Valentines Dinner hosted by the Youth Group

The Tatesbrook youth group served twenty some tables in the basement of the church for Valentines day.

Jackie and I went out to eat on February 7th, because we knew we would be in the kitchen on February 14th.

Kelley Thomas, Matt Hind, Kim Foster, Josh Covington and Erin Markert all did a great job serving with the youth that night.

Kelley and Gadis must have worked all day getting tables and decorations into the basement. They did a great job preparing. It wasn't until we started tearing down all the decorations that I realized just how much work it was to move in the furniture and decorate it.

After they served the guests and the guests had left the building, the youth sat down for a spaghetti dinner of their own.

Becca's perspective of Buster

Becca had a chance today to use her new camera to take pictures of one of her favorite subjects. She slipped on the ice and sort of fell into this perspective. She was quick enough to snap the shutter, so she thinks she may be a photographer some day.

Ice Storm

We have been buried in ice the last few days and are thankful that our power is delivered underground instead of from poles like other parts of the state.

There are very few original trees from when we first moved into the house and one of them is this Magnolia that is sagging under the weight of the ice. I sure hope it pulls itself up when the ice thaws. We have shot many three point shots through its branches over the years, so it will be hard to imagine the front yard without the Magnolia hanging over the driveway.

Becca and I went out this afternoon to take some pictures of the sun reflecting off and through the ice.

I also wanted to record some of the damage that occured around the house as our gutters were pulled slightly away from the house under the weight of the ice and constant rain snuck behind the flashing against the brick in the back of the house under the main roof.

Taking photos of minor damage seems trivial as the state experiences the second largest power outage in history.

If you can see past all of the damage, the vision is rather glorious.

The kids have also taken advantage of the comfortable 32 degree weather, lack of friction on the ground, and no school for the entire week.

Lots of sledding and sleepovers.

As I passed the elementary school on the way home from work, I noticed many families that decided to have some fun instead of cleaning up trees. Most of the tree cleanup can wait, but you can't sled next week.

The last picture is of the Tulip tree in our back yard. Seeing how this is the Kentucky state tree, one would hope that it would survive Kentucky weather. It lost some branches, but it is fairing better than our Cherry, Lilac, Dogwood and Magnolia.

I Dare You

While we were staying with Jackie's dad over Christmas, I looked through an old Purina 100 year anniversary book that had some great photography. I saw a reference to a book written by William H Danforth, the founder of Ralston Purina Company.

"I Dare You" was written to inspire the people of his company and the youth of America to pursue excellence and develop themselves in a balanced manner.

He tied these basic truths to the checkboard that helped to establish the long lasting brand on every mill and every bag of feed and on every box of cereal. The four sides of the squares represented fourfold development:

• Think Tall - Mental Development
• Stand Tall - Physical Development
• Smile Tall - Social Development
• Live Tall - Religious Development

After enjoying the entire book, some of my favorite parts were references to other great leaders like this statement by Sir Wilfred Grenfell, "If the hardest thing in the world to resist is temptation, we should present a vision of Christ that tempts men the right way..... it intoxicates with deeds of kindness, justice, chivalry, love".

Later he shared a perspective of the story of the loaves and fishes that struck a chord with me. His focus was on attitude, not the work that was done. The attitude that takes account of the resources possessed rather than the difficulties presented. "Measure your powers, not your problems". When the disciples counted the crowd and complained that a few loaves were not enough, Jesus said "Don't look at the hillside, look at the basket. Don't count the crowd, count the loaves." Resources and powers are given to those who use what resources and powers they have.

• Through the use of our muscles, our muscles group and harden
• Through the use of our mind, mental capacity increases
• Through the use of our spiritual powers, these powers heighten

Favorite Movies we all viewed in 2008

In order to make this list, all five Eby's must have seen this movie during the year it is nominated. There are a few movies that have been nominated by individual Eby's that were disqualified because they were not viewed by all of us.

For example: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Wanted, Fireproof, Get Smart, Bucket List, Baby Mamma and other popular movies were seen by some but not all Eby's.

Here is the list for 2008:

1. Marley and Me ( First Unanimous Winner )
2. Hancock
   
3. Seven Pounds
4. The Notebook
   
5. Jumper
6. Expelled

Dudley shots - Adam Freshman Football

Dudley is my hero... I have been going to sports events for a very long time and taking pictures with a "better than consumer" grade camera with lots of lost shots because I am into the game and forget that I have a camera.

Like this "helmet to the ball" hit that Adam placed squarely on a Clark County runner while Jackie, Bud and I drank hot chocolate to keep warm. I really like being a spectator

Adam didn't run the ball much this year, but the Tates Creek offensive line really made some big holes for all the backs against Clark County. Craig really knew what to do with a hole that game. Clark County parents thought that Craig was headed for a Division I team.

It was fun to watch them play this year. It is going to continue to be fun watching these freshmen get better with some more strength, speed and discipline.

To the left is a shot of Adam dragging a Henry Clay defender for a couple of extra yards.

Back to Dudley.... Dudley retired from IBM years ago and as a hobby, he goes to Tates Creek High School sporting events and takes professional grade photographs that are better than any I have ever taken. This service that he provides is a great community builder and school builder and team builder.

To the right is Adam with a little open running room against Henry Clay after a screen pass to the right side. Martrell, our quarterback, did a great job of opening up the field looking at multiple receivers with the time he got from the offensive line.

Adam's best game of the year was against Lafayette.

This picture is just after receiving a middle screen pass, but his contributions to the defense were much more significant where he made several stops of one of the best running backs Adam will face as a Commodore.

Adam played with Bubba at LTMS and this was his first chance to go up against him in a game. I think the Lafayette game was the best game for the Tates Creek defensive line.

He said that tackling Bubba by the legs was like tackling a thrashing machine. Several Commodores discovered that you can't tackle Bubba above the waste during the second half when Bubba led them in a comeback attempt that nearly erased Tates Creek's 24-6 lead at halftime.

The last picture is from Woodford County where Tates Creek walked off the field with last minute loss that set them back emotionally. Woodford County didn't have very many players, but their hearts were bigger and they didn't have many weaknesses.

Less sensationalism, lasting substance

A few weekends ago, Jackie and I went on a double date to see Fireproof. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the story, the message and profit margin of the movie. Volunteers put much more passion into their product, and figure out how to do things without spending a whole bunch of money.

At the core of the movie was the word "Love" in the challenge that a parent gave to a child that had no grasp of what love was. "Love" makes us do things for other people at great cost to ourselves.

Leaving the theater, I couldn't have been happier with the people that we attended the movie with. Two people that give, give, give and lose track of what they get of out of any deal.

After a year of sacrificing a lot of time to shore up a company in distress because it chased after the wrong things for a while, it was a pleasant surprise to see someone else that my company has counted on to sacrifice a great deal of time and talent to survive. A short talk with he and his wife revealed it was rare for them to have to opportunity to get away together.

Partly because of the time that I was away from family, and partly because of the economy, and partly because some other members of my family are as busy as I am with other things, there is no movie that all five of us have seen this year at the theater. For our annual "Best Movie of the Year", we may have some older movies that we all happened to see separately on TV or video.

Three Fall Sports for Adam

Most three sport athletes split the sports into three different seasons, but Adam chose to supplement his main Fall sport of football with two other complimentary sports in terms of skills and skill development, but opposing in terms of time.

Every time that football practice was called off, Adam would go to fall Lacrosse practice. After the football season was over, he got a chance to play in the final fall season scrimmage with six other teams that joined Tates Creek at Kentucky Country Day High School in Louisville.

Adam's third sport for the season was an intramural Ultimate Frisbee team. They lost this afternoon in the tournament after winning the first game last Tuesday night.

If you look closely, you will see that even though the temperatures were near zero, Adam continued to play in bare feet as he always has on Sunday afternoons during the summer.

Ragamuffin Gospel

Several people have told me that I need to read "Ragamuffin Gospel" in the last 10 years or so, but none of those recommendations were as compelling as Robin Potter acting surprised this past summer when she discovered I had not read it.

I purchased the book with intentions of reading it during vacation in July but failed. A rainy afternoon in November was a good defer.

Brennan Manning sounds like a rebel that boasts of his freedom at times, but I think that is just some of his culture coming out. He has seen life on this earth being raised in a Catholic church in New Orleans. I was raised in a conservative church in the Amish territory of Northern Indiana. One might expect a few misunderstandings that can certainly be resolved by He who created both of us.

So far the words that we can agree on and the words that jump out at me and will challenge me are these:

• The institutional church has become a wounder of the healers rather than a healer of the wounded.
• The church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.

He quotes people from 100 years ago, 500 years ago and 2,000 years ago and consistently points out that it all is meaningless compared to the inerrant Word of God that comes from time in the Bible and stillness listening directly to God.

Austin and Hannah Mattern

From the moment that Adam and drove up on Ross Camp, I knew that it was a perfect day for Austin and Hannah. The old camp was steeped in history and I am sure that it is just as rustic in the winter as it was this glorious fall afternoon full of autumn color.

You could see Cheryl's touch of home with Ball jars of rocks and flowers.

The music at the small chapel and at the reception was provided by a very interesting band that Bill found in Goshen not long ago. Everyone loved the choice: Goldmine Pickers


I also had a brief opportunity to meet Hannah's dad and talk with some of the people that Austin and Hannah hang out with. Austin has always made good choices and it seems that like me, choosing a mate had a lot to do with choosing a family with a Christian heritage of simplicity and hard work.

The location for the wedding was historic as well. It was donated to Purdue University by David Ross in '93 as etched in stone on the side of the dining hall. They probably never imagined it would still be in use in '08. I'm sure it has been rebuilt several times, 115 years is a pretty good return on investment for this camp.

A model T that belonged to Grandpa Jake was the perfect vehicle for this couple to leave a century old Chapel.

Rehearsal Dinner with Jackie

Jackie drove up to Lafayette on Friday morning to help her family cook pork chops, prepare a meal and serve all the people that rehearsed for Austin and Hannah's wedding the next day.

On Thursday night, I was up until 3:00 AM making some final touches on a video for the reception on Saturday. A video was completed a week before the event, but that was not quite up to Jackie's standards. I complained a lot, but the finished product was worth the effort.

After getting up for work at 5:00 AM, I got home early at 4:30 and packed the Jeep so that Becca could get off the bus at 4:45 and get in the car so we could get to Lafayette by 10:00 PM. Considering all the sleepless activity leading up to the drive, we are very fortunate to have made it all the way without stopping.

We arrived at the Best Western to find that we were sharing the hotel with the Michigan football team and I was encouraged to find out that Jackie had worn out her nieces who are much younger than I am.

It was very good to see family working hard together to celebrate the union of two people that represent hard work. Austin is a man of the soil and Hannah tends to animals. Throughout the course of history those trades have been synonymous with hard work.

It was only fitting that we wear ourselves out for them.

Even though Heidi and Bethany were exhausted, they rose early in the morning to help their color challenged Aunt Jackie pick out a new blouse to better match the rest of her outfit.

They worked well together and enjoyed the day.

Three month sprint

For the last three months, I have been completely consumed by multiple projects at work, watching the kids play volleyball and football and working to support their teams. During that span of time, Jackie and I have had to put several relationships on hold.

One of the most difficult for me was the Monday night prayer group. We have also missed out on adjustments to the small group that we attended last summer.

After our nephew gets married this weekend in West Lafayette, we should be back to some of the "normal" levels of participation in the church.

One of the lessons I learned during this unhealthy sacrifice is that neglecting a home is an expensive downward spiral. I have about four weeks of vacation that I will be applying to home repair at the end of the year.

The Shack

Mike Brady read a book while he was on vacation and recommended that we all read it. I'm only about a fourth of the way through it, but it does grab a hold of you.

Girls of '83 gather at Lori's House

Six graduates of NorthWood High School gathered at Lori's house in Texas this summer.

The temperatures soared above 100 degrees but the girls stayed cool in the pool and the shopping malls.



Jackie didn't talk much about the trip but the pictures of Lori's ranch looked vaguely familiar to me.

Inflatable Kayaks

While Jackie was making arrangements for rafting the week before we left, she was confident that Adam and I would like to kayak down the river.

Seeing how cold my feet were on Monday, I couldn't imagine how miserable it would be spending a few hours with the bottom half of my body immersed. On Tuesday night, I had several conversations with the kids trying to convince them that we should really do another trip on a different Tsali trail instead of kayaking.

Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea how comfortable a wet suit could be. Once equipped with the proper gear, Adam and I actually had to splash water onto our legs to cool them off as we drifted down the Nantahala in our Fast River inflatable "fun-yaks".

Jackie, Carmen and Becca all served as kayak chasers in the van. Adam and I could always pick them out on the shore for a couple of reasons. (1) Jackie's laugh is hard to stop and hard to miss. (2) Jackie couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off when taking pictures from the shaded shore.

Afternoons tubing down Deep Creek

After a morning of some sort of biking, hiking, horse back riding, running, rafting or other form of exercise, we enjoyed the 20 minute hike up deep creek and the 40 minute trip down.

I put this off, because I don't like getting wet and it seemed pretty passive, but it really was fun. However, the second afternoon that we went, I volunteered to be the photographer because it gave me a chance to run on the trails and climb up and down the river banks and rocks cautiously avoiding the snakes that Carmen always reminded us about.

Oddly enough, Carmen was the only one to see a snake the whole trip. It was here in Deep Creek and the black water snake was too close for her.

Adam thought the use of a stick for pushing off rocks would help him get down the creek faster. He really worked on some creative ways to ride his tube. This particular shot shows him going backward over a two foot falls. While waiting for the family to get to this spot, I saw many people injure themselves doing backrolls on rocks.

Riding, Riding and River's End

On Tuesday morning, we separated the family based on interests and ability.

Adam, Carmen and I rode the Thompson loop which is south of the Murphy branch and the Mouse branch trail. We rode it counter clock wise so most of the technical work was going up and most of the speed was coming down the old logging roads in the sun. It was a nice ride even though we had to race under time pressure.

Jackie and Becca rode horses at Nantahala Village while we mountain biked. We dropped them off, drove 15 minutes to the Tsali, rode the loop and packed up the bikes and 15 minutes back to Nantahala Village by noon.

After we picked up Jackie and Becca, we went to the River's End restuarant at Nantahala Outdoor Center for lunch. After lunch we sat briefly in the sun, resting and watching other people get cold and wet below us.

Adventurous Fast River Rafting

Jackie reserved a green raft and a "guide assisted" trip down the Nantahala on Monday afternoon.

"Guide Assisted" meant that we got to follow a boat that was "Guided". This was very important to Jackie. We had to stay close so that she could ask the guide questions in order to get her money's worth of the extra $7 that we paid for the "Guide Assisted" tour.



We really enjoyed this afternoon even though our feet were numb by the end of the trip. The water that is released from the bottom of Fontana lake to generate the controlled flow of white water was pretty cold.

Tsali Recreation Area

While most people prefer to vacate or amuse, my favorite thing to do on vacation is to recreate. The Tsali Recreation Area provided an excellent place to do so.

Mountain bikers from around the world come here to ride their $4,000 mountain bikes but we didn't ride as much as they do.

If you added up all the cost of all five of our bikes and helmets and tools for packing and maintaining bikes on a trip, we might be able to reach half that amount, so we felt really good about our decision to start with the easiest route on Sunday.

The whole family rode "together" on a 4 mile portion of the right loop (Blue) on Sunday. Adam led the way and I brought up the rear making sure that everyone made it safely. There was great disparity in the rate at which Adam traveled and the rate at which Jackie traveled.

So much disparity, that we believe Adam and Carmen reached the 3.5 mile mark about the same time as Jackie and I reached the 1.5 mile mark. Becca was somewhere in the middle.

Jackie and I conquered the mountain air with lots of stops and walking up steep portions. We then found Becca at about the 2.5 mile mark, and forged ahead until we reached Adam and Carmen at the 3.5 mile marker where the trail split so we could all ride down the last half mile together.

Lands Creek Log Cabins

We all headed for the south side of the Great Smoky Mountains for vacation this year. It saved on gas and other expenses associated with vacations like eating out and other entertainment.

We stayed at Lands Creek Log Cabins just North of Bryson City and loved it.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and unloaded all our mountain bikes, clothes and snacks and climbed to the top of the hill to sit on a swing. Carmen, Adam and I road bike a little that afternoon and it didn't take long to find out that Carmen would need new brake pads if she was going survive all the trips. We went to town to buy groceries for the week and Adam grilled some steaks for supper.

After supper we watched some of the sunset from the porch, but later moved to the picnic table to play Phase 10 near the campfire.

Jackie wanted a campfire every night in order to have s'mores. We all enjoyed the warmth and light it provided as the sun went down in the thin mountain air.

In addition to having clean air to breathe, we also enjoyed some breathtaking purple mountain sunsets when a mountain storm wasn't blowing through. It was amazing to me how easy it was to start a fire with all that wind and I now understand how lightning strikes on a dry mountain can start a forest fire. Wind...

Rob and Sue and everyone at Lands Creek have done a marvelous job of positioning each cabin to be private for the family but sharing the same great sunset and ridge top views. We stayed in the Bobcat and loved it for a family of five.