Happy Birthday Mom Haist!

Last Thursday we had the privilege of having guests come to visit!!! Mom, Dad, Ben and Grandma all came to visit on their way to New Orleans (Ben goes to Tulane University). Not only did we enjoy a wonderful dinner at Charlie Gitto's on The Hill (one of our favorite places), we also enjoyed celebrating Mom's birthday with mini dark chocolate cheesecakes!

Happy Birthday Mom!

We love you!

Haist Family Reunion '10

In case you didn't know, the Haist Family Reunion is one of the most hoppin' events of the year. In fact, it's so big of a deal that it has been covered by Time, People, and Rolling Stone magazines. Well, that might not be true, but nonetheless, it is of monumental significance.

This year's theme was "Going to the Chapel" during which we celebrated Uncle Dave and Aunt Sandy's 35th wedding anniversary by participating in the renewing of their vows. The big event took place at the Culver Academy chapel in Culver, Indiana. For those of you who may be interested, Jim Haist while playing for the Wabash High School football team did bring home the win against Culver Academy (back in the good old days). We're proud of him.

We loved seeing everyone at the reunion and spent the drive home talking about how blessed we are by our families. We hope you enjoy a few of the pictures from the weekend!

Love you.

Grandma and Grandpa's farm ... "The Saltbox" 

Sam wanted his picture taken with the famous football player ...Jim Haist aka Dad. 

What an example of true love these two are. We are blessed by their 69 years of marriage and can't wait  to see what the next 68 years and 11 months hold for us. We love you both! 

Grandpa getting the grill ready for some chicken cooking! 

Flipping the chicken ... notice Dave's face. He takes his job very seriously. 

Dave's gloves help him to perfect the cooking of the chicken! 

Sitting with The Supervisor of the chicken making. 

Gaye and Ben at the waffle breakfast ... Gretchen and Shawn are the waffle pros. 

Sam's photography skills ... enjoying nature on the farm. 

On our way home we stopped to enjoy a Monical's Pizza dinner with Grandma Dean!

Our new friends.

From the time she was a little girl, Katelyn has always loved fish. While she has had many Beta fish over the years, we decided that we finally needed to fill her (12 gallon!!!) aquarium in our new apartment. It makes a beautiful addition to our guest room.

However... our guest room is not simply a guest room. It is also our office/workspace and, let me tell you, it is filled with many, many books. As an aspiring pastor/theologian, Katelyn has graciously allowed me to name our fish after some of my favorite theologians!!!! While this may seem like a purely kind gift to me, there is her underlying hope that these names will not appear as options for our children someday. Clever.

So... it is my pleasure to introduce to you our newest friends.

The completed tank!!!! 

Watson is a balloon belly Molly. 

Named after Thomas Watson 

Martin is a yellow/orange Platy. 

Named after Martin Luther 

Eddie is a white with black specks Platy. 

Named after Jonathan Edwards 

Calvin is a black and white Platy. 

Named after John Calvin 

We have 2 catfish, one named Charlie and one named Bunyan. The catfish were Sam's pick ... the woman at Petsmart convinced me because they eat algae off the bottom of the tank. Lucky for Sam.

Named after Charles Spurgeon 

Named after John Bunyan 

We live in Missouri.

It's official. And we have the licenses to prove it.

God is good.

God is good. 

Over the past few months in our preparations to move to St. Louis, we've been busy applying for jobs and praying for God's provision over our financial state :) 

While we were both nervous to move to a new city without jobs, we were confident St. Louis was the place God wanted us. From there, we knew our prayer lives could only grow stronger! 

Well, today we received great news! Within the same hour, we both received confirmation of our new jobs. Sam is a new barista at Shaw's Coffee where they roast their own beans and make "the best coffee in St. Louis" - Sam. He will start within the next few weeks! 

Katelyn will be filling in for a first grade teacher on maternity leave at Hancock Place Elementary. She will be working from the beginning of school (August 19th) through October. She begins setting up her classroom this week and starts training next Monday! 

God is very good and we are very blessed. It truly has been amazing to see all the ways he has provided for us. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement as we embark on this new journey together! 

We love you. 

Hancock Place Elementary 

Shaw's Coffee

My stomach = happy.

In case you haven't noticed, we're into food...

Today, while at a job interview, my beautiful bride was baking away. I came home to the sweet aroma of homemade chocolate chip and walnut cookies. My stomach is happy, albeit two pant sizes bigger.

What is even more amazing is how crafty Katelyn is. We didn't have eggs so she used a substitute! In case any of you were curious... 

1 egg = 1 Tbs corn starch + 2 Tbs water

Wowzers.

Also, my lovely bride made some cookies for our neighbors so that we can make friends! Food is what brings people together, you know (words of wisdom from Sam and Katelyn).

Yummmmmmmm

And up close!

Backtracking...

After the business of the move, it seems like our honeymoon was forever ago. But here we are taking a trip back in time to a week and half ago when we were honeymooners in Door County, Wisconsin. 

We began on our trip with a two night stay at Sundara Inn and Spa in the Wisconsin Dells. It was the most tranquil and relaxing place we've ever been ... perfect after 12 months of wedding planning :) We enjoyed cashmere robes, comfy slippers, hour long massages and wonderful meals. 

We left feeling refreshed and ready for our next adventure at our cabin in Door County! We spent three nights at the Chanticleer Guest House, at the Tamarack cabin. It was beautiful! We enjoyed dinners in and dinners in cute towns. Some of the highlights of the trip include riding mopeds in Peninsula State Park, kayaking in Sister Bay and the stone beaches in Washington Island ... and of course shopping! 

We were sad to leave but happy to return home to our last nights spent in Wheaton (until we come visit)! We would love to return to Door County next summer ... it was a great trip! 

Enjoy the pictures! 

Sundara Inn & Spa 

Sam unloading the car at Sundara. 

The living room area ... part of our suite. 

On our way out to dinner! 

Dinner at Field's ...
one of the best meals we've ever had! 

Sam needed to take a picture of his steak ...
that's how good it was :)

Going to get our massages!

Excited about massage day

Complimentary breakfast at Sundara

The owners of the cabins have a working sheep farm ...
one of the cool shots Sam took of the sheep! 

Our cabin in Door County! 

Dinner prep ...

Yummy dinner we made at the cabin. Sam is a grill master :) 

Coffee on the porch before heading out to see the sights! 

Lunch at Shipwrecked in Egg Harbor 

My first fish sandwich ... it was good! 

Day spent in Egg Harbor shopping! 

Moped ride through Peninsula State Park

Pit stop on our moped ride ... it was a gorgeous day! 

Sam standing on a rock ... 

We ate dinner at The Cookery ...
Grandma and Grandpa Nelson gave us a giftcard and it was delicious! 

Taking the ferry out to Washington Island 

We're married :) 

Kayaking in Sister Bay

This picture is for Dave ... leaving Door County we found a Do It Best!