Beautiful Reminders of God

This photo may seem too pretty to be seen too often, but Dad and I have been enjoying scenes like this all this fall. Our walks at the nature center and other places this fall have been as beautiful and even more! Wow! The fall is SO beautiful! The sunsets, the blue of the sky, the dark blue of the lakes, and even the blending of the browns and greys as the colors start to fade. Yesterday we walked at Langdon Park over by the Curries while the boys had their piano workshop. On a path completely covered with golden leaves , suddenly Dad said,"Oh!" Stopping, he picked up a set of keys that somehow he happened to see amongst all the leaves (I didn't see them). We then prayed that we would find out who lost them (which we knew was very unlikely), or we would get them to the police. We asked the first runner we saw, but they weren't his. After awhile of walking, we came out of the woods and saw a young man walking slowly on the path looking down at the ground back and forth. This seemed likely! Dad called,"Did you lose some keys?" He looked very relieved and said "Yes!" I said, "We prayed that we would find the person who lost them." And he said, "My wife and I just prayed too!" Apparently, his wife had dropped them while they were running, but they thought it was over by the road, so I don't know if he would have ever gone down the path into the woods. Also, even if he had, it's unlikely he would have seen them in all the golden leaves. We thanked God for answering their prayer!

I have been studying Chemistry with both Joseph and Esther this semester. Joseph is taking Honors Chemistry at the High School, and Esther is taking Intro to General and Organic Chemistry at Bethel. Even as we barely scratch the surface of Chemistry, it is so profoundly awesome to me, and I am reminded of the awesomeness of God, who is beyond and above the entire Universe, as He created it all.

College Search and Application Process!!!

As we begin the immense and fearful task of College/University search with Esther, we are reminded once again (as we are many times a day!!) of our entire dependence on the Lord--His tender mercies and faithful promises. Please put this on your prayer lists, as with Esther it is not just applications, which in themselves are daunting when you got all of life going on (you all have experienced this), but she will also be auditioning for music schools. So there is a lot. BUT...we trust in the Lord, and it is always exciting to see where He leads, and how He provides for us. We, of course, will keep you posted to any progress!

Mom

A FUN WEEKEND

Paul, Timothy and I went to the Harvest Party at the Medford's this past Saturday. Hayride, candy search, dessert contest, and delicious chili were a few of the highlights. The Lord gave us a beautiful blue day. Timothy won a jar of corn candy for guessing the closest how many were in the jar without going over. Joseph and Daniel spent the weekend at the Shirs doing MANY fun things. Of course they sent them home with some natural treats--cream and fresh apple cider, which the boys had worked hard to make. (They pressed 30 gallons of cider! No motors. All with just muscle strength.) Both Joseph and Daniel had sore muscles afterward!

Pictures--Some New and Some Old

Thought you might like to see a couple pictures from Joseph's surprise birthday party .

This is part of the group that surprised Joseph when he came in the door (More around the corner.)


It was going to be just for boys until a couple of sisters got involved. As it was, the girls definitely made it more fun!

These pictures were taken on our old non-digital camera, and when we brought the film in, the other pictures on it went back to last winter. So...here is a picture of last winter as we welcome in the new winter weather!

After David, Timothy is definitely our apple boy. He can be found AT LEAST once a day (usually more) with an apple. I didn't realize this until recently. I started to notice that he would save a good apple to eat when he sat down to read books, which is one of his best leisure activities (especially when he can enjoy a good apple with it). But here is a picture of last winter!

Daniel's Heroic Swallowing of the Goldfish

Swallowing a Goldfish

on "Orange You Glad You Came to Church" Sunday

by

Daniel J. Molitor

It started out as a regular Sunday. I woke up at about 8:30a.m., got dressed, and grabbed an apple to eat on the way to church. Getting to church, I met up with my best friend, Daniel Wagner. Just then Stephen Shir approached me and asked, "Would you like to earn a dollar?" I said, "Yes! I would!" He then told me that to earn it, I would have to swallow a goldfish.

This sounded very foreboding, and I would have to do it in front of the downstairs large Sunday School class. I had not yet made up my mind when, entering the class room, I heard Luke announce to the children, "The fearless Daniel Molitor is going to swallow a goldfish for you today!" What else could I do? I walked up to the stage, and Luke presented me with a squirming goldfish, about 1.5 inches long. I held it up for all to see that this was for real. It obviously delighted the crowd.

To make the morsel a little tastier, a helper brought a salt shaker and some orange koolade to swallow it down. I declined the salt and took the juice. Just when I felt that I should get myself out of this predicament, all the bus kids started shouting, "Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" So I mustered my courage and swallowed the goldfish! It went down quite easily, and after flopping once in my throat and once in my stomach, it did not give me any further problems. Over all, it was fun. And plus, I earned the dollar!

Sadly, the video that we got of this is TOO BIG to put onto the Blog

Three up and coming rappers

Mom, Dad, and I (Esther) were at a TEACH senior get together tonight, and when we got home, the boys had a surprise for us :). Enjoy!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSEPH !!

Today we celebrate Joseph's 15th birthday. After spending at least an hour on his birthday blog, I lost it all at 2:30 a.m. and still cannot retrieve it. Oh well...

So we will get some of the highlights over the years: Joseph was born 15 years ago today--our baby with the most hair!
The family gathered to bring him home from the hospital!Joseph was a little go-getter, and seemed like he didn't want to be left out of anything his bigger siblings were doing. Here he is at 7.5 months.

And here he is at 9.5 months walking!
Mom and Joseph at age 1

1st Birthday.
For some reason, David had a knack for getting Joseph to sleep by just rocking him--something that came in VERY handy on the busy nights of getting everyone to bed.(And once in a while David fell asleep too!)2nd Christmas-almost 15 months oldJoseph at age 2-His GOLDEN birthday! We had just come home from Wed. night church where Joseph was a Sonbeam!
Big Brother--3 years old
Joseph almost 5
5th birthday


The big "13" for Joseph

Joseph with all his brothers --Joseph almost 13And Joseph with newest brother--Joseph almost 14

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSEPH ! WE ARE SO GRATEFUL THAT GOD BLESSED OUR FAMILY WITH YOU!!! WE LOVE YOU !

YOUR FAMILY