Gideon Singing in the Car

The kid loves singing songs to Moma! Enjoy!

Gideon at the Rock Island County Fair

Gideon was pretty geeked about going to the fair today. While we were getting ready to go he was running around the house yelling, "Fair! Fair! Fair!" It was actually pretty cute.

Since his favorite book right now is the "Pick book" (a book about a pig who goes through the farm yard to get his moma a birthday present), we went and watched the swine show. He LOVED the swine show. And since my uncle used to be a hog farmer, I have always loved looking at the hogs.


Today was spent watching the sheep show, the swine show, and the beef show. I mean honestly, the reason for going to the fair is the feed lots and the shows. LOVE IT!

Gideon's New Ride

Grandpa and Grandma Smith brought a pull-back car from India that Gideon is sort of figuring out how to use. He still gets upset that when I do it, it goes further. It won't be long and he'll have it completely figured out and he'll have all kinds of fun with it.

Yes. It is a beanbag-type pillow. When he runs around the house in it, he looks like a Jamaican Rasta (without the pot smell, facial hair, and dreds).

Dog Wrestling

Tonight Gideon appeared to be wrestling Solomon. The great part to see was that Gideon was using great leverage, was disallowing Solomon from getting back to his base, and had great fundamentals for never being taught how to wrestle. However, Gideon was just playing with Solomon, kept saying, "Hi Solomon," over and over again and was just too good to pass up. The video leaves a lot out, but I think you'll get the general picture.

Toy Story 2!

Let me start off by saying that Rusty, our church's children's pastor is AMAZING! One of the many great things he has done is to build a great DVD library for families to check out and enjoy as a family. Kathee and Gideon go down weekly to check out books and DVDs. One of their traditions is to watch a movie/Veggie Tale on Wednesdays when I'm at Catalyst.

Tonight was the first movie night we all took in together. And we watched Toy Story 2 (or about an hour of it, until Gideon had to head to bed).

One of the really neat parts for me was to see Gideon respond with empathy and sadness at one of the first scenes in the movie. The scene is when Woody (accurately pronounced by Gideon as Wooooo-dy) is left behind by his owner/hero Andy. In the scene, Gideon cracked when the car drove away leaving Woody behind. Out of nowhere, Gideon bursts into wild tears. We were able to calm him down and get back to watching the movie, but it was pretty awesome to see Gideon following the storyline, and caring about lose and things of that nature.

It is so neat to be able to watch his grow each day, to see more and more of his personality forming, and being able to reinforce the things of Christ we see in him. I love being a father!

God's Word is Comforting....LET'S GO!!!

This week is VBS week at our church. And although I am not involved, each year I normally go down to the sanctuary for opening ceremonies. I like to see and know what's going on, see the kids, and celebrate with them each morning.

Yesterday's theme is "God's Word is Comforting." Rusty, our children's pastor, was up front and explained to the kids that anytime during the day, when they hear someone say, "God's Word is Comforting," that they are to yell back, "Let's Go!" So at the first practice one, after the majority of the kids were done, I hear this voice yelling, "GOOOOOoooooo!" So I look over, and low and behold, it's Gideon yelling, "Go!"

I didn't know Gideon was going to be in the sanctuary, as I knew he was in the nursery. Kathee is filling in this week for Sally our church secretary. So Gideon is down in the nursery playing with his buddies, while Kathee fills in upstairs. I have to say, it was pretty awesome to see Gideon participating (and seeing that he knows and is participating).

When I got home yesterday from work, and he got up from his nap, I asked him about VBS. He told me about the Song lady (Nan Ryan) and "songs, Papa, songs." I also heard, "Rusty talk.....yelling....Go!" and then he yelled the "Go!" line. Again, I have to say, it was awesome hearing what he's learning, that he's retaining things of God, and that he absolutely loves being at church (sounds like his old man!).

Again, not pictures, just a great story!

Walking Down the Stairs

No picture today, but just wanted to say that today, on his own, Gideon walked down 3 steps. Up to this point he has been very afraid to come down the steps on his feet. However, today he did three, figured out he should be afraid, then turned around and scooted down the stairs like normal. Only a matter of time before he does all of them, and then in no time after that we'll be asking him to take them one at a time (rather than skipping 2 or 3) or that running down the stairs isn't the best idea either. He continues to grow and we love seeing what the Lord is doing! He's so good to us!

Evie and Gideon

Tonight we had a special opportunity to spend time with Evie Dubchak. Evie is the lead interpreter and is essential to all missions trips in Moldova. She was the lead interpreter for my trip two years ago when I went with Cornerstone Baptist Church in Eldridge, Iowa. She was also the lead last summer on the youth missions trip we took. Evie is an outstanding young lady. And we were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with her this evening for supper. Evie has done significant work with Ann Graham Lotz when she came to Moldova (where Evie was the project manager). AGL brought Evie stateside for a celebration, and Evie has been in our area for the past few weeks. It was great seeing her again, and introducing her to Kathee and Gideon. It was also great to get updates on some of my dear brothers and sisters in Moldova. What a great night! God it good!

Gideon and Evie reading in the living room.

4th of July with the Jones'

The last two years Kathee and I have teamed up with Adam and Maharah Jones' family for the great 4th of July extravaganza that is the Milan, IL, fireworks. This was Gideon's first year at the fireworks (last year we got a babysitter). We had GREAT viewing of the "boom booms" and we are hoping that next year Gideon will actually see them and not just hear them (as he has his head buried in Kathee).

The T's and The Jones', kicking it freestyle!


Gideon playing with Asher
Kathee and Gideon holding Tovah J. Who knows? We may have a daughter in December? We'll let you know when we do.

Gideon and the Mission Trip Car Wash

On Saturday, the missions team heading to Pittsburgh this summer had our annual car wash. In the two hours of the car wash, we received $839.00. Along with a matching grant from Western Catholic Union for $500, the Lord provided $1339.00. Not bad for a couple hours of work. This is not the entire team, and some in this picture won't be attending.

Front row: Jacob R, Solomon (not going), Kathee T (ng), and Gideon T (ng).

Back row: Ben B, Caitlin H, Rick F (ng), Isaac T, Sydney Q (ng), Rhonda M, Derek F, Michael R

Gideon's New Train (Thanks Grandpa Smith)

Onzies and Cowboy Boots, a Great Mix

The kid loves wearing onzies and he cowboy boots! Tell me the kid isn't the cutest kid EVER! Go ahead.... I DARE YA!!

Gideon and Todd

Todd is a young man who I have spent hours with over the years. He was one of the first neighbors we met (when other neighbors had warned us about him... not to trust him... he'd break in to our home and garage, etc). So we met Todd, brought him to youth group (for years), and now he visits us every so often and we see him when we take him to church with us now. Here he is playing with Gideon.

Wearing Dad's Shoes

Gideon thought he was all that and a bag of cheese nips when he slipped in to my shoes and started walking around the house. We had a great laugh, and he thought he was huge!

There And Back Again

You'll have to read the posts below regarding the Family Museum to get the low down on this picture. Gideon almost NEVER sleeps in the car. He only sleeps after an enormously active day or during long trips. Here he is crashed in the car coming home after a full day at the Bettendorf Family Museum and Incredible Pizza.

Morning at the Museum, Lunch at Incredible Pizza

After leaving the Bettendorf Family Museum, we headed to Incredible Pizza. This is a business owned by a Christian and is a sort of Chuck E. Cheese meets Dave and Busters. Thanks to a pretty solid "pastors perks" cards, we had a great day at there. Gideon's face pretty much says it all!

Gideon rode this little racer three times and cried when we said it was time to move on.

More Bettendorf Family Museum Pictures

This was BY FAR the best part of the museum. Gideon LOVED this part. He had a ball!

A Day At the Bettendorf Family Museum

In one room, one is able to play in front of a camera that then projects different images of them on the screen in front. Here Kathee and Gideon are having fun.
Here's another picture of them in front of the fun screen.
Gideon having fun with Thomas the Train set at the museum. At first, he was a bit confused why the engines didn't run on their own. The TtT set he just received from Grandpa Smith has a battery-powered engine!
The reason we went was for the dinosaur display/section at the museum. Gideon was least impressed with this section, and had a blast at all the others.