troutpond5

Not as unique as we thought

2009-04-30T16:24:00.005-04:00

I was working in the store the other evening and you won't believe the conversation I had with a customer. In order for our computer system to allow us to make a sale, we have to have the customer's name in our database. So, I was checking in a group of ladies who were there for a card class and I had to ask each one of them their names. I got the first couple of ladies entered and the third lady said her name was Donita. The next ladies' name was Bonita and I commented that their names were so similar. Bonita said, "Yes, we're twins." I looked up and noticed that they did look alike. By the way, these were all Red Hat Society ladies - they are a group of women over the age of fifty and they join local clubs across the country and do social stuff. Anyway, I made the statement that my sisters and I had rhyming names also. Bonita said, "Really? We grew up with friends who had rhyming names. It must have been the thing to do. Our friends names were Marlene, Darlene, and Sharlene" My mouth dropped and I said, "No way! That's our names!" She asked me if our last name was Kaiser and, of course, it wasn't. So, somewhere in the midwest are three sisters that share our same names. I couldn't believe it! We aren't as unique as we thought. What a coincidence. BTW - I didn't have the courage to ask what their first names were:)

Faircreek's Family Ministry Center

2009-03-13T16:21:00.030-04:00

We officially opened our new Family Ministry Center in January and we haven't looked back. God is bringing new families every week. It's exciting to watch God at work. I took a ton of pictures but here are just a few for you to see. You really need to come and visit to appreciate everything. We'd love to have you! By the way, these pictures are in no particular order. I didn't take the time to organize them - just another reason why you need to come and see it in person.
A shot of the cafe - one of a couple of "adult" spaces for small groups.
The concourse - that's Dan to the right.
Another pic of the cafe. I got to decorate all the adult spaces. It truly was fun.
An alcove for small group meetings or a place just to hang out.
Entrance to the Play Place.
Here are my kids enjoying the play place

Pastor Greg with Kinzie and Alanna - he is such a kid at heart.
The hallway going to classrooms and the theater.
All the walls are covered with a 1st century scene and 3D artwork done by the artist who designed the Heroes Bible for kids.
Signage to classrooms
The Arcade - a place for the older kids to hang out
More artwork
Notice "Faircreek" on the wall to the entrance of the arcade
The Marquee to the Theater
One of the nurseries
The Arcade - the game on the floor is great - everyone wants to play on it
Inside the theater
Ribbon cutting

Entrance to Kids Street
Theater
Reading the Bible through before the opening Sunday

More pics to follow on another day

Happy Birthday Eli

2009-02-19T13:04:00.003-05:00

This isn't a great scan of this picture because I cropped it to fit in a scrapbook. You'll have to click on it to make it bigger, but I couldn't refuse to post this of Eli. I took it at Myrtle Beach the summer of 2004 when we met the Farcin clan for vacation. I was scrapbooking these pictures yesterday - I'm a little behind - and this was my favorite. So, happy birthday Eli. I love this picture of you sitting in your own little "pool" at the beach. I'm sure you are over your fear of the waves now!

Belated Christmas Pics

2009-01-22T21:38:00.027-05:00

Life is hectic but I'm sure you are tired of hearing that from the Trout's. I am just now getting to post our Christmas pictures. We are definitely on-the-go more than ever. The opening to our new building this past weekend was - to quote Dana Carvey in "The Benchwarmers" (I'm not exactly proud to say we saw that movie but there were a couple of funny lines) - ama-za-zing! I'll post those pictures soon. I took dozens so I'll need to weed through them. God is at work in our church and the atmosphere in worship was incredible. Please come and see us soon because the pictures will not do it justice. Anyway, more of that later. Here are some snapshots of our celebration over the Christmas season. Our annual in front of the tree shot. Dan can now officially join us in family pictures.
Save August 29th at 7:30pm for the wedding of Dan and Lauren.
More info for that special
event will follow. Micah was in the Muse Machine production of "Me and My Girl." It was really funny. As always, he did a great job and we are proud of him. He works hard, makes good grades, and sings A LOT! On my birthday, we had to go to Sam's after dinner and these characters tried out the furniture. This is Karley (I think I spelled her name right). This is Chris and Marissa's little girl. I actually got a picture of her being still. You sure can't tell she was a premature baby! Colton is the youngest Clarke. He was tired by the end of our visit. Karley could bounce all over the house on her princess hoppity thing (I can't remember what it's called:) Karley and Colton were engrossed with Barney on TV. I love this picture. At first Colton thought this was funny, but that was short lived. He wanted down. Philip was with Nanna and Pappa when we went to Huntington. He warmed up to us pretty quickly. I think he looks a lot like Kiera in this picture. We went to spend some time with Timothy while he was having part of his treatment in the hospital. Can you tell he hasn't bothered shaving for awhile:) What a cute couple! Kiera, we enjoyed playing with Philip. What a cutie! Here is the Collier clan - at least part of them. My purse is almost as big as Philip. He was so proud of himself when he "played" a song. Philip enjoys everything immensely. Two baby's of the family - can you tell who is who? Greg can make anybody laugh. I had two really cute videos of Greg teaching Philip things that Kiera probably would sigh about! I'm trying to upload them but so far I haven't had any success. Keep watching for them. Greg got batman pj's for Christmas. He may be 46, but he loves his super hero. Jenny, Ben will never outgrow that obsession if he takes after his uncle Greg. Lauren, Dan, and Micah on Christmas morning Kim and Nathaniel on Christmas morning. Nathaniel didn't have to go to work until midnight so they got to spend the day with us. Nathaniel is an expert at Guitar Hero. All toys came out on Christmas! We had several funny things happen this Christmas. We got Dan his shirt, Kim and Nathaniel got Greg his - notice they are the same! We got Kim a Sam's membership, but she already got one and she used it to get Dan's shirt. Life is funny! I think I got the videos to work. In the first one, Philip is blowing out the "hot decorations". At least that's what he was told so he wouldn't touch them. In the second one, Uncle Greg is teaching him the "proper" way to drink.

She's Engaged!

2008-12-15T18:44:00.004-05:00

It's official. Lauren and Dan are engaged. We are very excited for them. I knew from the start that they were going to get serious and I tried to prepare Greg along the way. Dan approached Greg last week about his intentions. He answered the hard questions and said all the right things. Greg gave our blessing and Saturday evening Dan proposed much to Lauren's surprise. One of her first questions was, "Did you ask my Dad?!" Dan and Lauren are both sincere about their walk with God, their commitments, and their future. Dan fits into our family as does Lauren with his. We know his family well and he comes from a great Christian heritage. What more could parents ask for their only daughter. Details will be forthcoming - we'll keep in touch.

A Week in the Life of the Trout's

2008-12-01T15:38:00.024-05:00

Yes, Micah passed the test and got his temps on Friday. Needless to say, he was excited. We are now entering into one of the final phases of independence. In a few more months, he won't need me to be his chauffer. I'm not too sad about that part. I do spend a lot of my time in the car taking him to all of his practices and social engagements. He does more than Lauren and Nathaniel ever thought to do!

Last week, we woke up to a yard full of turkeys - I guess to celebrate the holiday! It was really cute. We have been forked, TP'd numerous times, Saran wrapped, flamingoed, but this was a first for turkeys in our yard. I know our neighbors think we have weird friends!
This post is a long one simply because I took pictures last week! Our life has always been busy but this past year takes the cake. With Greg's new position comes tons more responsibility and that translates into a lot of work. All these pictures happened in just one week. This by no means shows what all we did because I didn't take pictures of everything. Our calendars are full from morning till night and I just don't have time to update the blog as much as I would like. We love what we do but we are rarely home and when we are, we are catching up on what didn't get done because we weren't home:) This next week, for example, we have to paint our kitchen and family room, finish the cabinets, clean house, cook for 35 people on Sunday, take Micah to all of his practices (every evening this week, all day Saturday, and Sunday afternoon), decorate the church for Christmas before Sunday, go grocery shopping, and decorate our house for Christmas before company comes on Sunday! Next week is worse but I won't bore you with the details!!!! What I wouldn't give for a week at the beach right now. Someday.
This was our 2nd Annual PK Christmas party. From left to right we have Eli, Alanna, Abbi, Jenna, Kenzie, Jessica, and Robby. We had so much fun with them even though our house got a tad messy. Maybe I shouldn't make things in the kitchen with them, but they love it and they think our house is so much fun.
Greg helped Jessica make her snowman ornament. We used paint, sharpies, glass bulbs and a lot of different interpretations of what a snowman looked like! They were hilarious. Have you ever seen a snowman with red cheeks and hair?!
Eli is VERY consciencious. He is the most analytical thinker I know and he doesn't like to get messy or have things out of order. He was born on Greg's birthday.
Abbi looked so cute with her toothless smile. She started kindergarten this year and has grown up so much!
Alanna is learning to read, draw really well, and be the life of the party.
Robby is the oldest at 11 and he is very helpful with the little ones. It is hard to find activities that 6 kids ages 7 and under will want to do that an 11 year old will think is fun but Robby is a good sport. We made chocolate (brown, white, red, and green) covered pretzels decorated with all kinds of sprinkles and candy. Needless to say, some of the candy went into little mouths instead of on the pretzels and some landed on the floor. Okay, maybe more than some! But the creations were yummy.
Kim helped the girls make necklaces. We had beads EVERYWHERE but the girls looked so glamorous!
"Pastor Gweg" helped the little ones a lot while I kept the activities going and the food coming. For little kids, they sure did eat a lot of snacks.
Jessica is a budding 2nd grade artist who loves anything creative and she loves to write stories. She was my helper for the day.
This is Lauren and some co-workers on "Black Friday". They had to be at work sooo early. Alex, the one with the tie, is the owner's son who pitched in and was a big help.
This is Dan's grandfather. We went to the Hergenrather's for Thanksgiving this year since we couldn't travel. It was also Jack's 79th birthday. They have faithfully served Faircreek Church for many years. They make sure we have coffee, doughnuts, and bagels with cream cheese every Sunday morning.
Jack had to show us his one man band instrument and the other man in the picture is Dan's dad, Steve. He was the official emcee for the day. We played games all afternoon and had a blast.
This, of course, is Micah and Dan's mom, Terry. We played Catch Phrase, Trivial Pursuit and Taboo. His family is fun to be with and there was a ton of food to eat. They even fried a turkey just like Marvin!
I kind of got these pictures out of sequence. This is the Chick-fil-A crowd on Thanksgiving Day. They went in for 3 hours to get everything ready for shoppers on Friday. They snuck down to Santa's chair at the mall and took pictures. They were the only ones there so they took advantage of the photo op.
Lauren and Micah still have to break the wishbone from the turkey. Lauren won but she won't tell us what her wish was.
We had Thanksgiving with Kim and Nathaniel on Saturday. They are first time home owners now. They will be moving within the next month. I'll take pictures when we go to paint and help them move in. Nathaniel loves his job and Kim now works at Huntington Bank. Their house is halfway between both jobs and about 25 minutes from here.
The kids dragged out the Foos (not sure of the spelling?!) Ball table from the garage and played it all weekend. Lauren and Micah are the champs. It seems that no one can beat them or wants to try anymore!
Greg and Dan tried, but they lost. Well, this wraps up our latest news. Sorry it was so long, but hopefully it wasn't boring. I really will try to be more faithful with new posts. At least it hasn't been as long as Stacie's last post - hint, hint!

A Lauren and Micah Update

2008-10-07T20:48:00.012-04:00

So I'm a little late in posting Lauren's 19th birthday. We celebrated with a cookout at home with everyone in attendance but Nathaniel. He had to work and keep the streets of Lebanon safe. Lauren loves cupcakes. These are homemade red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
We had a great time eating, playing ladder ball, having a fire in the fire pit
while we played Catch Phrase - our favorite family game.
Lauren and Dan at Faith Day at the Great American Ballpark. 300 of our closest friends from church went to the Reds game and then stayed for a concert by Mercyme.

A couple of weeks ago, we all went to a wedding in Detroit. Here are Lauren and Dan at the reception. Dan is not used to wearing ties so we had to get a picture! He cleans up really well.
And now to Micah's update. Last weekend was Homecoming and here is his group of friends. They are all into singing and acting. Most of them went as friends and had a great time.
Here is Micah with Rachel. Not only was she his date, she was his chauffer.
She has her license and is a Senior! Micah reaches high!

They had a great time eating and then at the dance. I can't believe my baby is a sophomore.

#1 Cubs Fan

2008-09-30T20:34:00.014-04:00

The highlight of Greg's summer was going to Chicago and touring Wrigley Field. We actually all had a great time. And now that the Cubs have won the National League Central Division, we thought it would be a good time to share our pictures of our trip. We took geeky, tourist pictures and had a ball doing it. So did everyone else on the tour!
Click on this picture to see what the monument says. This is the famous Ernie Banks.
Greg took much delight in putting his hat where the players kept theirs!
Again, he took much delight in drinking from the player's fountain. He was
living in a dream world. He was really cute to watch.
The Trout family sitting in the dugout.
Greg "pretending" to call the bullpen for a new pitcher. Like I said, geeky, tourist pictures!
While we were there, the grounds crew was getting the field ready for the day's game against the Reds. One of their hoses got caught on something and Greg helped them untangle it. Now he can say he help the grounds crew at Wrigley Field! He was definitely in his element.
Sitting on the bench seats in the outfield.
We got to sit in the press box where all the reporters sit. While we were there, one of the phones rang and another tourist answered it. It was a credit card company - how funny is that.
View from the top
The tour was almost as good as going to a game. We tried to get tickets but they
were $100 a piece. Now Greg has major league dreams!

Hurricane Winds

2008-09-20T22:13:00.003-04:00

We have a lot to be thankful for this week. I don't know if you heard but we were hit with Hurricane Ike winds last Sunday. Power has been out all over the area for a good part of the week. Schools were out, trees were blown over - it was crazy. We never lost power, but we didn't have internet service, cable, or telephones - you know, the necessities of life. I found out that as much as I enjoy those things, they have become major distractions. It was nice to actually play games again, (Mall Madness was my personal favorite this time, not Monopoly. I enjoyed spending money more than I did investing - what does that tell you except that it's a good thing Greg is in charge of the investing and saving! Is this a Rutherford trait?!) talk, catch up on housework, bake, quilt, and scrapbook. I got so much done. For 6 days it seemed like we were in a time warp. Kim and Nathaniel didn't have power until Wednesday evening so Kim stayed with us while Nathaniel was at work. Almost everything is back to normal but it really made us feel for the people who were hit directly with the hurricane. We had 75 mile an hour winds here for about 8 hours. I can't imagine being in Texas. Anyway, we are so thankful that we suffered no damage and that we had power to share. Maybe this week I can catch up on adding pictures on my blog!!!

The Wedding Singer

2008-08-26T20:27:00.009-04:00

Micah sang in his first wedding this July. Greg did the ceremony and Micah was the special music. He sang Matthew West's song, "You Are Everything" and he did an amazing job. Becky Sheers got married. Those of you from Huntington probably remember Charles and Cathy Sheers, missionaries to Columbia. Becky is their granddaughter. We have been friends with them for years and it is really neat that Matt and Sandy have lived everywhere but we reconnected with them about 12 years ago. They are members of our church. How cool is that. They are very dear friends and we all had a part in Becky's wedding. Becky's brother, Sam, and Micah are really close friends and Sandy is my friend that walked the marathon with me last year.
The wedding singer in action!
Micah and Becky dancing at the reception. This was the dollar dance but instead of keeping the money, they made a donation to the Alzheimer's Foundation in honor of their grandparents. Charlie is not doing so well these days.
Micah's first day of school as a high school sophomore. This is literally the hardest part of his day. He did get up today, but I'm sure as the weeks go on, it won't be that easy.
He's worse than Nathaniel!
Here he is packing his backpack. Ready or not, here he comes.
He is a very hot sophomore! We went clothes shopping on Friday and got him all set.
You can tell he has grown up with a camera in his face because
he really doesn't mind having his picture taken.

By the way, I'm truly sorry that it has taken me so long to add a new post. My camera broke and I had to use Lauren's and then transfer pictures to her computer. Her computer is not always available so that's why you have been forced to see the garden pictures for so long. I PROMISE to add a new post every week. Now that we are back into a fall schedule, I have made Tuesday my day to add a new post. Hopefully our lives will be exciting enough to take pictures that are worthy of a blog! I still don't have a camera. After paying school fees, buying school clothes and school supplies, I probably won't be getting one in the near future.

How does our garden grow?!

2008-07-12T14:09:00.015-04:00

God has supplied just enough rain, sun, and great soil this season to help us raise what appears to be a bumper crop of everything we planted. I'm sure you aren't as excited as we are so bear with me with these pictures. This is the first year we have ever planted a garden and I already can't wait to expand next year. If you come to see us, you can have a home grown meal! We planted corn, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, peppers, beets, chives, and brussels sprouts. I have discovered that I would rather spend an hour in the garden than 15 minutes in the grocery store. I hate going to the store!
Greg planted the corn and we are going to have tons!
These pictures just don't do it justice and they were taken a week ago. This week everything grew by feet instead of inches. Here you can see beans by the corn, cucumbers, beets (story to follow), and tomatoes.
On the right side of the picture are brussels sprouts and some peppers.

Greg trimmed our trees and used the branches for bean poles. How's that for being resourceful!
This morning I checked on the garden and my beautiful beets had been eaten by a deer. I still have about 2/3's of a row left. I used to think deer were so cute, but not anymore. At Christmastime, we will NOT be celebrating with any reindeer! We had to put up fishing line to keep them out and it worked until last night. It apparently stuck it's head through and had a little feast. Nathaniel said that fishing line would keep the fish out but we needed deer line to keep them out - HA - he is so funny! Anyway, come in about 6 weeks to help us enjoy the fruits and vegetables of our labor.

"Sweet" Vacation

2008-07-07T12:23:00.017-04:00

After leaving Morgantown Tuesday morning, we headed for Hershey, PA. Micah had done the roller coaster research and wanted to ride all of them at Hersheypark. We had great weather. We first went to Hershey's Chocolate World where they have every product made at Hershey and they have a simulated tour of the factory. It was really interesting. Greg and I loved the history - Micah loved the candy!
On Chocolate Avenue, all the street lights are covered with a giant Hershey Kiss. We rolled our windows down while driving because the town smells like chocolate. It is a very clean place and the factory, Chocolate World, Hersheypark, and Hotel Hershey are all right together.
At Hersheypark, we went up in the kissing tower and of course, we kissed at the top much to Micah's dismay! It isn't easy taking a vacation without siblings. Micah was outnumbered.
Greg and Micah are in the cars going up extremely high. I can't take the loops - they make me dizzy so I just took the pictures.
Here they are getting ready to head straight down!
Greg finally got his chocolate milkshake at the end of the day.
Micah is standing by the statue of Milton Hershey. If you ever get a chance to read his biography, it is really fascinating. I read one before we left and then shared the info with the fam on the trip. I think they might have gotten tired of all of my explanations.
On Wednesday, we headed to Gettysburg. WOW! This was a great place to visit. We were there on July 3rd, the 145th anniversary of the final battle in Gettysburg. There were tons of re-enactors everywhere getting ready for all the battles. This is the station where Abraham Lincoln came to give his Gettysburg Address.
This is the church where he went to pray before giving his speech.
We went to a parade in the town where a lot of Confederate troops were taking over the town. Again, you need to read the history. It was really amazing. As we were watching the parade, Micah said, "That kid goes to my school!" He was in a wagon in the parade as one of the re-enactors. We can't go anywhere away from people we know!
Ladies of the soldiers - they were watching the parade.
This is a Union General we saw at the sight of Pickett's Charge.
This is the view from the top of the hill where Pickett's Charge took place. We were there about one hour before the actual battle took place 145 years ago. It was an incredible sight.
This marking is in the Cemetery where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. They had the soldiers buried by state.
All the Ohio soldiers had an Ohio flag by their grave. It was a memorable place to go and visit. So many soldiers gave their lives. Having a soldier in our family, it really made me proud of our country and thankful to God for our freedom and for Nathaniel's safety while he was in Iraq.

Super Nanny Lauren

2008-06-11T20:01:00.010-04:00

In the last ten days, Lauren has spent quality time with 18 kids! She has gone to baseball games, the pool, played "castle", "hotel", given kids baths, painted nails, made shrinky dinks, done crafts, taught them about Jesus, made lots of snacks, and put kids to bed. She has broken up fights, comforted the "out-of-sorts", and has even taken Micah shopping, to a party, home from church and youth group, and has even taken care of Dan's dog - and even Dan! As you can see, Lauren loves kids, has a heart to nurture, and the kids follow her like the Pied Piper! It's too bad we live so far away from everyone. Lauren would be a great babysitter for you.
Four of our favorite PK's - the Deal kids. Lauren even gave them tattoos which they proudly showed me at church on Sunday.
Lauren and Stacie teach the two year olds for the first service on Sundays. This week they had 5 girls and 3 boys - all so cute!!!
This is the oldest of the girls Lauren is watching this summer - Kayla.
Abbi is the youngest.
This was her first dive during swimming lessons.
Lauren and Josh at a ball game. Notice the gap in his smile.
Jacob, Josh's brother, is getting ready to bat. Lauren even takes great pictures of the kids. I guess she has learned something from me!

Police Academy Graduate

2008-06-02T20:14:00.010-04:00

Nathaniel stuck it out for 6 long months of non-stop school! He is now an official Sinclair Community College Police Academy graduate! He graduated last Wednesday and the Dayton Chief of Police was the keynote speaker. We were very proud parents. Nathaniel has accomplished a lot these last two years and this was definitely a reason to celebrate.

You may recognize Travis, Nathaniel's best man at his wedding. Nathaniel and Travis will be working together as police officers in Lebanon, Ohio. Travis was the representative of Lebanon at his graduation. They've come a long way from being mall security (where, incidentally, their boss told them that they would never amount to anything - especially being policemen.) I think they had a little too much fun on the job! They are considering paying her a visit in their uniforms just to prove their point.
Kim, a very supportive wife is standing by her man.
Kim's parents came down for the celebration. Merritt especially made the sacrifice because he is very busy now and we appreciate him taking the time to come.
It's hard to believe that he went from playing policeman to being one!
This is Dustin, a former Marine, who became a very good friend during the academy. They used their military skills to try and kill each other during their physical fitness tests! They both won the physical fitness gold medals! Nathaniel also won the President's Physical Fitness tests in the 1st and 3rd grades - needless to say he likes to exercise.

Happy Birthday, Micah

2008-05-28T09:30:00.016-04:00

As of 8:47am, Micah is 15! We are very thankful that we decided to have one more baby and not get a dog! Micah has been a great kid who is very talented, smart, funny, and handsome. God has gifted him with a wonderful voice and he uses it all the time (and I don't just mean that he talks a lot!) He has been in three major productions this year where he has sung and acted. I can't believe he can sing a solo like he did in "Grease" and not be afraid. His song stole the show! We are just thankful that Micah has a relationship with God, he serves in the kid's ministry at church (leading worship of course!), he is a dedicated student, and a good brother and son. We love you, Micah, and are very proud of you.
Micah was John in the Muse production of Peter Pan.
He got to fly which was a highlight for him.

He practiced long hours, but he loved every minute of it.

Micah was a greaser, one of the rough guys, in Grease.

"Greased Lightning"was my favorite song they did besides Micah's solo.

Dancing at the prom

Micah and his main woman in the play, Katie = aka "Petunia Pig"

New Blogs!

2008-05-16T16:18:00.003-04:00

I have added three new links that I think you may be interested in seeing. Jennifer (Greg's niece) has started one and now we get to see a lot more of Ben and Anna Kate - aka- ring bearer and flower girl at the Trout wedding. Beverly has also joined the ranks and now we can keep up with the other five kids! Mitch and Shelley (our friends from Florida) have a daughter, Rebecca, and we have enjoyed watching her two children grow up. Rebecca worked for Greg one summer and we love keeping in touch via pictures. I thought you might want to see them - they are really cute. Anyway, I have more wedding pictures to post this weekend plus pictures from Micah's spring musical, GREASE. My burner quit working so I can't view pictures from a CD on my computer. I have to use Lauren's laptop and she usually has it with her. As soon as I get a chance, I'll add pictures. Anyway, happy viewing. Now all we need to do is convince Darlene and Kelli to join the club. What are our chances?

A Sad Day

2008-05-09T10:23:00.009-04:00

This was truly a sad day at the Trout house. Greg and I decided to plant a garden this year and in order to do that, the fort needed to come down. It's not like anyone plays on it anymore and it was rotting so it wasn't safe, but it was a very special play place. There will be no more secret meetings, no more eating popsicles with the neighbors under the canopy, no more playing in the sand, no more hooking up the hose to the slide, and no more pictures of our beloved fort. Of course, I had to take pictures of the process, but I must admit that I teared up as I watched Greg do the dreaded task. (I'm actually crying now as I write this:) Those of you with little ones, take lots of pictures and enjoy the simple things. Before you know it they will be married and no one will want to be pushed on the swing anymore!

Micah was sooo excited when we bought this house because of the fort. His only question about our new house was, "Do we get to keep the fort?" He could hardly wait to get moved so he could play in it and being the youngest, I think he played in it the most. Of course, we got his permission before we began the demolition.
Greg did get to use power tools which made him feel manly even though I saw tears in his eyes too!
It's going..........
It's going.........
It's gone!

Nathaniel and Kim Tie the Knot

2008-04-23T09:39:00.023-04:00

The happy couple - this is one of my favorite pictures. We have tons more to come but I wanted to post a few pics for now. Thanks to everyone who traveled to come to the wedding. We really appreciate your encouragement and support. We had a great time and we realize how much we miss getting together as a family. We really need to plan a family reunion soon. It meant a lot to us that you were there and we love you all. Enjoy these pictures and watch for more to come.

Ohio's Newest Police Officer

2008-04-15T23:12:00.006-04:00

Nathaniel had his final interview this morning with the Lebanon Police Department (a town about 40 minutes from Beavercreek) and he got the phone call about 3 hours later that he got the job! He has been in the interview process with them since December. It is a BIG answer to prayer. They hired 3 out of about 150 applicants. Now he can support his soon to be wife, Kim.

He actually let me take line up photos of him! Thank goodness he will be on the other side of the mirror and when we visit him at the jail, he will be the one putting criminals behind bars!

Congratulations, Nathaniel. We are very proud of you! Kiera, I guess we can call him a Copper like the policemen we saw in Florida!

Check out the bottom two pictures. (If you click on the picture, it will zoom in and you can see it better) Nathaniel lived in his police helmet. He had a battery operated radio that he hooked on to his big wheel and he wore his police helmet and his boots. Who would have known that 18 years later he would trade those in for the real uniform.

Happy Birthday, Marlene

2008-04-02T10:46:00.003-04:00

Happy birthday, Marlene. I pulled this picture from Kiera's wedding. Maybe we can
get a better one of Allen at Nathaniel's wedding - ha! Thanks for being a good example
of what a grandmother does. Your blog is always full of what they are
doing and I appreciate that. Have a great day. See you soon.
P.S. I'll post Greg's birthday pictures later.
He had a very uneventful day.

Easter 2008

2008-03-24T12:28:00.012-04:00

We had great Easter celebrations at church today with maximum crowds and a lot of participation. Greg and I are thankful that each of our kids and their significant others are all believers and active in our church and we could truly celebrate our Savior's resurrection today. Yes, I even made Greg wear purple. I think he looks mighty handsome.

We had a table full at Easter. I must say that the food was great and the company was enjoyable. We had roast with all the trimmings including asparagus (almost everybody's favorite). Kim made a great dessert with berries and angel food cake. We ate all day and then went and bowled and ate pizza!

Being unattached does have advantages. Micah didn't have to share his basket!

Yes, Nathaniel and Kim even got their own basket. Nathaniel doesn't like regular chocolate - can you believe that - but I did find a dark chocolate bunny. He can't be for real because he doesn't really like sweets.

Dan had Easter dinner with us and spent the rest of the day playing games, watching a movie, and going bowling. He even got an Easter basket. No matter how old they get, they still want candy!

Micah was feeling a little left out since everyone was paired off so Lauren's doll kept him company! Just kidding - it was a great photo op!

This is how Nathaniel enjoyed his afternoon while we played wii and watched a movie.

After dinner entertainment - my napkin rings have more than one function. It seems like every time I use them, this is what happens!

A New Post - Finally!

2008-03-08T14:27:00.020-05:00

If you've read Lauren's facebook, you know that she has a new interest. His name is Dan. They have become an item. Of course, Greg did his Dad responsibility and had his talk with Dan before they could go out alone. We have known Dan and his family for quite awhile. Hordes of his family go to our church so we know the family well. He graduated with Nathaniel and has been to our house numerous times. Who would have ever thought he would be coming to get Lauren?!

We had a great time at our monthly growth group in February. The Deal's hosted a murder mystery party that was set in the 1880's. We all dressed up for our parts and had great food, fellowship, and fun. This picture highlights all the pastors at FairCreek except for the Bieri's who were on vacation. What a great pastoral team!! (And yes, we can have fun and even pretend to be less than respectable people. I must say that we all played our parts well - I guess from experience!)

Becky - an author and the official murderer which we found out at the end of the game. In real life, Becky would be the absolute last suspect because she is a wonderful mother of three and a great wife and support to Rob.

Mike - a newspaper reporter (aka our Worship Pastor)

JoAnn - the School Teacher (aka a real teacher and wife to Mike)

Me - a Sharpshooter (aka Greg's wife and best supporter)

Sharon - the town doctor (aka Jim's wife and terrific helper)

Greg - the Mayor (aka our Senior Pastor and wonderful husband to me!)

Rob - the Village Blacksmith (aka our Pastor of Children and Families and Missions)

Jennifer - the Saloon Keeper (aka wife to Aaron and mother of 4)

Aaron - the banker (aka our Pastor of Administration and Connections) He was a great host.

Jim - the Indian Chief (aka our Pastor of Seniors) He was very good in his role!

Kim had her wedding shower two weeks ago. Lauren, Jacqui, and I went to Jenera, Ohio, to Kim's church. We only got lost twice and were 20 minutes late - not good for the mother of the groom. We had a good time and the food was great. Kim has a lot of relatives!

Kim likes to open presents and she sure had a lot to open at her wedding shower. I think they have enough to get them started. Nathaniel got his coffee maker and coffee grinder. It doesn't take a lot to make him happy!

The Blizzard of '08 - we are NOT happy.

For people who don't like snow, winter, or cold weather, we are living in the wrong place! We are pretending that this isn't really happening. It has been snowing since 8am yesterday. We have been under a blizzard warning since yesterday afternoon. It is supposed to stop today around 4pm. We already have about 14 inches. Enough already!

December Pix

2008-01-01T18:37:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from the Trout family! I'm posting this blog on January 1st - I'm a little late because of Greg's unexpected surgery. The entry is long but I think I'm finally caught up. I promise not to wait so long between posts! Anyway, our prayer for all of you is that 2008 brings about a lot of chances to share the light of Christ. Greg has been encouraging our congregation to be looking for opportunities to make a difference in someone's life, so we hope you will also have those opportunities.
Greg makes breakfast on Christmas morning - his famous French toast. This year we finally got an electric griddle which cut his cooking time down considerably. Incidentally, I believe this is the last picture of Greg where he still has his gall bladder. The very next day he had his attack - I'm thinking his French toast put him over the edge!
Micah got an I-home for his I-pod which comes with an alarm. I sure hope this works for getting him up in the morning. Nothing else seems to make him want to move.
He's worse than Nathaniel.
On Christmas Eve we open one present. I got to go before the kids this year! (I really just put this picture in because I wanted you to see my new blouse! Isn't it pretty?)
I think Kim was worried about Nathaniel's ability to buy the right presents. After she had opened a couple of boxes she said, "Nathaniel, you really do listen!" It was pretty funny. In this picture, he had wrapped up a pair of boots in separate boxes. He wanted her to think she got a lot of loot!
Greg got a Marshall helmet for his desk in his office. His office is becoming quite
the showplace for Marshall paraphernalia!
Lauren's favorite present - the complete set of Harry Potter DVD's. She would have
been very disappointed if Santa hadn't come through on that.
Micah and I both got each other the books we wanted. Greg wouldn't buy it for me because of the title. He didn't want to take the chance that I would ever use that against him!
Micah is ready to go out on the town to the Winter Dance for Muse Machine (the organization that is producing "Peter Pan") Excuse his red eyes - my fault.
The following pix are from our staff/elder Christmas party. We had loads of fun eating, playing reverse charades, and even cleaning up. Yes, guys can wash dishes! We serve with a great group of people. We are blessed at FairCreek and can't wait to see what God is going to do in 2008.
Sandy (the one standing) was my marathon walking partner. Her husband, Matt,
serves on the Finance and Building Teams as well as being a former elder.

Clint is our youth pastor.

Steve and Colleen Thorsen - Steve has a great cancer survivor testimony.
They are fun to be around.
Mark and Paula Kordic are such a sweet couple. Mark also has a great
cancer survivor testimony.
Pastor, Clown, Santa - Greg wears a lot of different hats! I think this one is my favorite.
Merry Christmas from the "Little FairCreek PK's"!!
We made a mess baking, but it was fun! It's been awhile since I had little kids in my
kitchen and now I remember why! I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Lauren is great with the kids. She fixed her work schedule so she could bake with them.
They all run up to her at church - it's really cute.
Kenzie couldn't wait for her turn!
Eli was our only boy baker. He did a great job!
Jessica may be the youngest, but she was not about to be left out. Miss Lauren - her teacher - helped her.
Abbi, Alanna, and Jenna were taking turns rolling out the dough for gingerbread men.
Our December was quite busy - hence the reason for so long of an update. We started with the PK's coming over to bake cookies! We had so much fun. I think they ate as much as they decorated, but there were no reports of any tummy aches - amazing! We love you guys. Can't wait to do it again.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T15:55:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving from Ohio! We hope everyone has had a blessed year. We have seen a lot of blessings - Nathaniel's home from Iraq, Greg is now senior pastor of FairCreek Church, Lauren is now a college freshman and is doing very well, Micah has adjusted to high school with flying colors (he made straight A's his first nine weeks!) and I am subbing in the libraries and teacher's assistants positions in Beavercreek Schools. God has been good to us and this Thanksgiving we are truly grateful for all of His provisions for our family.

Filling up plates! We had the traditional Thanksgiving feast including 3 kinds of potatoes. Apparently, no one is on the Atkins diet because there were carbs galore and not a whole lot of protein.

Thanksgiving at the Trout's - we stayed home this year because Lauren went in to work this morning at 8am to get ready for the mad rush tomorrow. We missed eating with the Rutherford clan but it was nice not to travel. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A trout carving a turkey - how cool is that!

After dinner, we loaded up the car and went for a photo shoot. Thanks, fam, for indulging my camera habit. We went to the Greene and even got a passerby to take pictures of us all together. We'll share them soon. Kim's really happy to have Nathaniel home this Thanksgiving -
everyone is!

What can I say - 24 years and he's still knocking me off my feet!!

Lauren finally has another female in the family to help counteract the effects of two brothers.

Getting everyone to cooperate is quite a feat.

I wonder what secrets Lauren has that she's telling the elephant - probably that she can't believe her brothers are so crazy!

Of course, Micah was fascinated with the electrical outlet in the elephant's behind!

October Activities

2007-10-31T18:14:00.000-04:00

Micah's acting resume is getting pretty lengthy. He is Lieutenant Wright in the Fall Musical "The Secret Garden." They have done 6 performances. He also got chosen out of students from all over the Miami Valley to be in The Muse Machine production of "Peter Pan". He is John - the oldest boy in the family. They will be performing at the Victoria Theater in downtown Dayton, January 9-13. This is an incredible production and he is excited. We can get discounted tickets this weekend for friends and family if you want to come. I think they will be around $20 but I'm not sure. I'll send details via email. He even gets to fly!

Aaron doesn't have the monopoly on cute outfits anymore! Uncle Greg has the coolest costume ever. He had to dress up for our Harvest Party at church and he really got into his character - not that we didn't already know he was a clown. He thinks this is his new calling. We had over 700 people for the party. It was a great outreach event. By the way, I made the costume. The pattern said it would take 2 hours - 7 hours later I finished it just in time!!

This is Nathaniel's pride and joy - besides Kim! We're pretty sure he loves Kim more than his truck but he really does love his truck. I guess you could say that we all paid for it with our taxes because he laid down cash from his earnings in Iraq. There were a few advantages to living there for a year. Since there was no place to shop, eat out, movies to see, or anywhere to spend money, Nathaniel saved his and this is his reward. It's a black Ford Ranger with a lot of bells and whistles. He even let me drive it once even though it's a stick shift.

Last but not least, here is Lauren getting in her car - the oil has just been changed! How cool is that! She is so busy with college and work that we see her briefly when she's home. She has adjusted to Wright State and has been promoted to Team Leader at Chick-fil-A. She hates her picture taken so this was a surprise.

Columbus Marathon

2007-10-21T18:21:00.001-04:00

I'll have more official pictures soon but I couldn't wait to show you my latest accomplishment. This picture was taken today at 6am right before Sandy and I walked the Columbus 1/2 Marathon in record time for us. We have been training since August. I finally have an athletic medal just like the rest of my family! We decided that we wanted to lose weight and be healthier so we started walking. Sandy is definitely the motivator. She and her family are members at our church, but we've known them for many years. We walked 13.1 miles and we're very proud of ourselves. That's not bad for two forty something West Virginia girls!! Of course, we didn't take a camera with us or I would have better pictures, but they took pictures along the race route. When I get those I will have official proof that we really walked! We got official shirts, bib numbers, and we even got to drink Gatorade and water and throw our cups on the road just like in the Olympics!! How's that for cool?!

This is my good friend, Sandy Sheers. She and I have been friends for a long time. Sandy pushed us to train and get ready. What a farm girl!

We finished and had a personal best time! We still can't believe we did it - although our knees tell us we did. This is our medal we received at the finish line.

PK Outing

2007-10-07T21:22:00.000-04:00

Since we don't live close to our great nieces and nephews, we decided to borrow the pk's for an outing. I guess we had forgotten how much energy it takes to chase after kids for an afternoon! I needed an excuse to go to a pumpkin farm and my kids weren't excited to do that - can you believe it?! Our whole family went and we had a great time. We went to Young's Dairy, John Bryan State Park, and Burger King. We had a ten year old, a six year old, a five year old, a four year old, two three year olds, and a one year old (and a partridge in a pear tree!!) Were we nuts or what?! They were all well behaved and full of energy. You guys are doing a great job as parents. We love you and we're glad you're on our team!

"I tired." Greg was ready to empathize!

"We're going to wait awhile for kids!"

We're pretty sure Lauren was over the height limit for the play area at Burger King!

Jessica was following Eli and doing everything he did. It was too cute.

Faster, Mr. Greg!

Robby and Micah went in the corn maze while the little ones rode the barrel train. They got a little lost but they made it through!

Abbi liked the orange cupcakes even though "lellow" is her favorite color.

For future reference, markers will draw on pumpkins, but will also rub off on little hands and won't come off even if the package says they are washable! Next time we'll use paint!

Mr. Micah got into the fun of the day.

Okay, this was the most challenging picture I took all day. Do you know how hard it is to get 7 kids to look at the camera at the same time and hold their pumpkins? Bribes were even used!!

I think Robby thought I wouldn't take his picture, but I made him pose just like everyone else. He doesn't know how serious I am with a camera!

Two farm girls - Jessica and Kim - checking out the goats.

Lauren and Eli were checking out the baby pigs.

Jenna was intrigued with the baby cow even though the barn stunk!

Greg and Kenzie checking out the milking cows.

Jessica liked the animals. She definitely has farming in her genes!

The girls are getting food for the goats. Alanna wanted to pet them. They immediately wanted to wash their hands.

This is Eli and Nathaniel feeding a goat. Eli was born on Greg's birthday and Greg tried to convince him that they were the same age because they share a birthday. Three year olds will believe anything!

Back from Iraq

2007-10-01T21:08:00.002-04:00

The house was ready for his return!

We're finally all home! I love the song "On my Front Porch Looking In" because the view I love the most is that of our family together again and at home!

At the local Sunoco station, they will post anything you want on the sign outside the store. We wanted everyone in town to know Nathaniel was home. I had to beg to get this picture!

A future soldier - this boy definitely wanted to follow in his daddy's footsteps.

I loved his shirt! His Daddy is the chaplain that was with the troops for the whole year.

Picture with a dignitary! This is U.S. Senator Brown from Ohio who welcomed the troops home and made a speech at the ceremony.

Travis went with us to get his buddy, Nate. Travis and Nathaniel were security guards at the mall together, but I think they goofed off more than they patrolled. Travis is now a policeman and you will also see him at the wedding. Nathaniel and Kim's wedding will be one of the safest events you will attend. Between soldiers, cops, and security guards, everything will be covered!

Big brother is back to take his official place in the lineup. Lauren and Micah missed Nathaniel a lot and we all prayed for him daily. Our shirts say it all. He is our hero!

The happy couple finally reunited.

This is Ben - Nathaniel's roommate for 16 months. They got along great. He is a real family man and a great friend. You will see him at the wedding!

Prayer is still alive in America - especially among soldiers. The Commander led everyone in prayer thanking God for safety and for the dedication of the troops.

The place erupted when the troops entered. Nathaniel is fifth from the left. He looks the same but definitely has returned a man. At this point, we were all crying - happy tears!

This little girl had no idea of the importance of the day, but she waved her flag and waited for her Daddy. There were quite a few kids who gave up their mom or dad for a year - including Nathaniel's roommate who has only seen his son one time.

The band played patriotic music that added to the atmosphere of the day.

Here we are waiting - the last hour was the hardest! We went to Columbus to the Army Reserve Center where the families waited for their soldiers. The atmosphere was incredible. Everyone had t-shirts on with pictures or names of their soldiers, an Army band played patriotic music, we ate lunch, and the room was filled with anticipation, balloons, signs, banners, and excitement. Across from us, an older gentleman sat in his chair and sobbed as the band played - way before the troops showed up. He was probably a veteran waiting for a grandchild to come home. It was really sweet. We were very proud to be Americans.

The Engaged Couple

2007-09-26T08:58:00.001-04:00

Nathaniel and Kim are engaged to be married on April 19, 2008. We are excited for them and very happy that Kim will be a part of our family.