Well, we are still alive. It has been a long time since posting and I apologize! We are doing very well. Finals finished a week ago and so my first year of seminary is behind us! I am taking a short break and then I will begin working on my summer classes.

The past month has been very busy. Between studying and preparing for the end of the semester, we have been blessed to have several visitors over the last four weeks. In fact, we have had visitors from out of town every week since the 2nd week of April! It has been wonderful to see friends and family from California. Jess' parents were here last and we had a very blessed time with them last weekend.



Kate and Rose turned 6 and 4 in April. We went to the zoo here in Louisville for their birthday. It is a nice zoo and we had a good time there. They also got new bikes for their birthday and were very excited. Here are a few pictures from the zoo and the girls with their new bikes.








Kate and Rose have been having swimming lessons with Aimee and are enjoying that very much. Their last lesson they jumped off of the diving board so they were pretty excited about that.



We keep trying to go camping, but our plans have been foiled as we have had a lot of storms lately. However, the storms are fun.....except for the storms that come with tornado watches. I can do without those! We are hoping to be able to go camping tomorrow if the weather lets us, but we'll see! We are also planning on trying to go to Montana this summer in July. Hopefully that will work out because these country people are anxious for some extended time away from the city! Well, that is all for now! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Blessings,
Shane

Kentuckee Kamping

This week was Easter Break so we took advantage of some time off and went camping for the first time since being here. We had a great time! It was wonderful to be in the outdoors for an extended amount of time. We all miss the country and so we really enjoyed being out of the city for a couple of days.

We camped out at Taylorsville Lake, which is just under an hour away. It is a nice campground and it is a great place to camp with children. The campground is well maintained and there are a lot of trails for hiking. There were quite a few people out there, but it was pretty quiet.

The first day we had a thunderstorm in the afternoon, which was fun. We had some strong rain, lightning, and thunder. They even issued a tornado warning, which is always comforting when your shelter is a tent! However, it made for a beautiful evening and beautiful sunset. I got to have a fire!!!!! I haven't been able to have a fire since July! It was great to burn stuff again! Oh how I miss the smell of smoke and the dance of firelight! We let the girls stay up late and had fun around the campfire. The girls got some glow sticks and ran all around our campsite pretending they were lost and couldn't find their way back to the campsite.

That night a lot of wind came in. We had to get up a couple of times to re-stake the tent. It was loud and flappy, but we did get some sleep! The morning was beautiful and after a great breakfast we went for a hike. There we encountered an unwanted trail obstacle (see below photo) and the girls freaked out! We were hiking single file down the trail and it actually went right between us as if we were not even there! I had been looking for snakes because there are quite a few different kinds of poisonous ones out here, but I missed this one. Kate was behind me and the snake went between Rose and Kate. It added a good memory to the trip! Rose and Kate were screaming and clinging to us. I think they were sure they were going to die!

This time of year is beautiful to be outdoors. There are so many flowers, most of them flowering trees! The woods are full of color. There is a purple tree here that is spectacular! They are scattered all throughout the woods. Everything is turning green now also. The streets are lined with yellow, purple, pink, and white trees. Very beautiful!

Well, that is all for now!
Blessings!
Shane

Ever Seen a Hippo Ice Skate?

Ever seen a hippo ice skate? A whale surf? An elephant tango? A Boeing 747 doing spirals and 360s? A walrus sing opera?

Well....those are similar descriptions of my new endeavor to........roller blade. Yep, that's right; the redneck is trying to be a sophisticated, coordinated, somewhat graceful city recreationist. It is probably like Larry the Cable Guy deciding to try and be the PR director for the Queen of England!

Right now, my main focus is trying to stay alive. This is now my third week and I have yet to make a trip to the hospital. I count this a blessing, as well as evidence that God still moves in supernatural ways. I must say the safety equipment I purchased may not make me look cool, but it does significantly reduce the scarring process. The first two weeks I think I probably resembled a wind sock in a tornado as I swirled around, desperately trying to keep from slamming into the ground. Lets just say I regularly experienced whiplash like being rear ended in a car by another car doing 65......several times over within a short period of time.

Jess and I started rollerblading together because we wanted something we could do together outdoors when we had only an hour or so. We also wanted something that would serve as exercise. Because my legs feel like Jello when I am done and I walk like Gumby, I think it works. So far though, it has been fun! There is a very large parking lot next to our apartment that is usually empty. So, we go out there and rollerblade while the girls run around and play. It allows all of us to be outside and get some physical activity.

Well, that is our new activity to debrief after a long day of classes and studying! So far it works great to take my mind off of things. This is because the only thing I can think of is keeping from seriously injuring myself. At first, my thoughts were "I'm gonna die; I'm gonna die; I gonna die; I'm going to crash really hard and then I'm gonna die." Once I get better, I am sure I can figure out a way to use this as a resource for huntin and shootin. I know there is an olympic sport of skiing and shooting. Maybe I can figure something out related to that!

Enjoy the pictures and blessings!


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A Few Random Pictures

Here are a few random pictures over the past month. The last month has been very very busy for me. School has been intense and will continue to do so for two more weeks. Things should slow down after that...hopefully. I have two large research papers due at the beginning of April and that has made things very busy! One is on Revelation 20 and the other is on whether or not the gift of tongues has ceased. Very interesting papers!


Kate and Rose playing with some little gifts they got at a birthday party


Tess has been working on making faces. Okay, so I taught her how to do it and she has been practicing!






The weather has been getting warmer so we took a quick drive out to Bernheim Forest after a day of studying. It was a beautiful evening and the girls enjoyed being out and playing. There is a 32 acre lake there and we spent the evening walking around the lake.

Blessings,
Shane

Snow, Snow, Snow!

This week we got 6 inches of snow and school was closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. We made good use of the time! We got a lot of sledding in and enjoyed a lot of time together as a family. Kate and Rose have gotten to be good sledders. Kate likes steep hills and a lot of speed. Fortunately, she is good at steering as well because there are several trees and lamp posts to avoid! She figured out that if she lays down on her back she can go faster. She looks like a little luge runner! However, she still steers. Rose on the other hand learned from Kate how to do this as well only she doesn't steer. She just lays down on her back and doesn't look up again! I think her attitude is "I'm yours Lord! Do Your will!" She sure goes fast though! She has had a few close calls though, narrowly missing trees and poles. She sure thinks it is fun!

Yesterday we went out to Bernheim Forest again to do some hiking. It was beautiful with all the snow out there. The nice thing about going out there this time of year is there are not many people out there! It was a beautiful day with a lot of snow. We also saw a lot of deer which was fun. The girls had a good time throwing snowballs as we hiked and playing in the snow.

Tonight we have a winter storm warning in effect. We are supposed to get several more inches of snow! Woo hoo! I love snow! It has been fun living where it snows!

Snow on the seminary campus.

Kate and Rose climbing the hill for another sled down the hill. They climbed that hill a lot this week!

Kate and I built a snowman after a morning of sledding.


Family photo while hiking out at Bernheim Forest.







Sledding on the hill next to our apartment. Action shot of Rose on her way down the hill.

They are off! Rose demonstrating her Luge form.

The girls pose on the hill before heading down hill.

Rose climbing the hill for another run.

Tess enjoying some time in the snow.


May God bless you all and continue to work in your lives for His glory and your good!

Shane

The VonSander Family Pukers

**The following contains content that is for mature viewers only. Contains references to vomit and other questionable content. Viewers should be advised the following may cause slight laughter, nausea, and abdominal discomfort. The author reserves the right to not be held responsible to the following due to a state of partial delirious due to lack of sleep, food, and liquid.

Kate had stomach problems beginning Tuesday night. It never really amounted to much though so we didn't think much of it. Last night, Rose and I went to church, leaving Kate, Tess, and Jess at home just in case Kate had the flu. Upon arriving at the church, I started not feeling very well. Church is 25 minutes from home, so about halfway through, I decided to leave because I wasn't feeling any better. The closer we got to home the worse I felt. By the time we were a couple of miles away from home I began to feel I wasn't going to make it. You know the feeling! Extreme dizziness, the rising feeling, and the cold sweat! Right before home, I was stopped by a red light. Choice: Get out of the car and have an embarrassing situation in front of all the traffic or pray and try to last. Due to my extreme aversion to embarrassing situations, I chose the latter. Praise the Lord I made it home. Thus began the debut of the VonSander Family Pukers.

As soon as I got home, I was down for the count. The whole works. Miserable. It was 7:00. By 8:30, Rose was throwing up. By
11:00, Tess was throwing up, joined soon by Kate. Finally, at midnight, Jess got into the action as well. It was a symphony of throats at work that was....well....gut wrenching. We were all miserable and it continued throughout the night. There were several times when two of us were throwing up (or pooking according to Rose) at the same time. Jess and I were taking care of the little ones in between our own bouts of getting sick. It continued until 6 in the morning. We just spread the kids around our bed on the floor. Throughout the night, I kept thinking of the verse in I Thessalonians 5, "Rejoice in the Lord and in everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." So, I gave thanks and praised the Lord for a night of puking together as a family! It was a night in which we had to rely upon the Lord and His strength.

On the positive side, I lost five pounds and Jess lost six.

In between my own getting ill and getting out of bed to help my family throw up as effectively and efficiently as possible, I kept thinking of songs from The VonSander Family Pukers. Naturally, these are set to songs from the Sound of Music. Our CD though is called the Sound of Vomit.

1. (Tune: The Hills are Alive) The rooms are alive with the sound of puking. With sounds we all dread, but we've heard before! Our guts will be empty, with the sound of puking and we'll wash every blanket we own.

2. (Tune: A Few of My Favorite Things) Broccoli and meatloaf and bread and potatoes. Cookies and ice cream and chips and lasagna. All of the food that was down in my stomach. It is all coming up now just for me! When the guts churn, when the throat tightens. When I'm feeling bad. I simply throw up and see all of my food and then I just feel soooooooo bad!

3. (Tune: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria) How do you solve a problem like dry heaving? How do you take the bile and make it stop? How do you make it on time to the bathroom? How do you stop the vomiting and get some rest?

4. (Tune: Do, Re, Mi) Puke, its brown and it smells real bad! Darn, it just got on the rug! Oi, I feel so terrible. Uuuuh, oh here I go again! Arrrgh, the kids are puking too! Will, this night ever end? I, am dehydrated! That will bring us back puke.....

5. (Tune: Climb Every Mountain) Vomit all your food! Clean out your gut! Running to the bathroom! Till you find reeeeliiieeeeffff!

6. (Tune: Sixteen Going on Seventeen) I am gagging, going on vomiting, baby, it's time to heave!

This is the result of laying awake at night in a ball in between episodes and trying to keep a joyful attitude! May it bless you and make you smile! If it bothered you, please remember the disclaimer at the beginning!

Blessings,
Shane

Playing in the Snow

We woke up on Saturday morning to a beautiful layer of snow. The weather then cleared and the sun came out. What a beautiful weekend! The moon was also full at night. It is hard to beat the beauty of moonlight on snow! We were blessed to be able to spend some time playing and sledding. Here are some pictures from the weekend!

The first thing we did after breakfast was to bundle up and go for a walk around campus!






Once again the hill next to our apartment offered some great sledding! We had a great time sledding and playing in the snow. Kate and Rose especially enjoyed the sledding! It was a joy to watch Kate and Rose laugh uncontrollably down the hill. Later on, the girls began racing Aimee and her friends down the hill. Naturally Kate taunted them all the way down!