under, over, or never churched. Does is matter to you?

God brings this previous post to my mind today, often actually. It is amazing what a sign on the side of the road can say to my heart.

What are your thoughts?

Do you like church the way you remember it?

Do you remember it?

Would you even want to?

The Master.

Having golfed for only the second time this year (the first time being a week ago), Dan brought home the hardware!

The (mostly) Annual Hopkins Masters Golf Championship took place this past Saturday. According to the traveling golf ball shaped trophy, the first winner was Grandpa Hopkins in 1973. Awesome. Dan wasn't even born yet! There were many winners in between then and now, my Dad took home the coveted Green Jacket an impressive 4 times.

I was oblivious to his winning, until he walked in the house sporting the Green Jacket! Let me tell you, the kids were EXCITED! Drew wanted to keep the trophy in his room, Chase enjoyed reading the names etched in brass (and one in masking tape). Dan talked about wearing the Jacket in all it's 1970s glory to church today.

The future Master almost didn't go golfing that night because I selfishly wanted him to stay home with me but I am so glad he did!

Final score 31. That's one nice handicap.

Sushi Revisted.

Hot Sake, anyone?

Where does the time go?

3 years ago we went our for dinner with our neighbors, and we were introduced to sushi.

I really liked it, Dan really did not, as seen in this archived post.

Last Friday, thanks to the kindness of grandparents we were able to enjoy a night out again at Tokyo Grill.

Again, I really enjoyed it. Dan still, did not. But we brought him along anyway and he ordered beef.

Mr. LowCarb and wife

The now, officially 30 year old Katie with her handsome Scotty.

The men paying the bill, and looking so happy about it too.
At this point, they were probably ready to trade us in for the ladies at the table behind them.

A good night with family that also happen to be great friends too.

Let's not make it 3 more years before we go out again, next time is squid and sake bomb!

get real.

I read a number of blogs, and see many photos on Facebook.

The thing I sometimes internally chuckle about is how most of us, naturally, put our best foot forward. After all, we don't want to send out the message that things are slightly less than perfect, or that we are not having the best.life.ever. Right? perhaps I am way off here. Bear with me.

Take my blog for instance. Do I drone on and on about how I sometimes don't take a shower until noon, or how my kids sit and play the Wii when they should be doing homework? Do I mention that Dan is not in fact perfect with his LowCarb diet and sometimes I have one glass of wine too many?

Of course not. Most of my posts detail how my kids have accomplished this or that, how Dan is the poster child for Diabetes, and how I live a glamorous life full of vacations and fun. All with not a hair out of place. (for I wouldn't want to post and ugly photo of myself)

INSERT UGLY PHOTO HERE:

a nice top o'the mornin' photo. seriously? is that food on my face?

Perhaps to outsiders MiniVan MegaFun has it's act together.

married. Check.

christian. Check.

obligatory minivan. Check.

2.3 kids. Check. (and then some)

nice, clean house. Check? ?


Then I start to think about the things that really matter.

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self Control

Can I get a check? ? ? probably not. Not even one of the Fruits of the Spirit can I claim as checked on my list of accomplishments.

Please don't get me wrong here. I am not telling you that I am bogus, or that you are bogus. Not at all the point. I have many blessings of which only only come God. I recognize that, and I do celebrate that.
I just get distressed when we feel the need to be dressed up, cleaned up, buffed up, shiny, happy people holding hands. (remember that tune?)

Many times I have felt the urge to encourage authenticity. Among myself, family, among my friends, in our church, and now, in the blogosphere.

A blog post I read recently that does a much better job of putting my thoughts into words.

Find it here.

Please , keep the discussion going...

See Baby Walk.

Our children have been consistently slow to walk. 13, 15, 16, almost 17 months respectively. But when she decided it was time to walk, it was also time to run. Such a fun time of life, too bad we don't remember ourselves at one year and a half and literally learning something new everyday.

Juliet sees the chickens.

See Juliet chase the chickens.

See Juliet confused.

See Juliet frustrated.

Day of Firsts.

Shiny new school shoes.

My previous post highlighted our summer break. August 31 rolled around and this was the official vote the day before school was about to begin.

Yay! for School:
Chase (excited to see friends again)
Dan (happy to see Chelle up bright and early)


Nay! for School:
Drew (would rather play with his toys)
Chelle (likes to avoid the morning ridiculousness of getting out the door on time)
Joy (nervous)

Juliet was undecided.

The first day came and went without incident and I am thankful. Here are a few pix for the memory books... (and for the Grandmas)

Finally, some time alone with Mommy.

Back to School, Back to Blogging.

I do believe this has been my longest absence from the blog.

80 days.
I guess I needed the break, and now I am ready to remember and record. Get cozy, you may or may not have asked for this...

In the spirit of Back to Schoolers everywhere, I humbly submit my childlike essay:

What I did on my Summer Vacation. by Chelle

The goofy weather this season left me waiting and wondering when Summer 2009 would begin. While I was waiting, we made good use of the time. First we went to the Brummel family cottage. The weather was a little chilly but you can see, we made our own fun.

selling shells for profit

Mac nerds unite!

troublemakers.

a bike ride to cool my jets...

Next up was our weekly outdoor event. With the purpose of exploring our community and getting to know friends both new and old we attended Picnic in the Park Thursdays.
For 11 weeks we had fun whether it was rainy, cloudy, humid, or sunshine-y. (photo props to Cara VD & Nat)

Pokemon cards may or may not have been traded in this photo.

refreshing.

looks like a nice Autumn day in mid June

The good times kept rolling along with our annual week out at Payne Lake. Grandpa H. was on the other side of the earth (So. Africa) so it was Mother, me and the kids. Highlights included mini-golfing, corn-hole tourneys, and ice cream getting. Not much swimming this trip. Again, too cold.

a friendly game.

Grandma takes some of the grandkids for a walk.

After all this family fun, I looked forward to a bit of adult convo. July allowed me two nights out with the girlz!

high school hotties

this group sure can attract a crowd (wink,wink)

4th of July @ Payne Lake

the rooster firecrackers seemed especially appropriate.

Wow, so much activity away from home! Not only was there happenings away from the Hill, much was taking place literally IN OUR BACK YARD!

you guessed it, the first egg!

This photo, taken by Katie, catches Dan deep in thought about whether the first batch of chickens were Roosters or Hens. (sometimes it is hard to tell, people) You see, hens were what we were interested in, 5 roosters is what we had. When it was all said and done, a quick and easy exchange gave us 5 egg layers and we were back in business!

Camping. A third attempt at the perfect vacation. Oh, how we all looked forward to this week. We booked the campsites sometime back in March. We planned, we prepared-- it rained. Having whined that, personally speaking, I enjoyed all moments of our small group camping '09 adventure. A few pix:


Bike time.


Food time.


Sleepy time.


Craft time.


fire time.


Messing around in the trailer in our pajamas time.

To put an exclamation point on an unusual but jam packed summer vacation we had one more event left in us-- the Luau. Brad and Stacey hosted a celebratory gathering and we enjoyed the company of family, friends and Erik's mad DJ skillz...

It appears that while I was waiting for summer to begin, summer was happening all around me. It was a memorable one. So much so that I just didn't want to let it go when school time came a knocking. But that is a different post for another day.

Farewell Summer '09, we enjoyed you.

Mini-Van Mega-Fun -- now Low in Carbohydrate.

22 cans of diet soda a day and all the sugar free jello that money can buy.

Oh, the delicious-ness of it all.

This post is contains long overdue props to my husband for the incredible changes he has made to his diet and lifestyle!! Recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, Dan and I took a crash course in all things Carbohydrate. Veggies are in, Dinner Rolls are out. Fruit in moderation, doughnuts--let's face it-- those things serve no nutritional purpose for anyone. Portion size, test strips, sugar alcohols. New terms and new practices we needed to learn and live.

If you know my husband, you know this was one of the most difficult things he has faced in his young life. He committed to the changes, he is committing to his health. I am so proud of him!

Diabetes has also brought about some new activities here on the hill. In order to keep busy, Dan and Mom D. have started a garden. We greatly anticipate the harvest it may yield!

First Day/Last Day

and 178 days in between.

First Day of School
White Hair, Tan Skin

Last Day of School
Tan Hair, White Skin

Yes, summer is rolling along quite splendidly now, but I wanted to post a photo of my sons in all their Star Wars glory.

The last day of school is magical, sad, exciting all at once. The anticipation of the ENTIRE summer break ahead of us coupled with the realization that my children are another year older.

I have not quite figured out why I really don't want them to age. I have heard more times than I can count, how a mom wants to just freeze the stage or age that their kids are at. I have to admit, I might have frozen last summer if I could have. Does anyone ever want to freeze time when their kids are in teenage years?

Congratulations to all the students, teachers, and parents on another completed school year. Happy Summer!

In a matter of 10 weeks we will start it all over again. More than likely, my boys will don the same exact shirts!

With this 42 Dollar Ring, I Thee Wed.

Well, looky here, a few candid pix from May 23, 1997

My husband did not marry me for my money. Or my money saving abilities for that matter.

He first learned I was broke when I asked him for money to buy school books. He might have scratched his head a bit when I bought him an el-cheapo wedding ring from Witmark.

Perhaps he wondered why I had this, that, and the other credit card in my wallet while he had 2 or 3 paychecks sitting on his dresser collecting dust.

We laugh when we think about it. Just how unprepared I was to take on the responsibility of marriage, homekeeping, budgeting. You see, Dan and I decided that I would pay the bills, goto the bank, pretty much make sure we survived, financially speaking. If Dan never took the time to even go to the bank and deposit his paycheck, how would he ever remember to pay bills on time, right? I guess I was the obvious choice for the chief financial officer. And how well did I handle this? By delighting the Rainbow Vacuum salesman that showed up to our newlywed home and buying a Rainbow, of course.

Getting to the point. Our marriage was a leap of faith and trust. In each other, in our future and in God. Dan knew I was not the most frugal money manager in town, but he trusted, (trusts) me with it. I knew that he would work, and work a lot, so I have to try every week to be mindful of his physical and mental exhaustion level and not push him to do much in the home.

Of course we are not perfect, of course we fail, and often.

Of course we are different people than we were in 1997.

Of course he has wanted to duct tape my mouth closed at times, and me want to make him sleep on the sofa.

But God has preserved our love, and for that I am so thankful.
Happy 12th Anniversary Dan!

May our marriage and the Rainbow vacuum last a lifetime!

enjoy a few old pix. one for each year we've been Dan & Chelle


1995 and so in love.

Dan's first coat and tie. 1996

From this day forward 1997

1998 Steve and Dana's wedding

1999 Expecting Chase.

2000, Our firstborn son

2001 Awaiting # 2 (What is going on with my hair?!)


2002 Are we having fun yet?

2003 dreaming of # 3


Joy's Baptism Day 2004 (what is going on with Dan's hair!?)

2005 Everyone smile!


2006 summer daze.


NYC for our 10th anniversary

2007 The quiver is getting full.

2008 Juliet is here!

Christmas 2008

2009 Dan's face says it all.


Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
1 Corinthians 9:15