Update

Yesterday was one of those rare days when everything just works out!

Paul and Thomas's school is out for a long weekend winter break, Stephen had a day off, the stomach bug that has been lingering around our house stayed away, it was my birthday, and we got to spend the day enjoying being together. We had hoped that the day would work out that way, but you just never know! We wanted to do something, but had had a hard time deciding what. Thursday night, something mysterious happened to me as I was preparing to turn 45, because it hit me that the perfect way to spend the day would be by going to the local animal shelters and finding a new family dog. It's been 10 months since Buddy died and I've not been very anxious to replace him. But, for some reason, this past week I'd found myself thinking about it some, and all of a sudden I was ready.

We spent Thursday night and Friday morning checking out all the shelters listings online. We had a pretty narrow list of requirements so we didn't have high hopes of finding something too quickly. At noon we loaded up the whole family to go out for Mom's birthday lunch and then to the shelters to see in person the dogs we'd found online. We warned the kids that we were just "window shopping". This statement led to Daniel telling one of his brothers that we had to go buy some windows. :)

Don't get me wrong on this next part, because I do appreciate what the humane society and animal shelters do, but the adoption process was unbelievable! The evaluation was far more about us proving we were "fit" for the dog than about the dog being right for us. But, we jumped through the hoops until we were able to have the dog of choice come out of his kennel and "get acquainted".

Jack, a 2 year old beagle, was an instant hit! We did go to another shelter to go through all the necessary screenings to check out another dog just to be sure, but there was no doubt, Jack was the winner.

We have a 4 day waiting period so Jack can think this thing through and prepare himself for his adoption, but it looks like he'll arrive home on Tuesday. We'll keep you posted on his adjustment!

Citizenship

Wednesday, I became an American citizen! After living here in the US most of my life, I finally began the process of naturalization last May. It's been interesting! Things went very smoothly and I was surprised at how simple it was.

The swearing in ceremony was held at the Gerald Ford Museum here in Grand Rapids. There were 81 people from 35 different countries being naturalized. It was a very meaningful ceremony! Immediately following the ceremony I was able to register to vote - something I've been very anxious to do!

I'm proud to finally be an American!

This is the "swearing" part. You swear to renounce your homeland, be willing to protect the US, bear arms, etc...

Posing with the US District Court Judge who presided over the ceremony. The paper we're holding is the official naturalization document - my proof that I'm an American.

Only the four youngest were with us. That's Andrew, Peter, David, and Daniel.

Boys

Even with 9 sons, I still sometimes find myself amazed at what boys will do.

It's windy, snowing, 23 degrees, the windchill is 9 degress and Philip, Sam, Andrew and David are outside playing football!

I'm glad that energy is being spent outdoors!

By the way, I took these pictures from INSIDE the house!!

Time to go make some hot chocolate....

We're on the map!

The Jones home has now made the big time: Google Maps Street View. Naturally, there's no way to take a snapshot of our home without catching two of our boys in the yard. Amazing, but creepy technology. Go ahead and do a 360-degree spin.


View Larger Map

More winter stuff

We're now officially under a blizzard warning with an actual temp of 6. So much for my goal to NOT cancel church services this winter. Our 40 mph winds today are quite impressive. The artwork that the snow and wind create is still a unique thing for Bama people to behold.

The Lake effect snow machine has begun

[note: this post is written mostly for a "southern" audience--for you Michiganders, it's old news]


Tomorrow is December, so it stands to reason that it might start snowing sometime soon. Today, the lake-effect snow machine started cranking out its stuff. In spite of all of the winter weather drama here, nothing matches the enthusiasm of Alabama's James Spann when there's a tornado warning. My most memorable December weather event ever was certainly Spann's live tornado coverage from December 2000 when Tuscaloosa was hit with an F4? (click here!)



Today, the boys could care less about forecasting or meteorology. Once they see the white stuff...they bolt outside to start snow-sledding, snowball fighting and snow fort building. Here's Daniel enjoying the "novelty."

The Death of a Geo

Stephen was driving down a country road (bringing Paul and Thomas home from school) when an SUV crossed the road in front of him. They were supposed to stop and either just didn't, or did, but then pulled out in front of him (didn't see him or thought they could make it??). He slammed head on into their rear quarter panel.

We're so grateful for God's protection. Seatbelts and airbags no doubt spared them injury. While the accident was not weather related, the snowy conditions may have actually helped as Stephen was driving slower than normal. He was probably driving less than 55 and could easily have been going 65 in that area had the weather been good. The reduced speed would have lessened the impact.

So, we're very thankful. We'll try to remember that as we face the hassels of insurance and replacement!

Daniel and Andrew in costume

Devotions gone crazy

[Steve is hijacking the blog]—We we’re reading a devotional tonight at the supper table about God’s command to Joshua to pull out the flint knife and circumcise the Israelites. (The topic had to do with commitment). This naturally required me to explain what circumcision was to our eight sons (the ones who didn’t know). Not that our supper table is ever formal, but as you can imagine, this conversation erupted into a little bit of chaos. After I explained to our fraternity that they had all been circumcised as babies (which caused some eyes to get large), one of the guys clarified to 7-year-old David that “yes, a piece of skin was cut off the end of his [whatever you call it in your family]”. David immediately responded with confidence that he was certain that “the end of his was still there.” Great encouragement among the brothers during family devotions!

The snow is falling....

and my last post had kids in the pool on July 4th. Guess I'm a bit overdue to update, huh?

Obviously a lot has happened since then. Here's a month by month overview:


July - One highlight of that month was the week we spent in Hastings, MI at Winding Creek Camp for Family/Youth Camp. Everyone enjoyed camp and the change of pace was nice. We were thrilled to have the use of a cottage all week and enjoyed "camping" with no tents!

Abby came home right after we got back and it was wonderful having her with us. We got to work on wedding plans and even found her wedding dress! Fun time for Mom!

August - Simeon joined us and we spent another week at the cottage at Winding Creek. It was great spending time with no agenda and just enjoying being together. We played games, went swimming, played putt-putt, and some of the gang even spent time tubing down the Thornapple River (in the rain!). Those times together are suddenly a lot more precious now that the kids are leaving home!

And speaking of leaving home, Joshua made his exit from the nest as he headed off for his freshman year at Indiana Wesleyan University. We miss him, but are happy that he's doing really well.

September - Paul and Thomas started attending "real school" the day after Labor Day. Big changes for all of us, but it's been a really good thing. They're doing great!

Philip and Sam started back in the homeschool band and orchestra. Philip plays cello in intermediate orchestra and is 1st chair in percussion for the intermediate band. He's also playing a big bass drum in preparation for next summer's marching band season. He still plays piano a lot, too. He's really becoming quite the musician!

Sam plays trumpet in intermediate band and is finding a bit more competition for chair position than he had last year, but is doing great!

Andrew picked his intrument - trombone - and is plugging away at learning in the beginning band. His arms a little short to play all the trombone positions, but they won't be learning them all this year anyway so he has a year to grow out his arm!

October - was a beautiful fall month here in Michigan. The seasons are so nice. (Remind me I said that on a cold icy day in February.) This is our biggest birthday month. Philip turned 13, David turned 7, and Thomas is now 15.

November - came in with a return to summer weather! But, of course that quickly changed and today we are having our first "real" snow. It won't amount to much, but it does signal what's ahead.

Now on to what everyone really wants....pictures!!

July 4th Weekend

We've had a fun July 4th weekend. The weather has been perfect for enjoying outdoor activities. Here are a few photos:

David, Philip, and Daniel in our backyard pool

On Uncle Mark's lake

Peter

The older guys jumping on the water tramp

David

Pictures

Andrew and Sam in front of their cabins at Kids' Camp


Paul's Kittens - 3 weeks old


One at 4 weeks


David and Andrew with our neighbor, Donna, in front of
her hollyhocks - the largest I've ever seen!

June

Here's what's been happening with the Jones family:

Abby is in Oregon. For some strange reason she seems to like being out there! :) She and Simeon are doing concerts together - every Sunday a different church - and she has a job at a store (something like a T.J. Maxx is how she described it). She's having a great summer!

Joshua is in Canada where he's in the EXALT choir once again this year. They'll leave this weekend for a 10 day tour around New England. He'll come back early July and hope to work as much as possible before heading off to college the end of August.

Paul turned 16! Due to our move, we got a late start on the extensive MI requirements for licensing, so he's still a few months away from getting a driver's license. He's doing really well behind the wheel and we're logging the necessary practice hours as quickly as we can. The day after his birthday his cat had a litter of 4 kittens. Everyone's enjoying them! The biggest thing in Paul's life right now is that he was accepted into our local zoo's summer teen volunteer program. He's loving being at the zoo, working behind the scenes, and getting to be around the animals. It's definitely "his thing"!! :)

Thomas - is logging lots of miles on his bicycle these days. He's doing an Algebra class this summer to get ready for the transition to the charter school in the fall, so he needs lots of time on his bike to clear his head after studying! He's been hoping to find a job - maybe on a local farm - but it hasn't happened yet. He really wants to work and will do a great job, so we're hoping and praying something works out for him.

Philip and Sam - are marching!! Our music program continues in the summer with marching band. They spent a week in band camp and have already marched in their first parade. Philip played cello during the school year but moved to the more parade-friendly cymbals for the summer.

Peter and David waiting to see the parade start











Andrew is looking forward to going to camp this week. He and Sam will have a great time, I'm sure!

Peter, David, and Daniel are just enjoying being outdoors. They spend most of their days riding their bikes, jumping on the trampoline, "helping" our neighbor in his farm, and just being boys! There's never a lack of dirty clothes with them around!

Another highlight for June was our Gorveatte family reunion. Most of the family was able to come to Michigan and be together to celebrate Nanny and Grampy's 50th Anniversary! We had a lot of fun and made some special memories.

Left: cousins John and Josiah Gorveatte with Paul Right: cousin Joel Gorveatte with Thomas and Joshua (That's Uncle Mark standing)

Left: Philip, Seth, Andrew Right: Jordan, David, Kate

Mom, Samuel, Daniel, Peter, and Grampy

Ruth Neyman, Tracy and Joel Gorveatte

And yet another benefit of a large family...

Family Volleyball!

(and Daniel and the engaged daughter weren't available).

Summer Sunset in Burnips

We're in that time of year where we see sunsets after 9:30 pm. Within a matter of seconds, the colors morph from bluish pink to reddish orange.

Josh Graduates!

Josh graduated from Byron Center Charter School as valedictorian! We're proud of you Josh!

Marching with Chuck Taylors!

The valedictorian speech has the principal laughing!

They're Engaged!!

It's official!! Simeon and Abby are getting married! It's bittersweet for Mom and Dad, but Dad did consent and had given his blessing. We are thrilled that she's found a wonderful man and have no doubt God has great plans for their future.


The proposal happened at Disneyland and Simeon had made arrangements for a photographer to capture the moment. Here he is down on one knee.



She said, "Yes!", much to his relief! :)


Disneyland gave them VIP treatment for the rest of the day.



We'll share a date as soon as it's set, but are planning next spring.

Update

Here's the latest news at the Joneses...

Abby's school year is done and she and Simeon are home for a short visit. They'll leave this weekend and fly to his home in Oregon where she'll go with his family to Disneyland next week and then join him (singing and playing the piano) in several concerts that he'll be holding. She'll come back mid June to spend the rest of the summer in Michigan.



Joshua is just 2 weeks from his high school graduation. Here's one of his senior pictures:

Baseball season is off to a great start. After several weeks of practices the games have begun! Tonight we had David's first T-Ball game.

waiting for his turn to bat

he swings

he hits it!

safe at first and ready to take second!

Now playing at 3rd base...

Update (long overdue, I know.....)

Lots happening for the Joneses in April! I'll try to keep it short and get in all the news!!


First, the sad news. Our family's dog, Buddy, who's been with us for almost 8 years (since he was an 8 week old puppy) died this week. We live on a very busy highway and had worried since we moved here that his natural instinct to run out into the road would mean his demise. Unfortunately, that's what happened. We were relieved that he didn't suffer. Lots of tears around here!

On a better note....Steve lives on!! We just celebrated his 45th birthday!


Happy Birthday, Dad!

Other April news.....vacation! We took a trip to Alabama during our spring break. It was great to see old friends and spend some time in Tuscaloosa during its most beautiful time of the year. We also enjoyed a couple of days at Grammy Jones and PaPa's house where the river provided lots of enjoyment.

Philip thought it was warm enough to swim, but quickly learned otherwise!!

Yes, Daniel is fishing with a swim noodle! :)

Continuing with the news......it's baseball season!! The snow has melted, the grass is turning green, and it's time to play ball! This is our first year to have the boys in baseball so we're all looking forward it.

Our wonderful neighbor cleared some land for the boys to build a practice field behind our back yard. He even cut down some trees for them to make a backstop. Philip, with some help from Sam and Andrew, dug the holes for the posts, cut the wire and stapled it up. Should provide hours of fun!!




And lastly......the house in Tuscaloosa is sold! The sale is closed and we're very thankful to have that chapter behind us. Thanks to all of you who've been praying about that with us.

So...there's the news. Perhaps it won't be May before we post again!!

Chicago

Steve, Allison, Megan, and Matt Stewart spent last week visiting with us! We had a great visit and loved being together. We learned something, too - at our age it is NOT possible to stay up half the night talking and then get up and function normally the next day! :)

We had a great day trip to Chicago while they were here. Here are some highlights:







Lunch at a genuine "Chicago-style pizza" joint:

Inside Union Station:

Downtown between the Sears Tower and Union Station:

Daniel at the base of the Sears Tower:

David's turn! :)

Maple Syrup Time

Another fun learning experience for the southern kids.....tapping the maple trees, gathering buckets of sap, and boiling it down to make sweet, 100% pure maple syrup! It's very basic process, but rather time and energy consuming. First, the maple trees are "tapped" - a hole is drilled and a spout inserted. A bucket is hung on the spout and the sap flows into it. The rate of flow varies depending on the weather. Sharp cold nights and very warm sunny days make the sap run best.

The buckets are emptied daily into large storage barrels. Every couple of days our neighbor, "the maple syrup maker", fills large vats with sap, brings it to a boil over a hot wood fire, and keeps the top skimmed clean while the water evaporates from the sap. It can take 12 hours of boiling 40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of syrup!

Cute (odd?) things kids say....

When I picked David up from his SS class his teacher told me an interesting thing. The lesson was about sharing. They talked about giving and sharing in different situations and circumstances. When she asked what we can give in church David's responsed, "BIRTH!".

Not sure where that came from!

He's cute, though! :)

Sun Worshipping

Well, not exactly. But this is only about the 4th day of solid sunshine that we can recall in 2008. And so you tend to view it as a worship experience (of the sun's creator).




The sunset snow-shoveling solemn sixth son. (Andrew)

Things always change

We're officially ready for Spring...or something with a different color. According to the National Weather Service, we've had 80.1 inches of snow so far this season (and that's 26.4 inches above normal).

We've also had to cancel our last Sunday morning worship service and our last two Wednesday night events.

But it's easy to get restless and forget the reality that...one day warm weather WILL return.

God does provide us variety. Things always change.


Burnips Wesleyan Church: February 2008


Burnips Wesleyan Church: July 2007


Burnips playground: February 2008


Burnips playground: July 2007


David Jones: June 2003


David Jones: February 2008 (after a brother spiked his hair).

Good-looking couple: Fall 1982

Good-looking couple: Fall 2007

What’s going on with Steve?

Since I (Steve) have already hijacked this blog once today…I figured I’d do it again. From time to time, I get an email or phone call from Alabama friends asking about our church and my role as a pastor and “how’s it going?” Since this blog mostly centers around our family activities and how we Southerners experience new stuff in Michigan, I figured I’d share a couple of my own thoughts.

Believe it or not, we’re only a few weeks away from the 6-month mark of being here. It has definitely been one of the quickest 6-month windows of my life.

How’s that “pastoring thing” working out? I have a lot of ways that I could describe it. Sometimes I still look around and can’t believe that I’m in this role. Mainly because it’s a lot different than sitting in a cubicle (or a pod, as we called it at Accenture) constructing conceptual design documents, performing design and code reviews, debugging coding issues or attending joint architecture meetings. At the same time, it’s very much like other roles that I’ve had in the past: as an assistant pastor in North Dakota, as an interim pastor in Alabama, and as a youth pastor 20 years ago. (No one can accuse me of being stuck in a vocational rut!)

In my role as “interim pastor” in Michigan, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time just getting to know people. I’ve visited families in over 30 homes this Fall simply finding out who they are in their faith journey, how they first connected with our church and how they connect in our community. This analysis has been helpful as I try to get a good perspective on leading this church of 250-300 people to fulfill its mission of sharing the love of Jesus Christ with our community.

Part of my role includes speaking…every Sunday. Because I’m still new at this…it takes a considerable amount of time and energy. (And no…I don’t have sermons on YouTube yet! ). I spent most of the Fall months speaking on things relating to the purpose of the church: why it’s still a great idea and what Jesus had to say to the various New Testament churches. December was a little different. I spoke on various things that we could learn from God, simply by reading the often-skipped genealogy that leads up to the “Christmas Story” in Matthew 1.

This spring, I’m walking through what I consider to be 5 areas that will help us to be more effective as a church (and as believers). This involves not just writing the sermons, but working on intentional plans and solutions to help us be more effective. I’m also teaching a “walk through the Old Testament” class and am challenging everyone in the congregation to learn to enjoy reading the life-changing message and insights from the greatest book ever written.

After 5 months of being here, I finally had to help lead a funeral. LaVern Harmsen, a 79-year old guy who lived next door to our church and spent the past 55 years actively involved in our church passed away. Not to be morbid, but we likely will have other funerals this year. We have several folks in our church who are in their late 80’s and early 90’s. I’ve really enjoyed spending time with these senior citizens. It’s easy for us “younger” guys to insulate ourselves from previous generations and just hang around “our kind”. In so doing, we miss out on a lot of wisdom and perspective. This role as pastor has helped me to connect with this generation.

I do a lot of other dreaming, scheming, planning, and administrivia that go with the territory of being “a pastor”. I also finished 2 courses this Fall (which means I’m only 1 course away from actually being a licensed minister). Not that it makes an iota of difference in anybody’s day-to-day life! :)

Do you miss your role in the corporate world? I certainly enjoyed my 9-year tenure at AT&T/BellSouth and I learned a ton about working with a wide variety of people (and cultures of people), with technology, and with an environment that’s always changing. And every bit of that experience has broadened my skills and my development. Certainly the ministry-related tasks that involve people can be tiring and sometimes hard to measure (when it comes to productivity) and sometimes I miss the task-based activities in the IT world (because I’m still kind of a geek at-heart). But all-in-all, I still feel like I’m doing what I ought to be doing and I’m grateful for the opportunity.

Do you plan to continue being a pastor? I can only go with what I know. And so far, I believe it's what God would have me do. As for my current role in this church, my appointment is through the end of May. Anything beyond that will get decided later. Certainly being here in a new community in this new role continues to stretch my faith muscle. But so far, I feel good about how I’m spending my life, my time, my skills and my resources. I have days where I want to yank my hair out. But I’m also optimistic about this thing called “the church.”

Sure…most everybody in our country has some kind of memory or experience in the past where church was boring or irrelevant. And everybody knows somebody who goes to church who’s a hypocrite. And there’s no shortage of churches in the news whose pastor messes up. That’s part of the challenge of having an institution where human beings are involved. (But God has not been surprised by any of this).

But for every nutty pastor, for every quirky church person, for every goofy church out there…I can show you great pastors, and sincere church people and effective, faith-building, life-breathing churches out there that are doing an incredible job in helping people find and live out faith in Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, this 2,000-year-old institution called “the Church” still has incredible potential when it comes to offering a life-changing message of hope to our towns, our cities and our world. And I can’t find any other institution that comes in a close second. And so for right now…I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. And learning.

Do you plan to take over your wife’s blog? Nope. She will likely change the administrative password when she reads this sermon, uh, I mean post.

Steve goes artsy

Steve is hijacking this blog for a moment. Since the New Year began, I've been trying to do some things that are more "artery-friendly". Other than cutting back on certain types of foods, I'm also trying to walk more (it's handier and cheaper than going to a gym). After 5 days of snow, we finally got some sunshine. And so it seemed like a good day for a walk around our 3-mile "block". Even though it was 19 degrees...I enjoyed getting back outside. Here are some snapshots.


The sky always seems bluer after a fresh dump of snow.



Our straight country roads make it easy to measure distances. For every increment of a street or avenue number, the distance is about a 1/2 mile. (ex: it's a mile between 30th and 32nd Street).


The township cemetery is right past our house across the road. I find it an interesting place to visit. There are several church member's relatives buried here. There are also tombstones here of church members yet-to-be buried.


It was especially serene (and quiet) on a cold winter's day.


I have secret ambitions of one day becoming a jigsaw puzzle photographer. These country skyscrapers are fascinating.

This has to be "the mother" of all icicles.

One of the hazards of country living is the damage done to mailboxes when the roads are plowed. They often get busted, not from the plow...but from the force of the snow being plowed. On this day, I came across a couple of them that had been nailed.

From an Alabama guy's perspective, these fir trees are still an interesting sight. I also marvel at how much snow they'll hold.

No, we're not buried under all the snow! :)

We're in the thick of Michigan winter and hanging in there! We've often heard of "lake effect" snow....now we know what it is! Basically, as cold air moves in over the warm lake snow clouds form and dump the snow near the lakeshore. The area impacted is relatively localized and the clouds don't move on out. Remember how cartoons often have an image of a rain cloud hovering over one area? That's what the weather radar looked like here for over 48 hrs. this past weekend. It's made for some beautiful, christmas-card-looking scenes!

We've had some sickness, the worst of which hit Abby. She's been fighting a bad cough for a few weeks now and finally got to a doctor today who says she has bronchitis and it will just take more time to get fully rid of it. Pray for her as she has to spend so much time walking out in the cold across campus.

Speaking of prayer, our house in Tuscaloosa is still unsold. We'd appreciate prayer that that would happen SOON!


Abby was back home for a quick weekend visit. It wasn't that she really missed us already, she just had someone special for us to meet. Now the whole internet world can meet him, too!



His name is Simeon and he's a sophomore at IWU. Thankfully, he met with everyone's approval! :)

Update

The New Year is ready to settle us back into routines, but with a few minor changes. We enjoyed - and got very used to! - having Abby home for Christmas, but she's returned to Indiana Wesleyan University for her second semester. She almost had to take Daniel (our family nickname for him is, rather appropriately, "Monkey".

Leaving with her good friend, Holly Carlton:


Joshua has started a part-time job at Burger King. This will be his final semester of high school, so lots of decisions and changes ahead for him!

Paul starts Driver's Ed. classes tomorrow. Michigan has a very structure driver's licensing plan. He'll be in class 2 hrs a day, 3 days a week for the next 4 weeks. He'll have 6hrs of driving time with an instructor, and then may test for his permit. After 30hrs driving with parents he takes another series of classes, does 20 more hours of supervised driving, has a waiting period and then can finally qualify for a graduated license. Mom's hoping he'll be ready to take over as errand runner when Joshua starts college!

Thomas, Philip, Sam, and Andrew started indoor soccer practice yesterday. They'll have 8 weeks of drills and scrimmaging before regular season can begin in March or April (pending how much snow is on the ground!)

Speaking of snow.....here are a few more pictures of the wintry scenes around our house. I know only our southern friends appreciate these......you northern folks feel free to groan!! :)

Niece's wedding

Beth was thrilled to be able to get away this past weekend and attend her niece's wedding in Macon, Georgia. It was a wonderful weekend! Here's the bride and groom, Jack and Sara (Neyman) Pyles



These are the Gorveatte family members present. The back row is Fred, Ruth (Beth's sister), Sara and Jack, Stephanie, and Joseph Neyman. Beth's brother Joel Gorveatte and his wife Tracy are behind Beth on the far right. Their children Kate and Seth are in front of Tracy. On the left are Beth's parents, Ken and Anne Gorveatte. Beth's sister-in-law Sherry is behind Ken and her daughter Jordan is beside Anne. Sherry is the wife of Beth's brother Mark Gorveatte who along with his 3 sons was unable to attend.

Ice Skating

We've discovered a fun family activity in downtown Grand Rapids. It almost makes you feel like you're at Rockefeller Center in New York! The best part for our large family is it only costs $1 per person!!

Thomas (14), Joshua (17), and Paul (15)

Update

Someone asked us the other day if we'd skipped Christmas because we hadn't updated our blog! We didn't, and here are some pictures to prove it!

Paul surrounded by onlookers Abby, David, Andrew, Peter, and Daniel


Daniel and David opening a shared gift.

Additional snow fun

Southerners are still amazed with snow. Here's some afternoon video after 7 inches fell last night.

Christmas concert

Four of our boys participated in the West Michigan Homeschool Fine Arts Christmas concert. Philip played the cello, Sam played the trumpet, Andrew & Peter played recorders and sang in the choir.

Sledding video

We had a little more snow last night. Behind our house, there's one small hill which is handy for sledding. For our younger 6 boys, this is their first real snow.

Shoveling Slush

Sledding

The forecast today called for some "wintry" weather. Sure enough the snow started falling last this afternoon......




It wasn't long before it was beginning to accumulate and the boys were anxious for it to be enough to go sledding. Unfortunately for them, about the time it reached that point we had a dinner meeting and they were sequestered in the downstairs den. Finally, about 10:00 everyone was gone and we released them. We even woke Sam up so he could get in on the fun!

Joshua


Philip



Paul


Samuel


*Note to cousins Kate and Seth: Thanks for the sleds!!!

Christmas Tree

It violates all Mom's sense of tradition, but we got our Christmas tree yesterday! Tradition says we do it on the first Saturday of December, but if we did that this year (and I suppose every year forward!!), Abby wouldn't be with us. So, we joined the ranks of those who put up trees at Thanksgiving. It's painful for Mom, but Abby's more than worth it!! :)

Abby and the little brothers

We are enjoying having Abby home so much!! She's such a joy! She and the little guys had a photo session and the pictures are too great not to share!!!

Andrew, David, and Abby

Andrew, Daniel, Peter (back left), and David (back right) Notice Daniel's pajama outfit....he's quite the fashion king!

Philip (12) with Abby




How sweet - Peter loves his big sister!!

Our Thanksgiving Eve....

We're spending a quiet (well, not exactly quiet) evening at home! Joshua's girlfriend, Carly, came for dinner and to meet Abby and now everyone's hanging around the living room playing games, playing with cameras etc.

Dad and Abby officially opened the Christmas season (24 hours early by Mom's standards!!!) by singing a duet of "White Christmas" inspired by our tonight's forecast of a couple of inches of snow.




Joshua and Carly


Peter finally lost the second front tooth!


Philip declared that our dog Buddy deserves a spot on the blog, too.


We're looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow with Mark and Sherry and their family!

Just Tuesday

Daniel is crazy about anything with wheels and engines. He LOVES to play with this train set. It's a battery hog and a set of batteries never last for more than a day or so. Every once in awhile I make his day by getting him a new set of batteries! Today was one of those days! :)




Sam and Andrew are trying to get the leaves up before the snow falls!

Peter lost his front tooth!

The second is sure to come out any day now.....just in time for him to sing: "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth....."!!

Not exactly snow......

But this sleet was our first taste of wintry weather. I think there's likely to be just a bit more over the next few months!! :)

Bama vs LSU and Jordan's birthday

We're enjoying living so close to Beth's brother Mark and his family. Since his wife Sherry is an LSU alum and big fan, we had fun watching the game together. During halftime we celebrated cousin Jordan's 10th birthday.



Philip and Sam watching Aunt Sherry light the candles.


Yeah! We managed to surprise her!! :)

Frosty mornings call for mittens!

The little guys are excited about getting to use their new mittens (they have lots thanks in part to the Michigan cousins -Kate and Seth - who moved to Alabama!! :) but Mom's wondering how we're going to keep up with them all!!!

If the forecast holds, we'll be seeing more than just frost by tomorrow morning!!

Time for cozy evenings by the fire....

....but first you have to bring in and stack up the wood:


then you all gather around to "help" Dad light the fire!

Zoo Trip

I can't believe I forgot to post these last week! We enjoyed an afternoon at the zoo on Tuesday of last week. The weather was perfect - upper 60's and no wind - and we pretty much had the place to ourselves! We're thinking it'll be interesting to go back in the snow this winter!

Our cuties in costume....

Peter the Pirate



Andrew - "Moses", Sam "Secret Service Agent", Peter
David - "Clown", Daniel - "Woody"


Daniel


David

IWU Chorale

Here's a video clip of Abby singing with the IWU Chorale in Kalamazoo.

Abby and IWU Chorale

We got to hear the IWU chorale tonight! They were performing in Kalamazoo - just 40 miles from here - and we were thrilled to be able to go. They were amazing!

Of course, SHE's the star!!

It was pretty neat to see Tuscaloosa friends, too. Devin Kerstetter, Laura Kennedy, and Jeffrey Jensen (not pictured) are also in chorale.

I think Daniel was a bit confused at seeing Laura. He remembered her, but not sure if he could comprehend all the geographic confusion!

Random photos...

Here are some random pictures from the last couple of weeks. Notice all the birthday cakes? We've had 3 birthdays in the last 2 weeks! Philip turned 12 on the 9th, and on the 18th Thomas turned 14 and David 6.

Philip

Sam and Daniel

Philip

This picture is included more to show you my favorite

trees than to show Thomas practicing soccer!

Thomas

David

Hayride

Mom's laptop has been out of commission this week so the photos are slow in getting processed, but follow this link and scroll down just a bit (but not before looking at the cute pictures of their precious kids!) to see some pictures of a recent fun time we shared with the other families from our church staff: http://www.ncypjoshisconfused.blogspot.com/.

Saturday

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!

David (5) has learned how to ride a bike!! He's been very timid about trying and really hasn't been interested in learning, but last week he saw a 3 yr. old and 4 yr. old (our asst. pastor - Josh and Jess Crisp's kids) riding and apparently it was just the motivation he needed!









NEWS FLASH #2: THOMAS SCORES HIS FIRST GOAL!!



No doubt it was due to the large number of personal fans - Uncle Mark, Aunt Sherry, and all their kids came to cheer him on!



By the way, after the game Mark's family headed to the beach! Hard to believe for Michigan in October, but it was in the upper 80's today and great beach weather!!

"Where's the Beef?"

In our freezer!! :)

It's one thing to go to the grocery store and buy a roast or hamburger meat, but it's another to go to a butcher and get a side of beef processed! It makes the cow part of it all a lot more real!!




On another note....today David (5) came in VERY excited! Our neighbors' guinea hens had baby chicks that had just hatched! It was pretty cool for everyone. I've tried to get one of the boys to get some pictures for the blog, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe tomorrow....

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch!!!

A couple in our church has a pumpkin patch and invited us to come visit. It was lots of fun! Just when you think you've found the biggest, you see another that beats it! Everyone got to pick out their own to bring home. Since the walk back to the van was pretty long, Mom cautioned everyone to pick one they would be able to carry. Peter struggled with his, but found that he could stop every few minutes and use it to sit on for a rest! :)

Potatoes

The boys got to help our neighbor dig potatoes from his garden today. Their yield was 2 bushels! David came home and exclaimed, "Mom! The potatoes were under the ground!!!"

Just an ordinary day....

Daniel, Peter, and David playing in the field behind our house.




Andrew getting educated. He's in 4th grade this year.

Saturday....still warm!

We have had beautiful weather this week! Not sure how many more weekends will be warm enough to wash the cars!

Friday night

These pictures aren't for showing off the kids, but rather, for giving you a feel of the community park. The building here is the Township Office and Community Hall. Behind it is the library, a fire station, and recycling center.



There's a tennis/basketball court, volleyball net/court, soccer field, playground, picnic pavillion, and a nice winding walking path.






Across the street is a large gas station and a restaurant (a neat "diner" style).
Our church is on the opposite side of the open space.

After some time at the park, we headed over to the local ice cream place. This place is very popular. It's amazing how many customers will be lined up there at times!

And now warmer!!! :)

So, the warm clothes get all unpacked, and some of the summer things put away and now it's back in the 80's! Guess this is Michigan!! I hear it eventually does get cold and stay cold, though! :)

These are just a couple of pictures I took while the younger boys and I went for a little hike tonight after supper. This is right across the road from us. Beautiful!

A couple of people have asked to see pictures of the parsonage we're living in and I'm finally remembering to do that! It's a wonderful home - more than adequate even for our huge family!
We feel very blessed!

Turning cooler

The last couple of days we've had a brief taste of fall. The high temperature only 58 and down near 40 last night. That meant Mom had to dig out the warmer clothes! Here's a sample of what that process looks like:





Here's a new experience for the Jones family - attending a soccer game! Thomas came in a little late, and has absolutely no experience, but he joined a local soccer team with several other guys from our church. He did quite well for a novice!!





It was a bit chilly - 43 when we left the house - but we've been told it's likely to snow at a game before the season's over! Guess we'll need lots of hot chocolate and blankets!!!

Thursday

Today was a "day off" for Stephen and we spent it running errands in Holland. As soon as we got back the younger boys headed straight for their favorite spot - Mr. Gene's garden! He's our neighbor - and a very patient one I might add! He's spent so much time letting the boys ride around his farm on his golf cart and lets them "help" with picking produce. It's been really great for them!

Daniel left to tend the golf cart while Peter helps pick the corn.


Stopping at our apple tree on the way back to the house.



Shucking the corn! (Mom's sooooo glad they like doing this!)



Andrew and Peter show off their results.

And now, the best part - Dad cooking pork chops to go with the fresh corn!!

(No, that's not Steve's new bald spot.....it's just the sun!)

Backyard view

Yeah! A camera for mom!

Just testing my new camera! I guess I'm getting old, because I'm finding it harder and harder to learn how to use new things. I'll try playing with it some, though, and hope to get some pictures up soon!

She's gone :(

Here are some pictures from Abby moving into the dorm at IWU:



David, Daniel and Peter were so cute helping carrying stuff to her room.
Paul, Thomas, and Dad did the real work, but don't tell the little guys! :)

This is Abby with her roomate, Haley.

The little guys found lollipops (intended for the freshmen!) and rewarded themselves for all their hard work as movers.

Doesn't this sight just make you want to you cry?? It's Dad's one last shot after we said good-bye and she walked down the sidewalk away from us! So sad!!!! :(

But, it's all really good, too. We're so proud of who she is, the choices she's made, how hard she's worked and what we know she'll become. It's just bittersweet!

So, on the homefront, we're ready to settle into the new routine that fall will bring. The house is basically unpacked and settled and everyone starts school Tuesday. I think we'll all welcome getting back into that routine. We might still sneak in a quick run to the beach (the beaches on Lake Michigan are beautiful and just 30 minutes away!!), but the focus will definitely be changing.

For those of you praying for the sale of our home in Tuscaloosa, please continue! We appreciate you agreeing with us for God to take care of this - and soon!!!

Thanks for checking in!!

Okay, so maybe I'm not so good at this blogging thing.....

I really did have good intentions to keep this blog up to date, and my main excuse is that I need to get some pictures to include with my posts, but, I guess I've just be lazy! Or maybe busy??!! :)

We're finally feeling pretty settled in our home. We have unpacked most all the boxes that will be unpacked (we have a wonderful storage space for those boxes that just need to sit) and I'm finally starting to feel some sense of order creeping back into our lives. It really does take some time! I'm even ready to get back into regular meal planning and cooking since the church completely overwhelmed us last week with a "pounding" that filled the pantry to overflowing!! We literally have boxes and boxes of canned goods, pasta, cereal, flour, and other groceries - more than could even fit in the kitchen! The coat closets are holding sugar and flour so we're hoping for a delayed cold season! :)

More changes are in store for our household.

Abby leaves for college (Indiana Wesleyan University) on Friday. We're going to miss her more than we can imagine, but are so proud of her and ready to see her step into this new phase of life.

After Labor Day Joshua will be the first Jones kid enrolled in public school! He'll be attending Byron Center Charter School for what will be his senior year.

Paul and Thomas will continue to homeschool, but will be enrolled in several classes at GRACE Homeschool Association Friday School.

Philip, Samuel, Andrew and Peter will also be homeschooling but have the new experience of being in band (Sam), choir (Andrew and Peter), and orchestra (Philip).

And David's new experience will be that he starts Kindergarten!!

Daniel will just be along for the ride in all the above!

Maybe next post I can include some pictures....

Thanks for all your prayers and words of encouragement!

The Jones Family

A Quick Update.....

What an exhausting week! I'm about to crash for the night, but since we're now all set up for internet access (and yes, we were able to get high speed cable access!!) I thought I'd better take just minute to let everyone know we did arrive in Burnips safely.

Sunday night we had a problem with the hitch for the U-Haul trailer that our van was pulling and the delay cost us about 4 hours of time. We ended up getting into a hotel about 12:45 a.m. and were back on the road by 7. We arrived safely - though exhausted!!! - in Burnips at 7:00 Eastern Time Monday evening.

The welcome was overwhelming! There were at least 30 people on hand to unload and the fridge and cabinets were overflowing!! We're so grateful for the warm welcome!

We're anxious to get some pictures up to show you the beautiful view from our home. The sunsets are stunning!! Hopefully we'll get a bit more organized and do that soon!!

Thanks for all the prayers for our travel. We could feel it!

Ready to head north!

After a long day of loading trucks, we closed the doors on them late last night and are ready to pull out today after church. In spite of the heat (99 and high humidity) and in spite of the fact that we have WAAAAY too much junk, things really went quite smoothly. We had great helpers (thanks Gene, Steve, and Betty!!) and our own kids were great workers, too.

We're really looking forward to our arrival in Burnips tomorrow. Pray for safe travel and vehicles that will all run smoothly. We have 2 trucks each pulling a car and our van pulling a small trailer.

We'll check in once we get on-line in Michigan!

One more week!

Our house is slowly transforming into more of a warehouse than a home! We've packed close to 100 boxes and still have a few more to go!

The past couple of weeks have been busy not only with packing, but also with a myriad of other things: 10 dentist appointments, 4 Dr. appointments (those 14 appointments probably added up to 30 hours in spent in waiting rooms), 1 minor outpatient surgery, a "going away" party for the teens, farewell visits with friends and Stephen's family, and a garage sale. Add to that the regular household happenings of a family of 12 (laundry, house cleaning, meals, etc.) and it all makes for a busy time at our house!

Our plan is to have the house completely packed by this Friday. Stephen will pick up the moving trucks Fri. afternoon and we'll load Saturday. We'll camp out in the house Saturday night and leave Tuscaloosa Sunday after church. We'll travel as far as we can push ourselves Sunday afternoon and evening and finish the trip on Monday.

Mom's got lots of checklists for the days ahead so this week should be lots of fun!!!

Moving to Michigan!

God has really been at work!

Six months ago He began to stir our hearts toward a change in our lives. We thought we knew what that was going to look like, but little did we know!! :)

After a whirlwind of prayer, discussions, and more prayer, Stephen has accepted the appointment of the West Michigan DBA to serve as the interim pastor to the congregation at Burnips Wesleyan Church.

We're very excited about the privilege it will be to live with and serve these people. Pray for both us and them as we make this transition!!

Haircuts!

Unfortunately, we had heavy rain all day so the grass didn't get cut.

But, 9 heads of hair did!!

This is a regular part of Stephen's "Dad Duty". It takes him a few hours and yields a pretty big pile of hair!!

Trip to Michigan

On the beach at Lake Michigan

Paul acing the skim board (even with few waves!)

L to R: Andrew, cousin J.J., Philip, and Daniel

The Beach Boys!!

Cute things kids say....

As we were headed out for a "date" one night, we left instructions for the older kids to serve frozen pizza. Andrew (8) seemed a bit upset about the supper plans. Finally, he got up the nerve to ask," Could I please put mine in the microwave?" Guess "frozen" pizza didn't sound too appetizing! :)

EXALT! 2007

http://bbc.readyhosting.com/exalt

Abby and Joshua have had the privilege of participating in the EXALT choir this year (3rd time for Abby, 1st for Joshua). We were thrilled to be able to travel to Michigan to hear them sing at Kentwood Community Church and another Wesleyan church in Jackson, MI.

In the picture, Abby is at the keyboard and Joshua is 3rd row up, 2nd guy from the right. The teen leading worship is none other than our nephew/cousin - John Gorveatte!

More pictures from Campus Challenge...

Campus Challenge (TNT) '07

Here's Abby with her art project - a woodburning of Moses. She earned 3rd place for this entry. It took a LOT of work and she did a great job!!

Abby entered 10 categories and earned $4500 in scholarship money. Her grand total for her 4 years of participation in Campus Challenge is $14,300!!!

Joshua is off to a good start. He earned $1200 this year bringing his total to $2000.

A big thanks to Bob and Gail Kerstetter and Paul Pierce for all their work toward making this happen!!

Family Photo

December 2006

Back row: Stephen, Joshua (16), Thomas (13), Abby (17), Beth

Middle row: Paul (14), Samuel (9), Andrew (8), Philip (11)

Front row: David (5), Daniel (3), Peter (6)