Hometown Pictures!

And here by request, are pictures of Mt. Morris. Now, if you don't like looking at pictures of scenery, than you probably should move on. I was asked to post pictures of where I live so that people could visualize where we are...so here we go!

Mt. Morris is a pretty cool little town. It has great huge trees and a park. It is very pretty in the fall and really has some friendly people. This amphitheater thing is in the park right in the center of town. It also has the Freedom Bell. I haven't been down to read the information, so I am not sure what it is all about. We are very patriotic! I have heard that the 4th of July celebration here is amazing!

This is the Mt. Morris Post Office. They are very nice and friendly. We really like our mail lady! She gives doggie treats to Ty.

This is the Evangelical Free Church of Mt. Morris. We go here and we like it. It is over 50 years old. I think that the very hard pews are original!

Another view out of my window. With my knee and the cold, I wasn't going to get out of the car!

This is our house. The upstairs left window is Sam's room. The Middle is Andrew, the right is the master bedroom. Downstairs left is the office, middle is living room. The squirrel lives in the tree above the office! I just saw them, they are fat and fuzzy!

Looking west down our street.

Another shot looking west. We have good neighbors.

Mt. Morris has a stoplight. This actually is Hwy. 72.

Downtown Mt. Morris. There is a Hallmark Store with a florist, a couple of bars and not much else.

Our water tower. It is pretty cool to drive around and see all the different water towers. I think I should make a coffee table book...."Water Towers of the Midwest". Our tower is right by the library. It is alot bigger than it looks.


Oregon High School - Where the boys go. This is the old building. It has a huge new gym complex behind it. It is kind of a neat old building - reminds me of Corvallis, Oregon High School.

Well, there you have it, the old hometown. I will try to post more pictures as the seasons change. Even though we are far from family, every time we travel, when we come back, we are always glad to see Mt. Morris. Life is slower here - we were just complaining about having to drive 20 minutes to a DQ - but that is probably for the best! Sometimes we go stir crazy and have to get into the big city, but for the most part, it is quite a nice place to live!

It's been awhile!

I know it has been awhile since I have updated this blog, but it has been busy. I haven't been able to sit at my desk too comfortably until this week (because of my knee). So, here we go!

I put these pictures on my facebook page, but for those of you NOT on facebook (and you know who you are...) here are the pictures of Andrew's 18th birthday! Can you all believe it? He is an adult. That is totally scary!

We don't really do birthday cake at our house, so we had ice cream instead. Andrew picked out cookies and cream and we put one of my votive candles on it. (No birthday candles to be found!)

We had presents...this is the Disney Scene it game...He rocks at this! So if you come to visit, we will test your Disney trivia...if you have the stomach for it!

It was a Star Wars birthday. Andrew must own enough Star Wars figures to populate his own universe. Come to think of it, since he seems to live in his own universe most of the time, he probably does. I can hear those Star Wars fans out there saying "too many star wars figures? You can never have too many star wars figures".

Trust me, you can.

Legos from Nick and Alena - always a hit. If you combined the Legos star wars and the regular star wars....yikes!

Val and Joe came from Waukegan to visit! We loved having relatives...Val is Sam and Andrew's cousin. It was fun. Joe is an awesome guitar player and he and Sam jammed for a bit. Val is always fun to have around! We got all caught up!

Just so you know...Andrew is a legal adult now, but I am petitioning the court here for guardianship. We are in the process and will let you know how things go. I don't anticipate any problems. It is all a new learning experience for me. The Sheriff will come to the house and subpeona Andrew. Brett and I thought about staging a fight on the front lawn so that when the Sheriff comes, the neighbors would think we were getting in trouble....but we decided that it wouldn't be good for the reputation of the mission...or our family....

I will try to post more soon. My second job starts really in earnest this week, so I am busier. Will try to get more pictures from Christmas up...

oh, Happy New Year!

Christmas is finally here!

Christmas Eve is finally here. I think that I am ready! Today was the first day I really felt the peace of Christmas. I woke up this morning to snow falling down. Beautiful, fluffy snow. It is perfect snowman and snowball snow!

I have been reading the book The Christ of Christmas by Calvin Miller. It has been helpful and refreshing. I needed to focus on Christ, not on me or my situation. The book talks about praise lifting us from our own selfishness. About focusing on the Christ-child, our Savior and King. In the moments that we do that, we are truly experiencing the gift of Christmas.

I have put some picture on of our Christmas adventures.

Here I am, at the Candlelight service of the Evangelical Free Church of Mt. Morris. It was a very nice service. The adult choir and the children's choir sang.Our Pastor, Bruce McKanna. The Adult Choir, Brett singing bass. I didn't get to sing. I couldn't really stand up well and it was hard enough just to be there. But it was very nice! The snow on Christmas eve. It is so pretty. Although, for those who have to shovel, it isn't so nice. I always think of the the hymn, Whiter than Snow.

Our backyard. The dog is up to her chest when she goes out.

We have at least a foot on our porch roof!

Many Blessings to you and yours this Christmas Eve. I hope that when you read the Christmas story, you are impressed again with the joy and love that came down at Christmas!

Much love,

Cindy and the boys

Sorry about the lack of a tuba video. It is awaiting editing by Brett. Then I will post it as soon as possible.

Christmas time is officially here!

I don't think that the Christmas season really begins at our house until the Christmas sugar cookies get made! It is a big deal. We use Grandma Arnold's (I think) recipe...it is great! They are thick and chewy and really, really addictive! Then there is the decorating! I mix, roll and bake but I don't frost by myself! Sam and Brett helped this time. Sam and I are pretty fast, but Brett likes his cookies "just so".

"Cookies, yay!"

Sam and I are ready to go!

We cut them out first. We did stockings, snowmen, trees, stars, bells and people.Ready to frost!

Partly frosted. It takes a long time....
Sam is tired of frosting. But at our house if you want to eat them, you frost!

I always try to make Brett a big cookie. This year was a tree. He was a little sad because we didn't have red hots.

First, you frost...then add the sprinkles and other good stuff!

READY TO EAT!

Now it is Christmastime for sure!!

25 years!!!

Yes, today is the 25th Anniversary of my wedding to my best friend, Brett. Wow, 25 years goes by really fast when you are having kids, moving around the country and being busy with ministry. I thought I would share just a few pictures of our life together. Mostly because we can laugh at ourselves...and believe me, that has saved our marriage many times!

First a picture of the day it all started!

The whole family was involved in this wedding. From left to right: Seuzi and Dave Conlee (my brother), Mom, Me, Brett (yes, that young looking man), Dad, Mike and Sue Gumm. Sue was pregnant with Robyn, Cherie and Valerie are in the front. It was 1983, so forgive the big hair!

Then we morphed into this....

Boy, that was a long time ago....
Melanie and Mervyn are our "other selves".

And Finally.......

I love this picture...

I must go now, but will post more later.

Thanks, Brett, for the best and most interesting and entertaining years of my life....

I love you!

The Christmas Spirit...

I haven't had much Christmas spirit lately. I think it is because of the move, being away from family and the general "blah" I have felt lately. I decided I better try something to get some spirit, so I decorated my house....didn't work. I made cookies...didn't work. I shopped a little...really didn't work. So, I sat down and wrote Christmas cards. That helps - I remember people and things that happen and it makes me feel better, but I still wasn't in the mood. So I watched a movie. I spent two hours one afternoon watching "The Nativity". Although the movie isn't completely accurate, it is the best movie about the birth of Christ that I have seen. It was a good reminder of the reason we celebrate Christmas. My favorite characters in the movie are Joseph and Elizabeth. Joseph is such an honorable man. And I love the part where Mary washes his feet while he is asleep and tells her unborn child that he will have an honorable man to raise Him and that Joseph will always put other people first.

Being the romantic that I am, I love to watch these two people fall in love on the journey to Bethlehem.

Elizabeth (and the wonderful actress who portrays her) is my absolute favorite. She is so amazing and when she greets Mary the lines are right out of the Bible. That scene is so powerful and I think it is because it is God's Word.

Needless to say, watching this movie made my Christmas Spirit a little brighter. I highly recommend it. The music is marvelous and the photography is wonderful. There are lighthearted moments that just prove to me that Mary and Joseph were human, just like me. Yet they were faithful to take the gift that God had given them and trust Him to see them through it. It is a powerful movie. Take the time to watch it.

No pictures to post, but check out Brett's blog www.brettbelleque.blogspot.com

He has some new pictures on there.

Family Portraits

We decided since we were all together this last week to have a family portrait taken. It was very hard to do, mostly because everyone sort of has ADHD or something akin to that. Getting everyone, even the adults to stand still was a huge job....Getting Andrew to smile, without looking like a halloween pumpkin was even harder! but we succeeded in getting one.

This one.... We look good....
This one looks like we really look.....

The Belleque's

We have shrunk over the years.

Both my boys are taller than me.

I love this picture, it looks just like them.

I title it "Brothers". It sort of looks like modern art.