Liberty Day 2009!

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!

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!

(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...

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!

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

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!