doesn't have to send it.  He doesn't owe it to us, and we haven't and can't do anything to deserve it.  It's a gift of unmerited favor. Just like Christ "who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!"

I think my kids would agree:

Bet you thought you'd never see this!

Steve on a zipline!  Thanks to the Hansens for an awesome Grace Community Church staff party and a hilarious time watching my husband and our staff brothers and sisters in Christ zip across the ravine behind their house!

And still more summer! Haley and Elias's Dedication

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."                 Jeremiah 1:5

The ceremony approached perfection.  Pastor J (Haley's grandpa) so engagingly elaborated on the first chapter of Jeremiah, which God had laid on my heart as the perfect passage for the occasion.  He and his wife Vicki worked like crazy to make it all so beautiful.  (I only wish I had written this sooner so my memories were fresh.)  My sister and her good friend Kelly performed the most lovely song.  My mom, Vicki, Yiayia, my sister, and probably a bunch of other people put together a super-tasty mexican meal for a crowd complete with Tres Leche cake -- one of our favorites!  I say approached perfection because there were a few pretty funny mishaps:

1. The fact that Haley's parents are Elias's Godparents and we are Haley's Godparents could have contributed to the ceremony and made it even more precious.  Somehow, we ALL failed to mention that to Pastor J.
2. A little camera mixup means that we have no decent photos of the ceremony itself, beautiful as it was.
3. To add insult to injury on the photo front, we failed to get a single picture of Haley and Elias together.  I think we have taken a photo of them every single time they're been together, except when they were dedicated together. 

We did still get some adorable photos of the kiddos!

One of my all-time favorite photos of Zeke -- he's just all boy and all trouble!

Elias and Aunt Betty

Uncle Jon is always so much fun!  Here he actually managed to carry Grace, Greta, and Zeke all at once.  He begged me not to try and take a picture because he couldn't manage it another second.

During cleanup, Zeke let his balloon bouquet hit the vaulted ceiling a half dozen times.  He is so blessed to have many tall men who love him and were willing to go to great lengths to retrieve it. (Special thanks to Uncle Chris, Daddy, and Papa J for loaning them his crutch!)

Grace looking beautiful!

More from summer's end . . .

The First Day of School



Nonni was visiting and we convinced her to stay long enough to see the girls off on their fist day of K and Pre-K. The girls were blessed by her presence because mom would not have had the ambition to make scrambled eggs for breakfast!



Headed off to school!



Zeke made himself at home.



Zeke at home in Greta's class too!  He REALLY wanted to stay with his girls!