First Official Win of Outdoors Season

Tim ran yesterday at the Grand Rapids Open, and won the 1500 in a time of 4:01 something... not his fastest time, but a sold performance, and one he felt really good about. Now begins a schedule of track meets almost every weekend until nationals in May. On April 5 he'll be at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI.

At right, Tim follows teammate Alex Wrobel in the 1500. (Thanks for the excellent picture, Nikki!)

Please keep praying for health and strength!

And Tim has officially started his one class for the spring: bowling. Yes, you heard correctly. He is taking one credit of bowling...

A brief update on the kids

I talked to both the guys and to Elsa on Easter (and IMed with Nikki), and thought I'd post a quick update for you all...

Ben is giving a rather large presentation in his Greek class today. It has to do with the 100+ usages of two different words for "shield" in the Iliad. Really. He asks for prayers that it would be convincing and well received. He also asks for prayer for his Master's Literature Comprehensive Tests, coming up on April 12th. If he manages to pass them and his class, he will, indeed, have his M.A. in Latin!

Elsa is enjoying her new job, and the weekends she now gets at home. She is almost at the end of the wedding thank you notes, so if you haven't yet received yours, it will be coming soon!

Tim spent last week cross-training because of some pain in his shin, and took the weekend off of running, while visiting Nikki's family in Ontario. His shin felt somewhat better on Monday, but he is battling a chest cold. Please pray for continued (or returned) health! He also began his bowling class this week, and has a couple of second-round job interviews coming up. Please keep the whole job search in your prayers, too!

Nikki is battling the remnants of pneumonia. Please pray for returned health and strength for her.

I am so blessed by these wonderful young adults. It is such a joy to see them making good decisions and living in a way that honors Christ. Way to go, kids!

Easter

We enjoyed having Chris' parents, Jack and Shirley Hanson, join us for Easter!

We walked together, cooked together, and talked together. Jack is just recovering from a short bout with pneumonia, so we kept the activity level laid-back. Of course, there were dishes to do...

And plenty of basketball games to watch!

Outdoor Track Begins

Well, the excitement of outdoor track is upon us. Tim ran his opening 5K in 14:54 on March 8 at Hendrix College in Arkansas, and then spent a week at Gulf Shores, Alabama, running lots of miles and doing speed work. He is feeling healthy and strong, and looking forward to the season! (He also had a fabulous time with the team in Gulf Shores for one more Spring Break. He even did 602 push-ups one night... ask him about "He-Man Night!")

Tim's next time running will be in the Grand Rapids Open on March 29. Before that, he'll spend Easter weekend with Nikki's family in Ontario, Lord willing.

Jeopardy!

Last Friday evening, one of my cyber-friends, Renee, actually WON Jeopardy! I have *known* Renee for several years through my online classical education homeschooling group, and she was just brilliant! And she also looks beautiful, and smiled and enjoyed herself, and I am so proud of her!

Tonight (Monday), the five local members of the online group gathered to watch Renee's second appearance. She was brilliant and beautiful again, and ahead right up until final Jeopardy, and then unfortunately missed the last question, and lost in the last seconds. But we have such fun cheering for her! And in honor of St. Patrick's day, we shared a meal of corned beef ands cabbage, too! We are pictured below, around Kris' television at the end of the show.

Thanks for all the fun and excitement, Renee! Great job! You made us all very proud! And if you want to read more about Renee's Jeopardy! adventures, check out her blog here, and look for the Jeopardy! link in the left side bar.

The Los Alamos members of ClassEd are: Kelley, Kris, Amy, Catherine and me.

Update on Bloomington Residence

Dear faithful readers,

I have updated the link to Elsa's photos of their domicile below, and now it should actually work! It should take you directly to Elsa's photo album without having to sign in to anything :-) Sorry for any confusion! And if you are unable or too lazy to scroll below, here it is again:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015482&l=8d27a&id=71500836

The Bloomington Residence

Elsa and Ben have posted some great photos of their condo in Bloomington. it looks cute and cozy, and they are utterly adorable, don't you think?

Elsa- on the wedding quilt.

Ben, with a Vickie Byars quilt (they also have a Marian Kirchner quilt in the living room, and others of mine in the stairwell and the spare bedroom, so they are quilt-rich even though they have few square feet!)

You can see all the photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015482&l=8d27a&id=71500836

Wedding Photos Follow-up

I understand from Elsa that all the wedding photos she had posted are available, even if you are not facebook folks, at the links listed below.

Thanks for sharing, Elsa!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015429&l=a849b&id=71500836

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015448&l=4f4fa&id=71500836

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015449&l=ccb1e&id=71500836

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015450&l=c7926&id=71500836

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015452&l=41f60&id=71500836

Wedding Photos

Elsa and Ben have recently received the "real" wedding photos, and below are a few good ones I stole off of Elsa's facebook. I will eventually be getting more, and better quality ones that I can e-mail to folks.

I love this photo: they look so happy, don't they?

Beautiful!

OK- who organized the red-and-black-and-white theme and neglected to tell me? Matt even looks like he fits in! Though I guess Kirk didn't get the memo, either. The even funnier thing is that all of Donna Johnson's family is in blue and black. Frightening...

My girls!

Finfam4, for the last time... now it's even better!

You can see many more at Elsa Johnson Finnegan's facebook page (she's the one who's from Hillsdale...)

Nieces

On Friday I spent the afternoon with my folks in Rio Rancho. Also in attendance were my nieces Hallie and Atalie (daughters of my sister, Wendy, aka Gwen) After bribing them with taking silly photos, they posed for a serious one. It was great getting to spend a little time with them both!

Happy belated birthday, Elsa!

Happy belated birthday to my sweet, smart dil, Elsa! She turned 22 yesterday, and we all rejoice in the gift she is to all of us--especially to Ben!

For those of you on facebook, Elsa is loading wedding pictures there, so you might want to "befriend" her (Elsa Johnson Finnegan, Hillsdale).

Elsa has also had her first week of the new job at the school of business at IU, and is enjoying it so far. She is a department secretary, with half her days being filled with receptionist duties, and half with miscellaneous other duties. She has found connections with several of the people she works with, and we know she will be a blessing to them as well.

Our March Foot

Just a few days ago, Dave was telling someone we "always get a foot of snow in March". It turns out he was prophetic, though he is on travel, and can't enjoy the beauty of it! It will likely be mostly gone by the time he returns tomorrow.

It was one of those delightful snows that coated everything in a soft and glimmering cover of white, transforming the ordinary into extraordinary beauty!

Our March Foot cont.

Shoveling Proof

Dear Dave is a servant when it comes to shoveling snow. He is always out there in the dawn, clearing everything off. Well, this morning he was in Nevada when we received our 15" of snow, so Marilyn and I shoveled with a will, and cleared it all. And here is the proof:

A lovely tea party

Yesterday we had a lovely surprise birthday tea for my friend, Kris. It was a lovely time!

We met at Jacque's, and she had set a beautiful table for our surprise...


And here is our hostess, making delicious apricot-ginger black tea. For about three years Jacque and her family were in Washington, D.C., and I really missed her! I am SO glad she has returned to encourage and bless us all in Los Alamos!


Kris was extremely surprised, even though this little group gets together for birthdays regularly.


Kris is such a blessing in all of our lives...it was such fun to celebrate God's gift to us in her!


Here we are: taken by Drew. (l to r: Kris, Jacque, Chris, Kelley)

The end of Indoors, the beginning of Outdoors

Tim finished up his indoors track season on Saturday with a provisional qualifying time of 14:50 in the 5K. It won't be quite fast enough for him to go to Nationals, but it was a solid performance, and now whets his appetite for the outdoor season. That begins next week as the Calvin team heads to their spring break training in Gulf Shores, AL, and stops at Hendrix College, AR, on the way next Saturday. Tim is looking forward to both the opening meet of outdoors, and escaping some of the Michigan snow...