Thanksgiving #1 and #2

Thanksgiving #1

Eric cooked up our giant pumpkin in the uber-steamy kitchen and we made pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins. Mmmm.


On Wednesday night, we had a great Thanksgiving feast at Mary and Amanda's place on the south side. Lots of Holy Covenant folks came by, along with some of Amanda's family. It was great fun.


A few weeks ago, I got a free hair cut from Ricardo at C Salon, a fancy downtown place. Ricardo is a really great stylist and I have already recommended him to lots of folks. And he's a cool person who has come to church with us the past three Sundays and become a new friend!



Thanksgiving #2

Justin and Lil arrived on Thursday and we cooked up a yummy tofurky in sweet potatoes and onions


It had snowed in Chicago two nights before, but there was nothing on the ground until we got to this stretch of I-94 in Michigan. We stopped at a rest stop for a little snowball fight and then, 20 minutes down the road, the snow was gone!


When we got into Lansing, we stopped for some amazing food at Aladdin's, Justin's favorite restaurant from his time at MSU. The Turkish coffee was intense!

New Lil' Conklin

Yay! Emerson Joanne Weitkamp Conklin was born to Mike (Eric's brother) and Tanya on Thursday! She is really beautiful and we are so excited to meet her at Christmastime when we go to Spokane!

Saturday in the city

Rose, Robert and Justin are visiting this weekend, and we spent a really nice afternoon at Shedd Aquarium. Special thanks to Paul and Kelly (friends of Erin and Matt), who work and volunteer there and shared free passes with us!


Eric watching the dolphins:


The dolphin habitat is in such a beautiful setting.


We hung out for a bit afterward on the lawn. It was a bit chilly, but still a really great fall day!




Waiting for the bus:


We brought some Giordano's deep-dish home and admired Justin's new dinosaur pj's while we dined. So cute.

More Halloween pics

Kenneth and Kim....huh!


Barrett and Megan:


Pippi and Spanish lady Carrie:


Katie, Pavarotti (Scott), and Nobel Prize winning Kristin:


Hot nurse Lisa, David Beckham (Matt) and Posh Spice (Cindy):


Pippi and Penny (David):


Ugly Betty (Maria) and boyfriend Henry (Diane):


Kenneth, Pippi, and Sheriff Rich, who was visiting from Texas:


The next day...Rich, Dave, Carrie, Andrew (hiding), Kim, Eric, Barrett, Megan, Katie and Al:


Megan's birthday was two days after mine and she made a yummy cake for community meal Monday:


After community meal, we went out for another dinner with Katie and Kristin! We stayed eating and laughing until they finally had to turn off the lights to get us to leave.

Partay

Just a few Halloween pics for you...

Katie was up from Louisiana and it was so great to see her. Here we are as Pippi and Kenneth (from the show 30 Rock) and Katie.


Hot geisha (Meg), Mario (Jove) and Pippi:


Pippi waits for the train.



More to come soon.....

Lovely fall weekend

Our new friends (and neighbors) Trent and Jeanne joined us for a confirmation retreat at Wesley Woods on Lake Geneva this weekend. Here is Trent leading songs around the campfire:


The weather was perfect and the lake gorgeous, as always.


Today I had the opportunity to facilitate a conversation about roots of migration (why people come to the US from other places) with University Church's adult Sunday School class. The church, a merger between UCC and Disciples of Christ congregations, is on the University of Chicago campus. Because we rarely get down to Hyde Park, a fabulous neighborhood, we thought we'd spend the afternoon enjoying the incredible weather and the local architecture. So, after a great lunch at The Medici on 57th, a favorite place of some of the "locals" we met at church, we began to wander. It is a truly beautiful campus.

An old gate leading to what I would guess is the original main campus area:


We forgot for a bit that we were in the middle of a huge city. It was just us, the rustling leaves, and a few students here and there in this enclosed courtyard area.


Here's Goose in front of the Robie House, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous buildings and the original "prairie style " house. The FLW Preservation Trust calls it "one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture."


Considering the fact that the house will be turning 100 pretty soon, I'd say those preservation folks have done a pretty nice job.

As this weekend draws to a close, I'd like to say to this dear season, "I love you, fall. Please stick around a little longer."

Skylar Anne

We had a chance to visit with Matt and Erin last Thursday and hang out with Skylar, who is still so tiny and new!


We are so happy for them!

Michigan

We spent last weekend in Michigan. The leaves up north were so incredible but we were enjoying taking in the beauty so much that we hardly ever thought to take pictures when we were out walking around (which is a good thing). In the ones we did get, the camera just did not do the colors justice. The camera also failed to capture the rusty smell of crunchy just-fallen leaves that float around your ankles as you shuffle through the woods. Sorry--you'll just have to go yourself!


This one I touched up a bit on Photoshop:


Back in Holland, we joined my mom for the annual Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk. We started at Kollen Park and enjoyed the calmness of Lake Macatawa before we set out.



My mom was a regular tour guide along the route. She's helpful that way.


It was a perfect fall day for the farmer's market and we were inspired to buy some crispy Michigan apples and this lovely pumpkin. Oh, and some homemade jam, of course.

B.S. Flag

Eric Here. My friend Mike Moore (different one) has entered a contest. If you view this video, it helps him win $5,000. I know you're not in the business of helping my friends win contests, but hey, if you've got time to read my blog, then I think you've got some to spare for aspiring seminary filmmakers! Just don't watch the other videos that pop up on the bottom, because much of the contest is based on the number of views. Feel free, however, to watch "Everybody Loves a Scotsman" over and over so you can really get into it and offer some critical advice!

U2 Eucharist

Holy Covenant's U2 Eucharist last Sunday was a joyful celebration and a challenging invitation to examine our faith journey and behold the grace within and around us.


The music is always spectacular.


The table at which we share a messy meal:


Folks were there to share about ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History. It was a great way to spend one of the last hot mornings of the year.

What the %#^@^ is Whirlyball?

Last weekend was the Lewis's 3-day birthday extravaganza and we joined him and many other fans of Lewis for Whirlyball on Friday night.

The golden boy:


Because these things are difficult to steer, impossible to stop, and ridiculously slow, pretty much everyone is bad a this game. I guess that's what makes it so fun. Oh, and ramming into people for no reason is fun, too.


Pretending to be in on the action.




Mark was up from St. Louis for the weekend and joined us for Whirlyball as part of his pre-marathon preparation.

Michelle and Korey!

My Albion roomie, Michelle, married Korey in Grand Rapids on Saturday, and we were delighted to celebrate with them!

It was a beautiful ceremony:


It was great to see lots of Albion folks -- we even did The Io* in the hall before taking a picture, though I am apparently a huge nerd for remembering all the words.

Seems like just yesterday we were putting pretzels in the shape of our initials (MW) on our dorm room door...sigh.

Justin and Andria, our hosts that night, had spent the day at Hope College's Pull , a ridiculously intense tug-of-war that has taken place annually for 110 years. Pretty cool. We hung out on their enomous couch in their new-old house and watched Pull videos from years past.

*The Io (pronounced "Yo.") is Albion's traditional cheer:

Io Triumphe! Io Triumphe!
Haben Swaben Rebecca le animor
Whoop te whoop te sheller de-vere
De-boom de ral de-i de-pa
Hooneka henaka whack a whack
A-hob dob balde bora bolde bara
Con slomade hob dob Rah! Al-bi-on Rah!