Farewells

Saturday morning, Jason and Mindy said their good-byes as they needed to get back to their home.  We had a relaxing day.

It was such a COLD week here in Kansas.

This winter has seemed colder than normal.

 In the evening, we fixed sukiyaki.

The kids like to pick out their own chopstick rests - hashioki.

I have various styles to choose from.  Here are a few of them.

Aren't they fun?

We don't serve sukiyaki in a formal, Japanese way, with multiple dishes.  The kids just prefer to put the sukiyaki on top of their rice so we just put it all in one bowl.  It probably would not be acceptable in Japan, but here in our home, it's just fine.  I am not fussy about it.  

 And we don't do the raw egg.  I actually LOVE the raw egg with it, but eggs in the States are not too safe.  I got salmonella poisoning once and so I don't do it anymore!

                                          This girl!  Goodness!

                                          We must learn manners!

After the children went to bed, we had a wonderful time just talking and talking, and laughing together.  A precious time!

On Sunday morning, we drove to Hillsboro, where Adam used to be the pastor.  

Adam was asked to speak a few words.

The pastor was visiting a new church plant, so our worship pastor from our church in Newton had come to lead worship and preach.  

After church, Josh's were going to leave to go back to Arkansas, so we went to Pizza Hut for lunch before they were going to leave.

Emeri realized that she had left her glasses back at our home, so instead of heading back to Arkansas via 77, they came back to Newton first.  One last cousin time!!

Adam took Hannah and Claire to the "puppy store".

They used to go quite often when they lived here.

The girls have begged for a puppy, but Adam and Jill are not pet people.

Macho Men

Braum's for supper!  No Braum's in Wisconsin.  But then, we don't have a Culver's here, so when we go there, we have to go to Culver's!

The sunset was spectacular!

The next morning, Jill's family left for their home.  What a wonderful time we had had with our family!  And now, it is just we 2 "old" people alone again.  

 

Come visit us again, kids!

Fun with games

We really enjoy playing games as a family.  Claire learned how to play Battleship.  We have the old-fashioned set from when our kids were children.  

Not this newfangled kind that is electronic.

Jill was instructing her how it works.

Her opponent was Papa.

"He hit my ship."  Look at those pouty lips!

But in the end, she beat her Papa; sunk all his ships first!

Way to go, Claire!

We learned a new card game.

Then we played our own version of  Telestrations.

We took paper and cut it down to size.  You need as much paper as there are players.  We stapled them together into a booklet so the kids wouldn't get them mixed up.  When we play with just adults, we just make a stack.  

Then you write down a phrase, anything you can think of.  

"Unloading the groceries from the car."

"Riding down a slippery slide at the park and landing in a mud puddle."

"Watching the movie Mary Poppins."

The more complicated, the better.  You wouldn't want to just write down "train."  

You hand the sheet with the phrase to the next player.  Then it is timed.  

They have 1 minute to draw that phrase and then pass it on.

The next player looks at the drawing and tries to figure out what it is.

It goes back and forth - phrase to drawing, drawing to phrase,

until it gets all the way back too the original person.

We just laugh and laugh as each person shows how their phrase morphed 

and what the last one guessed.

The game of LIFE!  This is an old game.  

The salary of the doctor and lawyer is $25,000.

One of my favorite games is Imaginiff.

You write down the names of everyone playing.

If there are extra spaces, you can write down anyone's name.

Your preacher, the president, Bugs Bunny, whatever.

Then you go around the room and each player on his turn rolls the dice to see who in the space the question will be talking about.  He reads the card.  Here is one play that happened.

Someone rolled Adam, and the question asked was:
"Imaginiff Adam were honked at by an impatient driver.  Would he...."
1.  Get out of the car and threaten the driver
2.  Ignore it and turn up the radio
3.  Honk 'em right back
4.  Wink and lick the window
5.  Give an apologetic wave
6.  Record the license plate and call the police

Can you guess?  The object is to try to guess what everyone else will say and those who have the most number right, move forward a space.

The one Adam said was definitely what he would do was #4!!   Now, if the majority had picked 6, that was the correct answer and those people moved up 1.  But most people guessed him correctly.  My son-in-law, a preacher, would do that???!!!    I would so do #5.

You might land on a "challenge" and you pick someone that you think will agree with you in an answer.  If you both agree and put down the right number, you move forward 4.  If not, you go backwards 4.  Here Sophie and Hannah answered the same way.  It was hilarious and they were so excited!


What fun games does your family like to play?

Battle!

 When the kids came there was a big battle.

They had been planning this for some time. 

Here is the map of their battle plan.

 It was FREEZING outside but it meant nothing to the children.  They were all excited!




Adam also joined the fight.

After almost 2 hours, they decided to carry the fight inside.

It went on pretty much the whole time they were here.

And what were the moms doing?

Our grandchildren had a battle plan - and God has a battle plan for us.  And we need to dress for battle in this world.  A soldier wouldn't go into battle without his helmet, bullet proof vest, his rifle...  Could you imagine a soldier walking into battle wearing a swimsuit?   

A Fight to the Finish  - Ephesians 6:10-18  The Message

God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Our family

I told the children we had to take family pictures.  This past year, I had several friends pass away.  We never know what the next year will bring.  The obituary is filled with people not only in their 90's, but young people, younger than me!  Even children.

2013 - This was our last photo with both of my parents.  We would never have guessed that by Christmas 2014, my mother would no longer be with us.

1987 - This was our last picture with Al's parents both living.  We knew it would be the last one, as Mom had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.  She passed away in August, 1988.

Treasure your family.  Pray for each one.  

I love the following prayer that Anne Graham Lotz wrote:

We pray for our families.  Father God, we ask You for what we know Your heart’s desire is.  Please.  Bring every single member of our families to a saving knowledge of Jesus before judgment comes, either at Your return or at their death. We will refrain from giving You suggestions on how to do this, but we ask You to do it.  We know in answer to Abraham’s prayer, You didn’t save everyone, but You did save His family.  You sent Your angels to drag them out of danger.6 If You would do it for Abraham, then in answer to our prayers which we offer in the name of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ, would You please do it for us? Save our loved ones. Snatch them from the fire.  Drag them out of their sin.  O God of mercy, we can hardly bare the thought of going to Heaven without them.  We give You permission to do whatever it takes to get them there.

I pray for the salvation of my ______________

In the meantime, until You save our families, would You please use us to save someone else’s family? Give us a sensitivity to Your Spirit so that we follow His lead, go where He directs, speak to whoever He brings across our path, say what He brings to our minds and lips? Give us the joy of being the answer to someone else’s prayer as we lead their loved ones to trust in Jesus. Living Word of God, in these days of turmoil and fear, hopelessness and helplessness, sinfulness and wickedness…in these days of bad news, don’t let us be silent! We have Good News!  Compel us by our gratitude for the Cross, our love for our Savior, our compassion for a broken world, to open our mouths and just give them Jesus!

I pray for the salvation of ______________