"Shout Joyfully to the Lord, all the earth...."

"Shout Joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.... Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts with Praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, And His faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100: 1, 4-5.

There are key words in that Psalm that describe this past Thanksgiving week:
SHOUT, JOYFULLY, THANKSGIVING, PRAISE, GOOD, LOVINGKINDNESS, FAITHFULNESS, AND GENERATIONS!!!!!

We were altogether for Thanksgiving up at the condo at Stoneridge Resort. And a lot of shouting was going on. Not only for all the other blessings and words mentioned above but especially keying in on GENERATIONS!!!! That is because when we were all going around the table on what we were thankful for, when Jake's turn came around he said he was thankful for "THE NEW ADDITION TO HIS AND HANNAH'S FAMILY"!!!! That is right, they are expecting a baby next JUNE. Then the celebrating began. Some people suspected, some knew already but I was totally surprised at the news. And I am so excited about the news. Another Grand baby.
And we are thankful for the Lord's Faithfulness and Lovingkindness because of the blessings that we have with each other and to those all around us. That includes you. We are richly blessed. And the other big news is that Jake and Hannah bought a house too! They bought into a lovely home that is a perfect match for them. I included a picture of them in front of their house with the for sale sign, SOLD!!

Here I am with my expecting kids.

In front of their new house and the SOLD sign!!

Up at Stoneridge in the Wally Ball court after a heated match. The victory stance. We had such fun on the court. This day we just had a few people.

More to come... I have to take the kids shopping. Be back soon....

Holy is the Lord Almighty

"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His Glory." Isaiah 6:3
Hello everyone, it has been a while since I updated the blog. Life has been busy but I want to slow down at least a while to catch you all up on what has been going on with the Vetsch family in Idaho. I have been doing Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) this year, studying Isaiah which is a new study curriculum for BSF. And the verse above, is just a perfect verse in the Bible to always remind me that our God is Holy. In fact Holy, Holy, Holy with an exclamation point. And the earth is full of His Glory. Just look around you now in the season of fall, the colors are incredible. These are the simple things in life that God puts on display for us to enjoy about His majesty. I love the fall, my favorite, if I had to choose. But I still like them all, even the snow, which they say will be plentiful this year in our area. I am really enjoying BSF and the study on Isaiah.
We are all doing well. Since the last time, we were back from Cannon Beach and getting right into the County Fair time. Both Mary and Laura showed their pigs in 4H, Mary showed her lamb & Kayla and Laura showed their rabbits. And they all did great again this year. We always have a fun time doing 4H and that is because my beloved Susan was in 4H as a youngster. 4H became a part of our family starting with Nathan all the way down to Kayla. So it is a busy but fun way to end the summer before school starts.
With school now in its first full month, Mary is at CDA High School, Laura is at Canfield Middle School and Kayla is in Dalton Elementary School. Both Mary and Laura are into volleyball at their schools and they both are doing very well. Kayla was in Cross Country and she is developing into a pretty steady runner. Academics are going great for all three. Here are pictures of the first day at school.


That day also, we had Grandpa Jack and Grandma Mary Carol come visit with us in Dalton Gardens. They celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary this year on Sept 23rd and made a trip up to Montana. They were raised and married in Helena, so the whole Hall family planned a get together to celebrate their anniversary. So they came over to our house to visit a few days before going over to Helena to meet up with others. I took Mary, Laura and Kayla over to Helena also to celebrate the event. We stayed at the Carolina Bed and Breakfast near downtown Helena. First experience at a B&B and it was very very nice. Great breakfast. Jack and Mary Carol were married at the beautiful Catholic Cathedral in Helena so we went to mass on Sunday morning. The whole weekend was so nice. It was really good to be with Susan's family again. They are so dear to me. They both are doing exceptionally well. They still love living down in Phoenix. We are planning a trip down that way again for Spring Break. Here is a picture at the B&B. Jack's cousin Monty joined us also.
We are a family of runners, and in September, Michelle had set out to do her very first half marathon. She had been training with a group of friends for several months and Sept 19th ran in the Sandpoint Half Marathon. Even though it rained which may have helped, Michelle was awesome. She ran the 13.1 miles in 2 hrs and 4 minutes. For her very first long distance run, she did great! She said she will continue to do some long runs which is exciting. Maybe the CDA Half Marathon next May she said. Here are some pictures of Michelle and her running group of friends. Laura is holding Luke also during the race, while cheering on mom!
Big news! Jake and Hannah also bought a house in September. They bought a house in the Hawk's Nest subdivision west of us by about three miles. A beautiful home. It has 5 bedrooms! So I don't know if that tells us anything about size of family they plan on having but, it is very nice for them. Hannah plans on having a House Warming Party this month. So I will include some pictures of their house then. Praises for the blessings of a new home.
PORTLAND MARATHON! This past weekend, Nathan, Leah and I ran in the Portland Marathon on 10-10-10. And it rained almost the entire time we were running. Nathan had an incredible, best ever time for a marathon, running 26.2 miles in 3 hrs 37 minutes. I also had my best time of 3 hrs 47 minutes. And Leah (for not training too much) ran in 4 hrs 1o minutes. I think the rain really helped although Leah was cold during the run and especially at the end. But we are all recovered and looking forward to our next running adventure. It was a great day for all of us. Got to go to work now. More very soon. I promise! I will include more on the family and prayer requests also.

"Will You Trust Me"

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on you own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

This past week was our annual family vacation to Cannon Beach, Oregon. What a great time again this year. Weather not bad. Four of the seven days had solid sun for our beach time enjoyment. God was gracious to give us those days because the summer has not been that nice at Cannon Beach overall. The speaker the first part of the week was Pastor Dennis Keating from a church in California. He spoke on 1 King 17, 18 and 19. About the prophet Elijah and how God used trials in the life of Elijah to form him into the man of God that God wanted him to be. A lesson on obedience and trusting.

Haystack Rock just down from the Conference Center. We walked to and from Haystack Rock on a daily basis. About 2 miles. Good way to start the day before breakfast.

Laura and Kayla

Leah was able to join us the first part of the week. Then Hannah and Sarah flew over to Portland to join us the second half of the week.

Hannah, Kayla and Laura in front of Haystack Rock.

Tuesday was sand scuplture day.

Family shot!

A tower of Vetsch's

This is a picture of family day at the beach with some of the family friends that we have made through the years. BBQ at the beach.


Mary and some of her friends.

More July Events

Well my girls got back from Camp Swayolakan on Monday July 19th, and they all had a great time. I didn't get a call from Kayla telling me she missed me, so that was a good thing. She had a great time and made some special friends during the week. One lives over at the Air Force Base in Spokane so when we make our monthly trips over to the base, we will make sure that Kayla gets a visit in. The weather was great for the whole week. My brother John was here for the same week that the girls were gone. So I had a special time with him back home. He is visiting from Houston. One of the highlights of the week was our bike trip over to the Hiawatha Trail that starts just inside the Montana Idaho border. The first part of the trail involves a 1.7 mile tunnel. This is an abandoned railroad converted to a spectacular bike trail that involves not only several tunnels but high spanning trestle bridges. We go about ten miles down the trail then ride back up. Hannah, John and I did the bike ride. Here are some photos.

Hannah and I at the waterfall on the far side of the 1.7 mile tunnel.

Hannah and Uncle Johnny towards the end of the day at the parking lot area.

Johnny emerging out of the 1.7 mile tunnel, headlamps required.

Uncle Johnny and Hannah on top of the last trestle overlooking a scenic valley.

Two days after Mary, Laura and Kayla got back from camp, I took my brother John to the bus station for the continuation of his trip eastward to Billings. Later that day was also our trip westward to CREATION FESTIVAL 2010 in Enumclaw, WA. This is the 5 day Christian Music festival that was at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA but moved to this new location closer to Seattle. Hannah, Sarah, Mary, Laura, Kayla and I work on staff at Creation. Aaron even made the trip to work at the Boarders For Christ exhibit at Creation. We had a great relaxing time near Mt. Rainier living in some farmers fields with the smell of cow manure near by and working with some great people at Creation. It was a blast again this year. Cooler temps compared to the 104 degrees typically at the Gorge. It was around 80 deg in Enumclaw. Here are some pics from Creation Festival.

Mt. Rainier from our campsite in the farmers field.

Sarah, Mary, Kayla, Laura, Hannah

On the main arena grounds waiting for Skillet to play.

In the farmers field with all our neighbors.

Here is Aaron, in the middle, with the Boarders For Christ bunch. They put on a big skateboard demo for the crowds.

This past weekend, Nathan participated in the Hayden View Triathlon. Half mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and 3.7 mile run. This is his second sprint triathlon and will compete in a longer tri this coming weekend, the Coeur d'Alene Triathlon. He is a natural at these sports so he had no problems.

Nathan, right in the middle, ready for the start of the swim in Hayden Lake.

In the yellow/green jersey, Nathan heading out on the bike ride. Go Nathan Go!!

Then the final leg, running about 3.7 miles.

And of course Nathan's #1 FAN, Luke with Auntie Sarah. Luke's thinking "One day I want to be like my Daddy and do all this FUN stuff".

Girls are off to Camp for a week

On Monday morning, I dropped off the girls down at the resort for their boat ride trip out to Camp Sweyolakan on Coeur d'Alene Lake. This is a week long camp that is set aside for Military Kids. They will get to Scuba Dive, do a ropes course, kayak, giant swing and a whole lot more. The big thing is Kayla is going this year. PRAY FOR KAYLA. This is a new experience for Kayla being gone away for so long. That morning I dropped them off, Kayla shed a few tears. I reassured her that she would have a ton of fun and she would make a lot of good friends. Mary and Laura will always be near to her as well. So far I have not heard from them so I guess that is good news (?). I miss them.
Here is a picture of them in front of the big boat that will take them out to the camp. It is about 45 minutes by boat. There were at least 150 military kids, 6 years old to 16 years old there.
One last picture of them on top of the boat deck. King of windy that day. I know Kayla will come back with all kinds of good reports. Mary and Laura loved it last year. They come back on Monday July 19th. Then it is off to Creation Festival over in Seattle on Tuesday July 20th for 5 days. Hannah, Sarah, Mary, Laura, Kayla and I will be working on Staff again this year at this Christian Music Festival near Mt Rainier. Looking forward to it.
Laura took a two day safety baby sitting course at the hospital called "Safe Sitter". Michelle paid for Laura to attend this course so that Laura could babysit Luke for her. Michelle took this course when she was young. We attended Laura's graduation on Saturday. She will be such a good baby sitter.
Here is a picture of Laura with Luke standing by one of the instructors that knew Susan and our family from years ago. Her name is Amy. It was good to see her.

My brother John is here for a week from Houston. He is traveling across the Northwest visiting friends and family. He will eventually get to Billings for a class reunion and to see a lot of friends. He is having a very relaxing time here. Kind of quite without the young girls here. We are having a good time together.

I will abide in the shadow of the Almighty!

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust." Psalm 91:1-2

Hello all family and friends,
I really do want to update the blog more often than I do. I always have a lot to say. But life gets busy and something always has to give. I apologize. I miss talking to you. Feel free to respond back too, it is always encouraging to hear from you.
I have a daily devotional link to MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST off to the right side on this blog. On July 4th, it was about "Don't fret" or don't worry. I believe worrying is a sin or at least leads to sin and against the very nature of God. I have been dwelling on the fact that we need to "rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." Psalm 37:7. In the devotional, it said the resting in the Lord is not dependent on our external circumstances at all, but on our relationship with God Himself. That should be our focus, our relationship with God. Where are you at in these days of uncertainty? We are all in different areas of uncertainty. All of our fretting and worrying are caused by planning without God. Some of these words are right out of the devotional for the 4th of July. Read it when you can. It was very good.

So for this past month of June, Aaron graduated from High School. I am so proud of Aaron. He is a very special son. He is creative and funny. He always has us guessing what he will do next. His plans are to attend North Idaho College this fall. I am hoping that church ministry is still his interest but I think he still would like to get into business. We shall see. Here are a couple of pictures on his graduation night.
Here is Hannah, Aaron and Sarah in front of CDA High School after the graduation. Aaron is our sixth child to graduate. And each one is as special as any other.
Aaron in front of the house before heading out to graduation. He then went on a road trip with friends to the Oregon coast for a special graduation campout.

The next day, Sarah and I were signed up for the 2nd Annual Sports Adventure Week Deep Water Trail run up at Farragut State Park. This is a Half Marathon Trail run which included several trips up Goat Hill. Some of you might remember Goat Hill in you Cross Country Meets up at Farragut. This run was a repeat for me from last year BUT it was Sarah's first trail run. And guess what. Sarah was following some other people and took the wrong trail. When they were running through thick weeds and things just didn't look right, they all decided they were lost and backtracked. Sarah probably ran an extra 3 miles because of the 'detour'. She had fun though and wants to do it again next year.
Sarah and I after the half marathon. It is a beautiful place for this Adventure Week. The week consists of runs that cover 50 miles, 31 miles, a marathon and a half marathon. It also has extreme sporting events as well. Really alot of fun. Nathan, Leah, Sarah, Jason and I are all signed up for the Portland Marathon in the Fall, on 10/10/10. We are a running family and it has been a nice family time together. Nathan is signed up for the CDA Triathlon and the Hayden View Triathlon which are at the end of July. Will keep you posted on his races. Michelle is planning to do the Sandpoint Half Marathon in September.

And of course we had different events to celebrate. SO, to do things more efficiently, we threw a party out back to celebrate Aaron's graduation, Leah's birthday (June 16th) and Father's Day on the Saturday before Father's Day. It was gorgeous out. Our summer has been very slow in getting to the nice weather. So that day was exceptional. So here are some pictures of the family and of us boys.
Here is the family. Michelle had to go feed Luke so she is missing unfortunately. From Left to right, Laura, Jason, Mary, Nathan, Aaron, Jake, Hannah, Kayla in front, Doug and Leah.
The boys in a serious pose. I didn't know that I was supposed to be serious.

We also had a family night at Skate Plaza with our 4H group. Here is a picture of Hannah with Laura and Kayla. It has been years since I put on skates and it actually felt pretty good. I didn't look real graceful out there but I had fun.

And what would the summer be without going to our amusement park, Silverwood Theme Park. The girls have passes so they have been going alot, especially since the weather has been soo nice. Here is a picture of them with Garfield at Silverwood.
And we have been camping some. We do love to camp. And we still sleep on the ground in a tent. Now that is getting into nature. This past weekend Nathan, Michelle and Luke came up for the day. This was Lukes first camping experience and I think he liked it. Can you tell from his smile below. He is in the backpack for this picture. We went on a hike all of us together. Luke is now about 6 1/2 months old. Laura has been doing some babysitting for Michelle. Laura is taking a babysitting class at the hospital for two days learning some good stuff like infant CPR skills.

Luke

Luke and the girls all in a row on the picnic table.

Memorial Day 2010

"Our servicemen and women are visible evidence of our determination to meet any threat to the peace with measured strength and high resolve. They are also evidence of a harsh but inescapable truth - that the survival of freedom requires great cost and commitment, and great personal sacrifice." President John F. Kennedy
We attended a Memorial Day Program at the cemetery where Susan is buried. I want my kids to know what Memorial Day is all about. And it was very good. A lot of veterans around to make it visible that it is about commitment and great personal sacrifice. All at a cost. Our Freedoms have not been cheap. And I am thankful to God for the great sacrifices by a lot of men and women who have gone before us and gave their lives.
This was the Wreath Presentation of the program. This all was performed by the local Marine Corps League.

Last weekend, we attended the Relay for Life w/ the American Cancer Society. It was Jake and Hannah, Michelle and Luke, Mary, Laura, Kayla, Ed Hoy, Lindsey Vogt and a lot of friends. We had a great night of being together as a family and remembering Susan and a lot of the fun times we have had at previous Relays for Life, all the way back to 2002. I remember one specific memory of Susan being lifted high above the crowd in a fire engine extended ladder bucket. She was always wanting to do the "on the edge" fun activities. And she just loved this one. And she would always get into the night of activities and love talking with so many friends. We see many of those same friends on that special night. So it was fun. Here are a couple of pictures from that night.

The group on this special nightAn iluminary in memory of Susan; along the oval track we walked many laps for the cause

This past weekend also, Jason, Sarah and I ran in the Coeur d'Alene Marathon runs. Jason ran his first Marathon with a pretty impressive time of 3 hours 56 minutes. He learned a lot about running long distance and wants to do another some day, maybe the Portland Marathon in October. Sarah ran the half marathon, her longest distance ever and was impressive at 2 hours 11 minutes. And she had a great time too. She wants to do another half marathon with me in two weeks during Adventure Week at Farragut State Park, trail running. I did the half marathon in 1 hour and 47 minutes, not bad for an old guy. I was pleased. Here are some pictures from that day.

Jason about 200 feet from the Finish Line. He looks pretty fresh but he was a bit dehydrated at the end. His knee brace was from an minor injury during training.

The two half marathoners. We plan on another in two weeks.

And I have to get a picture of my grandson Luke. Nathan, Michelle and Luke came over on Sunday afternoon after the race. Luke is such a handsome young guy. We are all enjoying Luke so much. Laura is going to be taking a babysitter CPR class in a couple of weeks so that she can baby sit him. She is really exited about doing that.

Luke at 5 months old