Reformation Day/Halloween/All Saints' Day

As a life long Lutheran, I always remember Reformation Day. I went to Lutheran day school for goodness sakes. We spent the entire month of October learning about Luther. It wasn't until I was older, I finally thought about what the Reformation means for non-Lutherans. If Luther hadn't stood up for what he truly believed and stuck to his beliefs we would be living in a different world. So thanks, Martin, for stepping outside of your comfort zone. Need a laugh? Go here and have Luther insult you!

Martin nailing the 95 Theses. Who knew this Luther bust would bring so much entertainment?!

Now, on to the more well known "holiday" of Halloween. I know many folks have a love/hate relationship with this day. I prefer to focus on the innocent fun part of the day. Like dressing up as something clever, silly, and/or creative and Trick or Treating while using manners. This year I decided to get into the spirit and "dress up" while handing out candy. Friends of ours kindly bought me my first set of Mickey ears in the likeness of Perry the Platypus. (I know, seems odd that I do not have ears.) This sparked me to buy a Perry colored sweatshirt and making a Perry tail. 

So simple and fun. 

The weather was very wet. We didn't have many kids come by, but I did see many of my Holy Cross kids. They were very creative this year. One was Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty complete with tea glass. 

For All Saints' Day, I started the 30 Days of Thankfulness on Facebook. (With many others. I am so happy this is a "thing".) My day one was being thankful for my Grandpa Marrah. He was called to Heaven this past June. My grandpa was a remarkable person. One of the more recent stories I like to tell about him is the fact that the heating and air conditioning guy that serviced my grandparents' system came to the visitation. Why? Because he and my grandpa would sit together talking and praying. Remarkable, right? After his death I put my thoughts about Grandpa in a top ten list. Here it is....

10 ways you know you are Tom Marrah's grandchild
1. By the time you were 10 years old you had more video footage of your life than the Kardashians. Even that time you ran into a tree.
2. In those videos there is equal time give to nature. Birds, flowers, trees...
3. You rode in a limo well before your prom.
4. You played the make grandpa say "huh" game in the van. This was done by saying his name just loud enough so he knew that you said something, but he didn't know what. Therefore saying, "Huh".
5. You have an appreciation for lakes, fishing, and fishing accessories and the stores that sell them. Bass Pro anyone?
6. When you meet one of grandpa's friends you could be sure they knew your life story.
7. You know what is like to have a someone pray for you...most likely done at 4:30 in the morning.
8. You are fairly convinced that you are his favorite grand kid.
9. You had the straightest eye glasses in town.
10. You know what unconditional love is.


 Here's hoping you can find 30 things to be thankful for this November. Even if it is just getting out of bed in the morning. 

God's Blessings,
Joshua, Stefani, and Baby K


 

Michigan District All Pastors' Conference

This yearly conference is always informational and fun. After four years in the district, we now have familiar faces and enjoy meeting new ones. 

We started the "weekend" (A ministry family's weekend is never on the actual weekend) with a nice dinner with friends from Seminary. Coincidentally, they are also expecting a baby in February. After dinner we continued our fellowship by playing a game called Dominion. I think we might be hooked. 

Monday was a full day of sessions. The keynote speaker was Dr. John Kleinig. I skipped out on most of his sessions, because I didn't want to push myself too much. Sitting for long periods of time becomes painful these days.

Tuesday was another full day of sessions with more free time. Every year there is a separate lunch for wives. It is great to have some "girl time" and meet some new ladies. During free time there was a chance to participate in a servant event. We assisted in making food bags for Kids Against Hunger. We also played another round of Dominion before dinner.

It is great seeing everyone and every time, I vow to make it more than once year. Especially, with our friends who live an hour away or less. I hope and pray I have an agreeable 2 month old, so that I can attend the Katie Conference. Maybe I should bring a nanny? Hahaha.

The back of the lodge where we stayed.

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani 

September 2013

"Do you remember the 21st night of September?"

Name that Band....

Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with the 21st of September.

It seemed like once Labor Day hit up here, Autumn showed up. It has been cool ever since. Which I love! Autumn also means apple season. I know everyone seems to love pumpkin in the fall, but I love apples. 

Josh and I made our annual trip to Mackinac Island this month. A member gave us ferry tickets, so we were able to go and make a day of it. The free ferry tickets allowed us to finally pay to walk the grounds of the Grand Hotel. I can see why they have a fee. That place was hopping for it being the "off season".

Stain glass window at the Little Stone Church. Name that flower...

Me picking some important guy's nose.

The Grand Hotel's porch.

Panorama of the Grand Hotel that Joshua took.

The flowers we really liked.

My cheesecake on a stick from Sanders.

The next day I was off to St. Louis. My BFF, Carolyn, was preparing to move to Charleston, South Carolina. Her and her husband, Jason, had dreamed of moving there and decided life is too short to wait. Jason found a job and everything else fell into place. I mostly, helped wrangle her kids while she packed. We also just had some good old BFF time. One night I watched their kids and Noah, her 4 year old said the sweetest and most random thing to me.

Noah: I love you.
Me: You love me? I love you, too.
Noah: When I move to the beach you will be sad, but I will be in your heart. 

He pretty much summed it up. Noah and Nora have been in my heart from day one. 

We also celebrated Nora's 2nd birthday. I love watching her grow. She is getting such the personality. 

Nora relaxing in her chair eating an apple.

Noah asked me to take his picture and this is the pose he gave me.

This girl loves to climb. And eat apples.

Another picture request from Noah.

We also had an OB appointment this month. We heard T-Rex's heartbeat and he/she kicking me. On October 10th we have the anatomy ultrasound and gender reveal. And the half way point of the pregnancy. Woo hoo!

God's Blessings,
Stefani and Joshua

Vacation 2011

We decided last year that we wanted to vacation in St. Louis. We don't get to travel there together very often. It is the city where it all began. 

Stefani's parents spent the first day of vacation with us. Our first order of business was to meet Carolyn's new baby, Nora. (Carolyn is Stefani's best friend and was her matron of honor.) Nora is absolutely beautiful! We also got to a hang out with Nora's big brother, Noah. Who also has "Aunt" Stefani wrapped around his finger. After visiting with the Stringfellows we had lunch and did a little shopping.

She loves her "Aunt" Stef already.

Stefani's dad playing with Noah.

On our second day we went to Waffle House for breakfast. We then headed to Goeke's to buy spices. We headed downtown to Concordia Publishing House. After shopping at CPH we headed to Schlafly for their brewery tour and to eat lunch. Once we were finished drinking free beer and eating yummy food, we walked around the Seminary campus. We did quite a bit of reminiscing. When the reminiscing was over we headed to the St. Louis Art Museum. Everything at the museum is free on Fridays. We couldn't resist checking out Monet's Water Lilies exhibit. Art museums in Kansas City and Cleveland got together with the St. Louis museum and decided to show the three Water Lilies panels together for the first time in thirty years. If you have a chance to see it, go. Seeing them together as they were meant to be was just awe inspiring. 

 Yum, beer!

The beer Joshua had a lunch.

There were no pictures inside the exhibit, but there was nothing about taking pictures of the outside of the exhibit. 


On Saturday we attended the wedding of Katie and Rob. Katie is Carolyn's older sister. We were happy to a part of their special day.

All dressed up for a wedding!

The sanctuary. 

Stefani and Carolyn, Best Friends Forever!

Stefani did not take this picture. She "borrowed" it from Carolyn and Katie's cousin. We think it captures Noah's handsomeness very well. Has Stefani mentioned how much she loves this kid?

First dance as husband and wife. 

Nora all dressed up for Aunt Katie's wedding. She is just beautiful! 

Stefani, Carolyn, Nora, and Katie, the bride. 

The bride and Stefani.


Sunday, Stefani's parents hosted a family brunch. We were able to visit with Stefani's grandparents (Marrah), grandma (Gavisk), Great-Uncle Gilbert, and Aunt Annette. It was nice to see everyone. Joshua doesn't get a chance to see much of Stefani's family unless they come "up north" to visit. 


Monday, we headed to the zoo. Luckily, we got our visit in before the rain hit. That evening we headed to dinner with the Stringfellows (Carolyn, Jason, Noah, and Nora) and Converses (Christine, Bobby, and Alyssa). We had a great time visiting with Stefani's friends. 

Yes, that is a baby elephant.

Hello penguin!

There's a baby giraffe. Adorable!


Tuesday, we did some last minute "big city" shopping. Then we spent the rest of the day lounging and packing up to head home.


Wednesday we head back to NoMi (Stefani's clever name for Northern Michigan). It wasn't an easy drive. It rained the entire drive. Along with high wind gusts (up to 50 mph). We were very thankful when we arrived home in one piece.

St. Louis Visit July 2011

Stefani went to St. Louis for a week in July to celebrate births. She arrived in time to see her mom on her birthday. They went out for a nice dinner and enjoyed spending time together.

Stefani's cousin, Mandi, had a beautiful baby girl, Sophia Emma, about two weeks before Stefani's visit. 

Stefani and Sophia. She is precious!

While in the area waiting to visit Mandi and Sophia, Stefani and her parents went to the South County Antique Mall. We were in need of end tables and had success there when we lived in Webster Groves. Stefani found two end tables and a coffee table. She was able to fit them all in the Pathfinder to take them back to Onaway. 

End table number one.

The coffee table.

End table number two.


The main event for the week was Noah's 2nd birthday. Noah is Stefani's best friend's son. He had a Cars theme party. He is really into playing with cars and watching the movie, Cars. 

Noah blowing out his candles. 

Noah and his cool new bike from his parents. 

Stefani and her friend, Christine at the party.

Stefani and Christine's daughter, Alyssa. 

Stefani and Carolyn, Noah's mom and soon-to-be Nora's mom. 

It was an awesome visit with family and friends. Stefani can't wait to visit again when she will get to meet Nora. 

God's Blessings,


Joshua and Stefani

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2010

Christmas Eve often goes by in blur. We have two services one at 7:00 pm which is more traditional and one at 11:00 pm that is a carol service. The services were well attended with a grand total of 122 people.

Our annual Christmas Eve picture. This one was taken after the first service, when Stefani was still awake. 

Christmas Day there is no church. Which means we get to spend some much needed quality time together. This year we had a lazy morning with a large brunch. After we ate, we set up Skype with Joshua's family to open presents. We ship each other our gifts before Christmas and then open them via webcam. It works out well for us. After that Skype session we set up another one with Stefani's parents. We just got in a little visiting since we were going to make the trek to St. Louis to see them after Christmas. 


Christmas Day evening we headed for dinner at Mary Kay and Don's house. We had so much delicious food! It was great visiting with them, their son and soon to be daughter in law, and their neighbors. 


Merry Christmas,


Joshua and Stefani