Traveling...

September has been quite a busy month for us. We have been traveling quite a bit to meet with people to share about our ministry. Joe told me we have put around 1600 miles on car just this month. One of the fun things we got to do when traveling to Toledo was to visit the "Extreme Home Makeover" house. The TV show came to Toledo to build a deserving family a new home. We thought it would be neat to check it out.. since it always seems crazy they can demolish and rebuild a home in 7 days time. We thought it was a neat experience to witness. The new house... this was two days before completion. It was crazy to see how much equipment and semi trucks were around the site. Some neighbors literally had the grill of a semi right outside their front door!

It was a neat idea... they took around a painting and had people in the crowd add on one paint stroke to finish it off. It was a little rainy...hence the umbrella.

In the brief 20 minutes we were there we got to see a designer for the show - Rib Hillis.

Air Force Museum

Joe and I recently went to the Air Force Museum in Dayton. We figured while we are living close to Dayton, we should take advantage of the neat stuff in the area. We really enjoyed looking at all the planes and learning some fun facts. Checking out the plane that dropped the atomic bomb "fat boy".

Joe checking out a plane in the newer section of planes (above). Joe and I went into the huge cargo plane behind us that is used for transport and war (below).

Our favorite part of the museum was in a hanger that was on the active part of the base. The hanger included old Air Force Ones from past presidents and also a research and development section.

Truman's Air Force One plane, "The Independent".

We really enjoyed touring the old Air Force One's but the only thing was the aisles in the planes were super narrow due to the plexi glass. Is was semi claustrophobic. We even got to tour the Air Force One that presidents Kennedy to Clinton had and transported Kennedy's body from Texas to D.C. In the research and development hanger. It was quite neat as the plane pictured in the background is the only one in the world. There were also other different looking planes that they used to test certain engines or wing patterns, etc. This is one of the most different ideas we saw in the R&D section. This plane takes off and lands vertically. There is a cable it catches to make it possible.

We really enjoyed ourselves at the museum and the best part is.. it was free!

First backpacking trip!

Joe and I went on our first ever backpacking trip on Monday! We hadn't planned on going, but as something we had Monday night got canceled, Joe looked at me and said "wanna go backpacking tonight". Of course I was really excited (we really have been wanting to go for quite sometime) and rushed around trying to get everything ready.

We headed to Germantown and started on the trail about 3:30pm. We were planning to hike around 6 miles, but weren't sure if we would have enough time due to the late start.

Joe and I on the trail!

So, Joe and I ended up hiking around 4 miles on Monday evening. The weather was beautiful and we saw lots of toads, birds, and a snake! We were quite tired by the time we got to camp. Our feet were hurting and we were ready to sit down!

After setting up camp - our tent and packs. It was a nice little spot - there was a little pond just past our tent. (Below) Joe hanging up our food and other smelly items, so animals wouldn't get them!
Joe and I after waking up. We were pretty excited it was morning. We didn't sleep very good. My goodness, the crickets and toads were triple loud. But, some other animal (never heard it before in our lives) kept waking us up it was so loud. We think it might have been a coyote or something. Also, some other people got to camp late and decided to cook at midnight, which we also heard. So, we were kinda excited to finally get up after not sleeping to0 swell. The backpacking trail we were on was pretty new, so they had a journal to write your thoughts about the trail, campsites, and your experience. The journal was located in the crummy outhouse (although, I was appreciative) - needless to say, I brought the journal back to the tent.

Joe packing up our sleeping bags in the tent and (below) us with the campsite sign at Oak Ridge. Thus begins the second day of hiking. We decided to hike around 6 miles!

Joe blazing the trail! We had another great day with beautiful weather!

We made it back to where we started! We had such a great time experiencing God in nature and having fun as a couple! We are excited for many more backpacking adventures in the future! We had so much fun! :)

Our niece goes to Kindergarten!

Our niece had her first day of Kindergarten on Tuesday! She was so excited! We called her after her big day and she sang us all the songs she learned that day (which was about 6 or 7)!

We thought we would share some pictures with you! This is Andrea's sister's daughter. They live out in Illinois, close to where we will eventually be in the future!

Can't you tell that she is pretty excited?!

I (Andrea) had to really laugh at this picture. This is Ava (the soon to be preschooler) and Ellie (the Kindergartener). My mom used to always take a picture like this of my sister and I on the first day of school. Wonder why my sister thought of this pose?!

Revamped page!

So, we revamped our webpage. Hope you like the new look!

CHICAGO!

This past Friday, we loaded up and headed out for Chicago. We went to Chicago for a 90th birthday celebration... and a celebration it was! Joe's grandpa had a serious girlfriend (Marg) for quite some time and she was turning 90! The time Joe's grandpa was alive we got to spend a lot of time with Marg (and her family) and really got to know her well! She is such a neat lady and such a sweetheart! 5 years ago they had an 85th b-day party for her and Joe's grandpa... neither one of us was able to attend.. so we just knew we had to go this time!

Marg and Joe


Friday night, we headed north of Chicago to Marg's son and daughter-in-law's house (Paul and Marty). It was a pool party! They have an indoor pool in their house! It was great catching up with them and visiting. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Marg and dived into cake and Chicago style pizza! Our nephew was quite the swimmer. He is only 2, but loves the water. I guess normally he is a little scared.. but now all fear is gone. Joe loved splashing him (he loved it) and I really enjoyed catching him after he jumped off the side of the pool!

My brother-in-law tossing my nephew in the pool and me trying to catch him!

Saturday morning we really wanted to go tour the city... but rain came in! I guess I should tell you that it was our first time to Chicago! We had a great breakfast at our hotel... omelets made-to-order and all kinds of goodies. We wanted to head downtown, but instead headed to a huge mall. It was quite fun (3 story mall) and we even got a free chocolate sample at Godiva.

We then scurried back to the hotel to get ready for our upscale evening. We dressed in formal attire to prepare for the big celebration. Marg's birthday party was on the 80th floor in the second tallest skyscraper in Chicago! 14 of us rented a limo to ride into the city. We rode in an 8 passenger limo with Joe's parents, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece. It dropped us off at the Aon Center. We headed to the 80th floor to the Mid America Club on the elevator. Our ears popped because of the elevation! We were graced with a beautiful beautiful view of the city and h'orderves. It was amazing to look out and see the whole city from above (even to look down at some skyscrapers). We visited with others and took many pictures.

Joe and I outside the limo!

Our nephew, Toby, really enjoyed the view from the 80th floor, too!



The amazing views!

Millennium Park from above...

From there, we moved to another room for dinner. The tables were decorated with about 2 dozen red roses. We had another great view of the city at sunset! On fine china we dined with about 50 others. Our first course was mango soup. It was quite different and cold.. can't say I had ever eaten anything like it before. The main meal was steak and lobster tail. It was so good! The servers then presented Marg with a plastic flower thing that played "Happy Birthday". It was very neat... in mid song.. it burst open and inside were lit candles! She made a wish and thus came dessert! Baked Alaska was the dessert. It was so neat... the servers brought several big cakes out with fire on them. The dessert was great... it was ice cream with cake rolled up on the outside. I had never had anything like it! After eating and such, we all rushed into another room for a spectacular view of the fireworks lit off from Navy Pier. It was amazing watching/looking down on them from the 80th floor!

Picture of the whole family - Joe and I, brother-in-law, Joe's sister, nephew (Toby), niece (Luci), and Joe's parents!

Joe and I at dinner on the 80th floor!
Joe enjoying his steak and lobster!

Our nephew in awe of the fire on the Baked Alaska dessert!


Looking down on fireworks set off from Navy Pier!


The night was one I'll never forget.... It was so fun and quite an upscale fancy experience with great family!


Sunday was our tourist day. We woke up with plans to go to Shedd's Aquarium, but then decided to go on a river and lake boat trip. We had heard rave reviews from others and thought it would be something we all would enjoy. It was a guided tour with about 200 others. Normally I am not one to hear the history of a city or such, but it was quite interesting and informative. I learned the "windy city" is not called that because of wind, but rather because a influential man thought Chicagoians are "windy" with their talking and accents! We even got to go through the locks and see the city from a distance! It was great... ! We went for lunch at the Weber Grill Restaurant... it was very good.. and we had the same type of yummy rolls we had the night before.. pretzel rolls! The only sad part was that we had to say "goodbye" to Joe's sister, bro-in-law, niece, and nephew...

On the boat ride... with the Sears Tower in the background!....

and a view from the lake... see the tallest building a little right of the middle?... that is the Aon Center.. the building we were in the night before! Cheesin' on the boat tour!

The whole fam again at Weber Grill Restaurant!

Sunday night we had to depart for home... well sorta. We traveled to Elkhart, Indiana to Amish country with Joe's parents. We found a cheap hotel room and spent the night. We found some Amish goodies - cheese, pineapple salsa, candy, and my personal favorite - peanut butter marsh mellow cream spread (I have already eaten half the jar)! We went to a quaint little Amish restaurant for lunch, where I had peanut butter pie... can you tell I enjoy peanut butter? I still have quite a hankering for some Amish cinnamon rolls... I guess Wednesday was baking day and we were there Monday... :(

So, now that we are back in Lewisburg, we have been connecting with individuals about our ministry... and conducting a road side produce stand. So far we have had only one customer. Wait... another customer.. yay! I just sold all our zucchinis! Joe's parents have a very large garden and sometimes can't eat all the veggies that come on at one time. Today we are selling cucumbers, squash, eggplant, banana peppers, cabbage, and zucchini. Hope all is well... and if you made it through this whole blog entry.. way to go!

Joe outside his parent's house at our produce stand!

More tractors and flea markets...

On Saturday, it was Joe's dad's birthday. For the occasion, we went to another combined tractor show and flea market. I really like flea markets and enjoy trying to get a better deal on things. It was a great time... and they also had homemade ice cream (which is always a plus). I think about every weekend this month.. I have had homemade ice cream :). But, I did hear on the news that July is "National Ice Cream Month", so I guess I better eat up!

Joe's parents... aren't they cute?

I learned more about tractors this weekend. We also got to see a man that makes different objects out of wood basically using chain saws. The best part of the day was when I found the perfect Christmas tree topper. I have been looking for one for about 2 years now. I found very few in the 2 year search that I liked and they were too expensive. Well.. I found a bargain and as they say "one man's trash is another man's treasure"!

My awesome Christmas tree topper for 25 cents! It is supposed to be a candle holder thingy.. but I am pretty sure I can rig it up for our tree! I was very excited!

Joe and I are very excited for this weekend. We are traveling to Chicago for a family get-together/birthday celebration with most of Joe's extended family. Joe and I have never been to Chicago! We will have to fill you in later on our trip! Hope you all have a great week! :)