Semester's End

I will be back May 12th. I have a lot to do to wrap this semester up. See you then!

Anna Meets John Calvin

Anna got to experience what research and scholarship is recently. We went to the Henry Meeter Center For Calvin Studies to do some research. She was very interested in everything and asked a lot of questions. She got to see some of the rarest books in the world including a first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion and Calvin's liturgy and Catechism. She also got to see 'the Calvin chair' and numerous coins and stamps depicting his image. We spend some time compiling a bibliography on Calvin and the Holy Spirit and then we moved on to other things. It was nice that Polly Pocket was able to go with us.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Aaron and Lisa Bishop on their first born child!

Norah Ann was born on April 16, 2007 at 3:59 AM. Her birth weight is 6 lbs, 10 oz. She is 18 1/4" long.

God is faithful from one generation to the next!

A 4am Rambling Story About Maggie, Stainless Steel, and Calico Brownies.

A few weeks ago (or longer) we had Maggie and B over for dinner. We were sitting in the family room chatting away about the joys of being a Christian and we forgot about the potatoes on the stove-top. They boiled over. They actually boiled the pan dry.

Then our oven did not work. Hmmm. There is a connection. Water fried out our electrical panel in the range. (I know, I know, buy gas- blah, blah, blah. But this oven was in the house when we bought it.)

So as the weeks are passing, Lydia and I continue a discussion about what to do. Do we replace the range? Do we have it fixed? What to do? Now, we have a really nice built in range with stainless top, etc. Very nice. At least $1200 to replace it. We could get a junky thing for about $500, but it would not look as nice. What to do?

Lydia calls a service person to come and look at while I am at work. She emails me about it. The whole thing is fried. It will cost way more to fix than to buy a new one. Okay.

So as the weeks are passing, I am not thrilled with replacing what we have (OCD...maybe). I do not want to replace it with lower quality. That is very annoying.

I call Apex on Plainfield. We talk. Then I call again. "Cathy, its Nate again..."

We decide on having one of her service people come and look. That is a $69 fee just for having them come to the house. I am not impressed, but we will see what it can be. They decide that it is one of two parts.

One part- $140

The other part $375

Labor and service call included.. you got yourself the junky range.

I decide to have it fixed. Bob the builder, as Owen calls him comes to the house and decides that is AT LEAST the $140 part. He says we have to replace that one first to decided if we ALSO need the $375 part. Okay Bob.

Murphy's law would tell you that this story is going to end with me paying $42,500 to have a $1200 range fixed; but you would be wrong. We got the old girl back on her feet for $250. I am ecstatic. So happy that Anna and I made Calico brownies before work today.

See, there is such a thing as a happy ending... now I think that the goat cheese pizza party can be hosted by our good ol' oven in honor of Maggie graduating! Any takers?

Meet the Baby!

Meet the third Eshelman baby. We have been praying quite a bit for this little person. We have been praying that this baby, as well as Anna and Owen, love the Lord Jesus Christ from infancy. John the Baptizer was said to have leaped in the womb at the hearing of the name of Jesus. May all of our children be used for the glory of God and the advancement of Christ's Kingdom.

Tante Heidi and a Tuesday Visit

Aunt Heidi came to visit us this week. It seems that her place of employment has left the Chicago area and she is between jobs. This gave us the benefit of seeing her since we are always so busy and our paths rarely cross. We were glad she could come up. We took her to Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies before they are all dead. We also took her for dinner at Johnny Carino's across from the Gardens. Good times!
Here Anna is smelling the Orchids. She knows that Orchid walls are a great part of Malysa tradition. It is alleged that Oma has an Orchid wall in Naples. We have yet to see it, but that is the story. Anna loves Orchids and she claims that the tiny ones are the prettiest.
Owen thought that smelling them would get him some attention as well. He is cute, but does not look like he is really in the Orchid spirit.

Here Lydia and Anna were snuggling at the Michigan Farm. Anna received this new pink monkey from Tante Heidi. The poor thing has the unfortunate name of Jungle Love... we will call him the pink monkey in our house.
Here Tante Heidi and the kids were playing in the hay. The Gardens has a great barn that was built in 1910 and then moved to the Gardens to be placed at the Farm. I had to share a story of throwing hay onto the bailer at grandpa's farm. When you do that for an afternoon your arms are as cut as a teenage girl on Lifetime.

The koi pond was pretty, but there was only a half dozen koi in the whole thing. Last summer we at lunch at it and there were well over 100! Where are all the fish?
Here is one of Anna's notorious power hugs. They look cute, but Owen hates it! It is unfortunate when ones face turns blue.

Thanks for coming Tante Heidi! Too bad about the Italian butter container getting broken at Carino's though. It was fun to watch that little guy clean it up for 40 minutes though. Good thing we tip well!

My Boys

Today the boys got a chance to bond a little. They wrestled and bit each other. It is quite a blast to watch. Of course, Samson, the step-dog, was not allowed to play with us.