Erbers, Etc.

Jonathan & Allie Are Married!

2012-01-16T09:49:00.002-06:00

Amber

2011-12-22T19:48:00.002-06:00

We are praising the Lord for the arrival of Miss Amber Renee!

We are so excited to have yet another baby girl in the family - and we're very grateful that Mama is recovering well!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-26T13:07:00.021-06:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. The Lord so wisely told His people to "remember" what He has done, and to recount these things to their children, and their children's children. We find that throughout the year these days of remembering help anchor us and help us keep all that is going on around us in perspective. Our family loves reflecting on the stepping stones that have brought us to where we are today. We also love feasting! Our heavenly Father deserves much thanks and praise! ~ Maggie

Here's the Thanksgiving table almost prepared for the feast.

The turkey carving ritual has begun. . .
and more food comes out of the oven!

The banquet begins to be set out...

We're ready to feast!

. . . and feasting we did!

What a joy to be with family who are also our best friends!

Jeanine, Jessica, and Joanna kibitz as they whip the cream and get dessert ready!

Let the games begin!!

Scrabble, first.

Aunt Jill & Charlotte also enjoy playing together.

It was truly a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends.

That night a certain few planned their Black Friday shopping.
Yes, they went and did it at midnight and on through til dawn!

Can you tell which sister shopped 'til she dropped?

'Twas a great weekend!

Update on The Fam

2011-09-27T10:02:00.005-05:00

This is a very nice picture, but . . . who took it? Hmmmm . . .

Someone is missing from the table!

Someone very special...

We need to add her(!) to the family...

Goodie, goodie! Jonathan is going to do it!

When? Soon! ;-)

There she is! :-)

Congratulations, Jonathan & Allie!

Grandpa

2011-09-07T17:28:00.014-05:00

Roger Henry Erber
March 12, 1926 ~ September 6, 2011

Born to an unwed teenage girl in 1926, my grandfather - Roger Henry Erber - was orphaned less than three years later when his mother, Elsie, died at just 20 years old. Elsie left her young son to the care of her own parents, Emil & Emma Erber, who raised him as their youngest son, and Grandpa knew them as "Pa & Ma."

Records indicate his baptism and confirmation in the Lutheran church, but we know little else of his childhood other than that Elsie's sister and brother-in-law wanted to adopt him (being unable to have children themselves), but "Ma" would not give her consent. (Aunt Ella did remain close to my Grandpa throughout her life and we have very special memories of her.)

After finishing 11 years of schooling in 1943, at the age of 17 Grandpa enlisted in the US Marine Corps. "Ma" gave him her blessing to go, but with this caveat - "You know that the Germans will win."

While serving with the Marines, Grandpa maintained an occasional correspondence with his hometown newspaper giving us candid looks into his life in the military - even back then he had a way of saying things that was distinctly recognizable as him.

He always felt that he wasn't "really" a Marine since he never saw combat, nonetheless we hold that his work in mechanical maintenance and repairs (primarily on the Corsair) was no doubt appreciated by those who were actually facing the enemy. He was stationed on islands throughout the Pacific as well as on mainland China, where he mastered one accomplishment that he boasted of all his life - the ability to count to 10 in Chinese.

After returning home from the war, he met and married my grandmother, Ethel, on May 7, 1949. Arriving home from their honeymoon, Grandpa found his father-in-law digging the foundation for a home for the new couple. He often recounted how out of place he felt actually owning a home. He had never dreamed that he, the unwanted son/grandson of a German immigrant farming family, who returned from the war to help support his widowed "Ma," would actually climb so high as to own his own home.

My grandparents lived in that home for over 61 years, until late November 2010 when they moved in with us.

For almost 40 years (starting after his return from the war), Grandpa worked as a carpenter in Chicago and suburbs, and we have a variety of anecdotes that we remember him sharing of the men he worked with, jobs they worked on, and pranks he played. During the 1950's he also became father to a son, Roger, and a daughter, Jill (whose twin did not survive).

Following his retirement in the 1980's, Grandpa kept himself busy making crafts in his workshop, volunteering at his church, playing pinochle and other card games, cheering on the Chicago Cubs, and spending time with his grandchildren.

All together, he would live to see 8 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren (11th due in a couple of months)!

As time progressed, the mental and physical health of both of my grandparents became such that living on their own was no longer an option for them.

Over the summer of 2010, our family prepared our home to accommodate them as well, and on the day after Thanksgiving 2010, they moved in.

On March 12, 2011 we celebrated Grandpa's 85th birthday with all the family here. Just hours later (during the night), he fell and severely broke his leg. The next few months were spent in the hospital as he waited for his leg to heal, only to find that the extended period of immobility had completely removed any option of using his legs again. His brain apparently "forgot" how to move them.

Other medical complications ensued, but on July 6, he moved back home with us - confined to his bed or wheelchair. His condition, however, continued to deteriorate. By mid-August he was completely bed-bound and hardly eating. Joseph & Josiah (his youngest grandsons), and Mom (his daughter-in-law) handled most of his care through the last weeks as gangrene and MRSA ravaged his feet and lower legs.

On August 19th he was admitted to Hospice care, and we are very grateful for the assistance they have offered us. In fact, many have helped with the hands-on care for Grandpa in our home - MiHee, Josh & Katherine (friends of our family), Tammy (with Home Health), Denise, Stacy, and Louise (with Transition Hospice) have been great blessings to our family and we are thankful to have known them and had them in our home over these last couple of months.

By September, it was obvious that Grandpa was growing much weaker and on Saturday, September 3rd we didn't think he would make it through the night. After that he was mostly unconscious and unable to accept any food or water (though we worked to keep his mouth moist, he would not swallow at all), although occasionally he would open his eyes or indicate with some response that he was aware of our presence.

Monday, being Labor Day, all the family was able to come over and spend the day at our home. In the early afternoon Grandpa was surrounded by his son and daughter-in-law, and all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren (excepting one granddaughter-in-law and newborn great-grandson who stayed outside of the room). We let him know that we were all there, and then sang to him the hymn that has been his favorite for as long as we can remember - How Great Thou Art. By the time we sang the last verse, several voices had dropped out due to tears, but we rejoiced in the words, "When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! Then I shall bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim, 'My God, how great Thou art!"

Tuesday morning, Sept. 6, he was still breathing - but quite a bit of time passed between each breath. By mid-morning it became obvious that he would be leaving us very soon. Mom quickly called us all back to his bedroom and we let him know we were all with him - and then watched for each breath. At about 10:00am, he left his weakened and diseased body behind and headed to glory!

We have many special memories of Grandpa that we will cherish through the years to come. In them, we remember a kind, strong, generous gentleman, with a twinkle in his eye, a sense of humor that kept us smiling, a reverence for God and respect for the church of Jesus Christ, and a steady faithfulness in every duty that shone as an example to us all.

~~~
On a side note, every person on staff at the various hospitals/clinics he interacted with commented on how much they enjoyed having him as a patient; how nice he was, never complaining, always smiling and saying "thank you" for every little service - even when in pain, or heavily medicated. And that was true throughout his life. As Mom sat with him one afternoon a few weeks ago, he told her he felt guilty that he was taking her time. He was one of the most grateful people I've known. Humble, reserved, hardworking - and always ready with his twinkling smile and a "thank you." Perhaps some of that is due to his feeling, from his family circumstances as a child, like he was a bit of an underdog - unworthy of any real notice. He was always willing to give, never demanding anything, and never wanting anyone to go out of their way for him.

A day or so before he died, I was sitting with him just holding his hand when he started trying to communicate something to me, but his voice was so weak I couldn't make it out. So, I kept guessing and he kept working at trying to talk. Finally, after he got his need communicated (change of position) and we got him all settled again, he made one more great effort at speaking and got it out - "Thank you!" I believe those were the last words I heard him say.

I'll miss you, Grandpa!

-Jessica

~~~
Visitation will be held Friday, September 9, 2011 at 11am,
until time of the Funeral Service, 12:00pm, at:
Immanuel Lutheran Church
855 Lee Street
Des Plaines, IL 60016

Happy Birthday, Josiah!

2011-08-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

Happy 15th Birthday, Josiah!!

Welcome Jack!

2011-08-19T13:34:00.004-05:00

We are SO excited to announce the arrival of:

Jack Michael Alan Erber
August 18, 2011
3:02am, 8lb. 4oz.

Little Jack was born on his daddy's birthday! Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

The sibling gang!

L'Orage

2011-07-19T10:35:00.004-05:00

Just a few pictures from last week's storm. This is why our power was out for several days...

Above: Our Greatest Loss - the tree the grandkids' favorite swing was in!

Below: Our Driveway. Had those trees fallen on a slightly different angle we would have lost vehicles, or our living room. God is good!

Colorado

2011-07-08T11:19:00.003-05:00

We just got back from a week away in Colorado! It was a very refreshing - and much needed - time away for our family. We also had incredible hosts while we were there. Thanks SO much, Roach family - You were wonderful!

Life has been non-stop since we got back, especially the last couple of days with various medical issues with Grandpa & Grandma. So, this is a very short, quick post that can't come close to describing our trip! :-)

Memorial Day

2011-06-18T06:42:00.002-05:00

Our family had a fun Memorial Day together. It was a very hot and windy day. But, that didn't keep us from smiling - thanks to Justin Hill's antics! Thanks also go to Wendy Hill for capturing the moment for us!

Joseph's Graduation

2011-06-07T07:21:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Joseph graduated from his paramedic training class! He's put a lot of work into his training and we're very proud of all he's done. Congratulations, Joseph!!

Moving Towards Spring!

2011-04-21T14:18:00.007-05:00

This is the home my grandparents lived in all their married lives, until they moved in with us last fall. It is also the home that my parents lived in when they were first married, the home that we lived in while we built the house we live in now! Life with Grandpa & Grandma in our home is quite different than life was before! But God is always good and gives the extra grace needed when we need it!

Grandma has Alzheimer's, but even though she doesn't know who they are, she enjoys seeing her great-grandchildren when they visit!

Grandpa also is dealing with considerable dementia, but after some instruction was able to relearn how to play some basic card games, which Caroline enjoyed playing with him. The morning after his 85th birthday in March, Grandpa fell and broke his leg pretty badly and has been in a local hospital/rehab center since then.

Long winter evenings are great for reading...

Oh, yes! Liberty Day is a big part of our lives each spring! :-) It was a bit crazy to pull off this year, but God sent "friends to fight our battles with us" and we are SO grateful for our church family jumping in and picking things up, bringing meals over, and providing other support along the way! Other dear friends joined the forces for the week of the event and we could never have done it without them! Many, many thanks to all those who participated in hosting/supporting/attending this event - the hand of God was quite evident in you all!

Dr. Joe Morecraft and Dr. Phil Kayser were our guest speakers this year and they brought an incredible set of messages to those who attended. (Contact Josh about ordering a set of the recordings. He's in the midst of changing/updating/restructuring his whole website, so he doesn't have the order form online right now, but you can still email or call him about an order! They are excellent - you need to hear them!)

Despite an engagement elsewhere in the country that weekend, Patrick Henry did make his flight back to Chicago to be present for the evening!

Ah, one last photo! :-) On Friday, April 15, we hosted our monthly dinner and games night with the families in our church. Since it was April 15, we of course had a tax and money theme! Quite a fun evening, even if illness shrunk us to a rather small group that night!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-29T13:59:00.002-06:00

Hoping your Christmas was as incredibly fabulous as ours was!
May the Lord bless your family as 2010 comes to a close and 2011 draws near!

Whose Birthday Is It?

2010-12-04T20:02:00.007-06:00

...........It's Trenor's!

Happy first birthday, buddy!!

Happy 6th Birthday, Caroline!

2010-12-01T13:25:00.006-06:00

Our sweet Caroline Joy celebrated her birthday with us yesterday. Her mother, Sara, baked a pretty special crown cake for the little princess!

We love you, Caroline! Happy Birthday!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T18:37:00.003-06:00

Carving the turkey

Filling plates

Cuddling the new sweetie

Bundling up to go home

We have much to give thanks for this year and pray that you are rejoicing in God's goodness today as well. A very happy Thanksgiving to you all from the Erber family!

It's a Girl!!

2010-11-17T17:54:00.004-06:00

Welcome little darling!!

Charlotte Anne DeLadurantey was welcomed this afternoon by her parents, and a few VERY excited siblings - whose primary comment was on how little she was, and how many kisses they were going to be giving her... Mama and baby are both doing well, and we're so excited to have another niece/granddaughter in the family - and a special extra someone to give thanks for this Thanksgiving!!

Visiting the Northwest

2010-10-20T20:19:00.005-05:00

Mom and I (Jessica) just got back home after spending about 11 days in the northwest - Washington and Idaho. We spoke at a couple of Mother/Daughter teas in Washington, and spent the "in-between days" visiting with our dear friends, the Bradricks. But then we tagged on a few days to visit with Jonathan in Idaho! It was great to be able to see him, get to know some of his friends, and see what his days are like. On Sunday afternoon, he took us up to the top of Moscow Mountain, which was absolutely beautiful! We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend time out there! Oh, if it only were closer!!

September

2010-10-07T18:01:00.005-05:00

Ahhhh, September! A full month, in its own way. Some travel, lots of projects, and saying "goodbye-for-now" to Summer! The one trip that we took was to the Providential History Festival in Omaha, Nebraska. The Festival was held at the Strategic Air and Space Museum. So in addition to the festival itself, we also got to browse a thorough assortment of military airplanes. Very interesting place if you are ever looking for somewhere to spend a day! :-)

The Festival itself was well organized, and very enjoyable! There was a lot of variety in the presentations, plenty to look at, and - of course - always people to talk to! We look forward to going back again next year, and hopefully entering a presentation or two, as well!

I mentioned that we said "goodbye" to Summer this past month, and we are very definitely into autumn around here! But, the boys did get in one last epic water fight before the pool got all closed up for the season!

The End of Summer also brings the final days for garage saling!! Jeanine, Sara, Abbey and I (Jessica) went out for a day of such shopping, and packed the vehicle as full as we could with fun finds! We were literally balancing things on our laps by the time we left the last garage sale. It was very fun, and the best thing is that we really didn't spend that much money! Yay!

Projects. That's another thing September was full of! Fall cleaning, furniture refinishing, painting, remodeling...

September is also a birthday month around here! Camille requested a "Castle Cake" for her birthday, so when all the cousins got together to celebrate she got a "Castle Cake" and everyone loved it!!

Technically, the next picture was taken on October 1, so it doesn't really belong in a "September" post, but I'm playing catch-up so here it is! :)

A number of us got to attend a concert featuring Alasdair Fraser (fiddle) and Natalie Haas (cello) perfoming Scottish-style fiddling! The two of them work/blend together SO well! We really enjoyed the concert!

That's all for now!

Happy Birthday to our buddy - Josiah!

2010-08-28T19:51:00.002-05:00

Today was Josiah's Birthday Observed.

And here he is doing one of his very favorite things - traveling!

We love you, buddy!

Summertime...

2010-08-26T10:54:00.009-05:00

Just some pictures of what we've been up to over the summer... It's hard to believe that August is almost over!

Visiting Grandma in Florida - waaaay back in June.

It's been a delightfully warm summer this year (last summer was SO cold!), and so the pool has been in much use this season!

I (Jessica) got to spend nearly two weeks of July out in Washington state for a friend's wedding. It was an absolutely wonderful time - both exhausting and refreshing, but completely delightful to spend time with friends who are like family as we prepared for, enjoyed, and rested after the wedding!! More wedding photos can be found here.

During June and July various ones of us also traveled to Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Idaho, Arizona... and I think that was it. A bit here and there, but not untypical for summer! Most of the travel was related to conferences and Resounding Voice.

For most of July our camera was AWOL - but it returned in time for "The Big Game" last Saturday!

Our church's team won and Jeremy, Josh and Joseph were all candidates for the team MVP award (which ultimately fell to Jeremy's lot - for the second year in a row!).

The game was great, but we also had a bunch of fun visiting with friends from church... and old friends that go "way back" who came into town for the weekend!

Not only was there softball to watch but the cutest collection of kiddos were present, as well!

For those interested in more pictures from the Big Softball Game you can visit Wendy's Blog and the Yen's Blog - yes, they have Cute Kiddo photos, too, but they also managed to document the game itself more than we did!

We have also been busy this summer getting our house ready for Grandpa and Grandma Erber to move in with us. We're getting close to moving time! It will be a big change for us and for them to have them here, but we look forward to what God has for us in this new season of life!

And He's Off!

2010-08-10T08:31:00.009-05:00

This morning Jonathan left for Idaho.

Jonathan and Joseph replaced the brakes on his car last night. It was very hot outside, swarms of mosquitoes were biting, but they got it done.

Some greasy guys getting the the car ready to go :-)

This morning we had to say our sad goodbyes. Some of us won't see him again until after Christmas.

Please pray for Jonathan, he's got a long, lonely drive ahead.

Drive safe! We'll miss you!

Hi there!

2010-08-03T20:14:00.002-05:00

We'll be updating soon! Hope you all are doing well!

Summertime!

2010-07-03T10:35:00.004-05:00

So, the last activity on this site was a post in early June titled "Early May". As we are well past May at this point, I suppose we should move forward!

June was a little bit busy, but - of course - that is usually a good thing! Our camera is AWOL this morning, so until we locate it I don't have more pictures to share (not that we ever take very many anyway), but aside from everyday summer stuff, house projects, and family get-togethers, last month was made extra special by a family vacation!

We haven't taken a real vacation in years (our trips all require lots of working!). However, in early June we took 10 days away as a family to drive down to Florida and visit with Grandma! It was a wonderful and relaxing trip. We took it easy on the way down, even stopping a few times for sight-seeing and museums (something our family does NOT do). We were going to stop at Lookout Mountain, but as it was raining so hard that we could hardly see the car in front of us on the highway, we figured there was no point in driving up a mountain famous for its view... We did stop there on our way home (briefly) and got to watch a thunderstorm roll in at sunset from the top of the mountain. Pretty neat.

While in Florida we had a wonderful time visiting with Grandma, seeing the manatees at a state wildlife park, going to the beach (gulf side), spending time in the pool, getting LOTS of sunshine, visiting with friends, seeing the Atlantic coast of the state, eating, playing tennis, bocce, and fixing a few things around the house. Thank you, Grandma, for a wonderful time!

After arriving back home, we had a few days to get our feet under us, celebrate Father's Day, catch up with the local extended family (married siblings, etc.), before all of us kids hit the road again - once more in work mode! Josh and Resounding Voice took us to Ohio for a conference.

Looking at the calendar for July, various ones will be on the road quite a bit - with destinations in Texas, Arizona, Idaho, and Washington - and we will also have some out of town friends stopping in. So, we'll check in here when we can!

May the Lord bless your summer!

Early May

2010-06-05T15:51:00.005-05:00

The events of the merry month of May began with Josiah and I performing the first movement of "Brahms' Sonata No. 1 in E Minor for cello and piano" at Josiah's cello recital. It was the same piece that Josiah had played in a competition back in February, but we had not really played it since February. So we worked to brush it back up a bit for the recital and then pulled it off rather decently (according to eyewitness accounts). The picture above was taken just after we concluded the performance, which would naturally be the reason we are smiling. **Please note that Josiah is the last of my siblings who is still shorter than I am. I'm thinking that will not be the case much longer.**

Josiah with his teacher, Richard Evans.

~~~

For Mother's Day, Josh & Abbey had us all over for a cookout. Sadly, what had been a warm, pleasant day turned rather nasty with hail, rain, and cold winds. But that didn't slow us down too much! The grill still smoked the meat nicely in the midst of the storm, and it cleared enough to allow marshmallow roasting after dinner. And is it ever too cold for Sara's delicious homemade ice cream???

Grace has taken to this odd habit of stealing her brother's baseball hat and wearing it backwards. It's really kind of cute on her! :-)

Aside from those events early May was busy with house projects and Presbytery preparations. I was also gone for most of the first two weeks - not out of town, but all the way across town - house sitting/baby sitting for some friends who were, not just out of town, but out of the country! They left their three youngest at home with me, and overall we had a very enjoyable time together - except for the night when the house security alarm went off three times...

I arrived back home from that "job" on a Friday afternoon. Saturday we traveled a few hours away for a friend's wedding. Sunday was church. Monday was house prep. Tuesday guests arrived for Presbytery. A couple of days after Presbytery wrapped up, I had a piano recital for my students (at which I took no pictures).

And that was May!

April Birthdays!

2010-06-05T12:22:00.001-05:00

In our family, April means three birthdays! Dad's at the beginning of the month, Corrine's in the middle of the month, and Winston's at the end. This year we practiced efficiency and celebrated all three birthdays together - and had a Liberty Day meeting on the same evening!

First, there were games and a Pinata (after whose demise it was discovered that its head could be reworn...)

Then there was dinner (Bella particularly liked the grilled asparagus).

Then came the Liberty Day meeting (during which the younger set entertained themselves).

Then came Winston's green dinosaur cake with ice cream!

And, of course, presents! Winston had no idea that he had a red bow on the top of his head...

All in all it was a delightful evening - but then we all kind of like each other, too, so you put us all together and it is hard to not have a delightful time! Nothing quite like being a part of the best family ever! :-)

Did you notice?

2010-06-02T14:23:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I hope to get around to another "real" post over the weekend, but this was the last of the pictures posted in the last post (on Presbytery), and since no one commented on it, I thought I'd highlight it again here. Obviously, the post was rather long and no one seems to have been examining the later pictures too closely... But surely someone can find something unique in this picture!

Presbytery

2010-05-27T14:45:00.020-05:00

What an incredible month May has been! I really ought to put together a "catch-up" post (and will do that eventually) but for now, here is a quick post from this past week!

May 20-22 were the official dates for the 2010 CPC Presbytery meetings, and our church was the one chosen to host it all this year! However, guests started arriving in town before the "official" beginning and stayed until past the "official" ending - and we were SO glad they did! We had an amazingly wonderful time with our brothers and sisters from across the country.

The photos we have below are only from the "before and after" events. During presbytery we really had too much going on to keep track of a camera. So we are unable to share with you all the delightful things we did together during the weekend - the feasting, the singing, the competing, the talent-sharing, the bible studying, the ordination, the dancing, the talking, oh yes, and the elder meetings (the reason we were all together in the first place!).

On Tuesday afternoon, May 18, our firsts guests started to arrive! We ended up with around 50 people at our place for dinner that evening - from California, Connecticut, Tennessee, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois... (did I miss anyone?). We ate (of course) and enjoyed group games and conversation.

On Wednesday afternoon, a gang of about 40 of us jumped on the train and headed for a walking tour of downtown Chicago!

We mostly just enjoyed all being together - we didn't really care whether we were riding a train, walking the streets and seeing the sights, or sitting in a restaurant. God sent us a beautiful day of sunshine and cool breezes which made the 5.3 miles of walking very pleasant!

We did, of course, stop by "The Bean" and take a few pictures. After all, we were in downtown Chicago....

But our group actually preferred spending time at quieter and prettier places, like Buckingham Fountain and the lake front.

During our Chicago adventures, back on the home front our amazing guests were busy proving how amazing they really are. All us Erbers joined the crew headed downtown. But not all of our guests did. So before leaving I (Jessica) ran through dinner plans with them and then bade adieu. While we were gone, a couple of other families arrived in town and stopped by our house. Our guests turned into hosts and as the dinner hour was at hand scrounged around in our fridge and pantry and turned out a dinner for about 40 - all without touching any of the food that we needed for the rest of the week's plans. By the time we got home our house was spotless and bore not a trace of the all the fun that had been had in our absence. Like I said, we got to host some truly amazing friends last week! :-)

Okay, so now we are up to Thursday when Presbytery officially began. Thus pictures cease.

Imagine, if you will, 300 people with activities based at a local church - church elders and other men meeting in the library or the sanctuary, families gathered in the fellowship hall, at a park, or in choir practice. Imagine us feasting on local and ethnic foods, on Chicago style pizza, on ice cream. Imagine us listening to, or singing along with, The Wintons. Imagine innumerable games of volleyball (dare I mention that - like good hosts - our church did manage to dominate those games?). Imagine laughter, conversation, dancing, music, skits, hymns, scripture studies, kitchen work, logistic management, decorating, rearranging, cleaning, singing, feasting, praying, rejoicing...

I can't tell you exactly what all happened in the elders meetings, but my understanding is that all business was successfully accomplished. The success of one point of business was evidenced in an ordination service for several new elders on Friday evening. As part of the service, vocalists from the churches gathered performed (with only two brief rehearsals) two pieces (Pacem and Elect of God) under the direction of Jonathan Erber (who arrived home for the summer in the midst of all the excitement last week)!

Then we move along. By Saturday noon the 2010 Spring Meetings of the CPC came to an official end. But as we were not a crowd that was especially eager to hit the road, and not being especially adept at saying "goodbye", after clean-up we headed over to a park for a cook-out and more games and conversation.

Sunday morning came and saw our local congregation doubled in size for the morning as we worshipped the Lord together with brothers and sisters from coast to coast!

Sunday afternoon saw us back at our home with the crowd still numbering around 100. Many great conversations, more games, jump-rope, and somehow there was still more than enough food...

See those two RV's? Sunday night we had three of them parked in our driveway! Throughout the week we had about 30 people staying in our home and driveway. On Sunday when one family left to return home, we had another family move in for the night. It was SUCH a delight to host them all!

Games and conversation lasted well past sundown!

The sun rose on Monday morning to find nearly everyone on the road. At our home, however, we still had three families staying with us. After breakfast we bid goodbye to one of those families, but the other two stayed on until Tuesday morning.

It was wonderful to have a quieter day to relax - but still have good friends around so we didn't crash back to reality too hard! :-) Relaxing didn't start immediately, though. First the guys pulled out all our equipment and mowed the lawn, chopped up a tree that had come down, and in general got our yard all cleaned up - in spite of having record heat and humidity that day. Thanks so much, Hectors and Adams!

Most of the afternoon and evening were spent sitting around together enjoying conversations in the shade. After some discussion the pool was opened up and despite an unattractive greenish hue to the water several chose to cool off therein before dinner.

Tuesday morning, May 25, and the final 'farewells' came all too quickly.

Goodbyes are always sad - but how sweet the knowledge that although we may not see each other often, every Sunday we meet together in worship before the throne of God! What an incredible week of encouragement and refreshment this has been for our family - a much needed one for me personally.

Our most earnest thanks to all of you who helped organize and pull off all the details of this week! And an equally hearty thanks to all of you who came and made this such a wonderful time of fellowship. We love you all and miss you already! How grateful we are for the mercy of God to surround us with a loving and incredible church family - both locally and nationally!

The house is quiet again, we are finally mostly caught up with laundry, and now it's time to look ahead to what is coming up next on our calendar - Oh yes, and start planning our trip to California for Presbytery 2011...

RVCCO in Concert!

2010-04-22T10:40:00.013-05:00

Last night Joanna and Josiah performed with the RVCCO! It was a wonderful concert, and playing with an orchestra has been enjoyable, and a great experience, for them both. The repertoire for this concert was Beethoven, Handel, Grieg and Haydn and was a lot of fun to listen to!

Joanna with the first violins, and Josiah in the cello section.

I've put together a few video clips from the concert (video below), but you can also check out Here, Here, and Here for a few other clips from the evening.

If you had been here on Sunday...

2010-04-21T13:34:00.000-05:00

..you would have seen a crowd of people enjoying relationships that God has given, and delighting in the beauties of His creation on a fresh spring day! Conversations while sitting in the sunshine, volleyball games, food, fun on the trampoline, sitting on the back porch swapping stories and making plans for summer... Spring is certainly here and we are looking forward to lots more fellowship in the great outdoors over the coming months!

Of course, there were also lots of little people around enjoying swings, slides, balls, jump ropes, and smiling!

Liberty Day!

2010-03-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

Liberty Day 2010 has come and gone! What a full and wonderful weekend it was! As of today, we have still not received any photos from the variety of photographers that were there, so I stole this one picture off of Dawn's Blog until we get more to share with you!

We had 900 attendees from 12 states join us for the event, and we are so grateful for the many wonderful people that joined us as staff and support for the event - this has truly grown beyond our expectations and abilities! And we are especially grateful for the grace of God that led us through many last minute changes, unexpected road blocks (stage curtains/lighting/etc.), and health issues (Patrick Henry had lost about 90% of his voice that day, but was able to put all of that last 10% into his speech!)... and so much more! God is so very good!

Of course, I know that all of you who were unable to attend are on the edge of your seats waiting to hear what Dr. Jehle and Mr. Titus shared with us. If you aren't, you should be! It was excellent! Head over to Resounding Voice to purchase the audio set.

Lord willing, we'll have a few more pictures to share with you all before too long. In the meantime - we're still working on recovery around here! :-)

Getting Ready for Liberty Day

2010-03-11T17:34:00.023-06:00

I think we will soon have an entire collection of historic dresses - from newborn to adult size! Yesterday Aunt Abbey helped create a new dress for a growing Caroline for Liberty Day 2010.

BTW - the registration deadline is this Saturday, March 13, so get on over to the Liberty Day site and send in your registration! We are counting down the days and are VERY excited about this year's event!

Indiana Convention

2010-03-11T05:34:00.000-06:00

Back in late February, most of us Erbers joined the crew of Resounding Voice and headed to Indiana for their annual homeschool convention. It was a quick weekend trip, and it was rather nice to only have a 5-hour drive this time!

Josh managed to keep us busy here and there throughout the weekend, but we were able to enjoy some downtime in the evenings back at the hotel. It was a pretty straight forward event with few surprises - which is always nice!

One of the most notable facts from the weekend, was the discovery that the Resounding Voice staff prefers to purchase cell phones that match the color of their bowties.

Overall, the first event in the 2010 conference season went well - here's to the rest of the year!

Need to Smile?

2010-03-09T07:47:00.002-06:00

Click Here!

Life and Fun at Grandma's House

2010-03-01T21:46:00.000-06:00

Happy Anniversary, Josh & Abbey!

2010-02-23T14:56:00.001-06:00

Two years together!

Seen In Our Yard This Morning...

2010-02-13T17:15:00.000-06:00

The Aftermath...

Stuart with "the cat" who was dubbed "Wilbur". I think we are now Wilbur's new home...

Seen In Our Yard Last Night...

2010-02-13T09:08:00.008-06:00

Five fine gentleman chose to brave the zero degree weather, bundled up and slept out under the stars!

One nice thing about sleeping outside in zero degree weather is that the sky is crystal clear and you really have an incredible view of the stars! And since you'll probably not really be sleeping all that much in the course of the night, it is rather nice to have a view to enjoy... :-)

Settling in for the night. Yes, that cat hung around them all evening and ended up climbing into Stuart's sleeping bag for the night.

They all survived, though some of them came in fairly early this morning, and they all had good appetites come breakfast time!

Because I Can't Resist...

2010-02-05T19:46:00.001-06:00

Trenor - at two months old. He's a spittin' image of his daddy!

We were looking through old slides the other night and found a couple pictures of Josh that look just like Trenor. Now to get those slides transferred to digital photos so we can compare the "oldies" and the "newbies" more easily... :-)

The Things That Life is Made of...

2010-01-29T13:05:00.007-06:00

January has been a month of a small world for most of our family. Small in that it has revolved mostly in one room around one topic.
The room: The Office.
The topic: Liberty Day.

Thankfully, I think the "must be done by end of January" things are now done. So, you all can run over to http://www.libertyday.net/ and check out the new look over there (thanks to Kathryn), as well as all the new information for 2010 (that's what we've been working on). Once you are done oohing, and aahing over all the exciting plans for 2010, you will want to click right on over and submit your registration online! Then, there's only one more thing to do. Invite all your friends to come, too! There are files you can print off and hand out, or you can just direct people right to the website, too. If you are on Facebook, you can rsvp there as well and invite your Facebook friends. See how easy and fun all this technological stuff is - once it is all figured out put together and updated?? :-)

But on to other things...

To say that all of January was spent in the office on Liberty Day would be mostly true, but not entirely. There have been, of course, plenty of other things going on. Schoolwork, church and family stuff, mostly. Family stuff, does, of course, include grandkids - like the little girl pictured above eating oranges from Grandma M. in Florida!

Joseph has started EMT training this month. The class goes through May, I think. So far he has taken two tests, and has passed them both just fine.

Dad has been superintending the work of repainting most of our main level. Joseph and Joanna have both participated some in that as well, but the rest of us have just been trying to avoid getting paint all over us.

In light of the new paint, it was discovered that our living room also needed new curtains. So Mom has now finished sewing those and the room has a whole new look now.

Joanna and Josiah are both busy preparing for a competition coming up on February 20. Jessica is the piano accompanist for Josiah this year and is finding one of his pieces enough to push her beyond the heights of her former level of piano expertise (which was, admittedly, limited). With only three weeks left, there is lots of practice is going on around here to polish every aspect of their pieces!

And that's about it - for now... you just never know what a day may bring!

Wrapping up 2009!

2010-01-12T16:57:00.015-06:00

Before 2010 gets too far under way, here's a quick review of the last couple of weeks of 2009!

Event 1:
Church Christmas Party - 12/20/09

In the afternoon of Sunday, December 20, our church families got together for a time of remembrance and celebration of Christ's birth. We read scriptures, sang hymns, and rejoiced together!

Event 2:
Do-It-Yourself Messiah - 12/21/09

Despite many changes and other day-of challenges, a group of us did make it downtown for the annual Do-It-Yourself Messiah! As an add-on to the already special evening, us "Older Siblings" snuck in dinner at Giordano's ahead of time! Nothing like preparing to sing by filling up on pizza! But sing we did - and take pictures we didn't. So you'll have to hop over to the Yen's Blog if you want those.

Back at home 6 happy grandkids spent the evening, night, and next morning with their grandparents!

Event 3:
Christmas Day - 12/25/09

Despite snow storms, ice, airport delays, etc. Jonathan did make it home for Christmas! His flight ended up arriving only one hour passed the scheduled time and we were SO glad to get him back home! He was also excited to meet his newest nephew for the first time!

And, we got to enjoy dinner once again as a complete family! The most treasured gift all season!
The evening was spent in a very relaxed manner, looking over gifts, projects, etc.
Caroline played almost every Christmas carol in her book for us!

And we spent time - just chillin'... and enjoying being family.

...or tackling Grandpa...

And "just because," I'm including this picture from the morning after Christmas. We have NEVER seen foxes around our house in the 11+ years we've lived here. Lots of other wildlife, but never foxes. Until the week following Christmas. Almost every morning there were two of them playing in our yard. And then they disappeared again and we haven't seen them since. Anyhow, here's a picture of one of them standing just outside our living room windows as the Great Snowstorm of December 26 started to blow in!

Event 4:
Sledding - 12/30/09

As the year drew to a close and the snow deepened, and as Jonathan was home on vacation and that is a good excuse to get together with friends (as if one was needed), and as other details just lined up right, several of us spent an afternoon sledding with a group of friends from church. Some classic spills, fun rides, and lots of laughter were experienced and observed! :-)

Event 5:
Bella's First Birthday - 12/31/09

What can I say? This adorable sweetheart is a whole year old!! She really enjoyed her cake...

Event 6:
Returning to Normal Life

Ahhh.... the ongoing quest for "normal life"! Sadly, right now "normal" includes the fact that Jonathan is back in Idaho. But on the home front, we are getting back in the swing of school, music lessons and all those other great responsibilities that claim our attention!
Praising the Lord for 2009, and looking forward to what He has in store for us in 2010!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T19:19:00.002-06:00

We had a wonderful time together with extended family on New Year's Day...

From our family to yours - God bless your year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T14:05:00.002-06:00

A Merry Christmas to you all!

A Blur...

2009-12-17T09:35:00.010-06:00

Little Trenor is now two weeks old! And what a very full two weeks that has been for our family! Of course, spending time with Josh, Abbey, Bella and Trenor was high priority! But mixed in with it all were a few other events that required our attention as well.

Friday evening, December 4th, we had the fun of taking part in a local town's annual "Victorian Christmas" celebration. It was very cold, but fun and memorable!

There was a parade, carolers, and other festivities around town, but our job was to demonstrate a few old English dances.

We got together 8 couples from our church (including the young gents picture above) and put a few dances to well known Christmas tunes and danced in the center of the town square!

Like I said, it was a very cold evening, and we were grateful to be able to hang out indoors for part of the time!

The rest of that weekend and most of the next week was occupied with this little guy and his family. Abbey and Trenor were able to return home from the hospital on Sunday afternoon, December 6. Thank you to all of you were praying for her! Aside from lingering weakness and the standard weariness of having a 2 week old (and 11 month old!), Abbey is doing very well now.

Bella is thrilled with her new little brother and loves him very much!

But while all that excitement was going on at home, I (Jessica) was off galavanting about the country! On Saturday, Dec. 5, Dad and I headed out to Omaha, NE for an ordination service at one of our sister churches. Dad returned home on Monday morning, but I stayed out there with the Kayser family until Tuesday when I rode with them down to Cincinnati, OH (or actually, across the river in KY) for a conference on the Sufficiency of Scripture.

I had been invited down to help out at the conference, so I got to spend the weekend working alongside this great group of ladies! It was a very enjoyable blessing to get to know them all better (we had all at least met before). I also had the opportunity to visit with others of the attendees and came home refreshed in spirit, but rather in need of a few extra hours of sleep!
I also got to know the Kayser family better as they hosted me in Omaha and as we spent many hours in the van together! Thank you SO MUCH, Kaysers - for the meals, the lodging, the transportation, your warm hospitality, your encouraging conversations... I greatly appreciated it all!

After dropping me off at home, the Kaysers spent all day Sunday with us before we finally said farewell on Monday morning (we are up to Dec. 14th, now).

But before we parted, Ben finally won a game of Quarto! Congratulations! :-)

So that brings us up to this week. And this week has been full of fulfilling our "duties" as aunts, uncles, and grandparents; final music lessons before Christmas break; counting down the days until Jonathan is back home (only 7 left!); Strufoli making; Christmas shopping and other gift preparations; trying to finalize plans for the various events of the next two weeks; and I don't know what else, but it seems to have flown by quickly without many spare moments! But, of course, when "busy" is related to "family" it's a good busy!

It's a Boy!

2009-12-04T13:20:00.003-06:00

Just after 11:00pm, last night, Josh & Abbey welcomed into their arms a dear little boy:

Trenor Jonathan Erber
Dec. 3, 2009
8lbs, 10oz

We are SO excited to welcome another little guy into our family!

Trenor is a Gaelic name meaning, "A man; the termination of fear; very brave; valiant."

Baby Blue

2009-12-04T08:21:00.003-06:00

A little package arrived last night that has made everyone quite happy around here...

Stay tuned!

Family Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T14:40:00.010-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours!

We may have had only a small crowd this year, but we still had PLENTY of food to feast upon!!

After a quieter - but still full - Thanksgiving Day, we enjoyed relaxing all evening, but when Friday morning came, we got back to work!

As of right now, Saturday evening, autumn and Thanksgiving decorations have been gathered and packed up; winter and Christmas decorations delved into and then paused; leftovers consumed (last of the pie disappeared this afternoon); plans for next week suggested and committed to (did we just say yes?); the living room has been repainted (walls and trim); the fragrance of pine is beginning to mingle with the smell of turkey soup and cover up the paint fumes; laundry has been done; floors are being vacuumed; furniture is being dusted and put back in place; some decorating has been resumed... The day set aside nationally for Thanksgiving may be over, but while we work we are still finding so much to give thanks to the Lord for - not the least of which are closely related to home and family! We are blessed!

Church Thanksgiving

2009-11-20T06:37:00.010-06:00

On Sunday, November 15, our church hosted a few other area churches for an afternoon and evening of thanksgiving, celebration, and fellowship! The Lord truly blessed our time together and I'm thinking that we'll have to do something like it again!
Each church brought a few things to present - mostly music related, and some requiring young musicians to step onto stage, while others had "retired" musicians pulling out their instruments again!

Our church opened the time of celebration by singing "Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah" together. We closed with a time of prayer for our country, our churches, our families, and those present that evening.

Of course, after the "program" we moved to the fellowship hall for a few hours of visiting, eating, dancing, chatting, etc... It was a very special and enjoyable time, and we enjoyed building closer ties with certain churches, and building new relationships with others. Praise the Lord for the community of believers!

Doughnut Days

2009-11-20T06:37:00.009-06:00

Yup! It's time again for our annual tradition: Doughnut Day!! This year we had to really work to squish it in to everyone's schedules, but yesterday afternoon we did get it in. All the ladies and children came over and we made cider-glazed-pumpkin-doughnuts! Mmmmmm....

Actually, while it is overall a fun day, it is really characterized by the constant requirement to exercise self-control. To some degree, anyway. Like, only eating a dozen, not two dozen, doughnuts. And it is an exercise in child supervision - making sure they eat only one, not two, dozen...

But doughnuts make everyone smile, so they are hard to resist!

Hmmm. I get the sense from looking at this picture, that Josiah might have just grabbed a fresh, hot, glazed doughnut as he walked by!

Long day, and a tummy full of doughnuts - I think someone looks ready for bed!

Autumn Fun

2009-11-20T05:51:00.006-06:00

This post is out of order, but I didn't get around to posting it before we left for the wedding, so here it is now! Josh & Abbey hosted a fall "Saturday Special" for our church and it was so much fun! They've organized a few of these through out the year, and have done a great job with each one. This time it was held "indoors" at the Geaschel's barn.

There was cider making, donut making, ping-pong, carpet ball, volleyball, crafts and coloring, and just plain ol' fun visiting through the afternoon hours.

Even "indoors" it was pretty cold that day so everyone stayed pretty well bundled up!

Of course, with a ping-pong table and a crowd we had to play "Around the World!" :)

Despite the chilly temps, Bella had fun, too!

Then, after a big chili dinner, came the "organized activities." Basically, Josh stood on stage and said "I need three volunteers" or "I need 4 Dads" or "3 ladies" or whatever combination he wanted. Then, after you were on stage, you were given your assignment. :-)

There was a pie eating contest, a "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" race, various ensembles given select instruments (balloons, recorder, trombone, kazoo, etc.), and other creative assignments. My favorite was the four dads that had to put together and perform a ballet routine for us. Absolutely classic!

And then, of course, there was a sing-a-long. Due to weather, it wasn't around a campfire, but we still sang campfire songs! Thanks so much, Josh & Abbey, for all the work you did in planning and hosting that day! We all had an unforgettable time and have a larger store of great memories with our church family!!! :-)

Of course, how could we title a post "Autumn Fun" without including a picture of leaves... or trees missing their leaves!

Steven & Rebecca's Wedding

2009-11-14T13:51:00.010-06:00

(Photo credit: Tiffany McDonald)

Friday, November 6, 2009, found us in St. Louis, Missouri for a wedding! What a privilege to attend and take part in the solemnities and festivities of the day! However, we were not merely celebrant observers. The Servens honored us by again asking us to come down and prepare the feast for a daughter's wedding! We figured if they can handle two weddings in one year, so can we! :-) You will have to look elsewhere for pictures of the ceremony and reception. We came home with a camera loaded with kitchen pictures!

We drove down on Wednesday and settled into our accomodations that evening. On Thursday, festivities began. So did the work. Thursday evening the guys headed over to the church to help with set-up and decorating, and Mom, Joanna and I spent 4+ hours in the kitchen prepping the beef. We were not left to trudge through our work alone, however. A sociable young man with a camera kept us smiling - in exchange for just a few samplings of the roast. You know, the odd end pieces that can't be served...

We also prepared the "au jus" the night before, and, frankly, the only way to really tell if it is seasoned properly is to smell it.

Friday morning arrived quickly and we were off to the church to prepare the feast in the larger kitchen on site. I soon found myself staring at their stove space, their stock-pots, and 110lbs of green beans. It was time to move from theories to practice and get all this food cooked in the remaining hours before the ceremony.

At the same time, Mrs. Young was directing a crew of young ladies in the preparation of over 40 apple and pumpkin pies! All created fresh, and completely from scratch!

I can personally attest that the results were as yummy as they looked!

The biggest challenge cooking for a crowd that size (400+), is simply the amount of space it takes to prepare and store the required quantities!

Washing and chopping mushrooms for the gravy, washing and slicing radishes for the salad...

Demonstrating knife skills....

Wondering where I'll fit the rest of the green beans...

Dare I confess that I was rather nervous at times during the day regarding both the timing and taste of the meal? The Lord was very gracious, however, and everything turned out fairly well and was hot (or cold!) at the right time!

The reception was lovely, and the staff of servers much appreciated!

At both Beth and Rebecca's weddings we have had the opportunity to get to know and work alongside new friends. What a blessing that has been!

The day was lovely - in every respect - and in all things the Lord was magnified! To Him be the glory! God bless you, Steven and Rebecca, as you now serve Him together!

Reformation Day Faire 2009

2009-10-29T12:20:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we attended Providence Church's Reformation Day Faire. We had a wonderful time and a big thank to you all who worked so hard to organize and host this event! These few pictures and comments hardly give so much as a hint at the day, but at least it is something!

Friday afternoon, evening, and Saturday morning were great times of music (Genevan Foundation Psalm Sing, and Charlie Zahm) a collection of very interesting lectures, and lots of low clouds and rain. Then, Saturday afternoon, right as we were getting ready for the outdoor activities, out came the sun! Praise the Lord!

"Ye Olde Town Square" - It was beautiful out and so fun to see so many walking around in costume! Mid-afternoon we headed over to the park for the "Highland Games"...

Caber Toss - Winner: Joseph Erber!!!

Shot Put - Winner: Joshua Erber!!!

It was a long day, but very enjoyable! Thanks again, Providence Church, for hosting the event!

Apples to Applesauce

2009-10-28T12:07:00.004-05:00

It's apple season! And that means lots of fun and hard work!

This year, Josh built a cider press, so some of the apples were set aside for cider.

With a little help, Winston was able to press some of the apples into cider!

Mmmmm.....

Most of our apples turned into sauce. With eight grandchildren 4 and under, we can make our way through applesauce fairly quickly! Grace really enjoyed "helping" the apple choppers.

We didn't get many pictures of saucing this year because we had so much to do and so we were all busy all day long!

Between a full day yesterday (96 quarts canned) and a couple of half days last week, we've gotten around 200 quarts of sauce canned! Now we just have to make the last few bushels into cider and pies!

Bella

2009-10-27T12:28:00.001-05:00

Birthday Time!

2009-10-26T09:39:00.004-05:00

Camille turned two back in September, but since she was sick that day we postponed the big celebration, and then other things came up, so we finally got around to celebrating it last week. We also celebrated the October birthdays (Mom and Joseph) that day, thus the three candles. Mom and Joseph sacrificed the excitement of blowing out their own candles, however, and allowed the little people that immense pleasure and privilege! They all look pretty excited to me!

Ready - Set - Blow!

Hmmm... it didn't go out!

Happy Birthday, little girl! We love you SO much and think it is just so cute how your whole face lights up when you smile!

Providential History Festival 2009

2009-10-19T14:27:00.008-05:00

October 1-5, 2009 found our family in Omaha, Nebraska for the 2009 Providential History Festival. This was our first year to attend, and we were really impressed by all that they are doing there and look forward to heading back that way in future years! This year, they invited us to come out to present the reenactment of the 2nd Virginia Convention to their attendees.

Dad & Mom were also asked to present a workshop (actually, two workshops) on "improving your drama" (I can't remember the actual workshop title, but it was something to that effect). Shown above are a handful of victims - or rather, volunteers - preparing one of the hands-on exercises in the workshop. They did a great job with a tough task! And we all had fun watching them! :-)

Well, did I mention that we ended up bringing more than just the workshops and 2nd Virginia Convention. Above we have pictured the 2009 performance of the legendary "Revolutionary Tea"! (Below is pictured a rehearsal of the same presentation earlier in the day... )

I would really very highly recommend that if you are at all within driving distance of Omaha, you check out this event for 2010!

This year the festival was held at the Strategic Air & Space Museum which was a very fun setting, and in the midst of everything else going on, we did get to spend some time browsing through the museum and seeing all the planes. I think Bella liked this plane, but I suppose that the picture could be interpreted differently...

On Friday evening, a couple of us taught a bunch of the crowd a few dances, such as the Virginia Reel. The one shown above has a real name, but as none of us can remember what it's name actually is, so for now we've dubbed it the "Harvard Circle." I believe the photo above (taken by Beth) was during the "Jewish" variation - just a guess as the circle seems to be moving with a faster tempo than the "colonial" version would warrant...

Joanna & Raeanne also performed the "Ashoken Farewell" that evening - and I got to pose with the famous duo shortly before their performance! :-)

I ended up heading home earlier than most of the gang from our neck of the woods, but have heard nothing but wonderful reports about the rest of Saturday and Sunday. It sounds like there were lots of fun and interesting presentations, good conversations, new friendships...

Hope to see YOU there next year!

Thank you, so much, Kayser family for inviting us, hosting us, and all the incredible work you put into hosting the Providential History Festival! May the Lord bless the festival, and your church, abundantly!

Ooh, but I can't sign off without one more picture of Bella! But now I must sign off, because I am headed over to her house... ta ta for now!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2009-10-15T09:30:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Mom!! We love you so much!!!!

Happy Birthday, Joseph!

2009-10-08T13:14:00.005-05:00

(Joseph in costume, a couple of weeks ago)

Happy Birthday, Joseph! Sometime during the last decade and a half, our little "Jo-Jo" has grown up through boyhood into manhood and is now 18 years old!! We love having him around. He brings lots of laughter into our lives with his gifts in the area of comedic timing, but he also is an active participant in deeper conversations on the issues of life. We love you, Joseph! May the Lord bless you as you follow Him during this next year!

(Jonathan & Joseph - July, 2009)

Tis' the Last Post of Summer...

2009-09-22T13:21:00.015-05:00

Well, I heard somewhere the Autumn doesn't officially begin (in our area, at least!) until 4:18pm. Therefore, I still have a couple of hours to get one last post up during Summer 2009! I do believe, however, that this will easily be a low-record setting year when it comes to blog upkeep on this site! Ah, well, life goes on!

That sweet little smile Grace is wearing in the picture above was due to a surprise present from Grandpa! What was it?

Hmmmm. It requires assembly - but many uncles make light work! It was partially assembled at Grandpa's house, and then delivered and the final pieces put together on site. Much to the delight of some little kiddos who were too ill to come over and play at our house that day!

Yay! A new swing set!

~~~

Also thanks to Grandpa, we got in one more day in the pool this summer! After a couple weeks in June of wonderful pool weather, the chilly days made the thought of swimming unpleasant. But as summer drew to a close, Dad decided that we needed to get at least one more day in the pool before closing it up for the winter season. So after trying a couple of inexpensive, ingenious ideas for heating the pool, one worked.

At least, it worked well enough for three active young men to enjoy it for awhile!

Oh yes, three young men and a couple of princesses! Bella LOVES water (actually, I think Bella loves all of life and anything it brings her way!), and her oldest cousin, Caroline, is quite the little fish. So, the two of them braved the waters as well and enjoyed a final swim for Summer '09!

If I remember correctly, that last swim day was Labor Day - which was also the day that we celebrated Grandma Erber's birthday!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Joanna, on the other hand, didn't need the water warmed to be up for swimming! She spent the first couple of weeks of September in Naples, Florida with the Hills (Abbey's family). She had a wonderful time with Wendy and the whole family. Thanks, Hills, for including her in your vacation!

~~~

Usually this time of year we are cooking, freezing, canning... in general, processing whatever produce comes in from our garden. This year - thanks to cool, damp weather and a highly contagious tomato disease - we have had almost no crop at all. However, using various other avenues, the Lord has blessed us with fresh produce nonetheless. A week or so ago Mrs. VanDellen spent a day with us and helped us get a bunch of strawberries in the freezer! Thank you!!

Late last week we received a phone call from someone we had never spoken to before, but with whom we had mutual friends. The Haroldson family was passing through town and as a result of that phone call they stopped by and visited for a day before traveling on! God bless your travels!

Ahhh... but with the end of summer comes a time to buckle down and focus a little more directly on our studies. This year, Caroline has started studying the piano and is making excellent progress (if a prejudiced piano instructor may say so...). She is gobbling up her music and I learned very quickly that my challenge in teaching this student was not going to be overwhelming her with her assignment each week - but giving her enough to do! Early on Sara reported that Caroline had been bored after learning her new songs so quickly and so had started practicing one of them backwards... just for something to do. :-)

I stole this picture from Dawn's Blog as I forgot to bring our camera with us this past Sunday to a "Last Picnic of Summer" that Josh and Abbey organized. You can click on the picture to see some other pictures from that event!

And that brings us to today, the first day of autumn. We just celebrated the arrival of that season by indulging in some fresh apple cider donuts! Here's to Autumn!

August

2009-09-02T15:00:00.007-05:00

It is mid-afternoon. The day is an absolutely beautiful late summer day. Near 70, clear blue skies, dry air, and the house is quiet, aside from the singing of crickets outside the window. Which is why I finally have a few moments to explain why this blog has been so quiet for the last few weeks.

The truth is, that our camera has been either forgotten or sadly neglected for most of the month. So you will have to take our word for it as we list the flurry of family and social activity that has kept us on the go during the last several weeks!

Early in the month of August:

New job
Joseph started working full days 3 days a week.
Mom to California
- for a weekend to speak to a group of ladies at a sister church.

In the last 2+ weeks:

4th Annual Milky Way Invitational Softball Game
- with multiple out of state guests (TX, MI)!
Blonde grandkids overnight
- more than once! Yay!
Phantom of the Opera
- an evening in Milwaukee with friends - great cast!
Nathan & Jeanine moved
- farther away, but not too far!
Josiah turned 13
- Happy Birthday, Josiah!!!!!!!!!
Families here after church
- the usual: food, volleyball, etc.
RVC Orchestra
- Joanna & Josiah joined this year
Wrigley Field
- we got to see the Cubs beat up by the Nationals
A Day @ the Dels
- Jeanine was sick, so Mom spent the day there, and then...
Del kids here
- between illness and moving, we ended up with the kiddos here for several days. Yay!
1st Annual Midwest P&R Jubilee
- 5 churches represented from WI to MO for a day of picnic/games/hymn sing/fellowship

That's the run down! I could add brushes with illness, yard and garden work, and cramming in chapters of our current family "read-aloud" book in every available evening... but that all goes without saying as just a part of life.

Now for a few pictures that we did take - or that I stole from the blogs of friends! (Btw, stolen pictures link to appropriate blogs when clicked upon.)

Moving Day and Josiah's 13th birthday were the same day, so he didn't quite get a full, normal, Erber birthday celebration - or picture! :-)

Though he may have been just one week shy of 13 during the big game, he played like a man! (Should we also mention the man-sized wound inflicted on his bro-in-law when this pic was taken?)

Having his family on the sidelines cheering was no doubt the primary cause of Jeremy winning the games MVP award!

MVP in the making...

Action!

What's a game without food afterwards?

My helpers in the kitchen!

The kids could swing all day long - literally.

Aunt and nephew discussion.

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

2009-08-19T13:43:00.009-05:00

Yesterday was Jeremy's birthday!
Happy birthday to our "biggest" brother! :-)
May the Lord continue to bless and prosper you and your family!
We love you!

(Picture credit: Wendy Hill)
As an aside, last Saturday was the 4th Annual Milky Way Invitational Softball game and Jeremy was awarded the MVP trophy! I guess age isn't slowing him down any! (This photo is from the post-game fun.)

July

2009-08-10T12:26:00.007-05:00

I know, this is rather late to be posting about the first few weeks of July, but I'll feel better moving along if I just at least mention some of what we did last month - aside from sending Jonathan off and enjoying comfortable living weather!

During the very last days of June, we had a brief visit from some friends who were en route to Boston, MA! It was so wonderful to have them join us for the evening and overnight... even if it was a rather short visit! First thing in the morning, on June 29, we waved them off, and then ran inside to finish our packing and - after spending quite a bit of time puzzle piecing all the equipment, luggage, and people into the vehicle - we pulled out of the driveway ourselves and headed east to Boston.

Yes, that is a stroller just behind Josiah's head. And it was wedged in enough that it didn't budge the entire trip. Actually, most of us were wedged in well enough that we could hardly budge the entire trip... Josh, Abbey and Bella flew out and we took some of their luggage - as well as Josh's AV equipment.

The drive went well, but it soon became apparent that we'd need to drive through the night. Due to rain, and weariness, we pulled into a rest area in the wee morning hours and slept. As the sun rose we noticed a familiar looking vehicle sitting parked across from us. Different routes, different stops, different agendas along the way, but same parking lot. It was in fact, the very friends that we had said good bye to the day before! And, no, we hadn't talked with them at all during our travels. We got out, stretched and chatted for awhile, as we all woke up, and then headed out - to meet up again in Boston.

As soon as we arrived in Boston, we headed to the bus station where Mom boarded a bus headed 2 hours north to Maine where she visited with her sisters for a couple of days. Definitely a bit of family resemblance there, eh?

Back at our hotel in Boston, Josh and family arrived from the airport about the same time we pulled up to unload. Bella was excited to get out, and very soon discovered the art of crawling!

This is our only picture of the hotel we stayed at in Boston. We were there for the Reformation 500 celebration hosted by Vision Forum Ministries. Josh had been hired to set up and run the AV systems and also record all the sessions and mini-tours that were held that week. Between working for Josh, watching Bella, and making sure everyone ate, we were all kept busy during the week!

On Saturday, July 4, the event drew to an end, and in the evening we headed out to watch the Boston Firework Display. It was impressive, and as we stood fairly close to the barge they were launched from, we were able to feel - not just hear/see - every explosion. Very fun! Most of the pictures from the week are on Josh and Abbey's camera. So in the event that I remember to borrow it from them and find a picture absolutely worth sharing, I'll post some of those.

The trip was very significant in Bella's life. Not only did she figure out crawling, she also tasted her first real food. I mentioned that J&A flew out to Boston? Well, they drove home in the van with us. So as entertainment for Bella (and the rest of us), Abbey opened up some baby food for the first time...

She was a pro from the start. Chewed up that first bite and swallowed it like she'd been doing it for months. Didn't even need the bib. Such a brilliant child! Oh, and I should add that she absolutely loved it, too. Must have some of that Italian blood in her as she seems to agree with the sentiment that food is the best fix for any problem.

~~~

Within a week of arriving home from Boston, Josh, Abbey, Bella, Jessica, Joseph and Josiah were on the road again. This time headed west all the way to Phoenix, Arizona. They were gone from July 13- July 21. They left the camera at home and used Josh and Abbey's camera. They did take pictures, but don't have them here to share. The trip was long, but went well. It was hot (117 in the shade), but dry. Traffic was scarce, except when a traffic accident closed the entire highway... and we were only about 20 minutes from our final destination after 3 days of traveling! Traversing that route always reminds us of how absolutely lovely Illinois is. Good to be home again!

~~~

While they were gone, the remaining part of the family (Dad, Mom, Jonathan, Joanna) welcomed the Adams family for about a week. Sadly, that meant that those of us who were in Arizona completely missed their visit! However, the reports are that all enjoyed the visit entirely. Our family was refreshed and encouraged by their fellowship, and is grateful for their ministry! Thanks for stopping by!

Okay, one last picture before we wrap up this segment of July. Sara made a lovely fruit pizza to welcome us home with after the Arizona trip. So here is a picture of Josiah and I - just back from 3 days of traveling, with the three blondies and the pizza they delivered! The pizza was good, but the kids are even better!

BTW - the picture at the very top of this post is these same three blondies - during an overnight at Grandma's house a couple of weeks ago. Their Daddy and Mommy had to go on an emergency shopping trip to replace a refrigerator that suddenly quit working.

And now, we are hereby declared caught up and moving forward. August is here!

Trivia

2009-08-01T10:53:00.003-05:00

The coldest July on record (for our area) was back in 1967, when the average temperature for the month was 76 degrees.

Our average temperature in July 2009 was 69 degrees. I think we need to start thinking about seriously pursuing global warming.

Jonathan's Off to Idaho

2009-07-29T14:43:00.010-05:00

Just before 9:00 this morning Jonathan said final goodbyes and pulled out of the driveway. Headed where, you ask? He's headed west, to Idaho. Why, you ask? Well, he will be studying music under, and being mentored by Dr. David Erb. His commitment to Dr. Erb is through late May/early June of 2010. We are excited about this opportunity for Jonathan, but we are going to miss him a lot! Apparently there are a few other people who think they might miss him too, as this past weekend we had a couple of going-away parties for him!

On Friday, the Carlsons organized a bowling party for a bunch of us to get together and have one last fun evening together before Jonathan left.

Some of us haven't been bowling in a VERY long time, but certain ones showed that they have the Erber bowling genes in them...

Dad wasn't going to play, but couldn't resist showing us all how it's done. :)

And while Dad held the highest score of the evening, Josiah came in with the second highest!

Jonathan bowled a couple of good games, too...

...until he decided to try some other techniques and...

Yes, that is a bandage on his finger. It looks nice and tidy in that picture, but it wasn't pretty looking when the bones were not where they were supposed to be, and is apparently pretty badly sprained.

By the time it was iced and taped up as best we could in a bowling alley we were getting close to the end of the evening, but he did play one game left handed. He's definitely right handed.

Thanks, Carlsons, for organizing the evening! We had so much fun!

~~~

Then came Sunday. After our church service, and lunch, our traditional "afternoon meeting" altered a little bit to allow us a time to send Jonathan off in style! Various creative presentations saw us laughing and crying. It was a very memorable event. :-)

"The Ballad of Juan"

"Mr. Jonathan"

Afterward, nearly everyone came back to our house for more fun, food and games. Jonathan even managed to play volleyball despite his finger brace.

Having an immobile finger (and doctor's appointments) did cause his packing and preparations to be slowed down a little bit, and thus he headed out of town today instead of yesterday as originally planned.

Loading up his stuff...

...backing up...

...and pulling out! God's blessings on you, Jonathan! We love you!

Keepin' Cool

2009-06-27T12:33:00.003-05:00

After a very cool and rainy spring, summer arrived this week with a heavy dose of heat and humidity. Although we've had quite a bit of work to be doing in preparation for the coming weeks of traveling, we have also realized that all work and no play doesn't accomplish much - especially when there are little ones (and big ones) that need cooling off! So, the pool has been put into much use this week. Miss Isabella had her first introduction to the pool and LOVED it. Grace and Camille are still unsure about the whole thing, and Caroline has proved herself quite the little swimmer!

In other news... Yesterday Dad and Mom celebrated 33 years of marriage!! Happy Anniversary!!! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a picture of them to put up here yet (we're all running around trying to finish everything up before a busy couple of days/week coming up). Hopefully I'll get one up here soon!

Summer and Sickness

2009-06-15T17:02:00.009-05:00

Well, we're a bit overdue on updating here. But we do have a legitimate excuse - illness has struck the community. I'm the only one in this house who got really sick, but as various members of church and extended family have dealt with the bug, our lives have been effected by that as well. But backing up, here's a little more info on the last post.

Jonathan, Joseph and Joanna have been getting together with Aaron E, and Ethan W, (both from our church) on a semi regular basis this spring trying to put together some fun bluegrass style music. As they were rehearsing one evening, Mom came downstairs with an idea... which soon sprouted into two ideas and before you knew it they had adopted a name, signed up for a local talent competition, and filled out an entry form for a local parade (which takes place annually on the first weekend of June - big stuff for a small town). The name they adopted for themselves was "Pieces of Eight" which comes from the fact that all three families represented in the band are from families that have eight children.

So, Friday, June 5th came around and with it came lots of truck polishing and testing of the sound equipment (provided, of course, by Resounding Voice).

When it came to testing microphones, little people volunteered for the "open mic". We have the sweetest recording as they sang from their repertoire of favorite songs!

Saturday, June 6th dawned nice and rainy, but with the aid of an umbrella (held generously through the entire parade by Josiah) they made it through the first event. We headed home for dinner and rest - joined by a few of the Powers and surprise guests Phillip & Katie! Thanks for stopping in! It was wonderful to get a short visit in with you!

It also happened to be Ethan's 18th birthday, so we had to sing and celebrate! Soon after dinner, we headed over to the festival grounds and found our way to the Entertainment Tent where (sometime after 7:30) Pieces of Eight would be called to the stage to perform one number before a panel of three judges. Due to the fact that one member of the band was over 21, they were slated to compete in the Adult Division. Thus, as their fans cheered from the back of the tent, they blew away the judges and audience with their excellent execution of "Thank God I'm A Country Boy". (Incidentally, the most critical of the three judges was one who had performed that song at the Grand Ole Opry 30 years ago). They were the second to compete in their division, so we sat and patiently endured the remaining performances, until finally all were finished and the results were in. We held our breath as 3rd place was announced, then as 2nd place was announced, then we set up a great "drum roll" for the 1st place winners.... and we were delighted to cheer ourselves hoarse as "Pieces of Eight" was called up to take a bow!

Moving forward to Monday - the most important fact about Monday was that it was Williams 3rd birthday!! But life quickly became more mundane, as also on Monday illness struck. And then, by the weekend, kids and cars were being shuffled around as various ones headed to the doctor, or - in Tom's case - to the hospital for several days. While Nathan and Jeanine were occupied with caring for Tom (Nathan's younger brother), we got to have their kiddos here! And what fun we had!

Although the weather has been very cool still, we did open up our pool and despite the less than ideal temperatures (water and air) a little bit of sunshine goes a long way and the pool could not be resisted.

We didn't just play all weekend, though. We did get some work done - like finishing getting the screens up and paint down on our back deck, and getting the riding lawn mower working again!

That just about brings us up to today, although we could also mention doings on Sunday afternoons at the Webbs (on the 7th) and the Hills (on the 14th), but I'm sure you all aren't really interested in more pictures and tales of volleyball, eating, and visiting with our church family... :-) If you are, I'll just have to send you over to Wendy's blog, where she has tons of pictures from our Sunday afternoon at their house, and, if you keep scrolling down, more pictures from the parade and performances of "Pieces of Eight" - if you come across the picture where the members of "Pieces of Eight" are all standing with a foot on a trash can... well, just know that it has significance.

Looking ahead there is a bit of traveling in store for us. Various members of the family at various times over the next 6 weeks will find themselves in Ohio, Massachusetts, Iowa, Arizona, and Georgia! So, here's to good health, happiness, full energy, and vehicles with AC!

Winners!

2009-06-06T23:04:00.004-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen... The 1st Place Winners of the 2009 MD Talent Competition, Adult Division!!!! Congrats guys - and Joanna!

Little People

2009-06-04T07:19:00.008-05:00

Well, at 5 months she has mastered the art of getting up onto her hands and knees! Ain't she just so sweet??? We all think so!

These aren't the best of photos, but they're cute and I see a lot of her daddy in her, especially in the one below. I'll have to see if I can find some pictures of Baby Joshy... :-)

On Monday, June 1st, we opened up our pool for the summer. Winston has been talking about the pool for some weeks, so we told him he could come watch us get the pool ready for swimming. It wasn't swimable while he was here, but he had to wear his swimsuit anyway!

Camille has the sweetest, brightest smile, but if you ask her to smile for the camera she scrunches up her face into a cheesy grin... but side shots don't quite show the sparkle in her eyes! She was insisting on sitting squeezed right between Mommy and Grandma and didn't want either of them to give her "more room". She loves to cuddle!

A less cute picture, but a report on our life... these birds are en route to the freezer!

Wonderful Weekend

2009-05-30T11:18:00.009-05:00

The last couple of days have been fairly quiet around here. But it's a quiet that follows a long, busy, and very fun weekend. As usual, with long, busy, fun weekends, we didn't take many pictures because we were so busy having fun. So here's the rundown along with a few, mainly non-descriptive, pictures.

As Friday, May 22, dawned, so also dawned the fabulous idea that we should have a family of 10 stay with us for the weekend. A couple of phone calls later we were hurrying around the house to get it ready for an Englund invasion. However, as late morning approached, the eldest daughter at home (that would also be author of this post), bowed out for several hours having been previously invited to an afternoon of visiting and volleyball at the Beatty farm. So off I went on my little excursion leaving my family to do the rest of the work on the home front. Pictures of volleyball? Nah, I didn't even bring the camera with me! But, if you are really very curious, you could skip over to Dawn's Blog and check out her pics of the day.

So, around 5:30pm I arrived back home, in time to watch Joanna get the last pizzas through the oven, set the table, and enjoy dinner. Then the guests started to arrive. A number of the married couples, and a handful of the young adults, in our church have been going through a video series on child raising. I know that might sound rather dull, but I've certainly enjoyed the study - as well as the discussion times before/after each segment. Last Friday night, was one of the evenings to get together to watch the video, and the usual crowd arrived. But accompanying the regular selection from the Englund family were the rest of the Englunds. And thus, the weekend was kicked off!

After our study time was over and those returning home had done so, the rest of us stayed up rather late visiting. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that in addition to the Englunds, we also had Ethan and the three young Del's here for the night. Saturday morning during the breakfast hour a prodigious number of pancakes were consumed by the 21 residents and guests of our home.

The morning hours sped away as we cleaned up, practiced music, and headed outside for volleyball, croquet and visiting (I really wonder how many pictures of us playing volleyball in our yard have made it onto this blog - but in case you don't remember what it looks like, here's another!).

The morning and early afternoon passed along pleasantly enough, but there was a marked change around the time the clock struck 2pm. Suddenly sports equipment, picnic supplies, first-aid items (just in case), and various other perhaps seemingly random items, found their way into various vehicles and were soon transported (along with a host of human cargo) to our nearest favorite park. Why for, askest thou? Why, what could it be but a Christ's Church Saturday Special, organized and hosted by some of our favorite people: Josh & Abbey.

2 divisions of "Home Run Derby", relays, puzzles, water balloons, kickball, softball, an "air show," picnic dinners, live entertainment, and more, made up the fun of the day! Oh, yes - the tug of war... we broke the rope on the first tug, leaving both teams sprawled on the ground wondering what had happened. But in the end the split rope came in handy for jump-rope, and its inspiring variations. Well, "inspiring" may be a rather lofty word, but if you have ever attempted doing push-ups while jumping rope, you may have found the exhibition to have been inspiring...

If you're interested in seeing more pictures, you can turn to the ever-reliable blog of Dawn to find some more!

But I'm only to Saturday, so I must move this along. Saturday evening the Englunds were back at our place, so despite the activities and exertion of the day we again stayed up into the later hours of the night, talking, laughing, singing...

Sunday morning arrived quickly, and we were all off to church! But this was no ordinary Sunday - this past Sunday a couple of the men were installed into the office of Deacon. So after the service we said goodbye to the Englunds, and headed home to host a couple of other families at our place for dinner (along with our own extended family crowd), and spent the afternoon visiting. I will only add that nobody stayed up late on Sunday night.

Then came Monday. And with Monday arrived a few little blonde Erbers to spend the day with us. We also received an invitation from the Hills to come over for volleyball and Memorial Day dinner at their place. So, not having had quite enough social life for one weekend, we of course accepted and headed in that direction - the little blondies along with the rest of us. We had a wonderful time - thanks, Hills! The Blondies spent that night with us, Tuesday was cello lessons and errands, as well as laundry and cooking. Wednesday we packed up the guys and they hit the road west for the first major RV event of the year (thus the pictures of the crew heading out in the last post). In case you want another picture, here is one of them pulling out of the driveway:

And that just about brings us to today. I wish I had pictures from yesterday, but I don't, so you will just have to imagine a couple of photos of lovely plates of food - I went to a gourmet cooking class! Among other things, we made some really yummy Grilled Asparagus and Chocolate Chip Cannoli...

Right now the house is quiet, and we anticipate it remaining somewhat so for the rest of the day, but of course, you never know what grand and wonderful idea might enter one of our heads!

Jonathan Missed the Memo?

2009-05-27T09:57:00.003-05:00

Presbytery 2009

2009-05-21T10:38:00.004-05:00

Last weekend we had a wonderful time meeting with families and leaders from our sister churches in the CPC. Yes, it was Presbytery 2009 - this time hosted in Tennessee. We failed to take very many pictures, but here is a glimpse at our weekend. The camp that we met/stayed at had a wonderful lodge with a wrap around porch with 73 rocking chairs on it (Stuart counted them)! It was a favorite place to sit and catch up with old and new friends from around the country - especially on Thursday.

The camp also had another hall that served as the main social area - for meals, the "barn" dance, basketball games, and more!

Lots of visiting time! The men, of course, were occupied in meetings almost the entire time, but the rest of the families enjoyed various work and fun activities together.

As most of us were not yet adapted to the high humidity of central Tennessee the indoors was the preferred place of occupancy, however, there was some football and volleyball that took place outside!

It was wonderful to catch up with CPC friends we had met during the year that our church has been part of the denomination. Of course, it is always encouraging to meet new friends, and build deeper relationships with those who were simply acquaintances. How grateful we are to be connected with this extended family!

One of the smaller business matters that the men addressed during the weekend was the location for Presbytery 2010. However, it became a bigger matter to us personally as our church was chosen to host it! Plans are already in the making and we are definitely looking forward to welcoming everyone here!

Middle of May

2009-05-12T13:03:00.005-05:00

Well, here we are! It's the middle of May and not one post here yet this month! The fact is that we've just been busy enjoying life, family and hard work lately. Not much that would be of interest to the outside world has been taking place around here. But, here we are and here are a few pictures that we have taken in the last couple of weeks. As you can tell in the photo above, spring is finally here in all its green glory, thanks in part to the numerous downpours and thunderstorms which we've experienced lately. We've been wishing we could share some of them with Santa Barbara!

Spring also means chickens! They are fattening up in good order...

And Spring also brings recitals! Jonathan and I had a joint recital for our piano students, but the lighting was odd and the pictures didn't really turn out. The next day, Josiah had his cello recital. We may be prejudiced, but we think he did pretty well! Here he is with his teacher:

(BTW - Josiah performed Elegie by G. Faure)

Ahhh, yes, music. Though music for our family generally means "classical", lately there has been a bit of bluegrass/country/cowboy music being played. Toes are tapping...

Mother's Day! We had all the family here for an enjoyable, relaxing, outdoor Sunday afternoon.

There was sittin' and chattin', there was wiffle-ball with the little ones, volleyball with the older ones... Uncle Josh and Aunt Abbey found a swing at a garage sale that they hung in one of the trees for the little ones. The only problem was that the chains were too short, so the kids had to be hoisted up about 5 feet to get to the swing. After getting over the "fear of heights" jitters, they kept begging for more swing time!

Camille checked out and approved the current status of our chickens.

Did I mention volleyball? Fun to play with the old married sibs again. :-) Oh, I think I did forget to mention "King of the Stump" which seems to be at play here, as well.

King of the Stump, again, and a bonfire that was lit as the sun set.

Of course, as we approach warmer weather, we girls always have to think about putting our hair up... and as Isabella is a big sister now, it is only appropriate that she move up from infant hair-dos. :-)

Speaking of big girls, this little darling has her first birthday tomorrow!!
Happy birthday, Gracie girl! We love you, deary!

April Showers.... of blessings!

2009-04-27T07:32:00.005-05:00

We have been deluged with rain over the last few days and things are starting to really look green! I believe the saying "April showers bring May flowers" was a reference to our climate as it really looks like things will start blooming around here soon!

But aside from the blessing of the new life that arrives every spring, there is another special blessing of which we have received news. Click Here to view a picture that is very important to our family!

Preparing for a Wedding Feast

2009-04-22T10:52:00.013-05:00

We were honored to be entrusted with the duty of preparing the reception dinner for the 450 guests at Jon and Beth's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and we were so glad to be a part of it.

Beth chose a great menu and gave us her delicious recipes -
Chicken (marinated in Teriyaki Sauce)
Seasoned Roasted Potatoes
Gingered Carrots
Greek Salad
Rolls and Butter

It was a big job but you know what they say. . .
"Many hands make light work."
Thank you, Lord, for your wonderful gifts!

We had a great hard working and cheerful crew.
All the prep work was done Friday night. Thanks everyone!

Jessica did a fabulous job organizing and heading-up the operation. Everything went so smoothly! Way to go Jess!

All the cooking was done on Saturday morning.

Jonathan and Joseph helped out in so many different ways!
Here they are stirring the roasted potatoes.

Our faithful washer-woman, Joanna.

The buffet line. Here people are coming up for seconds.

Coldstone Creamery ice cream for everyone!
Don't you love those bowties!

Guests mingling at the reception.

You may have noticed that part of our family was missing from the crew. Dad stayed home with Josiah who had the chicken pox! Caroline, William, and Grace had it, too!

Smile!

2009-04-15T20:07:00.008-05:00

Cousins smiling because it is Spring!

Little people smiling at littler things!

Everyone smiles when birthday time comes!

Above, Caroline & William help Grandpa blow out his birthday candles. Below, Corrine turns 4 TODAY! Happy Birthday, little sweetheart! You always bring smiles to our faces! Even when you cut your own bangs... :-)

And if those pictures haven't gotten you smiling yet, how about this one?

BTW, more pictures of Bella can be found on Josh & Abbey's blog.

Happy Birthday, to my dear husband!

2009-04-06T12:38:00.005-05:00

Please join me in wishing Rog a very happy birthday!

Rog is a man who serves and serves and serves. He is patient and happy to go the extra mile. He works hard and is comfortable doing the right thing - even if it is very out of the ordinary!

Thank you, Rog! Life with you has been very interesting and never, never dull!

May the Lord bless you with good health and many more blessed years!

Liberty Day 2009!

2009-03-31T12:56:00.014-05:00

Dear Friends, It seems like a long time has passed already since Liberty Day, but in reality it has been only a little over a week! God certainly blessed the preparations as well as the execution of plans throughout the day, which more than exceeded our hopes. Here are just a few of the pictures our photographer snapped for us. Thank you SO MUCH, Peter! Mostly I have pictures here that feature Erbers, of course. I've posted a slideshow overview of the day Here on the Liberty Day site.

Thanks so very much to the Yens and the Fieches for their help at registration and throughout the day!

Dr. Jehle spoke on the Declaration of Independence and the doctrine of interposition. It was thoroughly encouraging, challenging, inspiring, and delightful to listen to. I know I didn't get to hear everything, but what I did hear was sound, practical teaching addressing both political structure and principle, as well as application to our own daily lives. You can purchase and download the sessions from the day through Resounding Voice's website. I'm looking forward to listening through them again!

We almost maxed out the facility... I think they said the sanctuary holds 850 and we had roughly 800 attend! And, if you haven't listened to the Moody Broadcast about Liberty Day, you can do so here.

We also really enjoyed having Charlie Zahm come and share his music with us all throughout the day and also during the evening celebration. He has a great voice, and a fun selection of music - old hymns, americana folk songs, sailor songs... Good stuff! BTW, he'll be performing in Illinois again this fall at the Reformation Day Faire.

Oh, yes!! The apple pie contest! D'ya think the judges are enjoying themeselves?? :-) Everyone was to sign their name on the bottom of their pie plate. So to find the identity of the winner...

Thank you, thank you Carlsons and VonHoltens for all your practical help and loving support and involvement in Liberty Day! Making coffee, organizing pie judging, curling wigs... it is such an encouragement to work alongside of friends like you!

It was a very first Liberty Day for Grace and Isabella... we love you two! Oh, and Josiah and Abbey, we love you two, as well! :-)

Oh, and what do you know - some more cutie-pies!

All the Erber men participated in the MC work for the day and evening. Here Jeremy is introducing Joanna and Raeanne.

Joanna and Raeanne shared a lovely performance of Ashokan Farewell to open the last session of the day. Josiah was their page-turner.

It was fun to get to catch up with friends through the weekend as well!

Naptime!

Clean socks and coffee... what else does one need, right?

Final costume adjustments...

Final Rehearsing and mic checks...

It was Joseph's first year as a full participant in the 2nd Virginia Convention. Great job, bro!

After Dad welcomed everyone to Liberty Day 2009, Jonathan introduced our opening act for the evening celebration and seems to be enjoying himself...

Okay, I'm not including celebration pictures here... it would get too long and I'll be posting them elsewhere anyway!

And then there was the fun afterward... apple pie, punch, visiting, picture taking, a reenactment of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Virginia Reel, and we attempted a couple of other simple dances, as well!

And then it was time to clean-up, pack-up, and head home! Liberty Day 2009 was over... but next year is coming! Will you be there??

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

2009-03-25T11:55:00.010-05:00

Happy 21st Birthday to a great brother!
You're a great example, a fun guy, strong and steadfast, and do some very interesting things!
It's a blessing to have you around.
We love you!

Liberty Day!

2009-03-23T17:42:00.010-05:00

(Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Beatty)

Liberty Day has come and gone and it was WONDERFUL! We are so grateful for all that the Lord did through the weekend! We don't have pictures yet, but Moody Radio did broadcast a piece on the event this afternoon. You can listen to the archive online HERE.

(Pie Judging - photo courtesy of Peter Serven Photography)

Over 800 people from 9 states joined us for the day - many coming in costume and bearing fresh apple pies! Did I mention that it was wonderful?? We'll post pictures and a more thorough update when we can! In the meantime, let us know if you have pictures up!

If you weren't able to attend, you really have to buy the recordings of Dr. Jehle's sessions on Interposition. They were excellent! So was the music that Charlie Zahm brought and shared with us! Our deep, heartfelt thanks to both of those gentlemen for making the day so very enjoyable and profitable for all of us. And thanks to all of you that came, we so enjoyed spending the day with you!

(Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Beatty)

Pictures from attendees can be found here:
Yen Family
Dawn's Blog
Liberty Day Collage by Wendy

Counting Down...

2009-03-18T14:30:00.007-05:00

Liberty Day is coming upon us very quickly! In less than 48 hours we are scheduled to be on site setting up! Obviously, that means we have a few things going on between now and then: printing final paperwork and handouts, writing up final MC notes, creating and finishing costumes, and all the rest of those last minute details!

We are SO excited about Dr. Jehle coming and all that he has to teach us this weekend, and we are very much looking forward to Charlie Zahm sharing his music with us! AND, we are thrilled to have several hundreds from at least 7 different states registered to attend with us! If you haven't registered yet and Saturday is or can be open for you, please join us! Click Here for information on late registration.

But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy - at least, that's what they say... So, in addition to the preparations for this weekend, we've managed to fit in some other fun as well!

Joanna's birthday cake - no she wasn't able to blow out all the candles in one breath. :-)

A bluegrass "jamming" session!

Irish Soda Bread from our St. Patrick's Day dinner.

Jessica & Jonathan taught a few folk dances at a country dance!

Fun in the sun! The weather this week has been beautiful and the temperature made it up into the 70's here yesterday! We've lost no chance to be outside!

We'll sign in again after Liberty Day! Have a great weekend!

Sweet Sixteen!

2009-03-14T10:15:00.003-05:00

Today is Joanna's 16th birthday! She is quickly maturing into a fine young lady and we love having her around! Happy Birthday, Joanna! May the Lord pour many blessings upon this next year of your life!

Of course, today is also Jeanine's birthday, and although she now lives in another home, we still love and appreciate her so much!

Happy birthday, dear sisters!

Of Weddings and Old Friends

2009-03-06T20:32:00.008-06:00

This adorable little lady has been in her car seat quite a bit over the last week. Thankfully, she proved to be (for the most part) a very good little traveler!

Josh, Abbey & Bella, Mom and I (Jessica), hit the road south last Friday in order to attend the wedding of some dear friends in Louisiana on Saturday. Guess what? We didn't take any pictures of the wedding, or of the hours of visiting with good friends afterward! But you can see some very nice wedding pictures Here. We had a delightful time, got very little sleep, and enjoyed lots of wonderful conversation! May God bless you both, Phillip & Katie, as you embark on your new life together!

After the wedding and post-wedding events, on Monday morning we headed out but did not head home! As our next hosts along the way were still on the road themselves, we had some time to spend along the coast, so we made a few stops along the way. Our first stop was Beauvoir (above and below). It had been mostly destroyed in Katrina, but they have done an amazing amount of work restoring it to its original look.

An interesting fact is that the doors in the picture above are the original doors (1840's) made of cypress wood. But the owner didn't like the look of cypress grain, so he hired a gentlemen to paint oak grain on top of the wood. In restoring them post-Katrina, they have painstakingly copied every line of the painted grain...

Our next stop introduced Bella to the Gulf of Mexico! She seemed to enjoy being outdoors - something she has had little opportunity to experience in our native climate this time of year!

Our final stop was a drive around Fort Gaines. We arrived too late to actually tour the structure, but we did drive around the Island.

We finally made it over to the Bentley's house in time for dinner! Best we can figure, we've known the Bentley's for about 24 years! We don't get to see each other often, but we thank God for each chance we get and rejoice to see how He is leading both of our families in so many similar ways.

Josh and Abbey dropped Mom and I off at the Bentley home, and then headed out to spend a couple of days together celebrating their anniversary. We ladies took an afternoon to see the sights around town, and enjoyed a bit of spring walking through a cute park near the children's hospital there (you can see the bronze statue of a little girl next to Laura... the park was filled with similar statues along the pathway).

On Wednesday Josh & Abbey picked us back up and we headed a few hours north where we spent the evening with some more long-known friends, the Kawells! Let's see - our families go back almost 20 years to the early 90's! Our stay was short so we made the most of it and spent quite a bit of it talking rather than sleeping - not a bad idea even in hindsight! :-) It was wonderful to catch up with you all again! (And here's a "Hello" to Mr. Kawell! Sorry we missed you!)

Thursday was our final day of travel. We ladies made it all the way home, but dropped Josh off at a national Leadership Summit along our way back. Incidentally (or rather, according to plan) Dad and Joseph are also attending the conference (which Josh is recording) and they and Josh should arrive home tomorrow evening, when we will all be 'back to normal life' again! Well, sort of...

I think Miss Isabella has been very happy to not be in a car seat again today!

Violin Competition

2009-02-25T12:44:00.006-06:00

In the list of accomplishments by members of the Erber family, another line has been added. Last Saturday was an annual music performance competition hosted by the Mendelssohn Club in which various Erbers have competed on various instruments in various years. This year, Joanna was the only Erber represented. Her category - Senior Strings; her instrument - the violin.

Now before announcing where she placed in the competition, I must make these notes about the last two months:
1. She had 10 days almost entirely off of practicing while we traveled to Texas for the SAICFF in early January.
2. She had another 10 days off of practicing after spraining and partially dislocating her shoulder in a sledding accident.
3. She cut the fingertip of a finger important to violin playing just a couple of weeks before the competition.
4. And she was one of the youngest ones in her division of the competition.

This brings us to last Saturday and the competition where Joanna took Honorable Mention in her division!! Many, many thanks to her teacher, Mrs. Chodorowski, for all the work she put into Joanna in this past year! And, of course, congratulations to Joanna for sticking with it, and practicing hard - and practicing especially hard here at the end with all those set backs! You sounded great!

A year ago...

2009-02-23T07:20:00.005-06:00

Yes, today is the day! Josh & Abbey's First Anniversary!!! Congratulations to you both!

What a full year it has been! We love you and pray that God will bless you with many, many more years of blessing and of serving Him together!

For those who love to look back at the pictures, there are plenty of them on this blog! Check: Here, Here, Here, Here, Here and Here!

It was a beautiful day in every aspect, and stands out as a highlight amongst the collection of best days in the history of the Erber family! I get excited all over again just remembering that day and all the joy and blessing the Lord poured out on you both and us all on 2/23/08.

Congratulations, Josh & Abbey!

The Little People

2009-02-20T10:50:00.005-06:00

We love having Josh and Abbey bring Isabella over to visit! :-) She's growing up so quickly!

Today we get to have the blonde little people here for the afternoon while Jeremy & Sara head off to take care of some errands. But I also just came across these pictures that we took during the weekend that we had all our little people here (except Grace & Bella) while their parents were at the couple's retreat.

We had lots of fun together from Thursday evening through Saturday evening. There's nothing like having five wonderful little people ages four and under - two of whom are two year old boys! What a blast!

The girls wanted to look like "Maria" (von Trapp, of course). The boys didn't want to look like Maria but did want something on their head. So we went for the pirate look. William had one too, for awhile, but apparently it came off before we got a picture!

They didn't exactly follow the rules, but the boys entertained themselves for awhile with a Connect Four travel edition that is missing pieces and has to balance when it stands up because the clips are broken. :-)

Keeping warm eating breakfast in the living room next to the wood stove. We got a bit of blueberry on our jammies and had to throw them in the laundry, but we had lots of smiles and I had to do laundry anyway!

Ah yes, this picture was taken a little before the last one. We were still wrapped up in blankets and not 100% awake yet for this one.

Camille doesn't seem to be quite awake from her nap, eh?

All the fun we had together really wore us out! Poor Corrine was convinced she was NOT tired and did not need a nap...

Beware...

2009-02-19T10:25:00.005-06:00

Our family loves having company, even for a short afternoon or evening visit. But, it is only fair for us to occasionally warn our guests that accepting an invitation may also engage you to play some game during which you may have to perform some feat you had never considered before - such as drawing a broken spark plug, or impersonating two elderly ladies knitting (Josh & Aaron, above), or performing gymnastics (Mr. Yen, below)... Anyway, we had a blast this past Sunday and look forward to entertaining ourselves with other victims... er, guests... in the future. :-)

Y'all come soon, ya' hear?

Hibernation...

2009-02-10T10:35:00.005-06:00

As has become apparent in the three years of this blog's existence, the Erber family seems to go into a sort of hibernation during December and January - especially January. Our blog seems to fall fairly silent during those weeks, and to some degree I suppose our family does, too. It has been said that the modern fragmentation of the family was started when central heating in a home became standard. Well, our home has central heating - the heat all comes from one central point and does not mix into the rest of the house very well when the temperatures stay regularly below zero! So, we found ourselves very frequently resorting to our living room and the cozy wood stove it contains. Mealtime? Fill your plate in the kitchen and then move to the living room. Evenings? Grab your book/game/project and move into the living room. Free time? Congregate in the living room. So January found us spending lots of time together staying warm.

Today, however, we come out of hibernation. See all that snow in the picture above? It's all melted now, turning our yard (and gravel driveway) into what looks like some sort of mud preservation area. There is sunshine that lures us out onto the porch to consume our midday meal while absorbing a few long absent sun rays. And then there is also the scented breeze that reminds us that we live just north of a dairy farm...

Granted, there is snow in the forecast again for tomorrow, and it is still early February, and a glance at Nathan & Jeanine's wedding photos reminds us that even into April things are cold enough around here to not be green yet, so we do still have a bit of winter ahead of us. But for today, we are enjoying an early dose of spring fever!

Not that we've actually been idle... Liberty Day is just around the corner! The mailing is out, registrations are coming in, and - with a history of several hundred attendees from a more than a dozen different states - the event does require a little bit of work!

We also enjoy the opportunity to have friends over during the "less busy" months. Last Saturday we had the Carlson clan over, but the only picture we have is this one of Jonathan and Joseph serving the cakes that Mr. Carlson had made. Mmmmm...

Plus, we do live very close to a bunch of our extended family, so family duties and pleasures do require a bit of our time, too! After church on Sunday the whole clan descended on our house for visiting and LD discussions and visiting. Somehow we found a limited supply of food in our fridge - but we did have a bunch of leftover mashed potatoes which, with the help of many hands, were quickly turned into Gnocchi with Pesto Sauce. Thanks to Winston for persevering in the kitchen despite his oft-mentioned Gnocchi-making-induced-exhaustion. :-)

And, could we possibly sign off a blog post without a picture of the little Bella we all love so much? She is very healthy, and very interactive. She loves to smile and "talk" with people, and even sort of chuckles at times!

A weekend to enjoy!

2009-02-05T12:28:00.011-06:00

The kids always have fun with Auntie Jessica!

Whether fishing...

Or, playing cars...

There are always fun times when Auntie Jess is around!

Isabella will soon figure out that snoozing is the last thing you want to do when all the cousins are together!

The couples in our church headed out to a retreat center in southeast Wisconsin. It was a refreshing weekend, in more ways than one!

There were puzzles to solve...

Chats to enjoy...

Cozy times...

And great messages from R.C. Sproul, Jr.

Then when we got back home our family had the privilege of hosting Dr. Sproul. Sunday morning he spoke to our church, then it was time to say "good-by" and send him on his way - back to his family and hometown in Virginia. It truly was a blessed weekend! Thanks, RC! We hope you'll come back again! (Maybe when it's just a tiny bit warmer???)

Liberty Day 2009

2009-01-29T08:45:00.002-06:00

We apologize to all our dedicated blog readers for the extended silence here! We've been focusing time and energy elsewhere - on Liberty Day 2009! The advertising brochure is almost in the mail, but even though it hasn't been sent out yet, we're already receiving registrations! Be sure to visit the Liberty Day site and look over the details for this year. Dr. Paul Jehle is bringing a message we are very excited about, and Mr. Charlie Zahm will be joining us as well!

Another event that has been in the works and keeping us busy is our church's couple's retreat this weekend! Dr. RC Sproul, Jr. will be coming into the area to encourage our couples as they spend some time away together over the next few days. On the homefront, it means that the Erber aunts and uncles get to have a few days with their neices and nephews! And it means that I need to get back into the kitchen and finish some food prep...

Weights and Measures

2009-01-19T12:15:00.002-06:00

Taken on Thursday... the day after little Bella turned two weeks old. She was wiggling a bit by the time we took this picture! :)

In case you are having trouble reading that photo - it says 30 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. Taken on Friday after sunrise... it was a few degrees cooler an hour previously!

2009

2009-01-15T10:42:00.003-06:00

Yes, we did survive ringing in the new year and are still up and around - just haven't been near a computer much lately!

The truth is that we are just coming out of what felt like a couple of major parenthesis in life that I'm now realizing that we are half way through January already!

First interruption - well, you already know about that one! On New Years Eve our day was a little preoccupied with welcoming the little miss who was introduced in the last post, and then celebrating Nathan's birthday - which also happens to fall on the momentous last day of the year.

On January first, final preparations took place for our second major life interruption. Granted, it is nothing new or unusual for us to travel to a conference, but to travel so immediately on the heels of the holidays and the sweet little new arrival, and to travel to a climate so vastly different than ours is right now, well it certainly felt like a major parenthesis.

On January second, the group of nine of us hurried through the cold and snow to pile into our van and drive down to San Antonio, Texas. Within 24 hours we found ourselves driving through 83 degree Oklahoma - and as repairing the AC in our van is not a high priority in the middle of winter around here, we did not have AC...

We left Dad and Mom at home, but all us "kids" went, along with some other coworkers/friends. We spent the next week+ in Texas most of the time working for Josh's company, which had been hired to do all the AV work for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and Filmmakers Academy.

A group of us did take a day to walk around San Antonio, enjoying the sites and visiting the Alamo. It was a perfect day for touring a town - sunny, warm, but with a pleasant breeze... it just did NOT feel like it was January. It truly felt like we were on some other planet, or had accomplished some sort of time travel.

We left immediately after the closing ceremonies on Saturday night, and around 4:00am on Monday (1/12/09) we stepped out of our van into a couple feet of snow on our driveway. Parenthesis over. It's January again! Today it was 20 degrees below zero when I first looked at the thermometer this morning - it's warmed up a few degrees by now, but it's still somewhat brisk out. :-) Frankly, as much as the weather in TX was beautiful, this is January and I love it!

We did come home from the trip with about 1500 pictures - but they are all on Elizabeth B's camera and she's sorting through them now. Joseph is still in TX with our camera, so no pictures for now! We had a wonderful time, but arrived home thoroughly exhausted.

Joseph flies home this afternoon (providing there are no weather issues to delay him) and tonight we'll all be back together again!

Abbey and Isabella are both doing well and I have finally gotten to see my newest niece with her eyes open (something that I didn't get to witness before leaving town).

"Parenthesis Over" also means that there is bread to bake, laundry to take care of, and it's time to move forward with work on Liberty Day, our church's Couples Retreat, and... life goes on!

Introducing a New Erber!!

2008-12-31T11:47:00.004-06:00

It's a Girl!!! This morning at 6:42am, Josh and Abbey welcomed their new little daughter into their arms and we are SO very, very excited!!

Miss Isabella Ann Erber
December 31, 2008; 6:42am
7lbs, 10oz;
20" long

Isabella, Abbey, and Josh are well and happy, just very sleepy! Praise the Lord for His many wonderful blessings, and for this very special one given as we greet this last morning of the old year!

Pictures from Christmas

2008-12-30T15:07:00.008-06:00

Just a glance at Christmas Eve at Aunt Jill's house and Christmas Day at our house! Little text, lots of pictures.

The crowd on Christmas Eve - or most of it, anyway.

Caroline carefully opening her gifts.

It's a little out of focus, but I love his intense expression!

William.

Camille eating cucumbers on Christmas Day. Our feast consisted of much, much more (way too much more - if it is possible to have too much food at a feast), but she loved the cucumbers! Actually, she looks like she's ready for a nap.

Baby Grace, and her new doll! I think she will be "Baby" Grace until this next little one shows up.

Da boys - checking out their gifts.

Josiah asks, "Uhhh, what is this?" as Nathan and Tom display classic reactions as the impact of the reality hits them. I know, such a nice gift. But hey - it fit the theme for the year, sort of...

Oh, yes! An air-horn for my truck! Just what I wanted!! :-)

Auntie Abbey reading to her baby's oldest cousins.

Showing off new shirts...

Time to go! Gotta love the socks, eh?

Jumping ahead in time to today...

Tomorrow is Nathan's birthday and his family came over to our place today to make his birthday cake. Corrine is trying to figure out what dress to wear for Daddy's birthday...

Merry Christmas from the Erbers!

2008-12-25T00:00:00.001-06:00