Boo!

We missed the church pumpkin carving night last week while we were in Washington, but that didn't stop us from carving our pumpkin's last night before trick-or-treating tonight. Erin carved a small pumpkin and was very creative with the seeds. Brant followed a football theme this year and had his pumpkin helmet match the Chicago Bears uniform he dressed up in. Believe me, that was a scary costume!

Sidney Postma

Stacey's grandfather passed away yesterday (on her birthday). We will be spending a good chunk of this week with the family celebrating his life...and there is a lot to celebrate! If you didn't have the chance to know Sidney Postma, here is a link to his obituary so that you can at least have a brief window into his life. It isn't nearly big enough to encompass his life in the Netherlands during World War II, his immigration experiences, his farming, his care for his wife through her Alzheimer's and his deep love for Jesus.


http://obit.gilliesfuneralhome.com/obitdisplay.html?id=469194&listing=Current

The Cousins

Last night we gathered for Stacey's birthday party. We missed the California cousins! In order to include them in the cousin festivities I post the following pictures. With the five Michigan cousins gathered together I'd give them a category and they had three seconds to pose before I took the picture. The following pictures are the results. Enjoy!

Parade Queen:

Body Builder:

Fairy:

Grandpas or Grandmas:

Rocket Scientist:

Hillbilly:

Brant:

Tiger Stadium Tribute

For those of you who aren't aware, they are currently in the process of tearing a part Tiger Stadium and selling the pieces off. After about 7 years of standing empty and exposed to the elements, it is now designated for destruction. They allowed a few photographers in before the destruction started. There are some fascinating pictures here. It is really interesting to see how nature begins to reclaim its own turf (vines covering the seats, small trees growing in walkways). You can also see the "The Tiger Chainsaw Massacre" as they chop up the seats to be sold. Click on the link below and enjoy some final pictures of a classic stadium. Which one is your favorite?

http://flickr.com/photos/tags/tigers9282007/interesting/

Evan Almighty

The four of us went to the Dove Family Film Festival movie for the week. It was "Evan Almighty". What a great movie! All four of us thoroughly enjoyed it from youngest to oldest. And it set the biblical story of Noah in a modern day context in a wonderful way. I would highly recommend this movie for everyone. It will get you thinking about what God may be asking you to do and how he might be answering your prayers in ways you aren't noticing.

Easiest Pet

When Brant caught a grasshopper two months ago and stuck it in his little bug cage I felt bad for the poor little fella. I knew it was just a matter of days until it was a goner. Two months later, as fall now is setting in, I convinced Brant that it was time to let his pet go. For two months he faithfully put grass and water in the cage and kept his pet alive. I was very impressed! In honor of that accomplishment I give you pictures of his grasshopper's moment of freedom.






























Strange thing was, it hung around in the same place for a couple of days after being set free. I wonder if it forgot how to hop!

Up North

I just got back from at Men's Retreat two hours north of here. We had the chance to do some fun stuff as well as be challenged to be men of God. Since a lot of the fun things were in the water, we were thankful that this just happened to be one of the warmest October weekends we have ever had around here. Each day was in the mid-80s! Here are some pictures from the weekend (along with a picture of the beautiful fall colors -- this is the best time to be living in Michigan!).

Latest Book Review

My book club finished reading Dracula for our last meeting. We had read Frankenstein a couple years earlier and only thought it appropriate to read Dracula as well.

It got high grades for being written long ago in a very unique perspective. It is written as entries from the journals of the characters involved. Surprisingly, there were very few "horror" scenes at all. In fact, almost none. It certainly was unlike any of the modern day depictions of Dracula on the big screen. If you made a movie of the book as it is written it would be a flop for certain. But as it is, it is an entertaining book.

If you had to choose between the two, I'd still choose Frankenstein. I believe it has more action to it, is written in an easier style and carries with it more profound insights.

I'm eager to report on this month's book: Thunderstruck. We have already read Devil in the White City by Larson. If you haven't read that and like a great murder mystery you've got to read it. The wonderful thing about it (the book, not the murders), is that it historical. It is the story of the murders that occurred during the World's Fair in Chicago in the early 20th century. It is a fascinating book. I'll let you know if his latest book rivals that one.

Diet Mentos

I've always heard that Mentos and Diet Coke don't get along real well. "Drop a pack of Mentos into a 2-liter of Diet Coke and it will shoot 30 feet into the air" is what I've heard. Well, last Saturday we went across the street and tried it ourselves. We dropped 6 Mentos into the 2-liter bottle. Just in case you were wondering...the picture below shows the results...not quite 30 feet, but pretty impressive all the same. I guess the 30 feet comes when you attach a smaller spout at the top of the bottle.

If you were interested in seeing the experiment in action you can watch the short video below. (At least I hope you can since this is my first attempt at a video on my blog! Let me know if 49 seconds is too long to load.)

Who ever said that science wasn't fun?!