Travels with the T's

Meeting John Piper

2012-02-12T23:03:00.001-06:00

I met one of my heroes while at the Desiring God Conference a few weeks back. I asked him to sign my book that I had rebound in India a few years back, and got my picture with him, too! So cool!

Gideon at the Williams Super Bowl

2012-02-12T23:00:00.001-06:00

Just thought you'd enjoy Gideon's Chick-fil-a costume he found at Matt and Laura Williams house. He wore the outfit most of the night!

Geocaching in the Cold

2012-02-11T23:50:00.001-06:00

In my quest to find all the geocaches in the IL-Quad Cities before heading over to Iowa, the entire family went to a very small park in Silvia to find two caches. The wind was brisk and biting, but we had fun.

The Symphony

2012-02-11T23:48:00.001-06:00

Saturday night Kathee and I had the awesome privilege of attending the Quad City Symphony Orchestra! We had such a great time. We went out to supper with Doug and Lou Peterson, and their foreign exchange student from Germany, Julian, who is attending my youth ministry weekly. The concert was fantastic! I didn't know until last night that encores happened at symphony concerts. So much fun!!

Hope's First Hair cut

2012-02-09T16:37:00.001-06:00

Today we went to Kristin Cornell's salon to get Hope's first cut. Kristin is Rhonda's daughter, who is one of my adult leaders and is a grandmother type to my kids! Hope did great! Gone is the mullet she had. Kristin is a magician.

Time with Dave and Lisa Wicklund

2012-02-06T23:08:00.001-06:00

St the end of January I was able to attend the Desiring God Pastor's Conference. Rusty, our children's pastor and I went to Minneapolis, for a couple days. One of the evenings I was able to have scoot away from the venue and meet up with Kathee's cousin's family for supper (between seminars). It was so good to see Cousin Lisa and Dave again. And their two daughters are absolutely delightful.

The Kids

2012-02-03T22:14:00.001-06:00

I think they are pretty cute. And how's this for perspective? Normally, I don't bathe the kids, so I don't see them in the buff very often. Tonight I gave them a bath and the thought kept hitting me that Hope is pasty white. She's not, I'm just used to Gideon's akin tone setting "normality."

Gideon Being Silly

2012-01-23T23:19:00.001-06:00

Black-out

2012-01-08T19:59:00.001-06:00

Upon returning home from a fellow youth pastor's home, our home had no power, so putting the kids to bed was special tonight.

Baby Girl Faces Front

2011-12-17T13:08:00.001-06:00

Hope is 1 year old and 20 pounds. That means she gets to face forward in the car! Jackpot!!!

Gideon's Crush

2011-12-16T13:41:00.001-06:00

One of Gideon's favorite people in the entire world is Rhonda (Ditty). She is a lady in our church who is VERY involved in my ministry. She has an art shop in downtown Moline that we frequent often. Rhonda's shop shares a pass-through door with her daughter's top-notch beauty salon. And Gideon has been smitten with Kristen for years. When we visit the shop, he'll just stand in the doorway looking at Kristen (won't talk to her and jut buries his head in our shoulder when she speaks with him. So today I finally got a picture of him just staring into the salon. It is pretty cute to watch him.

The T's & the Williams'

2011-12-10T18:55:00.001-06:00

We had Matt and Laura Williams and their kids over for supper last night. After supper, Hannah stayed at our house and we went to Williams' to watch a movie. So much fun!

Hope's Present From the Wilson Fam

2011-12-10T18:52:00.001-06:00

Our friend Tara brought two of her daughters over (Jasmine and Vada) when Tara came to take our Christmas picture. They surprised Hope with a pretty sweet birthday present. Thanks Wilson family.

Hope Sleeping

2011-12-10T18:48:00.001-06:00

Most of the time Hope is awake when we go get her from her nap. Not on Friday, she was out.

Hope Standing

2011-12-10T18:47:00.001-06:00

Hope is getting much better standing on her own. Here's proof!

Sydney's Back

2011-11-27T23:37:00.001-06:00

Sydney is back from Bethel and spent the day with us. She is a lady who was a 5th grader when we came to FUPC and is now a junior at Bethel, studying Spanish and Youth Ministries. Good to see her.

Time With Uncle Zach

2011-10-24T15:48:00.001-05:00

This past weekend my younger brother Zachary came and stayed with us. He is always very busy with his job in Chicago, so having him with us was very special. He and Gideon went and saw The Lion King in 3D. It was Gideon's first time going to a movie. We hung around home mist of the weekend, went to church on Sunday, had a family from church over for lunch, and had a great meal out on Sunday night. Zachary was the best man in our wedding, so it's super-awesome seeing him invest in the lives of our kids. Thanks for coming, Zachary, I love you.

Family Day at Naibi Zoo

2011-10-11T19:01:00.001-05:00

The children's ministry at our church is awesome. And with that, our family attended the free day at the zoo on Friday. Gideon loved it. Hope was agreeable, and we had fun participating. Memories, gotta love em.

Geocache Follow-up

2011-10-11T18:22:00.001-05:00

So the prize that Gideon traded from the cache was a heart erasure. On the way home he said he wanted to give it to Mama as a present. I believe this is the first time he's given her a present. I love his thoughtfulness!

Gideon's Geocaching

2011-10-11T18:15:00.001-05:00

Took Gideon out for an hour of geocaching. Found three, twice stumped. Here was his favorite so far. A birdhouse along a bike in Moline. He loves treasure hunting. I loved walking a path I didn't even know existed.

Geocaching

2011-10-08T00:14:00.000-05:00

Gideon and I went geocaching the other day and I got a bit of video since this one is in a Halloween series of caches. He found three of the four of the ones we found in a half hour. Super-fun!
\

Hope and Friend Vada in Matching Outfits

2011-09-30T16:55:00.002-05:00

Here is another link to Tara Wilson's blog. She posted pictures, and some funny comments, about the girls and their matching outfits. Enjoy!

Family Camping at Whitman's (Thanks for the blog post, Tara)

2011-09-30T13:44:00.001-05:00

I'm adding this link to the blog. Tara is a friend of our family. We spend oddles of time with them. As I was so impressed with her blog entry, I'm linking it hear for you to read her blog. Enjoy the pictures!

Mama playing trains in the fort

2011-09-30T13:28:00.001-05:00

The perfect day. Mama. Fort. Trains. Enough said.

Double Ear Infection

2011-09-30T12:59:00.001-05:00

This is what a girl with double ear infections looks like. Pretty obvious isn't it? It wasn't to us, either!

Fort Fridays

2011-09-30T12:35:00.001-05:00

So I moved the fort to the three-seasons porch today. Kathee thinks I'm getting a bit over-the-top the last few weeks.

Here is a view of the porch prior to beginning Fort Friday

Stringing rope to assure proper roof strength

Stringing the rope to hold up the blankets

The blankets are mostly up.

A view from outside the house.

Gideon LOVES his forts.

And when they are on the porch, so do Mama and I.

D&D with Gideon

2011-09-30T12:27:00.001-05:00

So this morning Hope has a doctor's appointment. So Gideon and I walked down to Dunkin Donuts for a donut. I love spending time with Gideon. I am willing to bet Gideon will blow our cover THE second he sees Kathee. I love my boy!

Geocaching with Gideon

2011-09-30T12:25:00.001-05:00

I'm hooked on geocaching. Basically, geocaching is treasure hunting with a handheld GPS. There are over 1,500,000 caches worldwide, with one in at least every country of the world. I started doing it as an opportunity to get outside and spend time with my family. It has now blossomed into a ministry tool as I've taken multiple kids from the youth group. A few weeks ago I took my high school guys RIOT group caching.
Gideon enjoys treasure hunting with me and so today we made a quick stop on the way home from an errand to grab one (while Kathee and Hope stayed in the car).
To date I've found 80 caches, but more are on the way!

Here we found the geocache "Day Trippin."

For Gideon, finding what's inside the cache is the treasure. For me, it's just finding the cache!

Gideon loves to play with the treasures we find inside the cache (the rule is to trade. Putting in something and taking out something else of equal value). Today he decided he wanted the dried-up Play-do that we promptly threw away because, "this one has salt all over it," whatever that meant!

Video

2011-09-22T00:18:00.001-05:00

2011-09-22T00:18:00.000-05:00

Fort Fridays, Part Deux

2011-09-16T10:20:00.001-05:00

After I built the initial fort, I found two more blankets, so we added to it.

This made it a two-level fort, as I again used the landing as part of the fort... with a window to boot. He played in it for hours! I love Fort Fridays. Now I have to think about next Friday's fort. I'm running out of space in the living room!

Fort Fridays, Part 1

2011-09-16T10:05:00.000-05:00

So I pretty much rock at building forts

This one started in the closet...

And moved out until I ran out of sheets and folding chairs.

Gideon again had his head lamp.

And as you can see, he loves this one!

2011-09-12T15:57:00.000-05:00

Camping Trip Part 3

2011-09-10T22:08:00.001-05:00

Back at the camp site packing up and getting ready to head home.

Solomon, 11 years old, did LOTS of this this weekend.

Gideon and T helping each other get a drink of water from the well.

A closer view.

On the way home, we stopped in Iowa City to go to the mall to check out Scheel's, and outdoor sporting goods store, to look at camping supplies.

Camping Trip Part 2

2011-09-10T21:51:00.002-05:00

This morning the kids played with Violet and Oliver (from the campsite next to our's). I loved this picture. The kids pulled up chairs and sat like old people, just watching the world going by. So cute.

Gideon and T hiking today.

Gideon and Melissa hiking today.

Kathee with Gideon and T geocaching.

Kepler Palisades State Park Camp Trip- September 9-10, 2011

2011-09-10T21:49:00.002-05:00

Our family teams up with Nick and Melanie M (a fellow youth pastor in our area and his wife) and do some rocking camping trips. This weekend, we went to Mt Vernon, Iowa, to camp. Melanie's sister is a friend of Kathee's and mine from Bethel College days. The two of them worked Bethel Catering together. Melissa, husband Todd, and two boys live in Cedar Rapids/Marion, Iowa, so they joined us last night for our camping trip. SO much fun to see them again (Kathee was in their wedding 10 years ago). I did Nick and Melanie's pre-marital counseling and was involved in their wedding. Such a small world, eh?

Here Melissa is hanging out with Hope.

Kathee feeding Hope.

A little Papa and daughter time.

Here two of the three boys are talking with the campground hostess.

My newest hobby is geocaching, and here the boys are searching for it.

The Kids are Growing Up

2011-09-10T21:47:00.003-05:00

Our little baby boy is growing up into a little boy right before our eyes. Time is flying, and we are loving every minute of it.

Our little baby girl is growing up, too. She's now pulling herself to standing on things other than her crib.

Manlin and Hope

2011-09-10T21:47:00.002-05:00

Manlin D is a young lady in our youth ministry who babysits for us. Hope thinks she's pretty awesome! We love having Manlin in our home!

Fort Fridays

2011-09-10T21:46:00.004-05:00

Since Gideon asks me a lot about building him a fort, I have decided that Fridays are for building forts (as Fridays are my day off). This one was AMAZING. The kid had to have a head lamp on to see as it was so big and so dark. My finest fort yet!

He seems to like it!

Gideon Helping "Willy" with the bathroom

2011-09-10T21:46:00.003-05:00

We have been remodeling our bathroom. Here, Matt Williams is getting ready to install the vanity and plumbing, with Gideon overseeing.

Gideon has had a lot of opinions about how to do the remodeling (that is all nurture-- the opinions with everything part)!

Baby Girl

2011-09-10T21:45:00.001-05:00

Church Picnic

2011-09-10T21:44:00.004-05:00

Gideon on the water slide!

LOVED IT!

Chillin with Papa

Pictures From Manlin's Volleyball Game

2011-09-10T21:44:00.003-05:00

I don't think Gideon gets the "funny face" picture yet.

The family.

Manlin D mugging it up.

Dubuque Part 2

2011-09-10T21:43:00.002-05:00

Hope with Cousin A in Dubuque

We went to B-Dubs as my brother Nathan works there on Friday nights.

Dubuque Trip A Few Weeks Ago

2011-09-10T21:39:00.002-05:00

So I've picked up a new hobby, geocaching. So naturally, a few weeks ago, when we went to Dubuque to visit my parents, we did some geocaching. That wasn't the reason we went to Dubuque, but we spent part of a day up there doing it, so here are some pictures.

A picture close to one of the geocaches at Eagle Point Park in Dubuque.

Looking over the bluff at Lock and Dam #11 below.

Hope doesn't seem to care.

Here is one of the caches found in Dubuque.

I was even able to take my neice and nephew for a quick find. They had LOTS of fun.

Hope Starts to Stand on Her Own in Her Crib

2011-09-10T21:30:00.001-05:00

This is video of one of the first time Hope pulled herself up in her crib to standing!

He Gets Into His Trains

2011-09-06T16:38:00.001-05:00

A few months back, a family in our church called me to see if we wanted a big box of train stuff that they were getting rid of. I said that we'd take them.

Gideon literally got into the box to check out all the cars and other supplies.

Here he is playing with the first track I built him.

The second was way better. An awesome way to celebrate Labor Day as a family.

Hope Jumping and Chatting

2011-08-23T17:01:00.001-05:00

Ethiopian Adoptive Families Picnic (Again)

2011-08-07T21:08:00.003-05:00

So I inadvertently didn't post a picture of Aaron, Laura, and their son Yiah. I'd say it's because they are Wisconsin Badger fans (Aaron and Yiah both showed up wearing those garbage t-shirts because they know I'm a bit of a Nebraska Cornhusker fan) but it's because my phone only lets me upload 5 pictures at once. Sorry guys! Go Big Red (the real Big Red, not the big red that stole it from Nebraska when Barry Alvarez brought it with him from NU).

Church Potluck

2011-08-07T21:07:00.003-05:00

Today was a special day at church. Don Ziel, a man who grew up in our church and is now a lawyer for Cru (what used to be Campus Crusade for Christ) preached today. Then after church, we had a potluck where we got to hear from three of my former students who all served in long, short-terms missions trips this summer. Grant Brintnall shared about his month in India, Sydney Quandt shared about her 6 months in Guatemala, and Nic Mizeur shared about his 6 weeks in Zambia. So fun to hear their stories, join them in celebrating God's greatness, and revel in the fact that I got to play just a small part in who they are today. The pictures below are the kids at the potluck. As you can see, Gideon hates being Hope's older brother! So fun to see the joy and love they have for each other!

Bike Ride #2

2011-08-07T21:07:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to be more intentional as a father in making Sundays our family day. Beginning with church, trying to have people over for lunch/fellowship, rest/naps, supper by candlelight and Scripture/devotional reading, and doing something together as a family. Tonight we went bike riding. Again. Everyone loved it except for Hope, who cried pretty much the entire time. We may need to do something to pimp out her ride to make it a bit more comfy, or it may be an opportunity to just grin and bear it. Either way, nothing says having great family fun like a crying daughter!

Here they are after the ride. As you can see, Hope is wondering why Moma is smiling at the camera AND NOT GETTING HER OUT OF THAT DREADED SEAT!!!! Mister Jovial is doing fine and loving the ride!

Hope's Choice: N-E-B-R-A-S-K-A!

2011-08-06T23:38:00.002-05:00

I love the fact that as a parent you give your children options and they choose the one option that makes you smile most. Take for instance the pictures below. Of all the hats in the world, my daughter just so happens to choose a Nebraska one. LOVE her!

I actually did this as some of the former teens in my ministry have been asking for more pictures of Hope!

The Maiden Voyage

2011-08-06T23:37:00.002-05:00

Our good friends Justin and Tara have a trailer in which they tool around with their daughter Vada (their older girls are able to ride their own bikes). I thought that that was a great idea so I began looking in to buying one of Craig's List, eBay, or new. One day as we were chatting with Justin and Tara, they shared that another family in the church had offered them a bike trailer, but that they already had one.

So being naturally shy, and afraid of being too forward, I contacted said family about procuring said trailer, of which they were more than happy to depart with for the sake of uncluttering their garage! DONE!

So the pictures below are of the maiden voyage with the bikes and trailer.

Gideon LOVES riding in the back, and Hope is pretty certain that she doesn't. However, as my dad always told us kids, "it's part of being a family." So we continue to subject her to the "fun" of bike rides. At some point she may begin to like it, but if not, that's okay, too!

"Lean on me, when you're not strong..."

Whitey's Ice Cream is not far from our house, and although I was leading (and honestly had no intention of stopping at Whitey's for some ice cream) it was my wife who thought that stopping at Whitey's was a great idea! And so we did!

By the end of the trip, Hope was ready to get out and be done with "family fun night."

And so, we continue living and loving!

Quad Cities Ethiopian Adoptive Families Picnic

2011-08-06T23:33:00.003-05:00

It seems that we have become a sort of hub or network center for Ethiopian adoptive families in the Quad Cities. We continue to meet more and more adoptive families who have adopted through Ethiopia, and we do our best to reach out to them. We have invited many of these families in to our home for a meal and a time of getting to know them.

Many months back, we started kicking around the idea of having a picnic or some get-together with the families in our area. We have made contact with families from as far away as Dubuque, Iowa (60 miles north), to Galesburg, IL (an hour south), and many in between.

As our home is quite small, we didn't think that hosting 10+ families in our home was feasible. So as we continued to talk about it, I came up with the idea of hosting it out at Bailey Retreat, a small property our church owns in Coal Valley. It has a pavilion in case of inclimate weather, swings for the kids, shade in case it's hot, a port-a-pottie (which interestingly is in better working shape that our only bathroom in our home currently), and is fenced in (so the kids can run and have fun in a certain level of safety).

So Kathee nailed down a date, invited the families for the first-ever (that we know of) Ethiopian adoptive families picnic. Although there were only 3 families that participated, all three families thought this event a great success and that we should continue meeting and doing so.

So who knows where this may lead. We had fun, we enjoy both families, and will work something up again to meet!

A family in our church lent us their backyard games. So here is Gideon helping with set-up.

Kathee had to give Gideon the rundown of what to expect.

As we set up a few hours before it was to begin, we were able to put Hope down for a nap in the pavilion, where she slept like a log.

This is Ben and Elizabeth and their son and daughter, who are siblings from Ethiopia. They adopted their kids 4 months ago. We got into contact with them through my Thursday night Bible study. One of the teens who was coming, was invited by another girl in our church to come. Simone (the girl who was invited to come) is an African-American girl who volunteered to come early in order to take care of Gideon's hair. One week when she came, she shared that she had a discussion with a teacher while in the bathroom that was adopting two kids from Ethiopia. Simone shared about Gideon being adopted from Ethiopia and Liz asked Simone to give us her number. So we called and invited them over for a meal. They had just gotten back from Ethiopia and were new to the whole parenting thing, much less with two kids (one of which was 5) who didn't speak the language, etc, etc, etc. So it was good to make contact with them.

The other family we met through the Christian lady that I co-lead a team of teenagers to Moldova with a few years ago. Aaron and Laura had just started going to her church and upon hearing they were adopting from Ethiopia, was eager to share with us their information. So we called them, prior to their departure to adopt their son, and spent time with them.

What fun. We will see what happens next, but so far, so good.

Hope's First Crawl

2011-08-03T13:01:00.001-05:00

Over the past couple of weeks Hope has doing the butt dance and figuring out how to get her body moving. Today she seems to have gotten down the crawling thing, and is doing really well getting around. FUN stuff!

2011-06-05T16:01:00.001-05:00

2011-06-05T16:01:00.000-05:00

2011-06-03T13:32:00.002-05:00

2011-06-03T13:32:00.001-05:00

2011-06-03T13:31:00.000-05:00

Birthday Wishes from Gideon's Cribmate

2011-05-08T20:14:00.000-05:00

This picture is just way too good to not post. As yesterday it was Gideon's birthday, he got a shout-out from Siah. Gideon and Siah shared a crib together for the month they spent at the Gilgela Orphanage (with most likely 2 other babies, as when Kathee and I went to Gilgela Orphanage and saw where Gideon lived for a month, we saw that each crib had 4 babies to it). The day that Gideon was moved out of the orphanage to our adoption agency's transition home, Josiah and Gideon moved together, and shared the same crib at the transition home for a while.
Kathee and I were with Josiah's mom and dad (Sam and Ana) during our time in Ethiopia, so the boys new parents got to meet and get to know each other a bit.
So the picture below is of Josiah, Gideon's crib mate in Ethiopia, giving him a happy birthday shout out.

Daughter "talks"

2011-05-07T23:44:00.000-05:00

Baby Girl is beginning to make noises like she is talking with you. She's growing up so quickly!

Daughter smiling

2011-05-07T23:42:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the fake hiccuping for the duration of the video. Before I started filming she was smiling and screeching when I did it. I guess I went to the well one to many times. I still love how much she smiles.

Singing to Gideon

2011-05-07T23:39:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't get their first round of birthday cake right after breakfast? We've decided it's a new tradition in our home to do so. He seemed to enjoy it!

Gideon's Birthday Breakfast

2011-05-07T23:38:00.000-05:00

Here is Gideon's first interview as a 3 year old. He's so old now, he's already forgetting things.

Gideon being sung to

2011-05-07T23:36:00.000-05:00

Tonight our family was invited to celebrate Matt Williams' birthday. Matt is a great friend of mine, an elder in our church (he was the elder of the youth committee this past year), and one of my youth leaders. It was a pretty special deal for us to be invited since it was mostly a family gathering.

Although the celebration was for Matt, Matt and his wife Laura were insistent that Gideon be sung to also. Everyone sung to him and made his night.

Steak for Birthday Lunch

2011-05-07T22:46:00.001-05:00

Gideon wasn't really given an option for what he wanted for lunch. So Kathee decided what she wanted, and we celebrated his birthday.

Grilled steak, baked potatoes, and corn... just what every 3 year wants for his birthday.

Kathee ROCKED the angel food cake. Frosting was amazing.

Gideon Playing With Deja

2011-05-07T22:45:00.004-05:00

Deja is one of the neighbor girls. She's been coming to play in our backyard for years. She used to come over and ask to play with Riely and Solomon when she was younger. She's also adopted (through foster care) and is in a very religious family. She's a joy to have in the neighborhood and I love seeing her play with Gideon!

Playing with Deja

I think Gideon likes the sandtire.

Then, when it was time for lunch, he got his second "bath" of the day. The first was an actual shower (after the whole sand-in-the-hair thing).

The bad part was, the water was just above freezing that was coming out of the hose! No complaints, however!

Gideon's Highlights

2011-05-07T22:45:00.003-05:00

Normally Gideon likes to be clean (takes after me, I guess). However, today he REALLY got into the sand.

He loved the whole sand-in-the-hair-thing!

However, we soon learned how difficult it is to get sand out of black, tightly curled hair.

Gideon's Birthday Present from Mama and Papa

2011-05-07T22:44:00.002-05:00

My brothers and I had a tractor tire sandbox as kids when we lived on Brunswick in Dubuque. I thought Gideon would love having a sandbox and seemed to be about the right age. So I called Mark Kruckenberg, the father of a former teen in my ministry and a current teen in my ministry about where to find a tractor tire (they are farmers in Port Byron). When I called Mark, he was actually out in the field seeding. Upon asking him where to look, he laughed and said that my call was a God-sort-of-thing. He said that a few weeks ago he had the tires on his seeder changed and that the guys who changed the tires left one tire, leaving him asking, "why would these guys leave just one of the tires?" He told me that it was obvious that they left the tire so Gideon could have it. So Austin, Mark's son, brought the tire with him when he came to our house for dinner and Bible study THAT NIGHT! So cool.

Gideon LOVED playing in his sandtire today!

At first he wasn't sure why we gave him the sand toys for his birthday!

He seemed to love them once he got out into the sandtire.

Just playing...

Opening Presents

2011-05-07T22:42:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Jim and Julie Quandt, Gideon had a ton of presents to open today for his birthday!

He "got it" this year that today is his birthday. It was so fun celebrating with him all day today!

LOVE the smile!

Tearing into a package with books, clothes, and puzzles! Thanks Quandts!

Gideon's Birthday Breakfast

2011-05-07T22:26:00.002-05:00

Gideon turned 3 today! So we decided that we are going to celebrate the kids' birthdays all day (not just at one meal like "normal" people do).

So Kathee made eggs for breakfast... followed by birthday cake!

Even Hope and Solomon got into the action this morning!

Gideon shares Philippians 1:1-2

2011-05-06T00:23:00.000-05:00

Gideon and Hope's children's pastor's name is Rusty. And I LOVE working with him. He's fantastic! About a month ago as we were discussing ministry, we decided to work together and work through weekly Fighter Verses for the children's and youth ministries and their families. That's where it started, but now it's expanding throughout the church.

Each Sunday a new verse is assigned. Each participant has a week to memorize the passage. We decided to do the extended memory set pack (these are available through Children Desiring God Ministries), where we will memorize the entire book of Philippians and other larger sections of Scripture.

This past Sunday was the first day of memorizing Philippians 1:1-2. By Tuesday, Gideon had it down. Just prior to this video, Gideon did it by heart 3 times! We are going to be showing this video at our church on Sunday to share more and hopefully get more people involved in this 5-year memorization program.

Enjoy this video! God's Word is so good! And don't give me the "I just can't memorize, Isaac, my brain just doesn't work that way!"

2011-04-28T18:40:00.001-05:00

Homemade Ice Cream, Part 3

2011-04-22T23:39:00.001-05:00

Here is the video of Gideon finding out what he made tonight with Papa. Read Homemade Ice Cream Parts 1 and 2 before watching the video.

Homemade Ice Cream, Part 1

2011-04-22T19:16:00.004-05:00

Tonight I came up with a great idea. As Gideon is constantly talking about ice cream, and is incessantly scouping ice cream and asking Kathee and me what kind we'd like (which, interestingly, he never has Neapolitin). So since he's never seen it made from scratch, I thought it'd be fun to surprise him and have him help me make the recipe and tell him it's a mystery as to what we were making. So we did.

So we grabbed the supplies we'd need.

Even tying Gideon's apron the way my dad did when i was too little to wear it normally! And he loved pouring in everything we needed.

He was pretty certain he knew how to stir everything up and do it "all by mine self." So I helped him a bit by making sure all the sugar was worked in.

And he even made sure he helped me pour the mystery-mixture into the machine.

As he kept watching, I continued to ask him what he thought it was going to be. All he kept saying was, "I forgot Papa." Translation... I HAVE NO IDEA!!!!

Homemade Ice Cream, Part 2

2011-04-22T19:16:00.003-05:00

This story will be much better if you read Part 1 (below) first.

Here is Gideon scouping out the first of the homemade ice cream!

the first taste...

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

The Perfect Fort! Part 3

2011-04-22T19:15:00.005-05:00

Gideon wanted to make sure we weren't going to take his fort down when he took a nap (we built it around 11AM). We said we wouldn't. We ultimately took it down just before bedtime tonight.

Chillin in the fort.

He continues to LOVE his fort.

And is willing to protect it to the death... with the use of his Nerf Sword.

The Perfect Fort! Part 2

2011-04-22T19:15:00.004-05:00

Picking up where we left off.

Step 4- Get everything set up so it looks like a cave.

Again, the kid LOVES his fort.

Step 5- Everything is set up, now for a quick-release door!

Final step- get your fort filled up with so many of your toys that your father wonders if you don't have a touch of hoarding disorder. Oh yeah, invite your Papa into your fort, which takes him just under a calendar day to get in because he has to climb over all your toys. "No Papa, be careful, don't break mine toys."

The Perfect Fort! Part 1

2011-04-22T19:14:00.002-05:00

Gideon LOVES forts. And I love being able to come up with better and better forts for Gideon to play with throughout the day when I have a day off.

I'm actually a bit embarrassed that it took me this long to come up with the idea. Thanks for our friend Kristin Cornell, daughter of Rhonda McKinley (one of my adult leaders and a great friend of the family), we have a pretty sweet couch to use... and turn in to the perfect fort starter!

Step 1- move the couch forward, and put folding chairs along the wall in the perfect distance so as to hold up the couch cushions.

Step 2- get the boy to help move the cushions into place.

Step 2A- be amazed that a couch cushion is so heavy for a two and a half year old boy to strain at moving it.

Step 3- start setting up and have Gideon get super-excited!

Gideon Sings Hosanna

2011-04-17T19:23:00.000-05:00

Gideon has a Palm Sunday wish for you. While Kathee and I were cleaning up from supper, I caught Gideon in the act of singing. I got it on my iPhone and thought you may like a gentle reminder that this is the day we remember Jesus' final entry into Jerusalem where He'll die for the sins of His Father's children.

Thursday Nights at the T's

2011-04-15T23:40:00.001-05:00

On many a Thursday night, at around 8:05PM (right after Bible study finishes) an eruption of sorts occurs. The teens love to hang out at our home, some staying until 9:00, some staying till 11:00 (sometimes). We love having them over. The volume seems to rise a bit as they get excited and have 30 different conversations going at the same time. This video was during a "lull" of sorts (not kidding). And the best part? Gideon and Hope sleep right through the chaos! Also, keep in mind that normally we have about 3 to 5 more kids than in this video! We love it!

Spring Means BASEBALL!!!

2011-04-09T17:11:00.002-05:00

I love baseball. Watching the 1985 World Series posing my brother Nathan's favorite Kansas City Royals against my dad and brother Aaron's favorite St Louis Cardinals, was one of my first memories of watching the television. I also LOVED playing baseball with boyhood friend Matt Lange with the Independent League's Dubuque Cubs (I remember having to go door-to-door to sell three boxes of 48 candy bars filled with Carmel, Almond, and Krunch bars for 50 cents a piece, in order to pay for my uniform). When we moved out to the boonies, I loved playing with the Praire League team of the Key West Yankees, and also the Key West All-stars traveling team. From there I moved into playing high school baseball with the Hempstead Mustangs.

I'd even share with you my stunning career highlights, but in reality I was always good enough to make the team, but was not really all that good. My stellar baseball career ended my junior year when the varsity coach (who I still love and respect) gave me an ultimatum in playing varsity ball for him. I had always dreamed of serving at Camp Forest Springs, and the summer after my junior year, I was accepted to serve for two weeks as a volunteer on the maintenance department. Upon asking Coach Core for the two weeks off, he said that I either serve my God or I play baseball. That ultimatum ended my baseball career that day, with no regrets at all.

And lest you think that I am going to live vicariously through my son by putting pressure on him to play baseball, think again. Thanks to Jim and Julie Quandt, Gideon has a pretty cool baseball glove. Today I bought Gideon a hard ball baseball, and after he woke up from his nap, out we went.

As you can see, he's up on the balls of his feet and has just come up with the ball.

Now you can see the kid's impeccable form. With the Dan Quissenberry side-arm, glove over his hear to limit the raucous cheers coming from inside the house, and feet parallel, I'd say he's ready.

Although the ball is mid-air, I think we need to work on putting one foot in front of the other and following through. My rambling is done for now. Time to get cleaned up from working out and get ready for one of our teen's musical tonight.

First Family of Four Meal

2011-04-08T19:32:00.002-05:00

Tonight was the first official night of Hope joining the ranks for a family meal.

She lasted about 10 minutes before it was bedtime.

However, this is the start of something beautiful!

Gideon's Radio Flyer

2011-04-08T19:23:00.000-05:00

So once Gideon wrestled HIS tricycle away from his mother (see post below), he really enjoyed it. We've found that Gideon likes to sit back and watch, take it all in, is a little uncertain at first, but then loves it after that. As a side, we saw that in him when he was still in the transition home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, as you can see by the smile...HE LOVES IT! Thanks Nathan, Kris, and family for the great gift!

Kathee's Radio Flyer

2011-04-08T19:15:00.000-05:00

A few years ago my brother Nathan and his family gave Gideon a Radio Flyer Tricycle. Gideon is getting big enough to use it, so we took him out tonight for another run at it (last year he was still too little). As you can see, Kathee needed to show him how to ride it.

My Little Babooshka

2011-04-08T10:26:00.001-05:00

As we were putting away our winter stuff (or atleast the winter hats were out), Gideon thought it fun to play in my winter hat.

So naturally, the defenseless little sister gets to don the hat.

However, I fail to remember whether Gideon or Papa put it on her.

Celebrating Grandma's Healing

2011-03-31T23:40:00.002-05:00

In the Lord's benevolent providence, Kathee's mother has been healed from cancer! We are praising God for His love and care. So tonight, in celebration of that miracle, and at the behest and urging of Kathee's father, we got to go to Texas Roadhouse for supper. As Kathee's sister's family is in India right now, and they are partying down tonight (well, last night due to time difference), we partied along with them in spirit.

So Gideon got to munch on some peanuts while we waited for our table. It was fun teaching him how to open the shells. Not sure if he ate any of the peanuts, or just opened them and through all the contents on the floor.

Gideon had a blast tonight! And he absolutely loved the cinnamin butter on the dinner rolls!

And Hope enjoyed her night out on the town, too. She missed her night nap.... and ROCKED IT! She was awesome tonight. And all smiles.

What a great reason to celebrate. Our God is good, when things didn't look too good with Grandma's cancer, and when we got word her cancer was gone! And thanks, Grandpa Smith for the meal. We love you guys!

Hope and Vada

2011-03-31T08:53:00.001-05:00

Yesterday our good friend Tara stopped by with her daughter Vada. They live a just down the block and we love it when she and her husband and kids visit.

Vada and Hope get along just great. And since they both, with the help of their mothers, LOVE PINK, they are two peas in a pod.

So while the little ladies sat and coo'ed at each other...

The mothers were able to take it all in, as they sat and chatted.

We love being able to do life with Tara's family, as for a great while Vada was so sick that she wasn't able to leave the house, nor have any visitors. BUT NOW.....

The fun begins... and Hope just love it!

Yup, Gideon Still Loves His Sister

2011-03-25T11:38:00.001-05:00

Fun At Ditty's

2011-03-25T11:37:00.001-05:00

Rhonda (Ditty) is a dear friend of the T's. We enjoy going down to her shop in downtown Moline and hanging out. Well, okay, let's be honest. Kathee goes down for the shopping. Gideon goes for the treats that Ditty gives him. Hope goes wherever we go. And I go to hang out with Rhonda and see if I can't make her laugh.

Rhonda loves our children and is a pretty great surrogate grandmother since our folks live out of town.

Gideon makes himself at home and pretty much goes wherever he pleases in the store.

And Hope is getting more and more used to Rhonda.

This is the way I was successful in getting Rhonda to laugh. I took the girl's tutu that she sells, placed it on Junior's noggin (making it look like the pink afro), and had him go ask her a question. She got a great laugh out of that one!

Ditty, thanks for letting us come down and hang out. We love you!

Hope and Vada

2011-03-15T13:51:00.000-05:00

The link below is a blog of a friend of our's from church. I love the pictures, and I loved reading the blog. Getting our two girls together took forever (as Vada has had some significant health trials to overcome before she was able to be around people). Enjoy the read.
http://twilsonismakingthemostoftoday.blogspot.com/2011/03/long-lost.html

Huey P. Newton

2011-03-06T23:37:00.001-06:00

Hope's shout-out to Huey P. Newton

Diversion

2011-03-06T17:50:00.001-06:00

I am completing (not very well, it seems) my last study session before I take my first seminary test later tonight. Although I have my head phones on and Pandora cranking out The Fray, Kathee thought it best to have Gideon in the kitchen with her while I study in the living room so I can better focus (she's awesome). So they decided to make "dualing" batches. As Gideon uses the black sauce pan for "making" everything (mostly fake birthday cakes), he and Mama are an insatiable team and a force to be reckoned with. Now, I'll stop writing and get to the task at hand... memorizing all the important dates in the lives of Erasmus, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox, the confessions, and a whole host of other things. I'm out!

Bucket Head

2011-03-06T17:31:00.001-06:00

Normally, Gideon keeps this bucket full of his matchbox cars. So today while Mama, Gideon, and I were playing with his cars (Hope was looking on, less than interested, to be honest), I took the bucket and put it on my head. Gideon laughed when he saw me do it. Then, as Kathee was upstairs putting Hope down for sleep again, Gideon took the bucket off my head, put it on, and had to go show Mama that he, too, is a bucket head. The kid is an absolute joy, and more than just a little nerdy (like his Papa!).

A Fort Night

2011-03-05T22:28:00.001-06:00

Fort Night

2011-03-05T18:34:00.001-06:00

Since I have a mid-term to study for tonight, we are staying around the homefront (and I'll continue studying after Gideon goes to bed). We have been having a blast building forts!

Her World is SO Tough

2011-03-05T18:28:00.001-06:00

So after I got her to start waking up. She just didn't seem really interested in making a go of staying awake. I think the pictures say more than a thousand words.

"Papa, PUT DOWN THE CAMERA AND SHUT OFF THE LIGHT!"

"Seriously, just give me some more.... on never mind, I'll just cry about it!"

All is now right in the world.

The Sleepy One

2011-03-05T18:27:00.001-06:00

Today I got to wake Hope up from her nap.

I have to say, she sleeps hard.

Even with a bright light in her eyes, she still managed to sleep.

I gotta say, she's pretty cute, too!

Starting to wake up...

And then back to sleep.

Update on Gideon's Shout-Out Last Night

2011-03-05T17:58:00.001-06:00

Here is some dialog between my cousin Joseph's wife and me on Facebook today, regarding Gideon's video we posted on Youtube last night as we cheered on my cousin Alicia's state basketball game in Nebraska.

Manalle

I hope you will be listening to the basketball game on Kwbe again today because they thought Gideons shout out was so cute they are going to give him one back today! I just had to share with them, as it was so adorable!! Game starts at 2! Go lady o!

And then here is my response. We had just turned on the game (on the internet) when we heard the announcer say something like the following:
Gideon just got a shout-out from KWBE radio during my cousin Alicia Armstrongstate basketball game. Due to Gideon's shout out last night, the announcer said, "Alicia has relatives in Moline, IL, who are listening to the game. We'd like to say hi to 3-year old Gabriel (Gideon), and thank him for listening. He's listening to Alicia Armstrong." HOW COOL IS IT??!!!

How cool is that?