Pictures from the Weekend

Hi Gang,

Just wanted to let you know I’ve posted pictures from when the family came to visit about a week or so back.  I hope everyone’s back to normal after sleeping on floors and broken-down beds… I feel so bad about that.  We really appreciated everyone being here, and being able to spend some time.  The congregation’s still talking about how great it was so see and meet you.

Pictures have been posted on our pictures page, as shown below.  They’re also on Facebook (click here), and they’re public there, so you don’t need a Facebook account to view them.  Enjoy!

Mueller Visit Apr 09

Pool videos

Okay, no one is really going to be interested in these except for those who are in them.  But that’s okay… I needed to make an entry on this blog anyway.

Kevin, Riley, Branden, Elizabeth, Brenda… Enjoy!

Family Weekend

MuellerWknd March 09

Okay, a funeral is not usually the best reason to have a family gathering… but what a testimony to Grandma… the family did indeed get together to remember, to console, and to heal.  And we had a great time, filled with laughter, memories, and fun.  With the faith that has been given to us by the Holy Spirit, we know we’ll see Grandma again… her faith was a strong sign of Christ living in her heart.  So how can we be sad?  Certainly not for her!

My congregation was kind enough to let us get away, no questions asked.  What a blessing to be able to be there with family at this time! As always, the camera was in hand, and the results are here for themselves.  Click on the album above to be taken to our pictures page.

Merry Christmas!

The family of three... Merry Christmas!

Family and friends are much on our minds today as we celebrate our Lord’s birth as a baby in Bethlehem.  What love our God has for us that He would humble Himself and be born in order to live the life we couldn’t, and to die the death we deserved.  We remember today our “God-With-Us” who is with us even to this day, and will return to take us to be with Him forever.  God’s blessings and peace to you this Christmas season.

Thanksgiving Festivities

Thanksgiving 08

“On the Road Again…”
The Ferry family got to head to Wisconsin over the Thanksgiving holiday, to join with family and friends for food and football. Even though illness tore me up while I was there, the rest of the group had a great time, and I WAS able to enjoy the Thanksgiving feast put together by my in-laws. Games, laughter, teasing, and long-overdue time with our loved ones.
We’re thankful for a fantastic gathering, a healthy family, and safe travels.  We’re also thankful to be in a Lutheran Christian family that actually prays together before our meal.

Not Ready For This

From MI House II

I’m geared up for a Michigan winter… at least in theory.  The last four winters, we’ve been in St. Louis, Missouri, or in southern Indiana… not exactly winter capitols of the world!  So needless to say, we’ve been a bit spoiled when it comes to easy winters.  But that’s okay.

So when we were leaving church after Bible class, and the snow started, I was more than a little disconcerted.  The picture above is the view outside our back door, into our backyard.  I thought I was prepared for a “real” winter once again.  But now that I think about it, maybe I’m not.  Actually, we don’t even own a snow shovel or a snowblower.  We’re in BIG trouble.

Fall Playtime

The Mueller kids took it upon themselves to show their cousin Caleb just how much fun autumn can be.  This video was spliced together from about four that were taken that morning.  It’s about a 13 MB download, but for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, it can be well worth the download.

Cold-Weather Fun

As the weather turns colder and less welcoming to playing outside, Cheryl and Caleb have become a little more daring in their search for activities to occupy the time.  Here, they’re making use of a gift given by Uncle Scott to create a masterpiece that now hangs in our kitchen.  Enjoy!

Family Visit

Muller Visit Oct08

Hey gang, my apologies for not getting this up sooner!  The Kevin Mueller clan came to visit us a few weeks back (wow, has it been two weeks already?!?)… our first houseguests!  The kids did lots of jumping in the leaves, with the bonus for us of getting our yard raked!

They also went trick-or-treating, giving Caleb his first chance to get dressed up and head out to gather candy!  Enjoy the pics.  I’m still working on getting the videos up.

Knowing When to Say When

The dearly departed MacBook

Okay, I hope no one is too disappointed with me.  A few months ago, I decided to give in to frustration and head across the fence… the grass just HAD to be greener over there.

In April, I headed over to the “Dark Side” of computing and invested in a MacBook.  It came, I loved it, and I leaned into the learning curve that certainly existed… but it was fun, and I didn’t have many of the frustrations I had learned to live with over years and years of being a Windows user.

But then: reality struck, and hit hard.  I got my call to Michigan, where my church uses Windows machines and software exclusively.  I really tried to use my MacBook for my office computer… I had Office 2008 and was getting the hang of using the “palettes” instead of the “ribbon” I had grown to like in Office 2007.  But then came the difficulties: No Publisher, No BibleWorks 7, No “native” Libronix (the beta is just not finished yet), No Shepherd’s Staff, No Lutheran Service Builder.  I was spending more time in my VMWAre Fusion virtual machine running WinXP than I was in Mac OS X!  Kinda defeats the purpose of having a Mac, no?

So, here’s the kicker: just this week, I sold my MacBook and retreated to the Windows world.  My congregation realized my office was desperately in need of a new computer anyway, so they were kind enough to purchase their new pastor a Dell desktop running Windows Vista.  (BTW: see the Dell Outlet for some incredible deals on scratch ‘n dent or refurbished computers and monitors.  Wild savings!)

Don’t get me wrong… I still have a love for the Mac OS.  It’s dead simple, it’s visually stunning, and that is still the best laptop I’ve ever owned.  Light, solid, well-made, and worked extremely well.  But right now is just not the right time for us.  As a secondary or extra computer, that would have been fun to have.  But all that money to have an “extra” computer?  Not right now with all the undergrad loans we’re still paying off!  Plus, I would have had to spend hundreds purchasing software licenses of Mac software to replace the Windows-only software I need for my day-to-day operations.  Not good.

A great five months as a Mac owner, and I’ll always remember those days fondly (ahhhh…).  But my accumulation of Windows software, and my reliance on programs that are platform-specific chased me back over to the Windows side of the fence.  I guess I’ll be Bill Gates’ lackey for a few more years after all.