Summer is Over (Praise God from Whom ALL Blessings Flow!)

Summer is over and fall is upon us. Despite the fact that Louisville set a record high yesterday of 102, we know the heat is about to break. It is supposed to be in the 70's tomorrow! Summers here are hard because the heat is very oppressive. July was especially bad this year. Fall is beautiful though and we are excited for the coming new season. I am also excited because football has begun and hunting season is about to begin. It does make me miss coaching football!

I am now three weeks into my final year. It is hard to believe three weeks have already passed of the semester. Counting this semester, I have 9 classes left. After this semester, I will have 5. The plan is to take one in the winter and 4 in the spring. Lord willing, I should graduate in May. This semester I am taking Systematic Theology I, Preaching Practicum, Christian Ethics, and Hebrew. It is a full load but the classes are really good. Hebrew is the class I have been the most scared of since coming to seminary so it is good to be getting a start on it! So far it is okay.

Jess and I went away for three days at the end of July to celebrate our 13th anniversary. It was a great time of relaxation and rest. It was also much needed as this summer has been incredibly busy. We went to Lexington and spent some time in the horse capitol of the world. One of the things we did was go visit the Kentucky horse park, the home of the World Equestrian Games. Put simply; it is the dadgum fanciest place for horses I ever did see!

The girls have started school here at home and they are doing well. Kate has started reading up a storm. She is reading regular books now and reading them quickly. On her own, she is reading through the Bible and in a few weeks is half way through Exodus. Rose is now writing the alphabet in cursive and at the beginning stages of reading.

Tess is riding a bike with training wheels now and Rose is riding her new bike like a pro. Beth has started eating solid food and she is now crawling. That has introduced a whole new facet to life!

Next Saturday, Jess and I are running a 5K on the campus of Southern Seminary to raise money for missions. I have already called the paramedics and they will be standing by. My prayer and hope is to cross the finish line and to beat someone. I know....lofty goals, but I am feeling optimistic!

Well, I better go. Enjoy the pictures!

Blessings,
Shane

Tess has started Cubbies now at Awana and she is very excited about it! She earned her vest last week and was beaming!

Beth eating her first solid food!

We had a cooler day at the end of August and went out hiking at one of our favorite places. This is the trip we learned about chiggers. Poor little Tess had over 20 of them on her when we got home. They are like tiny little ticks that suck blood. Not exactly one of my favorite creatures!

Beth is growing up so quickly! She is a very jovial and happy little one. She is a big smiler and enjoys life.

On July 31st, it was 95 degrees and we were tired of being holed up in the house because of the heat. So, we decided to brave the heat and went down to Bernheim Forest. They have a great bike trail down there. Jess and I rollerbladed and the girls rode their bikes. It was a fun day and all slept good that night!

Jess at the main arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. There are multiple arenas there, but this is the main grandstage one. There was a national event going on while we there so that was fun to get to watch some of it.

Near the end of July, we met my uncle Chris, my aunt Lynnie, and Grandma Sander in a little town in Indiana called Nashville. It was fun to spend time with them.

Tess does really well with little Beth and she enjoys holding her.

So Begins July

Well, July has begun and I realize I haven't posted anything in 2 months. Where did that time go? My bad. I would like to be a just a wee bit more consistent about posting things here!

The summer has been very busy. My job has been full time over the summer so keeping up with things at church and with my classes has been challenging. But, the Lord continues to provide grace and most things are getting done. I finished up a five credit class on Thursday and will begin working on my next class this week. I also need to start working on my reading for the fall semester, which begins in the middle of August.

Two weeks ago, I spent a week in Salt Lake City on a missions trip for school. The goal of the trip was studying Mormonism to be able to more effectively dialogue with Mormons and share the Gospel with them. We met with Mormon professors at BYU, Weber State, and the University of Utah. We also met with Mormon church leaders and with Christians who minister full time with Mormons. It was a great trip and I learned a lot. It was also great to back in the west! I sure miss the west and the nice clear air that does not have the humidity! Currently, I think the air here is thick enough cut with a machete.

Yesterday we went out hiking and had a family day. It was a good day. We went on two different hikes, had a picnic lunch, and got some ice cream on the way home. It was wonderful to be out in the country again. We have not been able to get out much this summer due to everything going on.

The Lord continues to provide for us and we are so very grateful. He has provided for us through the generous gifts of friends and family. We are continually overwhelmed with His provision through His people. Right now, I am on track to graduate next May which is very exciting. I have four classes to take this fall, one to take in the winter, and then four to take in the Spring to finish.

The children are doing great! Rose is riding a regular bike now. We were able to get her a new one this weekend because she outgrew her other one. The kids ride bikes every day in the yard and on their daily walks. She is very excited about this next step in her maturity!

Well, I need to go. Here are some pictures to enjoy!

Blessings,
Shane


Beth loves to be on her tummy!


Redneck swimming pool! Three rubbermaid containers with water in them! Sprinkler play sure changes when you pay a water bill!



The girls on their flight to California!


The night Rose got her new bike. They sat there and sang with great exuberance for 20 minutes!




Rose affectionately named her bike "Misty". She covers it at night and talks about it is doing when she isn't home to take care of it!


Our team in front of the Mormon Institute of Religion at the University of Utah after three hours of dialogue with Mormon professors there.

This is the roof of the Mormon Conference center. It takes up an entire city block and holds approximately 21,000 people.

Looking down on Temple Square from the top of the LDS Administrative building. This building is 28 stories high and is the 2nd tallest building in Utah at 420 feet.

The Tabernacle. All work was done by hand. It was begun in 1853 and completed in 1893.

Our team in front of the tabernacle.

Yesterday's hike was a muddy hike!

The last two months have been exceptionally full! School was very busy, church is very busy, and life with our family has been very busy! But, on Friday I took my last final and skipped home (not really, but almost)! I will get a small break for a week and then I will need to start preparing for summer classes. It will be a full summer. Ministry at church will be busy this summer, I will be working full time, and trying to take classes as well. With the conclusion of this semester, I am 2/3 of the way done! Praise the Lord! With everything going on, this has probably been my hardest semester. If the Lord continues to provide financially, I should be able to graduate next May, although it will be a push to make it. That being said, we are losing the babysitting job in September that Jess has here at home. That currently accounts for nearly half of our income. So, if the Lord brings it to mind, please be in prayer with us regarding that situation. We are confident the Lord will provide because He has so faithfully provided thus far. However, we are curious!

Derby time just concluded here in Kentucky and three weeks ago, we all went down to Thunder over Louisville. It is a 6 hour airshow, followed by the largest firework show in the nation. We all went to the airshow, but I took Kate and Rose back down to watch the fireworks that evening. It was a really fun time. The firework show truly was incredible. It was comparable to the largest firework finale you have ever seen, but ongoing for 30 minutes. The finale was so strong and loud, it felt as if someone was pounding our chest with their fists as fast as they could. When it was over, I was laughing and turned to Kate, asking her what she thought. She said, "That was really loud in my tummy...I think I am going to throw up!" It was a good memory with them!

We were going to go camping this weekend to get some time away as a family after a crazy semester, but a cold front with rain came in. So, we are staying home. I am still going to take Monday off of work and we are going to relax together as a family. The weekend has been relaxing and we are grateful. On Friday night we went to pizza to celebrate the end of the semester, as is our tradition. Yesterday we hung out at home and I didn't do any school work! First Saturday not doing school work since the beginning of January. It was great!

There a bunch of pictures from the last month below. I will try to put some more up in the next week or two. I have more, but I thought it was full enough!

Blessings,
Shane


Kate relaxing on the back porch. It is really nice to have a porch and a lawn! We are barbecuing once in a while and it is great! We can't really afford much meat here because it is so expensive. So far we just have chicken or hamburgers. We miss barbecued steaks!


Hiking in Southern Indiana


Watching jets at Thunder over Louisville. The girls plug their ears because there are a lot of military jets, such as F-16's that come over really low and do a lot of cool stuff. It is really fun to watch!




A glimpse of the firework show!


The girls as we are waiting for the fireworks to start. It was a cold and rainy day!






The girl's birthday celebration. Jess found white "fancy" gloves in the $1 section of Target. They were pretty excited!


My Mom made these outfits for the girl's babies.




Rose loves having a real baby in the house! Sometimes too much!




The girls after a fun time in the yard. Our back yard is bowl and when it rains the neighbors lawns, as well as our driveway drains into the back yard. When we get a good rain, about 2/3 of the yard is under water. The girls love to play in the water!

Hello Everyone!

It has been a long time since I have posted! Things have been very busy with adjusting to a new home, Shane's new schedule with a new job, a new baby and the season changing from winter to spring. We are finally having some spring weather and the girls and I are enjoying our new yard and back deck. How gracious our Lord is to bless me with this extra space and the ability to be outdoors more. I sure miss it.

Shane is doing well, though I know he feels a little buried with all there is to do. In addition, our pastor has resigned and is moving away, and the people are disappointed. I am sure more will fall on Shane's shoulders as well. He continues to do well in his classes though and is enjoying his new job as housing inspector on campus.

Kate is learning a lot in school and hopefully about her heart as well. She is reading books beyond her grade and has beautiful cursive writing. She has just said all the books of the Bible from memory too! It is so exciting she can begin to look up verses and read them herself. It is a blessing to teach her as she naturally works hard and wants everything to be perfect. However, she wants what she wants too and this poses problems throughout our days, as it does for all of us when we act and think this way.

Rose continues to grow physically and also there is a big growth with her mind as she begins to ask questions about God, excel in memorizing scripture and other things too. She still lives and breathes babies, and I better be praying more for her husband to be someday because she may be quite heartbroken to not have her own family someday :)

Tess continues to charm us all, although we definitely went through a testing phase soon after Beth came home with us. She is so full of life and has such a spark and enthusiasm in all she does. She is beginning to beg to do school and Math too, oh my how will I keep up with it all. But praise the Lord they all ask to do school and want to do more than I can give them. Something must be going right. Tess just turned three and I wish they would not grow up so fast, although it is exciting too.

Beth is growing rapidly. She now smiles really big, and enjoys looking at things longer. She held a toy the first time the other day. In addition she can roll from her tummy to her back and has done that for weeks. Weird since she is only 8 wks old. She has begun to sleep through the night, last night sleeping 8.5 hours. It is wonderful. She also doesn't cry as much in the evenings, so that is nice. We are all enjoying her a lot!

I am doing well overall. I am enjoying the richness of growing in the knowledge of the Lord as I hopefully learn to depend on Him more and more. Continually I am faced with moments when I don't know what to do, or how I will manage everything, and always He is faithful. If only I would live in this truth more often instead of trying to fix everything on my own. Worship is so important! I am also trying to get into more discipline with working out and eating right. I am anxious to have a vessel to live in with more energy and strength without physical distractions, as much as in my control, in which to serve my family and the Lord with... to the praise of His glory! I am most challenged now with this and also with instructing and correcting my children. It is so difficult sometimes.

Well, this is the update for now. I hope it is helpful for any of you wondering how we are here in KY! We miss all our friends and family, including our special family at Cornerstone very much. What a blessing you all are to us!

Enjoying the beauty of the Lord and His amazing creation this springtime day,

Jess

Enjoy the pics..

Tess's Birthday

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