Ben did it!!

He actually graduated from Hillsdale College (in four years). He graduated cum laude, and with departmental honors from the Classics department, and now can put a B.A. behind his name (and it doesn't stand for bad attitude!) He has also contratced for an apartment in Bloomington for the fall. So while he is home this summer, and unemployed, we have the hope for better come fall...

But in truth, what could be better than having him home for the summer? We are really enjoying having both the guys here this summer.We are really proud of Ben, and excitied to see what God will do with him next!

The Finfam at Ben's graduation from Hillsdale (l to r: Tim, Ben, Dave Chris) 

Ben and Elsa joined us to watch Tim run the 10K, along with Chris's sisters Annie and Jeni. 

Tim runs the 5K at NCAA Div.III Track Nationals in Lisle, IL, on May 27, 2006. {He is sixth from the right, in maroon, with #13 on his hip.}

Tim chilling at Track Nationals 

Tim's Spring Track, 2006

It's difficult to believe, but track season has swooshed by us, and Tim is home and taking a couple of weeks off of running. It was a successful season in many ways, and a difficult one as well.
The Successes:

• He ran strong the whole season, and grew in character, by God's grace.
  
• He won his conference 10K
• He qualified for Nationals in both the 5K and the 10K
• He was a repeat All American in the 10K

The difficulties:
He was ill in January, and just never felt "well" again. This resulted in one of those seasons where he met few of his running goals, and learned a lot about fortitude and patience. He had several instances of collapsing and losing consciousness following races, which culminated in a colapse during the 5K at Nationals (his final race of the season) and resulted in his first DNF (did not finish) ever. He is currently seeing medical professionals here at home to make sure there is nothing going on medically, and we are hopeful that rest and home cooking will do him a world of good.

Tim ran well, studied well, and is a joy to have back home for the summer. He is working again as an undergraduate student at Los Alamos National Laboratory for our dear friend David Lawrence, acting director of the Center for Space Science and Exploration. Tim hopes to be inspired there this summer with an idea for next year's senior engineering design project.