First Week without Stephen around

We have all survived our first week with Stephen away at college. Jeff, Diane and Rachel spent almost an hour on "Skype" with Stephen. Skype is an online phone service that allows you to talk via computers for free (or at least without additional charges beyond our monthly Internet connectivity charges). He was in the process of doing laundry for the first time and talked about his first three days of classes. It sounds like he is staying busy and doing well.

He is looking at auditioning for the improv club at school. He had hoped to join the fencing club, but that folded last year. So he is looking at some other options and is considering the improvisation club but you have to audition to join so he doesn't know at this point if that will work.

A beautiful weekend here but it doesn't feel as hot as the thermometer says, I think the back of summer is broken, but it was a pretty weak back this year. I think we only had one day officially above 90 all summer and not very many in the 80s. My tomatoes are definitely pretty green still, so I'm hoping we still have a few more weeks before we freeze. I may cover the plants with black plastic bags if it is threatening a freeze.

Take care.
Diane

Stephen has flown the nest

Today, we dropped our oldest off at college in Morris Minnesota. There was a fair amount of excitement and a lot of unknown. We are all entering a new phase of life and aren't really sure what we should be feeling. We drove down yesterday and checked him into the dorm about 8:30 this morning. We spent some time together including a tour of the new biomass gasification plant and wind turbine. We were able to meet his roommate and his family before leaving him there as we drove the six hours home. We did stop at a roadside stand on the way home and picked up some fresh sweet corn.

I think the changes won't really impact me until Stephen isn't here for big events in our lives, things like the first day of school, his birthday.

Hopefully we can keep this blog updated better this next year as we document the changes in family life.

Diane

Stephen's at College

Well, we have a kid in college.

Diane, Rachel and I are fresh back from Morris (about a six hour drive) having successfully deposited Stephen in his dorm room at UMM. It was a very interesting day. Timeless, in a sense. I had the strong feeling much of the day that this is one of those moments you just don’t live through twice. Yes, we’ll be dropping Rachel off at school soon (hopefully not too soo. There is this performing arts high school in the Cities, but I don’t want to think about that just yet) but Stephen is our first born. Leaving your first born at college is just one of those things; like getting married or actually having the kid.

The day went about as well as it could. We got a fitful night’s sleep in the Prairie Inn, then got down to campus right around 8:30am. A crew of upper classmen was on hand to haul stuff into Stephen’s room (a tradition at UMM). They were surprised at how little he had, and very impressed by the Xbox and the fencing foil. Stephen is in room 18 of Pine Hall. It’s a pretty standard dorm room, in the basement just like his Mom’s dorm room had been.

We took a ‘Green Tour’ of the college’s biomass heating plant and its wind turbine. They do a fair amount of practical energy research at this school, and are planning to be energy self-sufficient and off the power grid by 2010. Then it was back for lunch and a return to the dorm room where Stephen finally met his roommate, a nice kid from Granite Falls, MN named Andrew. Andrew’s whole family was in the room as well, so we had a chance to chat with them a bit. When they decided to head off to the Student Center and see about Andrew’s mailbox, we took it as our cue to make, ‘The Big Departure.’

Stephen walked with us out to the car, and he looked ready. There had been some nerves earlier in the day, but those had passed, and he was laughing, and joking. He was – well, ready.

Jury’s still out on Mom and Dad.

WOW! Check it Out!

Check out the trailer that Rachel posted on her movie site and on YouTube! It is worth watching. I haven't been all that involved in the production as I have been at work while they have been shooting but have heard about the work at the end of each day. Here is a taste of what is to come.

http://webpages.charter.net/jeffreyamn/freedombird/Welcome.html

A proud mom.
Diane

Good Morning!

Good morning (or day, depending on when you read this)Family and Friends!

We are having a glorious morning. It has been a cool, wet summer so far with lots of wind and hail. Rain is expected to move back in later today but for now we are bright sunshine and warm which feels very nice.

We have been very busy this summer and I don't think it will slow down any time soon. Stephen and I went to Morris Minnesota to register him for fall classes. I was very excited to see the campus and meet staff and faculty. I feel very good about leaving him there. We will take him down to school on Saturday, August 23rd and he will check into the dorm on Sunday morning August 24th.

Rachel and Jeff begin filming her live-action movie today. She was inspired by her time at the teen Acquire the Fire conference this past winter to share her beliefs through art. She got an idea for a story, wrote it, has cast it and now begins filming.

I am working hard as summer reading at the library dominates. We are having a very successful summer, which is cool, but means a lot of work. I am also trying to keep my garden from drowning and pulling lots of weeds. I have also been doing a bit of knitting.

Jeff and Icebox radio theater have been and continue to be very busy as I am sure most of you know as you can follow their adventures on their blog and all at
http://webpages.charter.net/jeffreyamn/Icebox%20Radio%20Theater/Welcome.html

Enjoy your day and enjoy your family.
Love,
Diane

Happy Summer!

Hope some of you are seeing summer weather. We have reached a high of 50 degrees today with clouds all day and rain off and on. It has been a while since I posted and a lot has happened in the past month.

We now have a high school graduate in the family. On Thursday evening, May 29th Stephen Adams graduated from Falls High School. We celebrated the event with a graduation party. Both sets of grand parents were able to spend the week with us and aid in the celebration. We also had my Aunt and my sister and her husband and son with us. We had planned on using the backyard as overflow for the party but Thursday evening we had more than a typical rain shower. We had almost 10 hours of downpour. So we crammed everyone into out house and had a wonderful time celebrating Stephen and his accomplishment.

Now on to summer. Stephen is teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding at city beach this summer. Rachel is taking the classroom portion of drivers' education and learning to play the oboe (she has spent the last four years playing the clarinet and wanted a new challenge), and starting work on a movie.

Jeff is keeping everyone together as well as preparing for four shows this summer, including two at Convergence a science fiction convention in the twin cities over the fourth of July weekend.

Diane is running another summer reading program, training new staff and trying to make her garden grow. But she'd really like some sun to help.

Have a wonderful summer and thanks to all the family and friends who sent Stephen cards and helped us celebrate his high school graduation.

Diane

The life of Rachel in the last week

Hey everybody I know I haven't been up to date with my blogging lately so I am about to catch up for the last six months I haven't made a post.

Track is finally over for me, after three months of practice and about six or seven meets ( a lot were canceled because of weather). We had JV IRC's which are kind of like sections except you can't go any farther unless you are competing on the varsity then you can make it to State. But Any way at our sections IRC's I got fifth overall in the 100 meter dash, first in the 4 by 100 relay, and the big highlight of the meet was when I tied for first place in the high Jump with a jump of four feet three inches!

The other main highlight of the past few weeks is today I got Confirmed! Me, two of my friends plus one other boy were there to recite our life verses, and a paragraph that we had written about why we had chosen that verse , and read three answers to questions given to us a couple of weeks ago. I had to answer, What is Gods relationship to he world? What is the sacrament of the Lord's Supper? and What is the Christian hope? Here are my answers if you wish to read them.

What is God’s relationship to the world?

Remember your creator in the days of your youth, Ecclesiastes 12:1a. God created the world and he loves the world because it is his creation. God pronounced that the world was good at the creation but mankind through sin has corrupted it and we have turned our eyes away from Him. Our relationship to the creator isn’t all that great at the moment. I say at the moment because the way God shines through people on earth comes in waves. Sometimes it seems like every thing is great. Then of course we hit the bad times and the world seems to be going down hill. Lately I think we have been stuck down at the bottom of one of these waves and we need to work on getting out.

But how do we do that? We need to get back to the basics: God created the world in the first place and he has ultimate rule. But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding, Jeremiah 10:12. We are the ones messing up. God is always there for us to get reacquainted with him, we just have to make the time. God Wants to be in a relationship with us but even thought we are listening we really don’t know what to listen to and we keep getting distracted by the rest of the world. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; renew my life according to your word, Psalm 119:37. God loves the people that he created so much that he was willing to sacrifice his son so we could maintain a relationship with Him. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that who ever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life, John 3:16.

What is the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper?

A sacrament is a devotional, rite, or symbol. The Lord’s Supper is the ritual we use to remember Christ’s death. The Bread was his Body that was being basically destroyed for us, and the wine which represented his blood that was being spilt to clean us. While they were eating Jesus took bread and broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying “take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying “Drink from it, all of you this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26: 26-28. We need to keep our eyes on the immense sacrifice he made for us. We can do that by taking the bread and the wine like he told us to.

We are not only remembering but we are giving thanks and participating in the blood and body of Christ who saved us from sin. Is not the cup of thanksgiving that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 1 Corinthians 10:16. We are thankful for the price he paid to give us eternal life with Him. And we are participating in the Blood and body of Christ because we are part of Him when we accept Him as part of us and take the Bread and the Wine for the First time.

What is the Christian Hope?

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Hebrews 6:19. The Christian hope is that Jesus will return and carry us all up to heaven! We all wait in Careful expectation for that wonderful day when he will come and take us all out of this world and up to spend eternity with him. Look , he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him so shall it be! Amen. Revelation 1:7.

We are his chosen people we are in his book and we want all the people around us to be up there with us in heaven. But sadly most of the people on earth haven’t accepted Christ yet. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Matthew 28:19. Even if we don’t succeed in one person doesn’t mean that we don’t plant a seed in that person, and one day they will accept Christ. All Christians should share the same hope of all of us going to heaven with the entire world with us! So let us all celebrate because we are going someday. But while we are still on earth it is our duty and privilege to bring other people in to His light, and let them see the wonders of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So my fellow believers let us celebrate in his second coming, let us reach out and let us grow in him with every life that is saved and we shall be praised by Him, the alpha, omega, beginning and end.

oh and one last thing to those coming out to our place for Stephen's Graduation. I have entered a movie contest about three hours south of here. And my Movie was chosen to be shown so my father and I will be driving down there for the showing! all that want to come are welcome, if you think it is worth it to drive three hours and if you will fit in the car. Love to all

-Rachel