What do you think Matt? :)

Passed the test

Hello everyone,
Yesterday I broke down and actually took and passed the LCSW test so now I'm officially a licensed clinical social worker. What a relief to get that done and over with....right Shan?

Calvin is cool....

Calvin is so awesome the President of the United States of America....good ol' George W., will be making his presence on campus and SPEAKING at graduation this year. I have a few things to say about this. For one...WHY didn't my parents have me 2 years earlier? I realize this would mean they would have been REAL young, but still...I could brag about having the President speak at my graduation! Secondly...George is going to the Naval Academy, Yale, and Notre Dame, and CALVIN. We must be alright to be a category with those other three colleges! And thirdly...Hope College doesn't have anyone cool like this speaking at their graduation :) Calvin wins over Hope again.

End of an era...the oats bin comes down. There's an interesting story connected to this building which Dad relayed to me when I went to the farm the other day. The structure was built before he was born and was originally used as a brooder coop, which is a place to raise chickens. As chicks hatched, they were kept in a small part of the building by a portable wall. When they got bigger the wall was taken out. In those days chickens ran freely on the farm, but farmers knew that chickens stayed close to their coop. As a result, the area around the coop became messy after a short time, and disease would set in easily. For that reason the coop was built on a big skid, and when the chickens were big enough to be let out they would hook up the horses to the skid and pull the entire structure out to the pasture. After a few weeks the building was moved to another fresh spot in the pasture. This was done several times during the summer. By the time Dad was born this practice had been discontinued, and the building had been placed on a foundation and used as a place to store oats over the winter. That is the only way I remember it being used. Although we were forbidden to do this, Rach and I would sometime sneak in the building and play in the oats. Dad also clearly remembers the last time he shingled the roof. He guesses it was probably around 1974. While he was working on it a couple men from church came to collect money for the P.R. Seminary Building Fund. He jumped off the roof, gave them some money, and then worked until after dark to finish it. "Yes, those were the days when I could work from before dawn until after dark," he commented with a smile. Dad believes that some of the building was constructed with wood from the great white pine trees that used to populate the farm. Almost 100 years later it is ready to topple back into the earth. Such is the circle of life. So there is a little family history lesson to store in your memory bank. God bless you one and all....  

Happy Anniversary, Rick and Jill! Yes, I know, it's kind of a goofy picture, and it's not Whitney's anniversary (aren't kids always in the picture!), but it's the only one I have of both of you. Enjoy your day!!  

Happy Birthday, Teri! (April 12) Have a great day, and may God bless you with many more! 

Happy 3rd Birthday, pretty baby Cassidy! 

Posting

I'm not sure why the blog shows only 2 comments to Shannon's post.. Shannon, click "post a comment" when you're on the comment page, and you will find more than 2. We are all happy for you!

New Beginnings!!

Guess who just passed their nursing boards? O that's right, it's me!!! P.S. No, it's not an April fools joke. I hope you all are having a great day too!!

Happy Anniversary, Mark & Elaine! And I'm not April Foolin'!!

For fun... and a bit of truth too...

There was a preacher whose wife was expecting a baby so he went to the congregation and asked for a raise. After much consideration and discussion, they passed a rule that whenever the preacher's family expanded, so would his paycheck.

After 6 children, this started to get expensive and the Congregation decided to hold another meeting to discuss the preacher's salary. There was much yelling and bickering about how much the clergyman's additional children were costing the church. Finally, the Preacher got up and spoke to the crowd, "Children are a gift from God," he said. Silence fell on the congregation.

In the back of the room, a little old lady stood up and in her frail voice said, "Rain is also a gift from God, but when we get too much, we wear rubbers."And the congregation said, "amen."

Karen's (March 18) birthday photo... 35 and still going strong!

the BIG bash!

The Hat Sisters in Chicago....March 12. Aren't we just the coolest bunch!! :-) 

Here's the birthday picture!