Random Photo of the Random Moment: A Smashed Van in AZ

This picture was taken in Arizona in April of 2003 shortly after a very close encounter with a very large cow. Needless to say, the van was totaled. Shown in the picture from left to right, we have Jessica, Jeremy, Sara Back (now Erber), and Jeanine still in the van.

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And now ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I announce the all original program for the July series of Random Photos of Random Moments.

It will work like this: Whoever is the first person to post a comment on any Random Photo of the Random Moment, will be shown in the next Random Photo!

Now, of course I don't have pictures of everyone in the world, so if I don't have a picture of the first person that comments, I will simply skip over this person and wait for the first person that I do have a photo of.

Understood?

Yes? Yes?

Great!

Pictures from Ohio

Yes, we are alive and made it back home safe and sound on Sunday afternoon. No freak oil leaks or complications of any kind on this trip - thankfully!

Of course, driving through Chicago we were able to view the lovely skyline for longer than we would typically desire, but the traffic could have been a lot worse and since we were able to enjoy the modern convenience of air conditioning it really wasn't that bad.

Nathan Back, Dustin Webb and Aaron Englund hang the Resounding Voice banner during set-up at the Vets Memorial in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday afternoon.

With Resounding Voice's signature uniform including burgundy bow-ties the guys have had to learn a new art... though some have mastered the art of bow-tie tying better than others. Here Nathan Back assists Jonathan in readying himself for a busy day.

I'm not sure just what Luke said, but Jonathan appears dumbfounded.

In addition to running Resounding Voice, Josh took time on both Friday & Saturday to give a workshop with Jeremy on starting/managing a business.

Packing up Saturday evening after a busy and successful weekend.

Just as the guys were nearly finished with loading up the trailer the clouds broke loose with incredible rain, wind, and hail. Some vendors kept right on packing through the storm... we waited until it let up some before finishing.

Josiah helped hold the door for some of those still packing in the rain and was soaked through by the time we left for the hotel.

At CHEO's post-conference pizza party (to which we were graciously invited) arm wrestling was the entertainment of choice among the young men.


And for our dear friends who live down south, it is hot up here, too! Need I mention that we were sitting on I-90 in traffic when this picture was taken??

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News Flash! 6/29/05 Afternoon
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Added by Jonathan...

As requested by readers of this blog, a video of Joseph's ever popular "Blowtie" is now available by clicking Here! It is a 1.1MB File, so I hope that you have High Speed Internet.

Tip: To download it as a file (rather than open it in a media player), right click the link, and choose "Save Target As..." Now you will be able to save it as a normal file.

Random Photo of the Random Moment

Happy Anniversary!

June 26, 1976

Happy Anniversary, Dad & Mom!

On the road again...

Heigh, ho! Heigh, ho! We're off to Ohio!

Columbus, Ohio and the CHEO convention is the Resounding Voice destination this weekend. All us Erber kiddos will be heading east for the conference along with faithful co-workers Luke VonHolten and Dustin Webb, leaving Dad and Mom home for the weekend.

The CHEO organization is very beloved in the Erber household. Sara's family is involved in running the organization (thus we met her), Jeremy & Sara are the editors for CHEO's magazine, and it is like visiting with family to be there with them. And it was at the CHEO convention in 2003 that Nathan met Jeanine for the first time (although others of the Erber and DeLadurantey families had met previously). AND, not to be left out, the color scheme of the convention center matches Josh's booth set-up!

Anyway, I need to go finish packing everything up. We're supposed to pull out in 1 hour and 5 minutes!

Random Photo of the Random Moment: Elmwood

It is with great sorrow that we announce the recent passing of our dear friend Elmwood, he passed on from this earth on June 18...

Chickens!

Last Week


This Week

Jonathan smiles, while Josiah reaches for another piece. Good stuff! Anybody want to come over for dinner??????

"Dog Food Still Warm"

It is my pleasure to announce the all new Erbersetc Blog, Random Photo of the Random Moment!

I was recently encouraged by a friend to start a Photo of the Day for our blog, however in an attempt to be original, and also for the sake of keeping my schedule as free as possible, I chose to start the all new Random Photo of the Random Moment! These photos will range from funny to inspiring, but will hopefully be enjoyed by all. Stay tuned for more to come!

BTW, please understand that we are a little more cat friendly than the title might show.

Cousins!

Caroline & Corrine wore matching outfits to church yesterday! We tried to get some pictures, but when one was awake, the other was sleeping. We did finally catch them both awake at the same but neither were really happy about the idea of being photographed. Of course, then the batteries in one camera died, the card in the other filled up... Caroline was fascinated with her younger cousin, but Corrine wasn't so sure about this idea of "sitting up" and we couldn't get her to favor us with even a flash of her sweet smile. Nathan suggested that we try a "matching cousins" picture again sometime after Corrine can sit up on her own, which probably is a very reasonable idea - but they both just happened to have the same outfit NOW...

Aren't they both just lovely young ladies? No, I assure you. I am NOT biased.

Statistics

A quick internet search revealed these numbers:

Over 16,000 deer related accidents in the state of Illinois annually. That is roughly 44 per day, and that was the most conservative estimate I found.

In 2002, over 23,600 deer related accidents were reported in the state of Illinois. That averages 65 reported deer related accidents a day... and hit deer are not always reported (5 of our 6 were not).

The Car That Jessica Drove

Just a few hours ago we received a phone call from Jessica (who had gone to a chiropractor appointment) saying that she swerved to avoid adding one more deer kill to our family's long list of animal hits. She then lost control of the car, spun around, headed into the ditch sideways, and hit a tree. We are thankful that she is alive, and not seriously injured. She is currently very sore, and is resting right now.

What is really amazing about this is that about 12 years ago a chiropractor gave her a neck brace to wear when she was in the car. As an act of providence, for the first time since then, she was wearing that neck brace which was a great help in protecting her neck during the accident.

The Car That Josh Drove

This is the car that Josh drove.


This is the suburban (preparing for towing) that leaked oil in New York, necessitating the use of the car that Josh drove.


This is the oil that leaked from the suburban that leaked oil in New York, necessitating the use of the car that Josh drove.


This is the trailer that was pulled by the suburban, that leaked the oil, necessitating the use of the car that Josh drove.



This is the convention in New York to which the trailer was pulled, by the suburban that leaked oil, necessitating the use of the car that Josh drove.




These are [some of] the guys who drove to the convention in New York, to which the trailer was pulled, by the suburban that leaked oil, and necessitated the use of the car that Josh drove.


This is the slow-business-time doodling of the guys who drove to the convention in New York, pulling the trailer, in the suburban that leaked oil, and rode in the car that Josh drove.


This is the hotel in which the guys who doodled stayed, while at the convention in New York, to which they pulled the trailer, in the suburban that leaked oil, necessitating the use of the car that Josh drove.


These are the guys having fun, who stayed at the hotel, who doodled while at the convention in New York, to which they pulled the trailer, in the suburban that leaked oil, necessitating the use of the car that Josh drove.


This is Caroline, who was picked up - with her parents - from Ohio, as the guys drove home after having fun at the hotel, doodling at the convention in New York, to which they pulled the trailer, fixing the suburban that leaked oil, which had necessitated the use of the car that Josh drove.


And THIS is Josh.

(Most of the above photos were provided courtesy of Luke VonHolten!)

Adventures Away

We're back! At least some of us are. The rest should be home... well, right now we don't know just when to expect them! But maybe that's getting ahead of myself.

First off, those of us who traveled to Southern Illinois enjoyed an excellent weekend serving alongside of fellow ICHE board members Ken & Jeri Sisson, and family, and also convention coordinators Greg & Jane Hughes and their daughters.


The Lord used Mr. Wakefield's messages to touch many hearts and lives through the weekend - including ours. Mr. Wakefield has been speaking at ICHE conventions for the last 9 years and is still among the most requested speakers.

Leroy & Rachel Hostetler are an Amish couple that have been attending ICHE conventions for at least the past 4 years. This year they brought all five of their children (ages 7mos-8yrs) with them and spent all day Saturday at the conference... and then eagerly invited us to stop at their house on our way home for dinner on Sunday. We did and had a very enjoyable time with them. Their children are the happiest Amish/Mennonite children I have ever met. Of course, I've not had the opportunity to meet very many of them! They have found themselves somewhat on the outs in their Amish community due to the way they raise their children and the fact that they homeschool, and were so delighted to spend an afternoon talking with a "likeminded family."


Of course, Amish hospitality included not only a delicious meal but also taking their "English" guests out for a buggy ride! We visited their grandpa's farm (he raises elk and deer) and spent some time at the pond. Picture taking is disapproved of in the Amish community, but they did allow us to take a couple of pictures during our visit.



Meanwhile, in another part of the country, a different drama was being lived out...

Remember all those guys who traveled out to New York last week? Well, their Sunday afternoon was spent at the graduation party of someone in New York that they didn't know, playing volleyball and football in "what must have been 100 degree weather" and then piling into a borrowed car and driving an hour and a half back to their hotel in Syracuse. What, why & wherefore? Weren't they supposed to be home Sunday night? Well, Saturday after they had finished their work at the convention, Josh pulled up his suburban and trailer to load up all his equipment and they found a large puddle of oil beneath his truck. They added another quart of oil and watched it drain right out.

The long and short of it is that they loaded up the trailer and someone else towed it back to the hotel for them. Somebody else made some calls and got the suburban towed to a local dealer for them for free, someone came forward with a station wagon for the boys to use during their extended stay in New York, someone invited them to join them for church Sunday morning and a graduation lunch and party afterwards!

Josh just called and said that the mechanic is looking at the vehicle right now and so we await to hear just what is wrong, how long it will take to fix what's wrong, and when they can start for home. More updates to come!

Too bad life is so boring...

Corrine

Since we'll not be around to post anything here for a few days, we thought we'd leave you all with a cute smiling face! Ain't she just the sweetest little thing???

Conventions - Take Two

We're on the road again... or will be soon!

In the very wee hours of this morning Josh loaded up a crew of guys and hit the road for Syracuse, New York. They'll be working at the New York state homeschool convention that runs this Thursday through Saturday. We have heard news of their safe arrival, for which we are grateful. Jonathan and Joseph are among that crew of guys, as are several of the previously mentioned Resounding Voice conference staff.

Tomorrow, Thursday, the rest of us all (Dad, Mom, Joanna, Josiah, and I, Jessica) head down to the little town of Benton, Illinois for ICHE's Southern Illinois Convention. This convention is considerably smaller in size to the convention we hosted a few weeks ago with attendees numbering in the hundreds rather than thousands. But that doesn't mean it's any less important - being smaller only makes it more personal, allowing for more one-on-one conversations with people. Norm Wakefield will be our keynote speaker this year, and the rest of the speakers will be local homeschooling dads, moms, graduates and pastors...