A New Deck

This weekend we are enjoying visits from Jeremy, Sara, Caroline, and William. Well, it's only been one visit so far, but we expect them (or some of them) again today and tomorrow.


Jeremy is spending this weekend building a deck out back for us. Since we moved in (in 1998) we've had a 3-foot step out the back door. Finally we are getting around to remedying that and the deck is going in. As all our other guys are in Ohio at the CHEO convention, Jeremy's assistant and student for this project is Josiah. They spent almost all day out there together - except for coming inside to cool off a few times! Today promises to be cooler (it's in the 50's now!!!) so they should have much better working conditions today.


While the guys worked, Caroline managed to keep the rest of us smiling all day!


And she helped out in the kitchen as we finished up food prep for the upcoming Faith & Freedom Tour.

A couple weeks in the life of us

While we certainly could be spending all our time oogling over our new little grandson/nephew, the fact is that there are other things going on around here as well. As I (Jessica) am back in town again, I find myself once again in the position of family chronicler and blog updater. So here we go!

My time in Alabama was absolutely wonderful! It was very special to spend that many weeks with my sister, bro-in-law, niece and nephew. All four of them conspired to keep me busy and entertained during my 10 week stay in the south, so I have come home enriched with more memories, experiences and friends.

The last week of my stay was definitely the craziest, which is why I stayed for it. Late nights, early mornings and busy days! For the last several days we had 11-13 people staying at the apartment each night - with more at most meals. Very memorable.

Six of the guests were Josh and his crew who had driven down after a conference in New York to help out for the last few days of Justice Parker's campaign, and bring me back home. Finally on Wednesday night, June 7, we said most of our goodbyes and stayed up late once more just for fun. Thursday morning we packed up, said our final goodbyes, squished us and all our stuff into Josh's suburban (the guys gave me the front seat so they felt most of the squish), and hit the road. Jonathan chronicled those last few days pretty well, so look here for pics and commentary!

While on the road we got a phone call about the very exciting happenings in Illinois which increased our desire to get home quickly. After a short stop in Ohio (complicated only slightly by me getting us lost while I gave Josh a break from driving) - we arrived home around 2:00am on Friday!

Friday was busy enough with us setting up for the special event that evening and taking a quick visit to see William.

Dr. Trifkovic's presentation on 1500 years of Balkan history that evening was both fascinating and overwhelming!! Granted, the late nights and long hours of the proceeding week didn't work to my advantage that evening, but I am looking forward to sitting down and listening to the recording of the lecture with a stack of encyclopedias, a dictionary, more maps, and a notebook, and gaining a better grasp on eastern European history.

This week has been much more laid back:

Monday was spent unpacking and shopping ... and selling kittens.

Tuesday was spent painting, teaching, and prepping the kitchen.

Wednesday & Thursday were spent baking 150+ dozen cookies (same reason that we did so last year) and teaching piano lessons. I'm really not sure what everyone else did those days! Oh, Jonathan took (and scored well on) the entrance exam at Rock Valley College where he'll be taking some classes this fall.

On Friday, we had friends who are missionaries to the Ivory Coast here during the day. It was good to catch up with them again and hear first hand of their work and adventures (such as experiencing an emergency evacuation from the Ivory Coast to Mali due to the unrest there) and enjoyed catching up with them and sharing music together! In the evening we ran over to visit with Jeremy, Sara, Caroline & William.

Today we're doing more baking, having a family over for dinner, preparing for tomorrow's get-together with Grandpa & Grandma Erber, Aunt Jill & Uncle Don, and doing some general house cleaning - and a little more painting.

Looking ahead we eagerly anticipate the arrival of certain special people who will be returning home to the midwest this coming week!


While the rest of us were down in Alabama, Dad, Mom, Joanna, and Josiah brought our chickens in to be butchered! We now have a bunch of tasty roasters in our freezer...


Corrine is excited to be moving back to Wisconsin!


Winston doesn't seem to care where he lives - as long as he's with Mama!


Mom, Joseph, and Josiah cleaning up the yard.


One of our four kittens that now have a new home.


One of about 2,000 cookies that we baked this week!


More fun in the kitchen! (Joanna, Josiah, Joseph)


A visit with "big sister" Caroline Joy.


Enjoying a family visit getting to know someone very special...


... William Henry Erber

Our Little Men

William Henry Erber - 5 days old















Winston Curtis DeLadurantey - 7 weeks old

Boy, Oh Boy!

Once again, we are thrilled to announce the safe arrival of a baby boy!
Jeremy & Sara welcomed their new son, William Henry Erber, yesterday morning. He weighed 8lbs. 10oz. and is 21" long.
Mama, Papa, Sister and Baby are well and very happy this morning - as are the numerous aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins!
Praise the Lord for His many blessings to us!

Join Us For Balkan History with Dr. Trifkovic

Sandwiched between the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and the Danube River, lies a land full of history. The Balkans have been in the center of many global crises: The 1389 Turkish Invasion, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Duke Ferdinand’s assassination and World War I, the Serbian Freedom Fighters, and more! Overlooked in most history books, a proper understanding of the Balkans is necessary to fully understand Europe and our western heritage.

On Friday, June 9 our church is honored by the rare opportunity to host expert on the Balkans, Dr. Serge Trifkovic. An internationally acclaimed speaker and author, he will be teaching on the ancient history of that area of the world, how it has affected world-wide events, and, bringing us up to recent history, provide us with a better understanding of current events, especially in the light of the decline of Christianity in our country and Europe along with the expansion of Islam.

This event is hosted by Christ’s Church, and will be open to others as well. Please come! Send us an email if you’re interested in attending, and we’ll get you the pertinent details and directions. Go to our user profile and send us an email for more information.

Dr. Trifkovic, the director of the Center for International Affairs, is a scholar who has combined his academic interests with a distinguished and varied career in journalism and public affairs.

Co-founder and Executive Director, of The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies, he has appeared on a myriad of national and international TV and radio programs, including the Ollie North Show (MSNBC), CNN, CNN International, BBC World Service, CBC, Voice of America, and U.S. News & World Report.

Dr. Trifkovic continues to hold the post of foreign-affairs editor of the Rockford Institute’s magazine, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. His regular column is appropriately called The American Interest. He has also authored two highly acclaimed books addressing Islam: “The Sword of the Prophet” and “Defeating Jihad: How the War on Terrorism Can Be Won - in Spite of Ourselves”

Surprise visitors!

We hadn't seen the Stockdale family for years...
What a pleasure it was to catch up and visit!
Come back again soon, ya'hear?

The Del' Family

Nathan, Jeanine, Corrine and Winston DeLadurantey - May 19, 2006

Hey, Y'all!

Well, as this blog hasn't been updated for awhile, and as I actually have a couple of minutes here while everyone else is napping, I thought I'd chime in from Alabama and say hello to everyone. Yes, I am alive and well here in the sunny south. Yes, it is very sunny - though thanks to some storms that came through last week we haven't totally roasted yet. Current conditions are pretty mild - only 85 degrees and less than 30% humidity.

It has been so much fun to be here with Nathan & Jeanine during these last several weeks, and I've certainly been kept busy! Corrine and Winston are both charming, delightful, and active enough to be a distraction to any project, and between admiring them, caring for them, keeping Corrine occupied and out of trouble, keeping the household running and fed, and occasional time put in helping Nathan at the office, Jeanine and I have both had our hands full!

My stay "through the end of April" has bit by bit extended to "through the end of May" and now is set "through June 7." At that point Nathan will have a little more time on his hands, and I really can't stay any longer as there are some things at home that I can't put off any further than that! Besides, I do miss everyone back home, too!

Right now, Dad and Mom are visiting us for a couple of days - much to the delight of us all. Corrine is just having a blast with more people around to admire her tricks, and read her stories, and chase her around the house, and...

Well, everyone is up now so I'm going to post a few pics and sign off!

Jessica

The McDonald's visit

Over the past couple days we have been blessed with the fellowship of the McDonald Family who stopped at our house between a conference that they were at in Michigan, and a conference they are going to in Texas. They arrived Sunday afternoon and stayed until Wednesday morning. Here's a few pictures from their stay.

Talking, talking, and talking late into the night and early morning. :-)

Monday night we also had Jeremy, Sara, Caroline, and the whole Strand family over for dinner. I'm not sure exactly what's happening in this picture, but Christa appears to be moderating a "conversation" between Caroline and William.

Of course, there were many volleyball games played during their stay. I'm not sure how many games we played, but it must have been around a dozen. It was a lot of fun.
Um... Let's not mention the team records. :-)

The little ones meet!

Dress Up Time!

For the past few days we have had Victoria, Toby, and GiGi Fowlks with us. Here's some photos from when we played dress-up the other night.

On the homefront

The boys are switching bedrooms!
So it will now be Josh and Joseph in one room,
and Jonathan and Josiah in the other bedroom.

Spring is also building season.
Here's what's going on across the street from us.

Lilacs are just starting to bloom! Yeah!

Our chickens are getting big and ugly. Yumm!

Dad's mowing the grass for the first time (this year).

Our cat "Mammi" had four kittens five days ago !

Anyone want a kitten??? Buy one, get three free!!!! :-)

Oh, Boy!

Praise God for the safe arrival of a new little one!

Last night Nathan & Jeanine welcomed a son into their arms as Winston Curtis DeLadurantey arrived safe and sound! Check their blog for more pictures. Mama, Papa, Sister and Baby are all doing well this morning and are rejoicing in this little gift to their family - as are the happy grandparents, aunts, and uncles of the Erber home!

Resounding Voice

These guys are now in sunny Albuequerque, NM!

Easter Sunday

Our host and hostess, Uncle Don and Aunt Jill.

Dad thinking.

Easter Dinner

So sweet!

Caroline pushing a duck with rubber flippers that Grandpa made.

The J. Erber family