The teens are always talking about Chuck Norris. I finally went to the website and...well I have to share:
If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.
There is no 'ctrl' button on Chuck Norris's computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.
Apple pays Chuck Norris 99 cents every time he listens to a song.
Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.
Chuck Norris can eat just one Lay's potato chip.
Chuck Norris is suing Myspace for taking the name of what he calls everything around you.
Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.
When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.
There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.
Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.
Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.
There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.
When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.
Chuck Norris is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.
Chuck Norris’ hand is the only hand that can beat a Royal Flush.
Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink.
Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.
Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
Chuck Norris does not get frostbite. Chuck Norris bites frost
Remember the Soviet Union? They decided to quit after watching a DeltaForce marathon on Satellite TV.
Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.

Our Trip to Pensacola

We're home safely after a great visit with Ben, Debbie, Ryan and Matthew. We had a fun filled, relaxing week playing and being a part of their lives for a whole week. Ben put a flower bed in the front of the house. One side had one but the other side didn't so he took out the sod and with help (as you can see above) put in a bed and planted 3 azalea bushes. I didn't get a picture of the finished project. We went to the air museum Thursday. Ryan had a ball sitting in the different cock pits and we watched an IMAX movie - under the sea. After dinner Thursday we went to Pensacola beach for just a few minutes. It turned cold and we were all shivering. But not too cold to stop for ice cream! :) It was fun to be able to attend the youth meeting Wed. and to visit Debbie's nursing floor too! It's hard to pop in and out of your lives for such a short period of time, but also gratifying to see how the Lord is working in your families. We are blessed! Thanks Ben and Debbie for giving us a great week! We enjoyed it thouroughly!

The trip back on I95 was another story. It was 12 long hours - with stop and go for about 4 hours on 95. I guess everyone decided to return from spring break at the same time. But the car ran great and I accomplished my longest driving stint yet! Now it's laundry, get a hair cut, groceries and get ready for Monday! Can't believe the week is over already!

Snow?

Yesterday morning and this morning we've had snow falling and sticking. Ummm, this is not normal. No wonder the peas aren't up. Either the cold or the slugs are getting them. Ugh. Jon is working up the mountain today and he said there is 3 ft of snow on the balcony where it falls off the roof. He at least made it up the driveway today. The other day he got stuck in the snow. This is just crazy. I'm ready for warm dry weather.

back and running

Hey everybody I'm alive! although the first night I was in Jerusalem there was a shooting pretty close to our hotel, wheeew! I had an absolutely incredible time. I told Amy it's like I'm reading the Bible in color now, it has really changed my outlook on so much. Life changing.

It was also incredible to be with 250 youth movement leaders from 60 countries around the world. It was fun to sing songs about "every tribe and language" praising the Lord and singing it with so many other cultures. I've got a mere 400 pictures, Terry took 1500!

We've got so much going on around here. We are in the midst of a fund raising drive for Trdna Skala. We are doing a family of Trdna Skala support thing next Friday as well as a bunch of other program stuff right now. We are also just starting the camp season, just got flyers today and teams are coming together. All that and I'm heading back to the states for a couple days April 9 -14. I'll be in a couple meetings at Cornerstone and then I'm speaking on Sunday to encourage a giveaway offering they will have for the building at the end of April. I'm starting to rack up the frequent flyer miles!

The talk around here is the exchange rate, the dollar is tanking. Kathy has only been here a month and 1/2 and the dollar has lost 12% of it's value. The Jackson's rent has gone from 900$ to 1800$ in 3 years, mainly because of exchange rate, i think they have only increased it 100 euros during that whole time. So everyone is hurting.

The kids are still so much fun. When I got back from Israel Abigail wouldn't let me out of her site for 2 days, she even came in and sat on a step stool while I used the restroom! That translated into lots and lots of hugs and kisses and some sweet cuddling. Eli smiles so much and it's great to seem him laugh. He is very ticklish on his feet! He looks like such a bruiser, like he could start at middle linebacker. He has already started reaching for things and following you with his eyes. It's been nice to have him sleep so long at night, last night was a 9 1/2 hour stretch. We would think something was wrong if he didn't eat so good during the day.

My hats off to Amy, she has done great managing the house in the midst of all of this. We even had a team meeting at our house today which we hosted!

I'm looking foward to being with Jon and Erin and hanging out a little with Noah! I'm not looking forward to being away from my family again.

Well, that's it for the newsy Joel :) Hope everyone is doing good. It's been nice reading what has been going on in your worlds. I think we span like half the world! Love everybody!

a pensacola post

Hey:) Guess what....... I made meatloaf - and people ate it!!! We are having fun down here and relaxing a lot. The boys are loving grandma and grandpa time. I will post pictures when I find my camera!! I can't believe I lost it. I already missed Easter and 3 days with Ben's parents... Maybe I'll find it tonight

He Is Risen....

He is risen Indeed! Happy Easter everyone! Daddy and Noah are all dressed up. Noah's had a very hard week and won't smile these days. Teeth coming in maybe? Ben & Debbie, enjoy Mom and Dad. Wish we were there.

Happy St patty's day!!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the day - especially you marie!! Hope everyone wore green and didn't get pinched. I don't think we've posted in a while - yeah, we are boring:) But, hey boring AND pretty cute...check out Matthew being cheezy in his green. I think he's excited that grandma and grandpa are coming!!! Ryan is about to bust (burst?) Hey, I was good at math and science, not grammer:) love you all!!

These made me smile

Here are some snapshots from this week that made me smile

Noah...smile! He knows what to do when a camera comes out. Notice Jon's new toy in the back!

What did you say Daddy?

Oh no, I don't know how to turn it...They looked so cute walking together.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIE!

HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

just for fun

They worked!!!

They finally worked. Here we are getting the garden ready, planting seeds and putting up the fence. Too bad it's been so rainy we havn't been over there again.

Memories

Check out Hulu.com. They have old and new tv programs and movies. Pretty fun to see. They have the A-Team. Thought the "Boys" might be interested. :)

Jon and Erin- William is going to record 5 shows of Mister Rogers this week and see how it does on a DVD. We'll let you know if it will work. Is next week to late?

Late birthday greetings

Hi Mom! Happy Birthday from me too! And I know Joel would be saying Happy Birthday too if he were here. We're having a great time over here. I'm so, so glad my parents are here to help out with Joel being gone. We're looking forward to having him back on Monday night.

My parents arrived on Friday and unfortunately got the flu right away. The kids and I are not getting it though, so that's good. And we've been having a good time despite being sick. It's been nice to just lay low around here and have "normal life" just adding in Grandma & Grandpa. We were able to visit Bled today though, so that was nice. Here's a few pics! Love you all!!

gardening

We have been trying to post this for almost 2 days now but the pictures won't work. If we get them to work we'll post those later.

Not much is going on this weekend so I thought I'd tell you about last weekend. We have some friends not far from us that have a large garden (30x40 ft) and since they're kids are gone they're not using it. They said we could us it if we wanted to so last weekend we fertilized it and Jon tilled it. Our good friends Jason and Jen helped us put a fence around it to keep the rabbits out and I planted beets, turnips, carrots and onions. We have corn, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, zucchini, squash, cucumbers and watermelon to put in when it gets warmer. We're pretty excited about the potential crop this fall! They even have sprinklers on timers! On the weekends this summer Jon is going to help Mr. Stage (Mark) with yard work and Noah and I will work in the garden and enjoy their swimming pool.
Not much to report otherwise. Jon has been working some side-jobs that are going well. Everyone loves him...I didn't doubt that they would. Noah has given us some 6-7 hour stretches of sleep that we have really enjoyed however that was not the case last night. We think he has 4 teeth coming and he's not been happy. It was a loooong night. Thank the Lord for Tylenol! I think that's it. We hope you're all having a good weekend. Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Happy Birthday Lunch With Mom

We had a goodtime with the 53+1 yr.old mom. We went to Fatz Cafe in Orangeburg, SC which is about half way between them and us. Here is a picture of mom after shopping, oh, and a pic of dad too.

Here is the comedy clip that I was talking about at lunch.

mom picture

I agree with Jon, it is difficult to obtain a photo of mom! I looked and this is one of the few recent pictures we have..... Happy Birthday mom!! Prepare to have your picture taken when you get here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! (grandma)

Happy Happy Birthday! As you know, I tried very hard not to forget! I hope you have a wonderful day and Dad takes you out to some super expensive restaraunt :) We Love you!

p.s. This was the best picture I could find. I think everyone should post their pictures of Mom! You know how much she loves to have her picture taken.

garde

Please keep Katelyn in your prayers.

We think Katelyn has another ear infection. She has been on 3 antibiotics in February for her ear. She has been suffering with ear infections since November. She also had a bladder infection last week and is on an antibiotic for that. We go to the Dr. Monday at 4:30 and he is going to talk about tubes. Katelyn has been terrified of this idea but Friday afternoon she told me she thought we should go ahead and get tubes. I think she is tired of hurting all the time. Please pray that the Dr. can clear up the ear infection she has because the antibiotics don't seem to be helping and last time she received shots in both legs two days in a row to try and clear it up. She was limping both of those days but was such a trooper! She watches as they give the shot and sits perfectly still. She doesn't take after me! Thanks for the prayers!