Scottish Line Dancing

The kids have been taking Scottish Line Dancing the past few months and have really enjoyed it. Last night, even Dariah got in on the action (well, with the help from one of the mums - you ain't getting me out there, I have 2 left feet!). Dariah really wants to be a part of the dance group, so here she goes...

(Notice in the video, near the end that she doesn't just dance, she bounces and floats and is sometimes dragged and carried, ;-) ).  Auntie Doro, your little goddaughter is a-growin' up too fast!

PS - the video was a bit choppy - I only had my cell phone with me, so that's as good as it gets.

David

From Vids

Phamily Elf Disco

The boys and I did this one special for you all...

Phamily Elf Hip Hop

Here is another video we did. Hope you enjoy it...

Phamily Christmas Disco

Since it's only a few weeks (AHHH!!!) to Christmas, the kids and I put together this little dance video to get us all into the holiday spirit. Ahhh, doesn't it bring back memories for some of you?!

Enjoy...

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

What Do You Wanna Be When You Grow Up?!

Some random things our kids said at the dinner table last night. Out of the mouth of babes...

Jesaiah - 'I wanna be a paleontologist when I grow up. Then I can travel all over the world and look for old things and draw them. And when I am done for the day, then I can be a missionary in that country.'

Taliah - 'I wanna be an author when I grow up, because I like to write and I can make up good stories.'

Zachy - 'I wanna be a worker and build things like Daddy and be a pastor and teach people who don't know Jesus.'

Dariah - 'When I grow up, I wanna play pink drums and be a spy. A good spy.'

So what do you wanna be when you grow up? I am still trying to figure out that question. I guess it helps if I would/could grow up, huh? Maybe in a few years or so. Or maybe never. ;-)

What Do You Wanna Be When You Grow Up?!

Some random things our kids said at the dinner table last night. Out of the mouth of babes...

Jesaiah - 'I wanna be a paleontologist when I grow up. Then I can travel all over the world and look for old things and draw them. And when I am done for the day, then I can be a missionary in that country.'

Taliah - 'I wanna be an author when I grow up, because I like to write and I can make up good stories.'

Zachy - 'I wanna be a worker and build things like Daddy and be a pastor and teach people who don't know Jesus.'

Dariah - 'When I grow up, I wanna play pink drums and be a spy. A good spy.'

So what do you wanna be when you grow up? I am still trying to figure out that question. I guess it helps if I would/could grow up, huh? Maybe in a few years or so. Or maybe never. ;-)

Bust-a-Move...

Just some random fotos of the kids bustin' a move. Or striking a pose. I don't know if they are pretending to be wild animals (don't have to try too hard) or pretending to be Jedi masters. Or both. You pick.

PS - if the video or music stutters/skips, try playing it twice. The second time around it should have been buffered (loaded) to your web browser and should be smoother.

Bust-a-Move...

Just some random fotos of the kids bustin' a move. Or striking a pose. I don't know if they are pretending to be wild animals (don't have to try too hard) or pretending to be Jedi masters. Or both. You pick.

PS - if the video or music stutters/skips, try playing it twice. The second time around it should have been buffered (loaded) to your web browser and should be smoother.

Life is Never Dull w/ Kids...

I guess it has something to do with curiosity. We as adults don't think about some of the things that kids think about (thank God!). Like what would happen if you stick your finger where it shouldn't go?! Like the nose, ears, etc. In this case it was neither.

We finally were able to get bunk beds for the kids - up to now they had been sleeping on mattresses on the floor. And the first day that we had them, our 5-year old goes and does this...

He got his finger stuck in the metal support bar under one of the bunk beds, and was panicking because he couldn't get his finger out. And the harder he pulled, the more his finger swelled up and the more stuck it got! It's like those Chinese finger traps / tricks where you stick your index fingers from both hands into opposite ends of a cylinder and then try to get them back out again - the harder you pull, the more the cylinder tightens around your fingers!

After trying to twist his finger out (not off!) of the tubular bar, I finally had to get some liquid soap. After making him calm down and stop pulling, I put a drop on his finger and waited. Then we twisted his finger and it slid out easily. I think he learned his lesson and won't be sticking his finger where it doesn't belong...at least for this week!

Life is Never Dull w/ Kids...

I guess it has something to do with curiosity. We as adults don't think about some of the things that kids think about (thank God!). Like what would happen if you stick your finger where it shouldn't go?! Like the nose, ears, etc. In this case it was neither.

We finally were able to get bunk beds for the kids - up to now they had been sleeping on mattresses on the floor. And the first day that we had them, our 5-year old goes and does this...

He got his finger stuck in the metal support bar under one of the bunk beds, and was panicking because he couldn't get his finger out. And the harder he pulled, the more his finger swelled up and the more stuck it got! It's like those Chinese finger traps / tricks where you stick your index fingers from both hands into opposite ends of a cylinder and then try to get them back out again - the harder you pull, the more the cylinder tightens around your fingers!

After trying to twist his finger out (not off!) of the tubular bar, I finally had to get some liquid soap. After making him calm down and stop pulling, I put a drop on his finger and waited. Then we twisted his finger and it slid out easily. I think he learned his lesson and won't be sticking his finger where it doesn't belong...at least for this week!

Hiyahhh!!

(click foto to enlarge)

Three weeks ago, the three older kids have been doing karate at a local studio. The neat part about it is that it is a Christian run by Christians so they do not go into the whole spiritual side of martial arts. Well, I should say, they do go into the spiritual side, but from the Christian perspective.

The kids all have monthly memory verses they must learn and practice. In order to move onto the next belt or degree, they must not only be proficient in their karate moves, but also must show proficiency in the Word of God. And in their attitudes - they must show respect, courtesy, integrity, etc. Way cool. It's basically a discipleship program!

Too bad that we didn't start them sooner - they will only be in this program until we leave for NZ. Some of their friends have been in this program for years. But they are enjoying it tremendously. Thanks to the instructors at the studio for their care and love for the kids!

Hiyahhh!!

(click foto to enlarge)

Three weeks ago, the three older kids have been doing karate at a local studio. The neat part about it is that it is a Christian run by Christians so they do not go into the whole spiritual side of martial arts. Well, I should say, they do go into the spiritual side, but from the Christian perspective.

The kids all have monthly memory verses they must learn and practice. In order to move onto the next belt or degree, they must not only be proficient in their karate moves, but also must show proficiency in the Word of God. And in their attitudes - they must show respect, courtesy, integrity, etc. Way cool. It's basically a discipleship program!

Too bad that we didn't start them sooner - they will only be in this program until we leave for NZ. Some of their friends have been in this program for years. But they are enjoying it tremendously. Thanks to the instructors at the studio for their care and love for the kids!

Spring is finally here...

...I think. We've had a couple of really beautiful days here lately. There have also been some cloudy/rainy ones (like today) mixed in. But the temperatures are not as cold as they were on Easter so hopefully spring has finally 'sprung'. Flowers were already starting to bloom even before the cold snap on Easter, but now more and more of the little wild flowers are popping up everywhere and trees are starting to bloom. We have a flederbaum (lilac tree in English, I think) in our back yard that is starting to blossom. It is one of my favorite trees, it gets big cluster of purple flowers that have a very strong sweet smell. When it is in full bloom you smell it as soon as you open the back door. We also have a Magnolia tree that has big beautiful flowers, that are a redish-pink. I love the creativity of God in all the colors and designs of this world!

We as a Phamily have tried to take advantage of the nice weather when it is here. I don't know how it is where you live, but here in Freiburg when the sun is shining you get out there and soak it up any way you can!! So on Sunday we went for a walk and ended up at our local ice cream parlor (along with a good portion of the rest of the Rieselfelders), for a special treat. Then on Tuesday we took an afternoon outing to Mundenhof, which is an animal park near our house that is free. If you drive you pay 5euros for parking, but there is no admission cost. It takes us about 15-20 minutes to walk it with all the kids. There are a pretty good variety of animals to check out, and it has a cool playground on one side of the park. The animals are all in open enclousures, some that you can even walk through and pet the animals in there. Well right now it is only the goats that you can walk through, but they are going to make the antelope enclosure a walk through one as well, they are working on getting the animals used to being exposed to people right now.

At the end of our time at Mundenhof we got ice cream, again (I think that's a record for us twice in 3 days! Jesaiah doesn't even really like ice cream!) before heading back home. Needless to say the kids were wiped out! We were gone for about 3 hours. The kids rode their rollers (scooters) and laufrad (literally 'walkbike') all the way there and back and walked around the whole time at the park, so it was a very good (tiring out) outing.

Zachy can't wait to get a 'real' bike. Right now he is riding the laufrad, which is basically a bike with no pedals or chain. They push it with their feet and learn balance. Most kids here start on one when they are 2 or 3 years old and move to a 'real' bike within a year or so, without training wheels. They are pretty cool little things! And Zachy jams on his! He gets going really fast then picks up both feet and coasts as far as he can. He also gets very creative with the way he pushes. It is quite entertaining to watch sometimes!

Enough rambling....on with the pictures!! Enjoy! Sorry there's alot, we got a little 'snap happy'!, but if you go to the source of the album you can skim through them quicker.

Spring is finally here...

...I think. We've had a couple of really beautiful days here lately. There have also been some cloudy/rainy ones (like today) mixed in. But the temperatures are not as cold as they were on Easter so hopefully spring has finally 'sprung'. Flowers were already starting to bloom even before the cold snap on Easter, but now more and more of the little wild flowers are popping up everywhere and trees are starting to bloom. We have a flederbaum (lilac tree in English, I think) in our back yard that is starting to blossom. It is one of my favorite trees, it gets big cluster of purple flowers that have a very strong sweet smell. When it is in full bloom you smell it as soon as you open the back door. We also have a Magnolia tree that has big beautiful flowers, that are a redish-pink. I love the creativity of God in all the colors and designs of this world!

We as a Phamily have tried to take advantage of the nice weather when it is here. I don't know how it is where you live, but here in Freiburg when the sun is shining you get out there and soak it up any way you can!! So on Sunday we went for a walk and ended up at our local ice cream parlor (along with a good portion of the rest of the Rieselfelders), for a special treat. Then on Tuesday we took an afternoon outing to Mundenhof, which is an animal park near our house that is free. If you drive you pay 5euros for parking, but there is no admission cost. It takes us about 15-20 minutes to walk it with all the kids. There are a pretty good variety of animals to check out, and it has a cool playground on one side of the park. The animals are all in open enclousures, some that you can even walk through and pet the animals in there. Well right now it is only the goats that you can walk through, but they are going to make the antelope enclosure a walk through one as well, they are working on getting the animals used to being exposed to people right now.

At the end of our time at Mundenhof we got ice cream, again (I think that's a record for us twice in 3 days! Jesaiah doesn't even really like ice cream!) before heading back home. Needless to say the kids were wiped out! We were gone for about 3 hours. The kids rode their rollers (scooters) and laufrad (literally 'walkbike') all the way there and back and walked around the whole time at the park, so it was a very good (tiring out) outing.

Zachy can't wait to get a 'real' bike. Right now he is riding the laufrad, which is basically a bike with no pedals or chain. They push it with their feet and learn balance. Most kids here start on one when they are 2 or 3 years old and move to a 'real' bike within a year or so, without training wheels. They are pretty cool little things! And Zachy jams on his! He gets going really fast then picks up both feet and coasts as far as he can. He also gets very creative with the way he pushes. It is quite entertaining to watch sometimes!

Enough rambling....on with the pictures!! Enjoy! Sorry there's alot, we got a little 'snap happy'!, but if you go to the source of the album you can skim through them quicker.

Happy Birthday Becks!!

Becks celebrated her birthday this past Tuesday - she spontaneously had a few of the ladies over for breakfast (homemade cinnamon rolls - ummmm). I took Zachie to town and had a 'father-son' day so Becks could have a quieter (Dariah was still home) breakfast with the ladies. We also picked out a card and got some flowers for Momma. Little did we know that everyone else had the same thought and brought flowers too! I think she got 6 bunches of flowers!

Tulips are 'our' flowers and most people know that (it has to do with how we met 11 years, became friends and how God confirmed for us that we were meant for each other - maybe one day I'll post on that). Anyway, Zachie got to pick out his own flowers to give to Momma (the yellow tulips in the orange vase on the left) and got to help pick out the birthday card - can you guess which one he picked???

Yes, getting old(er) makes your body do weird things. I just noticed this year that I am getting hair in places that there should be NO hair! While other guys lose hair where they SHOULD have hair as they age! Hmmmm, go figure. Maybe if I could invent a process to give them my hair - would make a fortune! What are your signs of aging?

Happy Birthday Becks!!

Becks celebrated her birthday this past Tuesday - she spontaneously had a few of the ladies over for breakfast (homemade cinnamon rolls - ummmm). I took Zachie to town and had a 'father-son' day so Becks could have a quieter (Dariah was still home) breakfast with the ladies. We also picked out a card and got some flowers for Momma. Little did we know that everyone else had the same thought and brought flowers too! I think she got 6 bunches of flowers!

Tulips are 'our' flowers and most people know that (it has to do with how we met 11 years, became friends and how God confirmed for us that we were meant for each other - maybe one day I'll post on that). Anyway, Zachie got to pick out his own flowers to give to Momma (the yellow tulips in the orange vase on the left) and got to help pick out the birthday card - can you guess which one he picked???

Yes, getting old(er) makes your body do weird things. I just noticed this year that I am getting hair in places that there should be NO hair! While other guys lose hair where they SHOULD have hair as they age! Hmmmm, go figure. Maybe if I could invent a process to give them my hair - would make a fortune! What are your signs of aging?

CC Missions Conference 2008

We had a wonderful time at the Missions Conference during the 2nd week of furlough. The weather was perfect - we were able to just sit outside and enjoy the sunny SoCal weather (as the weather in Freiburg stayed just above freezing!). But more importantly, we enjoyed the 'spiritual refreshment' that we received at the conference. There were much that spoke directly to Becks and I - what our roles, duties and calling are, what God desires from us and what God is doing now in other parts of the world. It was also great to catch up with people we haven't seen in years - missionary friends in Mexico, England, Germany and Hungary.

And the kids also enjoyed the conference - especially Jesaiah and Taliah. They were in the same class for Children's Ministry and enjoyed the mini Vacation Bible School that the was put on for their ages. They learned about the fruit of the spirit and even taught us about it!

Here are a few photos from the conference...

CC Missions Conference 2008

We had a wonderful time at the Missions Conference during the 2nd week of furlough. The weather was perfect - we were able to just sit outside and enjoy the sunny SoCal weather (as the weather in Freiburg stayed just above freezing!). But more importantly, we enjoyed the 'spiritual refreshment' that we received at the conference. There were much that spoke directly to Becks and I - what our roles, duties and calling are, what God desires from us and what God is doing now in other parts of the world. It was also great to catch up with people we haven't seen in years - missionary friends in Mexico, England, Germany and Hungary.

And the kids also enjoyed the conference - especially Jesaiah and Taliah. They were in the same class for Children's Ministry and enjoyed the mini Vacation Bible School that the was put on for their ages. They learned about the fruit of the spirit and even taught us about it!

Here are a few photos from the conference...

Random pics

Here a few pictures for a start.

We're Back!!!!

We are finally back online at home, not wireless yet, but at this point we'll take what we can get!
So much has happened in these past 2 (or is it 3?) weeks since we've been off-line....I don't even know where to begin!! Don't worry though, I'll pick a place and just jump in ; ).
Just a quick run-down...

Nov 17 - Evening in Heidelberg looking at pictures from our outreaches with others from the trips.

Nov 17 -24- A friend from Heidelberg rode home with me and stayed a week with us. We had a great time with her.

Nov. 22, Thanksgiving - we celebrated with about 19 other adults at our church cafe with a total of ten kids. It was a great time...pictures later :).

Nov 24 - Auntie Eva was down from Hamburg for the weekend so she came over to visit and give Zachy his birthday present.

Nov. 25 - pre-birthday party for Zachy (again), before auntie Simi flew off to Oz with her Ozzie hubby

Nov. 28 - My parents arrived from Ok.

Nov. 29 - Zachariah turned 3. And Davey and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! We didn't do anything, we are waiting until we are in SoCal, then we will celebrate in some way.

Nov 30 - My sister and niece arrived from Oz, very tired but very excited! Zachy got more birthday presents! And he's not done yet! He still has one more Auntie, who's been busier than we are, she's coming today, and then he will be done with his birthday ; ).

Dec 1-3 - Visitors from SoCal here for the weekend. We were able to have a little bit of a visit with our missions pastor and another of the guys from Murrieta, as the traveled around Germany and Switzerland visiting the missionaries out here. We really enjoyed the time with them, even though it was short and we are looking forward to seeing them again in a couple of weeks!

Dec 2 - Auntie Lia and her hubby were here to visit in the afternoon after church. They wanted to see us and bring the kids their Christmas presents before they took off for India for 4 weeks of vacation!

Dec 3 - Jesaiah got the chicken pox! He was home from school all week. He was a trooper though! No scratching or picking and never complained, even when he had stay home when I and the other kids went places with Grandma and Pappa and auntie Kim. (please pray that my girls and my niece don't get it! They would be breaking out just as my sister has to go back to Oz, and we to the States!! Zachy is immunized, so he should be ok.)

Dec 4 - Celebrated Christmas with my Family. Big dinner, presents the whole 9 yards!

Dec 5 - Went to Heidelberg with the my family. Davey stayed home with Dariah and Jesaiah.

Dec 10 - Put my parents on a train to Frankfurt airport at 12:15am arriving in the airport at 3:30 am. Where they waited until 6am to check in. They got as far as Chicago...the flight to Tulsa was cancelled due to an ice storm. They were able to get out the next day around noon, just before bad weather hit Chicago.

Dec 11 - My sister and her daughter took off for England for three days. I'll pick them up tomorrow night.

and here are things yet to come....

Dec 19 - My sister heads back to Oz.

Dec 24-26 Christmas!

Dec 28 - We are headed for sunny SoCal!!! (and boy am I ready for some sun! It has rained every day since my sister arrived! Quite a shock for her, coming from summer!)


Whew! Like I said, there has been a LOT going on. I will try to get some pictures up of some of the things, and write a bit more detail, over the next couple of days! Thanks for being patient, it was so hard not being able to update the blog or check in with others for so long!

It has been really nice though having my family here! It is awesome that we were able to all get together here, of all places. The weather has been pretty mild for winter, which was really great for my sister and niece, other wise they would have completely frozen! It will be cooling down the next few days (highs near or below freezing), but hopefully we will get some snow here in town then. We drove up into the Black Forest on Saturday so my niece could see snow. There wasn't alot where we were, but it was enough to build a snowman (with a few leaves and twigs mixed in the snow) and throw a few snowballs! It was fun.

So that's a quick up-date of what we've been up to since falling off the face of the earth! Come to think of it, I probably wouldn't have been posting too much even if we hadn't been off line!!
Anyway there are many pictures to come...stay tuned!

Becks