I'm totally running out of blog titles.  I think we've been doing this blog for nearly 3 years now, so I need to be more creative with the titles I suppose.  Anyway, things are still normal here.  Slowly the weather is getting colder - around 30 at night and 50 during the day (give or take).  We've been using our fireplace/insert in the basement to heat the home, so our first 2 months of colder weather won't cost us much.  We have a big reserve of wood, so we're both guessing on how long it will last.  Most likely it'll be depleted near the end of January.  By that time, we're usually sick of the fire thing anyway. 

Our Reformation Rally went well.  There were around 50 people there, give or take.  A lot of people stayed awhile to talk, eat the great homemade goodies, and check out the Luther and Calvin book table we set up.  Both lectures will be available soon - mine is up on our church's website (here).  It was a great night over all.

The boys are still enjoying school for the most part.  They do fine - normal kids in school stuff.  We have to discipline ourselves to get into the homework mindset again.  Our 1st grader takes some home, which is fine, but we have to be sure not to forget about it!  The kids have learned quite a few memory verses between school and church, which we go over at home.  In fact, last week during the morning sermon, I said, The wages of sin is... [followed by a big pause then finally] ...death.  In that pause, one of our boys said (quite loudly), "DEATH!"  Lisa and I were happy to see memory verses stick with him.  Also, as a note to church goers, go ahead and answer those types of things in the sermon!

Last week Friday, we had a Autumn party at our house.  We had some friends over to taste pie and wine (separately, of course).   Lisa made the pies while the guests brought their favorite wine.  Everyone had good time.  Here are some pics of the food.  Pies are becoming Lisa's specialty!   

On a different note, the boys were playing in the leaves yesterday when they said, "Take our picture!"  So we did, and out of nowhere (seriously!) our middle son became a rapper.  They have watched almost no network TV in their lives (aside from the world series - blasted Yankees, by the way!), but somehow he got the gangsta stuff down.    We later learned he was doing something he saw on a numbers DVD he was watching (or something like that).  The hood was just a coincidence.

Well, off to read something on the Psalms.  Our Psalms Bible study (4 one hour sessions) starts this Thursday (Nov 12, 7PM), so I better get at it!  Click here for more info.

Love
us

The Hawkeyes are now 9-0!  Great fourth quarter today!  More good news: the Yankees are losing as I type - I can't stand the Yankees.  The boys just cheer for whoever hits home runs, so tonight it is the Phillies.  (Edit: Just saw A-Rod's home run that hit the camera.  Wow!  But the Phillies are still up by one.)

Speaking of Iowa, I (Shane) was there a few days this week.  The church in which I grew up built a new building and they asked me to preach at the dedication service. It was a great time, though very quick.  I got there Wednesday night and was gone Thursday night.  I did have to stay in Omaha over night on Thursday because Denver was sacked in with snow.  Finally, Friday at 3pm, I made it back home.  This was the first time I've written a sermon (partially) in the airport, but it probably won't be my last.  As a side note, someone took their little dog on the plane and stored the thing in a tiny bag/box under the seat.  I was paranoid that the dumb thing would poo or pee and everyone would start harfing.  Dog poop in an airplane is what nightmares are made of!

      A while back our kids got into (ok, we let them!) the foam soap from the cupboard.  It is sort of like soap-play-dough, so they formed it on themselves.  They smelled like cotton candy for two days!  Anyway, it was pretty funny.

Our busy October month is over now.  I had to be out of town for around 5 days this month, but now my trips are over for a long time. 

Well, time to put our clocks back one hour and enjoy the extra sleep. 

Don't forget our Reformation Rally Friday night - Nov 6 - at our church (www.urcofsunnyside.com).  It should be a great night as we hear about Luther and Calvin's emphases on the biblical theme of the Cross of Christ and the Christian life.  See you there (it is free!) - pass along the word.

Love
us

And then it was cold.  Two weeks ago it was 75, today it is 45.  Odd how quickly it changed!  We actually used our fireplace because it was 62 in the house.  Lisa can only wear a coat in the house so long, she said; I agree.  Anyway, we may get a mild spell before winter officially comes.  Thankfully we only get a few inches of snow a year.

Everything is still normal here.  Our oldest two are in school a lot and our youngest loves the attention at home all day with mom.  I (Shane) still go to the study at church around 5:30 am, study til noon, spend an hour at home, then go back to study until 4pm.  In the afternoons, I also visit some parishioners, especially several of the older folks who are in nursing homes.  I haven't been studying in the coffee shop as much lately, simply because it was not fruitful.  Interestingly, when I studied in a coffee shop just North of San Diego, tons of people would ask about my studies.  Several times I actually shared the overall story of scripture with inquirers.  Here, people seem way more wrapped up in their own lives.  They say "hi," look at my Hebrew or Greek Bible, and turn to the newspaper and their coffee. 

We purchased a few older pieces of furniture on sales recently; Lisa cleans them, fixes them, and paints them up.  We hope to re-sell them on craigslist perhaps, just for a few extra bucks.  I'll put pics up of them later.

Here's an older picture from our church picnic awhile back. 


Here's a picture of the boys getting on the bus. 


Here's a picture of our oldest in a batting cage a few months back (yes, it's "older picture day" because we haven't taken new ones lately - at least we haven't downloaded them).


The other night the wind blew fiercely - from around 8pm well into the next day.  It was so windy the house got dusty inside even though we had the windows closed.  Actually, the next day we walked on the grass and it literally puffed with dust.  Our poor birch tree in the front is now leaning like crazy; it was a "dust bowl" for about 12 hours. 

A few extra notes - or reminders.  First, our church website is www.urcofsunnyside.com (note free stuff on it - sermons, writings, etc).  Also, on that website you can hook up with us on facebook.  Another thing to spread around is the Reformation Rally we're having with a few Lutheran (LCMS) churches in the area on Nov. 6.  Go to www.yakimavalleyreformation.blogspot.com for more info, and to print up flyers.  Please invite tons of people if you live around here.  If you want to follow what I read all week while I'm in my study, visit www.reformedreader.wordpress.com

Until next time,
the Lems

One son of ours was chomping his teeth in the dark, when he was supposed to be sleeping.  I asked him what he was doing.  He said, in all seriousness, "Trying to get my teeth to spark."

One son of ours saw some kids rubbing a fist through their friend's hair.  He misunderstood what that was called, so all our kids are running around trying to rub each other's head saying, "I'm giving him a nushi."

We started to write these things down, so stay tuned for more.

love us

  The flu is going around here like crazy. Quite a few families from church were out Sunday.  Also, schools around here are feeling it as well.  We're OK, though Lisa wrestled it for a few days, but nothing overly serious.

Here are a few pics.
The first here is of one of our "pet" praying mantis' which the boys have named, aptly, Mantis.  He's snacking on a wasp.  He was like a lion just tearing into the wasp and chomping on it.  Mantis #2 lives on another flower in the front yard.




A man from church built a patio cover (aka pergola) for us; we stained it white, he did the labor. It turned out awesome!
This is our youngest with a bug he found.  He'll just grab anything that crawls and put it in a container.  It's pretty funny, but he finds some disgusting bugs from time to time!

More later
us