pitcher

Downtown Chicago day

We just spent a great day as a family in downtown Chicago. The day started out at the American Girl Store, which was obviously a highlight for Andrea and Grace. The boys and I quickly walked through it, and then went to look at the rest of Water Tower Place. We were joined there by Karyn Kozak, one of Ken's long time friends from his growing up years. Grace didn't have any of her dolls with her, but had a great time picking out a new hat for herself, as well as some books that she's been wanting to get. 

After lunch at McDonald's we took the subway down to the Art Institute. We spent about an hour taking in some of the incredible paintings at the Institute, but we weren't there simply for the art (although, there were some stunning pieces by Monet, as well some by our favorite contemporary artist, Gerhard Richter-incredible!). Our main reason for going to the Art Institute was to hear a public reading by one of our favorite children's authors, Mo Willems.

This was probably one of the most entertaining and cultural events I've ever been to. Mo came out and began to interact with the crowd of children, parents, teachers and librarians who had come to hear him. The room was full of people who are pretty devoted to him as a writer! Many of the kids brought their own copies of the books he was reading so they could read along with him, and some were able to finish his sentence for him!

He started out reading his latest book, Knuffle Bunny Too. He was extremely animated and entertaining. Afterwards he answered questions, and it was interesting to hear how he answered some questions thoroughly, while giving absolutely no information on others. He is truly an educator, and wants to stimulate learning without just giving the answer. 

After he answered some questions he read a book out loud that has yet to be published, so we were there for the first public reading. It was a delightful book about Elephant and Piggy, some of his favorite characters. We could have listened to him all day.

After getting our book signed by him we stopped by the Chicago Bean in Millenium park, and the got some deep-dish, Chicago style pizza at Edwardo's, one of our favorite restaurants in the city. One of the reasons we like Edwardo's is their whole-grain crust and healthier toppings. Andrea, Grace and I split a pizza topped with spinach, mushrooms and peppers, and loved it!

All in all, a great day with my wonderful wife and incredible kids in the city I grew up in. Who could ask for more!

Family/ friends/ ministry partners

One of the joys and privileges of being a missionary for me is the opportunity of being a part of a team of supporters and ministry partners. God has brought together a large team of people who have been standing with us for many years in our ministry. These people are family members and friends who have a desire to see God do something in Central and Eastern Europe, but more than that are people who simply love Andrea and I and our kids.

Yesterday was a day spent with just such people. We spent the morning at Steve and Lois Black's home. Lois is my mom's cousin, and her and Steve have been supporting us financially, praying for us and loving us for years. Whenever I travel through the Chicago area I stop in their house for our traditional pancake breakfast, and we almost always do this breakfast with my grandmother, Marge Owens. Yesterday my mom and dad picked up grandma, and my Aunt Judy also came down for the morning. The kids did a great job of being polite, since Andrea and I were the only adults not in our sixties there! Grandpa Pitcher, however, put Nicholas and Zachary in their places by beating them both soundly in ping-pong, showing that youth isn't everything.

After resting in the afternoon we spent the evening with Dave and Colleen Wiegman. Colleen and I grew up in the same church youth group, and Dave is a missionary kid from one of the missionaries that our church sent out. We also are old friends from our Moody days. Dave and Colleen have been supporting us as a family since our days of ministering in Germany, and are some of our dearest friends. We hung out at their house, eating pizza, playing Wii, jumping on the trampoline, playing chirades and watching Veggie Tales. Actually, all of the activities I just mentioned were what the kids did. We as adults just sat and talked for almost 6 hours (well, we also ate pizza, but besides that we just talked and caught up on life-an awesome evening!). Dave and Colleen are some of our dearest friends, and we count it a privilege to be co-workers with them in the work of the gospel. 

Fourth of July weekend in Chicago

Coming to Chicago usually means large family gatherings, and this time was no exception. We rolled into Uncle Steve's house on Friday night, July 3rd to join Uncle Greg and Aunt Karen who had driven in from Colorado Springs for the weekend. We picked up Nicholas from Houghton College basketball camp and then made the 10 hour drive to the Chicago area.

The 4th was quite rainy, so we spent most of the day inside, although the kids did get some swimming in since it wasn't a thunder storm. We enjoyed the typical grill food, although our kids commented later that there was no jello salad, which they've come to associate with any Pitcher holiday. Oh well...

We attended an incredible fireworks show in Oak Forest, the town where Steve and my Aunt and Uncle, Bill and Janet Owens, live. My grandmother lives with them, and she also enjoyed the show from Billy's van. All together there were 18 of us who went together- a big family!

On Sunday we were invited to my home church, Elim Baptist church. I brought the message, and wove a report on our lives in Czech into that message. After church we had lunch at Ed and Katie Kaspar's home, parents of Brad and Lucie Kaspar who now live in Vsetin, Czech Republic with the Josiah Venture. Brad and I both grew up at Elim, and his parents and family have been important supporters/partners in our ministry for years.

We returned to Steve's house where we staying for the weekend. On Sunday evening Jana Jacquith, Karyn Kozak and Laura Banta, along with all of their kids, came over for a night of pizza, swimming and catching up on our lives. Laura Banta has been like a second mother to me since my Jr. High years, and has been a close friend to both of my parents. Jana and Karyn have been like sisters since our growing up years, despite the fact that Jana and I dated in high school. We out grew that, and now I consider Karyn, Jana and her husband, Chris, as life long friends of mine. They are some of the people who have known me since my Jr High years, and when we get together it always seems like nothing has changed between us even though there are usually years between each visit. 

I'm praising God for my big, clannish family and dear friends this morning!

Root-beer taste test

We're taking care of a lot of important 'stuff' these days: registering kids for school, licensing and registering our cars, setting up cell phone service for the family, preparing to go to Chicago to meet with Ken's family and our supporters in that part of the country, etc... However, we had to take care of one of the more pressing issues in our lives this week. That is, deciding which brand of Root Beer we like best as a family!

So, the other night we set out 6 glasses, and went at it. No upper class wine tasting had any thing on us. There were comments on texture, after taste, level of sweetness in comparison to bubbliness... We left no stone unturned, no detail un-examined. 

And in the end, we decided that as a family we like the taste of Barg's Root Beer best. Well, actually, we like the taste of IBC the best, but it's just too expensive to have as your common every day Root Beer, but should be reserved for special occasions.

If you're in the area, stop by for a taste with us!

Nicholas at Houghton Basketball camp

We took Nicholas to Houghton College yesterday for their week-long basketball camp for both boys and girls. It looks like it is going to be an incredible week for Nicholas, and we're excited for both the basketball instruction and competition he'll get and the spiritual input from some godly college basketball players and coaches. 

Houghton is a very isolated school, in that the town of Houghton pretty much has nothing else to do except whatever is happening at the college. The program at that the camp, in light of that, is very full, and promises to be a lot of fun as well as spiritually rich.

While we were there we hooked up with Rebekah Johnson. The Johnson family were dear friends of our during our days in Fulda, almost 18 years ago! Rebekah is entering her Junior year at Houghton, and is working in the custodial department over the summer. She showed us around the campus, including the horse barns for the Equestrian department at the college. We had a great time with her and took her out to dinner before we said good-bye to Nicholas. The photo at the right is all of us at Subway, one of the 2 restaurants in Houghton, New York!

Just so you get an idea as to how rural this area of New York is, I'm including the photo below. On our way home Andrea spotted a booth in front of a house that was selling honey. The booth was set up so that cars could come buy, pick out what they wanted from a small refrigerator and then just leave the money in a box. An unbelievable system for this city boy!

Some physical labor

One of the nice things about being in the US for a time of furlough is that we have the opportunity to do some things that we don't usually get to try in Europe. A refreshing change for me is getting to do some physical labor rather than just the work of a pastor/missionary. Our landlord, Larry Almeter, is a carpenter. When we arrived here he began to talk to us about the possibility of putting in a deck off of the back door of the house, and this week we dived in.

On Monday, the boys began to dig some post holes for the main support beam. Two boys who live behind us came up and helped, and joined us for lunch that day. Larry and I began working together the next day putting in the posts and measuring everything in preparation for the building of the deck. Larry has been a carpenter for over 40 years, so I got to learn a lot of his 'tricks of the trade'. Some of the work he just did by himself since it was easier for him just to do it, but I was able to help enough to actually tire me out which feels great!

We're looking forward to being able to sit out and enjoy some meals outdoors again!

Father's Day in New York

Due to living in Europe for the past 20 years Andrea and I can almost not remember the last time we were with one of our dads on Father's Day. So, this year Andrea made a nice dinner for her dad that we as an entire family enjoyed. Duane said that this was the first Father's Day ever when one of his kids made lunch for him. Wow!

Of course, sweet Grace made her chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. I like being her daddy!

The rest of Father's Day was spent enjoying church in the morning (I'm liking being able to go to church and not be in charge!), taking a nap and getting a desk from some friends. A wonderful day of rest and celebration of our dads. I also got to talk to my dad on the phone which is much easier since we're on the same side of the ocean these days.

Notice the photo of Zachary drinking a real coffee with dessert. He's really growing up fast these days.

Joined by George

We are officially a family of 6, but a very important member of our family is our wonderful dog George. He is a 6-year-old beagle, and has begun to play an important role in our family as we've gone through this transition of moving from Czech to the US.

For the past few months we've been purging our lives of all of the extras, and even some of the necessities. As our kids saw their bikes either sold or given away, then their beds, television set and the other 'things' that brought shape to our home Andrea and I watched our kids find comfort in George. He has become the constant in our lives; the bridge between our lives in Czech and our lives in the US.

George was unable to get on the same plane as us, so spent a few more days in Czech in a kennel near the airport. He had to receive some immunizations the day before he flew in order to be allowed into the country, and arrive yesterday-four days after the rest of the family.

Zachary and I drove to Toronto to pick him up (another complication in getting him over here), and arrived home yesterday evening with the rest of the family eagerly waiting for George's arrival. He is quite docile, and doesn't seem to completely understand what all has happened to him. Staying in a strange kennel, not seeing his family for several days in a row, flying in the cargo section of an airplane and then being carted off into some hangar seems to be a little overwhelming for the poor guy! However, being with us as a family now seems to be his highest priority. Whenever anyone moves around the house he gets up and goes with them, especially if I (Ken) move. He is either totally attached to one of us, or coma sleeping on the floor.

Thank God for a great dog, and for a little stability in the midst of constant change!

Photos from life here in Spencerport

I've just put some more photos of our house, car and life here on Facebook. You can check them out here:

Facebook photos from first few days

Life on Ogden-Parma town line road

I'm sitting here in the early morning enjoying my time alone with God, doing some reading, exercising and writing on our blog. I can hear the birds chirping and singing since I'm sitting on our front porch. 

The photo to the right is where I'm sitting, I'll include a photo at the bottom of the view from this spot. It all seems so surreal.

It is hard to believe that less than one week ago we were still living in Europe. We were in church on Sunday enjoying a wonderful time of worship at First Bible Baptist Church, when both Andrea and I realized that one week earlier we were in Poland. In light of how radically different our lives are at the moment those memories already feel like they happened years ago.

Our trip to New York was delightfully uneventful, albeit a little longer than usual due to an 8-hour layover in JFK in New York City. We arrived in Rochester a little before midnight, 23 hours after we had left our hotel in Prague at the beginning of our trip. 

We arrived at the house we will be living in for this year in Spencerport on Ogden-Parma town line road, hence the title of this entry. It is an unbelievable house, and we are overwhelmed with the thought that we get to live here during this transition. Duane and Nancy, Andrea's parents, and a small army of friends cleaned up the house and moved in some furniture as well as the many boxes we mailed from Czech. It was sparkling when we came in, and already feels like home.

Also, as if that isn't enough, Andrea's grand-mother, Verda Wallace, and her parents helped us purchase a car. They covered most of the cost, and we pitched in what we received from the sale of our car in Czech. It is a 2006 Toyota Siena, and is probably the nicest car we've owned. We're overwhelmed by it all, and for the moment just enjoying it. 

I will keep updating over the next few days. For now, rejoice with us for His goodness and for wonderful family and friends who have truly prepared a home for us in this place.