January has been a roller coaster ride for Team Ketelsen.
The month started out with a visit to Ohio. Which was very enjoyable. We had a great time visiting Joshua's family and attending a church service at Zion.
The day after we got back to St. Louis Joshua had his first interview with a congregation. The congregation is in Moorhead, MN. The head pastor and call team came to St. Louis to interview potential candidates. Unfortunately, Joshua was extremely ill during the interview. He was then sick for the next week.
We had a week of calm and then we were hit again with a challenge. Stefani's dad took a trip to the emergency room for a heart palpitation. He was able to get his heart rate down by himself. The doctor believes these episodes are caused by a congenital issue with his heart. It will require surgery to get it under control. Please keep him in your prayers.
The weekend brought more enjoyable events. Stefani had a Tupperware party. She officially feels like a suburban wife. We also went to a great dinner party at the home of our friends from the Seminary. It was a night of great food, great people, and a fun game.
Stefani came down with a cold that really knocked her out. Luckily, there were 2 snow days which offered Stefani some "free" down time. Just as Stefani was getting well, Joshua came down with a nasty virus. After a trip to an Urgent Care center, a day in bed, a sick day taken by Stefani to take care of Joshua, and frozen Powerade cubes he is on the road to recovery.
Between the sickness that plagued Team Ketelsen, Joshua had second interview with a congregation. This interview was over the phone with a congregation in Brunswick, OH. Please keep the Call process and those involved in your prayers.
As January comes to a close we are excited to see what the rest of the year holds for us.
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Christmas and New Year's
We apologize for the tardiness of the Christmas/New Year's recap. January has been busy for us. (That is another post.)
Our holiday season was busy and joyous. Christmas Eve was very low key. We had Chinese take out with Stefani's parents and then we headed to church at Our Savior. Christmas Day was spent with Stefani's parents, grandparents, and great uncle. We exchanged presents, ate far too much, played a game of Scrabble, and watched a movie. It was very enjoyable and relaxing.
The weekend after Christmas we hosted two gatherings. The first was the Marrah family Christmas party. Everyone brought yummy homemade soups. The amazing thing was we all got to eat in the same room! There were 15 Marrah family representatives and we all fit in the dining room around card tables.
The family eating in the dining room.
The second gathering was with Stefani's godmother, her family and Stefani's parents. We ordered Imo's pizza (a St. Louis icon) and had great visiting time.
For New Year's Eve we drove to Ohio to spend some time with Joshua's family. We got there just in time to go to a great Japanese steakhouse for a special and delicious dinner.
Here we are at the table waiting for our meal.
The week continued with gift giving, fabulous food, and time with family. It was a great visit all around.
We have the Ketelsen clan getting in a photo opportunity before opening gifts.
We hope you are having a blessed New Year!
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
Our holiday season was busy and joyous. Christmas Eve was very low key. We had Chinese take out with Stefani's parents and then we headed to church at Our Savior. Christmas Day was spent with Stefani's parents, grandparents, and great uncle. We exchanged presents, ate far too much, played a game of Scrabble, and watched a movie. It was very enjoyable and relaxing.
The weekend after Christmas we hosted two gatherings. The first was the Marrah family Christmas party. Everyone brought yummy homemade soups. The amazing thing was we all got to eat in the same room! There were 15 Marrah family representatives and we all fit in the dining room around card tables.
The family eating in the dining room.The second gathering was with Stefani's godmother, her family and Stefani's parents. We ordered Imo's pizza (a St. Louis icon) and had great visiting time.
For New Year's Eve we drove to Ohio to spend some time with Joshua's family. We got there just in time to go to a great Japanese steakhouse for a special and delicious dinner.
Here we are at the table waiting for our meal.The week continued with gift giving, fabulous food, and time with family. It was a great visit all around.
We have the Ketelsen clan getting in a photo opportunity before opening gifts. We hope you are having a blessed New Year!
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Christmas time is here!
Hello faithful readers! Team Ketelsen has been hard at work getting ready for Christmas. The house is coming together nicely.
We started off the season going to "Grandma Theabeau's Birthday Party". This phrasing freaks Joshua out. When my great-grandmother was alive we would celebrate her birthday every year in early December. The tradition has continued as a great excuse to get together. Here are a few pictures from the party.
This is Stefani's cousin Jen and her son Logan. She and her husband, Chris, are expecting their second son in April.
These fine ladies are Stefani's great aunts and grandmother. From left to right: Aunt Anne, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Teresa, Aunt Pat and Grandma Marrah.
And of course here is Stefani and Joshua looking adorable as usual. =P
We seem to be the hosts with the most this season. The Marrah parents are coming for Christmas Eve dinner, most of the Marrahs are coming over to celebrate on Decmeber 27th, and the following day Stefani's godmother, her family and the Marrah parents are stopping by for some holiday cheer. After all the hosting Team Ketelsen will be on the road to Ohio to visit the Ketelsen/Rost/Schmidt clan. It should be a great two weeks of time with family and friends! We will be sure to post pictures of all the events.
Speaking of pictures...We have a few of our humble tree and mantle decorations.
We borrowed the tree from Stefani's Grandma Gavisk. The white lights are courtesy of Joshua's Aunt Mary.
Here is a close up of our tree skirt.
A picture of our awesome mantle. Here is where we are displaying our nativity art collection. And yes, the white bust to the very right is Martin Luther. He has a festive bow on his head.
We hope you have a safe and wonderful Christmas!
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
We started off the season going to "Grandma Theabeau's Birthday Party". This phrasing freaks Joshua out. When my great-grandmother was alive we would celebrate her birthday every year in early December. The tradition has continued as a great excuse to get together. Here are a few pictures from the party.
This is Stefani's cousin Jen and her son Logan. She and her husband, Chris, are expecting their second son in April.
These fine ladies are Stefani's great aunts and grandmother. From left to right: Aunt Anne, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Teresa, Aunt Pat and Grandma Marrah.
And of course here is Stefani and Joshua looking adorable as usual. =PWe seem to be the hosts with the most this season. The Marrah parents are coming for Christmas Eve dinner, most of the Marrahs are coming over to celebrate on Decmeber 27th, and the following day Stefani's godmother, her family and the Marrah parents are stopping by for some holiday cheer. After all the hosting Team Ketelsen will be on the road to Ohio to visit the Ketelsen/Rost/Schmidt clan. It should be a great two weeks of time with family and friends! We will be sure to post pictures of all the events.
Speaking of pictures...We have a few of our humble tree and mantle decorations.
We borrowed the tree from Stefani's Grandma Gavisk. The white lights are courtesy of Joshua's Aunt Mary. 
Here is a close up of our tree skirt. 
A picture of our awesome mantle. Here is where we are displaying our nativity art collection. And yes, the white bust to the very right is Martin Luther. He has a festive bow on his head.We hope you have a safe and wonderful Christmas!
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving with a Side of Team Ketelsen Using Their Wedding Gifts
Team Ketelsen has so much to be thankful for this year (as we do every year). We had a gorgeous wedding, a great honeymoon, found an awesome house to rent, and we have the financial and spiritual support of a wonderful church (yay Zion!).
This Thanksgiving we spent with Stefani's parents, grandparents and great uncle. We ate WAY too many goodies. We even took some pictures of the food we made. Enjoy!
Here is the apple pie Stefani made. It was an interesting process. She tried to make her first crust from a box and added too much water. So she ran out to the store and got a Pillbury roll out crust. It is cooling on a cooling rack she got as a shower gift.
Top view of the pie. Yum-o!
This is the corn casserole that Joshua made. The recipe has been in his family for quite some time. It was nice to blend our two food traditions for Thanksgiving. It was a hit with Stefani's family. It was baked in one of our Pyrex portables. Which are so cool, by the way.
The green bean casserole. It was also made in a Pyrex portable. We ended up getting two different sets of portables. One is a double decker and one holds one dish.
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
This Thanksgiving we spent with Stefani's parents, grandparents and great uncle. We ate WAY too many goodies. We even took some pictures of the food we made. Enjoy!
Here is the apple pie Stefani made. It was an interesting process. She tried to make her first crust from a box and added too much water. So she ran out to the store and got a Pillbury roll out crust. It is cooling on a cooling rack she got as a shower gift.
Top view of the pie. Yum-o!
This is the corn casserole that Joshua made. The recipe has been in his family for quite some time. It was nice to blend our two food traditions for Thanksgiving. It was a hit with Stefani's family. It was baked in one of our Pyrex portables. Which are so cool, by the way. 
The green bean casserole. It was also made in a Pyrex portable. We ended up getting two different sets of portables. One is a double decker and one holds one dish.We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Reformation/Halloween
Team Ketelsen celebrated their first Halloween by handing out Play-Doh. Yes, Play-Doh. We decided that we didn't want candy lying around and we wanted to be different. The kids and parents seemed to appreciate it. We sat on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful evening. We only had about 10-15 kids, but we did some cute costumes. One of our favorites was a little girl dressed as a bumble bee. ADORABLE!
After the trick or treaters stopped we decided to celebrate Reformation Day. We popped some popcorn and enjoyed the movie "Luther". We highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to learn more about Martin Luther and the Reformation. It was an enjoyable evening.
Here are some visual aids from the evening.
Our first pumpkin. Having a pumpkin reminded Stefani of when her "Papa" (maternal granfather) would get her a pumpkin when she was in elementary school. We meant to carve it, but it looks more fall like the way it is.
Here is the Play-Doh we handed out. We have a bunch left over. Thank goodness Stefani is a teacher.
While we were sitting on the porch Stefani made a caterpillar out of pink Play-Doh. Joshua made a butterfly.
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
After the trick or treaters stopped we decided to celebrate Reformation Day. We popped some popcorn and enjoyed the movie "Luther". We highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to learn more about Martin Luther and the Reformation. It was an enjoyable evening.
Here are some visual aids from the evening.
Our first pumpkin. Having a pumpkin reminded Stefani of when her "Papa" (maternal granfather) would get her a pumpkin when she was in elementary school. We meant to carve it, but it looks more fall like the way it is.
Here is the Play-Doh we handed out. We have a bunch left over. Thank goodness Stefani is a teacher.
While we were sitting on the porch Stefani made a caterpillar out of pink Play-Doh. Joshua made a butterfly.God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
The Ketelsens Using their Wedding Gifts
Here are more pictures of us using our wedding gifts.
Here is Stefani using one of our silicon basting brushes to make garlic bread. Stefani picked up this cooking skill from work. Melting stick butter and basting it on bread makes life easier.
Here is Stefani getting ready to cut the garlic bread with a serrated knife from their fully stocked knife set.
The after picture. =P
Makes you want garlic bread now, doesn't it?
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
Here is Stefani using one of our silicon basting brushes to make garlic bread. Stefani picked up this cooking skill from work. Melting stick butter and basting it on bread makes life easier.
Here is Stefani getting ready to cut the garlic bread with a serrated knife from their fully stocked knife set. 
The after picture. =PMakes you want garlic bread now, doesn't it?
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Couch!
Ladies and gentlemen let me present the Ketelsens brand spanking new couch! Thanks to Stefani's parents who so generously bought it for us as a wedding present. We feel so grown up. =P
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
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