Esther's First Birthday!

This cool lady just turned 1 this week!  And since I have two girls, and apparently all girls like pink, I looked for a strawberry cake recipe for Esther's birthday cake.  Strawberry everything, by the way, is Hope's favorite.  So chalk up Esther's birthday cake being what it is because of her older sister.  The third child always gets the windfall from elder siblings (I should know, I'm #3).  The cake was incredibly good, even after having to buy cake flour and pureeing strawberries and all the other things to make the cake. 

Although Hope said she loved the cake, in reality, her favorite part was the frosting.  We had cake for two meals, and I'm pretty sure she didn't eat any of the cake itself.  I guess she loves the idea of strawberry more than the taste.  

From our friend Tara Wilson, Esther received her first doll.  She loves it.  It was pretty cute watching her hug it and rub it and pat it on the back.  Not sure if Kathee has come up with a name for her yet, but it'll be a good one when she does!  

From our friends Rhonda and Bill, Esther received this jewerly box, complete with a ballerina that pops up and spings around when the top is open.  

For lunch, we went to Meskerem, an Ethiopian restaurant that I like in St Louis.  As Karl had never had Ethiopian food before, we were excited to have him eat there.    

While we were eating, Esther was overcome by our waiter.  Esther was spinning around in her chair looking for the lady.  She was laughing with the woman and the woman was great with Esther.  As you can see, Esther kinda got attached to the lady.  

Even helping her ring up our bill.  The food, as always, was great, and I love eating Ethiopian-style (one common plate from which everyone eats).  

For supper, Hope helped shuck the corn to go along with the rest of the great food we ate.  

We opened presents, or rather, her siblings opened presents for her.  

Grandpa Karl gave her her first teddy bear (that she loves)...

And Esther received this glass set that belonged to Grandma Shirley, who passed away the night Esther was born.  As a side, on the bottom of this set it says, "made in occupied Japan."  What a gift!  

We sang to her again...

And ate more Strawberry cake.  What a great birthday!

15 years of marriage and counting!

On July 31, 1999, Kathee and I were married in Dubuque.  That is 15 years ago!  So this past week, with Karl in town, and a good restaurant tip in hand from Kathee's sister, Sharon, we headed out for supper at the Melting Pot, while Karl watched the kids.  

Thanks to the Moline house selling, we were able to go to a nice place to eat, and we had a VERY enjoyable time.  It was a four-course meal, and aside from the salad for the second course, the other courses were all fondue.  Holy smokes was it good food.  And the company?  INCREDIBLE!!!

This was my main course of chicken, pork, shrimp, and two kinds of steak.  It was sooo good.  

After supper, Kathee said she wanted to go and find some local coffee shop, not a Starbucks, but a local joint.  So I googled the best coffee houses in St Louis, and The Coffee Cartel came up in a couple different listings as the #2 coffee joint in St Louis (the #1 being in Soulard, down by the farmer's market.  I know we will hit that place sometime soon).  As we pulled off a very busy road (Kingshighway), and onto the street of the Coffee Cartel, we were shocked by the trendy hangouts and street cafes and all the yuppies all over the place and....  

this Ferrari.  Matt Williams told me that this car goes for at least 100K.  It was right in front of a restaurant.  Along the side street sat a driver in a car with all tinted windows.  Behind that car sat a large SUV Escalade with tinted windows and a driver waiting.  Not sure who was in there, but wow, nice ride!  

After walking back down the street to get a picture of the car, we took this selfie.  I think we were in what's called the Upper West End or something like that.  It was a very cool place (although we felt like touriest there).  And the coffee was great.  

Flash Cards

So I am studying about 2 to 3 hours a day during the week for my upcoming Bible Content Test.  These are the flashcards I've made up.  In that stack is the purpose of each book of the Bible (minus a few), a general outline of each book, and a key verses or verses from the majority of the books of the Bible.  I have that to go through throughout the day.  I also have a 3-ringed binder with all the notes from the lectures I've listened to, and I am working through practice quizzes (about 20 in all) that go along with the lectures.  

Apparently VERY FEW students pass it the first time they take this test.  The writing about it says that basically do it as a measure of knowing what a student knows then they arrive versus when they graduate.  I must pass this test prior to graduation, or I will have to take two, for-credit classes, that is basically what the test covers.  

Since I'm not working this summer, I thought I'd listen to the lectures, and study as much as possible, and memorize as much as possible, so that, if possible, I could pass the test and not have to worry about it again (until my Bible Content test for ordination through the presbytery).  

We'll see how this goes.  Not sure if the over 100 + flash cards are going to stick in my brain, but they will certainly help!  

Pretty Lady

Kathee is very good with Hope.  Lately, Hope has been getting her toenails and fingernails polished.  She seems so lady-like, sitting all still while waiting for the polish to dry.  I don't remember seeing my mother do her nails, so it's kinda fun seeing Hope getting her nails done!  And as you can see, she LOVES it!

The Soulard Farmer's Market

I love farmer's markets.  Not that we go and buy stuff from there, just walking around is enough for me.  I just love them.  I loved going to the markets in Guatemala, and India, and especially in Ethiopia.  I loved it when my brother Zach took Kathee and I to a market in Boston, and in the last couple of years in Moline, we started going to the farmer's market in Davenport.  

So, knowing that the farmer's markets are free, and needing something to do to get the family out of the house, we set out on our adventure.  I had read on the city of Creve Couer (the suburb we live in) that they have a farmer's market, so I thought I'd surprise the kids by loading up and going there.  When the family arrived, we didn't even get out of the car.  There were about 6 or 8 tables in the parking lot of the junior high.  It almost looked more booster club than farmer's market.  

So I jumped on Google Maps to find another one close.  So we drove another few minutes only to find that that one wasn't open (weird not to be open on Saturday morning).  So we sat in the van and I googled farmers markets in St Louis.  JACKPOT!  

The Soulard Farmer's Market has been going on since 1779, in the oldest part of St Louis, Soulard (which is French for drunkard).  Upon driving down (somewhat near the Arch), it had the feel of the area around the Central Market in Guatemala City, sins all the pollution, beggars, and whatnot.  

Parking was a premium, but we found a place a few short blocks away.  Walking up to the market, there was a band playing music and tons of people coming and going.  It was on!  

Here the family is in front of the Soulard Market, which I think is now my favorite place in St Louis.  

The market is open year-round and is HUGE!  There are four of these types of walkways, with wares on either side on each walkway.  The cool thing is that behind each stall the people pull up their trucks, vans, etc, and are able to walk right in to them from their stall.  It's very cool!  

As you can see, the milk in St Louis is better, as Esther has outgrown her brother, Gideon.  

The HUGE selling point for the kids now is that there is free face-painting at one of the stalls.  

So Gideon got a Spider web to go along with his t-shirt...

And Hope got a butterfly, because, why not?!

Kathee is a sucker for mini-donuts, so we purchased a few bags of those as well.

I love the Soulard Market and can see going back time and time again.  

Time with Aaron's family.

My older brother Aaron and his family were in town for a few day layover before heading back to Central Iowa.  They did a week's vacation and spent time in Branson, Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, and a ton of other places in between.  Coming back through, they got a hotel room close by our apartment and were able to spend a full day with us (and part of another).  

We had a blast.  We went to Grant's Farm (owned by President Grant, then purchased by the Annheiser-Busch family.  On the property are a ton of wild-ish animals that you take a tram through the park and see.  We saw bison, and elk, and long horn cattle, and a ton of animals from all over the world.  They they dump you out at an enclosed area where you walk around and see other different animals.  They have like 4 or 6 elephants and a ton of other animals to see, too.  In passing, the tram announcer told us that "if you look through the trees there you can see the house."  I believe that the Busch family may still live on the property, but has landscaped it in such a way that it is where no one can go/see, etc.  

This is also the place where the Budweiser Clydesdales are kept.    

This is a picture of Gideon and Cousin M in front of one of the Clydesdales.  

Standing around in the shade and chatting.  

I had read before going that it's wise to take a bunch of quarters to buy feed to feed the animals.  So we did.  

Hope was fearless in feeding the goats...

And her joy in success shows!  

After Grant's Farm we went to Pappy's Smokehouse for lunch.  IN-CRED-IBLE!!!  One pretty much has to go there for lunch as if you go too late for supper, they run out of meat.  Part of the schtick is standing in line waiting to order.  While in line, I spotted this and thought I'd take a picture as I have a friend who went through the UD's aviation program!  

By the time it came to reading from Little Town on the Praire, Hope was shot.  I think she was sleeping before I finished the first page of the chapter.  She LOVES spending time with her cousins!

Date Night!

Once, every other month, Covenant offers free childcare so parents can go on a three-hour date.  So Kathee and I took advantage of it and had a date on Friday night.  

Went to HuHot for supper (we love that place).

And after grabbing some bubble tea, we went to Creve Couer Lake and talked!  I'm already looking forward to our date in September!