Isaiah's First Communion (11/23/08)

Isaiah's First Communion

We attended the 8:00 A.M. Contemporary Service at St. Paul's-Oconomowoc. I will say it was rough getting the five of us up and out the door by 7:20 A.M. We made it during one of the pre-service praise songs. Whew!! We had the honor of being there to witness our godson, Isaiah's First Communion. He is a bright young man with a strong faith and love of our Lord. We pray for Isaiah daily and ask the Lord to continue guiding him. We went to Stephen & Heather's house for lunch. I wish someone would have taken a picture of Elsiana and me. I believe it was the first time in her two years of life that she willingly went by me and seemed to enjoy it. After lunch, Stephen and I played tennis on the Nintendo Wii. I lost but gave him a good match. Stephen, Jim, Logan, Brett, Isaiah, Ben, and I played tennis and bowling. We have a lot of fun together!

Marching in the Christmas Parade (11/22/08)

Milwaukee "Christmas" Parade

Logan and Jim were out of the house by 7:15 A.M. They needed to be at Milwaukee Lutheran High School by 7:30. The band was taking the school bus downtown. Logan marched in the parade, while Jim walked along with the band. It was just like old times...Jim was in the MLHS band, too. Logan's fingers were so frozen, they hurt. Brett stayed home and watched the parade on television. Katherine was determined to go, even though I told her that we were only staying until Logan and the band passed. Katherine and I stood on the corner of Old World Third Street & Kilbourn.

Katherine and a 40 foot gingerbread man

Milwaukee Lutheran High School Marching Band

Logan is next to the kid looking at the camera.

After MLHS went passed, we ran into my brother, Latif. We drove him back to his car (which was quite a distance away) and headed home. Had we not had a busy day planned, I would have considered staying for the whole parade. Maybe next year.

University of Wisconsin Badgers vs Cal Poly

at Camp Randall Stadium

Logan, Brett, and Lisa before the game

Bucky Badger and the UW flag

We can kick!!

The UW Badger with the over-time, game-winning extra-point kick

36-35!

The boys were impressed at seeing some players praying after their win.

Brett, Lisa, and Logan after the game

Lisa got four tickets to the football game and took Logan, Brett, and me. We had an hour between Logan getting home from the parade and meeting Lisa. We got to her parents' house at 12:30. Logan napped on the way to Madison, and Brett read a book. Our parking spot (thanks to Lisa's Aunt Karen) was across the street from our entrance to the stadium. We were in Row 58, on the 30-35 yard line (right behind the Badgers bench)...great view! Because of the cold weather, we had many layers of clothing to keep us warm. Our toes seemed to take the brunt of the cold, though. The Badgers weren't doing so well, and Lisa and I were yawning. What a game! The referee added seconds to the clock a few times. We just wanted the game to end. Amazingly enough, the Badgers pulled out a much-needed win. Our MVP was the kicker for Cal Poly, who missed three extra-point kicks. Wisconsin-36 and Cal Poly-35 in over-time! Logan and Brett had so much fun! What a great Christmas present. Thank you, Lisa!

M.O. Packer Party and Logan's Band Concert (11/16/08)

This photo was taken September 2004 at Mount Olive's Packer Party. Notice that Brett is wearing a Packer jersey. He was such a good little boy. Now he is determined to be a Detroit Lions fan.




Mount Olive's Packer/Pizza Party on Sunday, November 16th. So, here we are...Jim, Fatime, Pastor Wangerin, Logan, Katherine, and Brett. What a difference four years can make in three growing children! The youth group...CIA (Christians In Action) made the pizza. The Packers beat the Chicago Bears. We all had a good time.


The game ended at 3:00 P.M. It was time to change into nice clothes for all of us, except Katherine. We had to be at MLHS by 3:30 for the Elementary Band Concert. Brett plays
the Saxophone in the 6th grade band. There is only 1 trumpet player in his band. She is a 8th grade 1rst year trumpeter. Logan was asked to accompany the band with his trumpet. Jim and I are so proud of our boys. They did very well. We were blessed to have Jim's Mom join us for the concert. Afterwards, we drove out to Mo's Southwest Grill for dinner. It was a nice treat spending quality time together.

Too Funny!!!

Too funny!

The "Educated Voter"

Poor James T. Harris has been getting savaged for supporting John McCain. In a CNN interview he was asked why he, an African-American man, supports a white candidate when an African-American candidate is our there. James says it's because of the conservative ideas McCain stands for. But can Barack supporters say the same thing?

While I normally abhore what Howard Stern does, this bit is abolutely brilliant. It makes me want to try it at school. Check it out (don't worry, it's kid-safe).

Of course, every Barack supporter isn't like this, but just the fact that they could find some supporters that think this way is sad. And I'm sure that this type of prejudice isn't limited to Barack supporters. Does the phrase judging someone by the content of their character not by the color of their skin ring any bells? People should vote for the candidate of their choice based on what the candidates stand for, not the color of their skin. Sigh...

I Just Don't Get It

For the past two weeks at our church a controversy has been a brewin'. One of our pastors in his sermon two weeks ago spent some of the time talking about which candidate stood for abortion, and which candidate was opposed. In the course of his discussion, he explained what a partial-birth abortion is. He then said what I've always believed; no Christian should be voting for a candidate who is for abortion. Needless to say, some in the church were offended. The next Sunday, he preached again. This time, he apologized at the beginning of his sermon for the graphic nature of last week's sermon, and he explained that people who have had abortions can be and are forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ.

I just don't understand Christian who think that voting for Obama is the right thing to do. Just look at his record on abortion. Not only does he think abortion on demand should be available at any time during the term of the pregnancy, but he also believes that a doctor would kill a baby that is born through a botched abortion. This man is hard-core. In this election, I'm viewing myself as a loser, even if McCain wins. One area I disagree with him on is he believes in the global warming hype and thinks we need to do something about it. But when it comes to life, the man is right on the mark. Defend the innocent instead of killing the innocent.

Of all of the issues out there, this should be the top one for Christians. Our government was founded on the beliefs that there are some truths that are self-evident, including LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (more on these three at a later date).

For a complete rundown of Obama's record on abortion, which like so many other issues he's trying to obfuscate, click here.

October in Wisconsin

We have had wonderful weather this month and been able to enjoy many Autumn activities with friends. Thursday, October 9th, we had a birthday dinner for Pastor Wangerin. His birthday is 10/12. Our friends, Faith & Gary joined us. Faith has known "Pastor Mark" since she was 5 years old. Her Dad worked at the Sem. Library in St. Louis with him. We had lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and white cake with chocolate frosting. With good food and good company, it was a perfect evening.

Saturday, October 11th, we joined other Mount Olive members at Lammscapes Farm (Jackson, WI) for a hayride, campfire with hymn sing-a-long, and chili supper. I got to see the Milky Way for the first time. We all had such a good time. Ok, not all...Logan felt miserable. We discovered that he is allergic to hay. He might have been fine just sitting on it during the hayride, but someone started throwing hay at people. We were covered. Logan was up most of the night with a stuffy head. "I can't breath" we kept hearing. It took a couple days for him to feel better.

Sunday, October 12th, my brother and sister-in-law, Latif & Ruth, came over for lunch. The Buchmeyer Family and Murphy Family joined us. That made 16 of us (Amy Buchmeyer wasn't feeling well and stayed home.)! We set up tables in the backyard. Jim grilled burgers. We had all the toppings ready, veggies, potato salad, jell-o, and two desserts (thanks to Ruth and Chris!). Eight children plus Latif and Don played football on our front lawn.

We have been blessed with such nice weather this Autumn!

Katherine had a soccer game this morning. Her team won! She played goalie for a bit, and the other team did not score off of her...yeah! When we got home from Wauwatosa Children's Theater, the Logan, Brett, and Katherine played football with some neighbors. Tomorrow should be even nicer...65 degrees!

Jim's parents are on a long vacation...Israel for two weeks and Germany for a week. They called today while most of us were gone. Logan got to talk to his Grandma. They are having a wonderful time seeing sites in the Holy Land and visiting their son, Tim. We continue to pray for their safety.

Logan's soccer season has ended. Katherine has one more game.

Mount Olive's school play is next weekend...Friday, October 24th at 7:00 P.M. and Saturday, October 25th at 3:00 P.M. If you're in the area, please come see the play. There will be many laughs!