Jonathan

Our main reason for taking a vacation out east this fall was to visit some old stomping grounds, the old church in which my Lutheran Stud did his vicarage and field work while at the seminary, 

and to visit our son, Jonathan's grave. While I thought I'd be an emotional train wreck when we visited, but it wasn't like that at all. We attended church that morning and afterward the children went out to the cemetery, connected to the church, and it was like a search and find. It didn't take long and they found Jonathan's stone.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of his death. After beginning a quilt, using Jonathan's clothing, I finally finished it! It only took me 8 years. His stone hasn't changed one bit in 10 years. It has weathered many storms and hot sun, and still looks brand new; for that, I am glad. I am so thankful for the members at Zion Lutheran Church. They have sent us photos over the years and placed crosses, flowers, and other things on his stone. While those things may seem trivial, knowing that people still remember and think of Jonathan warms my heart and the thoughtfulness will never be forgotten. The people at this church are like a second family to us. They helped us through the worst of times and continue to be there for us.

Our children were pretty excited to find Jonathan's grave and see his picture on the stone. It was sort of like we were all together for the first time, even though we won't truly be reunited until we meet in heaven.

We give thanks unto the Lord for He is good and His mercy endures forever. Amen.

Trick or Treat. . . Campground Style

While we were in Indiana we met up wth friends who were camping or as I like to say, glamping since they don't actually pitch tents, but have a camper as well as their TV hooked up.

There was beer drinking,

Brat grilling,

cheese sandwich over the fire,

and then some sliding at the playground, 

and some more sliding,

and then some jumping

on these things called the Kangaroo Jumper.

After all that fun the children dressed up in Halloween costumes and we headed out to check out some camp sites.

People around here go all out on their decorations.

A lot of campers line up at the end of their "street" to hand out candy to the children. I think they enjoy seeing the children as much as the children enjoy receiving their candy.

This campground is huge! It wasn't just fun for the children there were a ton of adults that dressed up too. 

We even managed to make it across this long and creaky bridge

only to come face to face with this scary guy who jumped out at you as you picked out your own candy. It's a good thing we knew this guy. :) We were able to trick-or-treat in September and our children were so confused, but also excited to be getting so much candy when it wasn't really Halloween yet.

Later that week after all of the children went to bed we adults stayed up, played cards, and indulged in a little candy. :) The trick-or-treating turned out to be a win-win!

My Children Are Like Fish

After saying goodbye to friends in Minooka we kept trucking east. As we drove through a few corn fields our children began seeing a sight they've never seen, or remembered, before. They saw black buggies being pulled by horses. They were so confused and kept taking note everytime they saw a buggy rolling down the street. We then had to explain the Amish culture to them and they continued to get excited everytime they saw a buggy. As we rolled into the little town of Corunna it was like coming home again. The people at Zion Lutheran Church are like family to us, so after leaving almost 8 years ago it was great to return and see so many people that we haven't seen in years.

Carolyn has a pool on her property that normally closes after labor day, but when she heard we were coming she kept the people open just for us, and turned up the heat too.

If you mention swimming to my children they go nuts. It doesn't matter what the weather is like outside they still want to swim.

Would you believe that it had been raining just before we arrived? We were about to give up on swimming when all of the sudden the rain stopped.

The children made sure that we knew that the rain had stopped and begged us to go swimming, so we made it happen. I couldn't swim though. Just sitting outside was too cold for me.

It's a strange thing because these children aren't cold, but as I sat there and watched them I was freezing.

The diving board was a huge hit because we don't have one at our neighborhood pool.

We don't have a slide either, so they all enjoyed it even though it wasn't as cool as the hotel slides.

My tiny little fish loved the floaties they found in the pool shed.

CANON BALL!!!

Anna had to make sure that she wouldn't drown. The more floaties the better right?