Heading to Peru

Loren and I will be heading to Peru on a mission trip back to the orphanage where she was adopted. You can follow our adventure at http://wrcc-peru2009.blogspot.com.

Loren and Andrea's Birthdays - July 13th, 15th and 17th

We celebrated Loren's 15th birthday on July 13th. A girl's 15th birthday is traditionally a significant birthday in Peru and other latin American countries. It's called the quinceaños (15 years, and is a coming of age celebration when a girl becoming a lady.

Loren poses while Josh clowns around. What else would a brother do?

Loren reads her brothers' and sisters hand-made cards.

The neighbor girls Michelle and Elizabeth.

Elton John look out!

Andrea and the kids were at Grandpa and Grandma's on her birthday, so we celebrated her 29th, uh yeah, her 29th birthday a day late.

The kids all made something special for their mom.

Loren had a sleep over to celebrate her quinceaños. Here from left to right is Loren, Katie Rummery, Veronica, Donna, Michelle Paap, Kimberly Newman and Elizabeth Paap.

Loren doesn't like cake, so she opted for muffins.

The girls.

E.J. Schaer & Bill Glick Wedding - July 4th, 2009

My friend of many years, Bill Glick, got married to his long time friend and only recently discovered love of his life on July 4th. I had the privilege of both standing up at their wedding and singing two songs. The wedding was a great event, and it was heart warming to see them so happy. The reception afterward was a little damp, but everyone still had a great time.

This is the sand ceremony from the Glick wedding on July 4, 2009. It features Tim Brooks and Jim Barlow performing the song “The Way of Love” by Charlie Peacock and Tom & Nicole Schaer reading 1 Corinthians 13 from the NIV, NLT, and Message translations.

Bill and His Dad

My friend, Jim Barlow, who played guitar

Nice Tux, eh?

J.D. Norcross and Myself

Andrea and I

Bill and E.J.

The Barlow's and the Brooks'

Doug Olson and I

Good cake T.J. ?

The Brooks Clan

St. Louis Trip - 06/23/2009 to 06/25/2009

This year and last we have found a way to do something fun with the family of 8 relatively cheaply. We buy 4 season passes which come with coupon books that have several "Bring a friend for free" days. We had two bring a friend for free tickets that we needed to use for June. So, we did two days in a row at Six Flags and then went to the Arch on our way out. My brother and sister-in-law were nice enough to let us crash at their house for a couple nights. Uncle Ronn took some time out of his busy schedule to ride some rides with us on the second day. The temperature on both days was at or near 100 degrees. So, we spent a good deal of time at Hurricane Harbor.

DAY 1

Stopped at Burger King to fill up our tanks and avoid a costly meal in the park.

TJ and Andrew get to hang with Batman and the Boy Wonder while the big kids go on the Batman roller coaster.

Pepe Le Pew

Marvin the Martian

Taz and the family

TJ drives his dad crazy.

Veronica is all smiles on Tony Hawk.

DAY 2

Josh and Andrew cruisin'

Uncle Ronn takes one last spin with the girls.

Uncle Ronn with some crazy characters.

Going Up?

Coming down...

DAY 3

Andrea and the Arch

Andrea and the kids

Tim and the kids

The kids demonstrate the Arch elevators

TJ and Andrew look at the ants down below.

Cool!

Who knew Donna was 630 feet tall?

Waiting to go down
Elevator 4

Elevator 5

The Arch Museum