He is Risen!

Hello family and friends!

Happy Easter (a few days late)! This past weekend we celebrated Easter with the Dean family (including Grandma Dean). They drove down Friday evening and we enjoyed a yummy dinner of Dewey's Pizza (mentioned it several posts, its one of our faves!)We watched We Bought A Zoo (GREAT movie) and headed to bed for an action packed day on Saturday.

We woke up Saturday, and after showering 7 people with one bathroom, found it noon by the time we were all ready to go! We had waffles for breakfast and had a quick lunch before heading off to The City Museum. This place is unbelievable and gets neater every time we go! Jesse was in heaven, and Sam was a great sport :) We climbed the tunnels for hours, enjoyed the circus, and laughed harder then we have in a long time. We left the museum around dinner time, grabbed a quick dinner, and then headed to Ted Drewes for the best frozen custard in St. Louis! When we got back home, we mustered up the energy to dye Easter eggs before heading to bed.

Sunday, we got ready for church in record time and even got to the service early. It was a beautiful service at South City. We are so blessed by such a wonderful church family, and it was fun for our friends to get to meet our family! After the annual balloon launch, we headed home for Easter lunch. We stuffed our faces with good food and dessert, opened our "blessing buckets" and a little something from the Easter bunny, and then said our goodbyes. Weekends with family always go by too fast.

We had a blast with the Dean's and another successful Easter of hosting our families! We are thankful for such wonderful families that have made the trek to spend this glorious holiday with us the past 2 years, celebrating our RISEN KING! 

After the Dean's headed home, we spent some time video chatting with Mom and Dad Haist before taking a much needed Easter nap.

We hope all of you had a blessed Easter.

Love,
Sam & Katelyn

Saturday night, we dyed Easter eggs!

The City Museum. If you look closely, that is us in that tunnel aprox. 40 feet above the ground!

What is better after a long day of climbing then Ted Drewes?

He is Risen! Beautiful service at South City on Easter morning and the annual balloon launch.

Whole family together again! Easter morning picture.

And then...we feasted! Honey Baked Ham, broccoli salad, pretzel salad, sweet potatoes, fruit skewers, tomato mozzarella salad and the list goes on.

But of course, we saved room for dessert. Birds Nest cupcakes (from Katelyn's addiction to Pinterest), Grandma's delicious sugar cookies, jelly beans and cashews.

Friends.

The past two weekends have been filled with some of our favorite people. Last weekend, Sam's college roommate and great friend, Nathan, came for a visit all the way from Boston. It was so good to catch up with Nathan. Sam and Nathan especially enjoyed a mandate evening that included; music purchasing at Euclid Records, a cold brew at Schaffly Bottleworks, and a late night run to Jack N' the Box for some $.99 tacos (yuck). Nathan took the bus back to Wheaton last Sunday and is already back in Boston, studying/working hard at Boston University.

Sam & Nathan reunited.

This past Friday, Anna and Scott came to visit! Oh how we've missed them. It was a fun and exhausting weekend. One in which, Sam and I actually stayed up way past our 9pm bedtime. Friday night we stayed up catching up until midnight and then slept in Saturday (Sam had to go to work at 6am). Saturday when Sam got off work, and the rest of us woke up, we headed to the St. Louis Zoo. It was gorgeous outside. We walked around the zoo for about 3 hours before we were totally wiped. Its a beautiful zoo, and its free! We ended the evening with dinner at Dewey's, frozen custard at the famous Ted Drewes, and playing some board games. Overall, it was such a great weekend to visit with such great friends.

Today, we are napping, relaxing, and getting ready for a busy week -- as we enjoy this beautiful day our Lord has made. Sam has officially started spring break this week and I have concluded mine, back to work tomorrow! My spring break was filled with a few days of working at the daycare, lots of house cleaning/organizing/laundry and a coffee date with my good friend, Christy. It flew by. Sam has already jam packed his break with paper writing and reading -- hopefully he'll find a little time to relax!

So blessed by this lovely lady, Christy.

We hope you all have a great week.


Love,
Katelyn & Sam

We like food.

This weekend we LOVED having the Haist's of Wheaton here for a visit. Ben flew in on Saturday from New Orleans, Jim and Gaye drove down from Wheaton and we all had a grand old time.

As usual, our weekend revolved heavily around food. We like (great) food. We ate at Square One on Saturday night and enjoyed some delicious fish n' chips. Ben especially liked their fried Eggplant (right, Ben?). We came back from dinner and fell into deep food comas. A full stomach, combined with the springing ahead of the clocks made for an early bedtime on Saturday night.

Sunday, we woke up and enjoyed some scrabbled eggs in a muffin pan for breakfast. As I told Jim and Gaye, even if they didn't taste good (it was a new recipe), they were awfully cute and that is all that matters. Fortunately, they ended up tasting pretty yummy. We enjoyed a wonderful service at South City and then headed to the Schlafly Tap Room for lunch. Yet again, another delicious meal.

We came back to the apartment for a homemade cherry cheese pie, coffee and some of Gaye's delicious shortbread, dark chocolate, caramel cookies! It gave us a little more time to visit while enjoying some more great food.

Overall, it was a very short but refreshing few days of being with family. Not to mention, great food. We love you guys and miss you already. Come back to visit soon.

Love,
Katelyn, Sam & Ethel

Picture taken at Square One. Obviously, having a blast.

Family picture.

What is a blog post without a new picture of Ethel?

Our sweet dog.

Biggest blog slackers ever, I’m sorry to all our loyal blog family and friends. It has been a crazy few months and honestly, we haven’t had very much excitement to blog about. Our daily routines have gotten the best of us but I vow to be a better blog for the month of March.

All to say, here comes an exciting blog post. A year ago this week, we adopted our sweet little Ethel. We spent some time today going through all of her pictures from a year ago and feeling so overjoyed that she turned out the way she did.

Her add at the rescue read, “1 ½ year old Cocker Spaniel and Poodle mix. Overly timid and shy. Used as a dog breeder since she was 6 months old. Give Kammie a good home today!” I remember us asking that day at the rescue, will this dog ever like us? She hid under a chair and wouldn’t come out and was shaking uncontrollably. When the lady left the room and let us have some time to “talk it over”, my eyes filled with tears and I told Sam there was no way in a million years I could leave that dog at the rescue. He agreed and we brought home “Kammie” later that afternoon.

Wow, have we ever come a long way. Take a look at the pictures below.

Ethel had never been outside when we got her (disgusting to think they didn't go the bathroom outside). Our first walks with her were not enjoyable ones. Now, we let her run free the backyard sometimes. She loves the great outdoors (see a video of her first snow below)

Ethel's hair a year ago.

Groomed. So fresh n' so clean.

A year ago, bribing Ethel with treats to come to me.

Sleepy snuggle time.

A year ago, Ethel snuggling with Sam.

This past week, Ethel giving Sam a "hug".

 What a great dog we have. We are thankful you entered our lives a year ago and that we took the risk to bring you home. You have been nothing but awesome.

Love,
Katelyn & Sam

Blessings.

This is very unlike me to write a blog without pictures and cutesy captions, but a lot has been on my mind lately. Seeing that we had one blog post for all of January, I thought it would be appropriate to blog even if its not the most exciting post. Bear with me.

Lately, I have found myself in a very cynical place of thinking, 'this too shall pass.' Rather than dwell on what I hope will "pass", I have found myself journaling more about how these things that seem to be bogging me down are actually blessings. A few of them...

1.) Seminary. The constant daily struggle to understand what Sam is learning and that "reading" is actually considered homework. I fight the battle of, 'why can't you be doing more around the house?' on a daily basis. And I find myself saying afterwards, why are you so mean? Sam is a full time, 40 hour a week, student. That is his job right now, to be student and finish his post- graduate work. When I find myself saying, "this too shall pass", I think about all the wonderful and thoughtful things my husband does on top of being a full time student. I think about this phase of life for us and all the reasons seminary is a blessing. One of the major ones being, my husband and I eat dinner every night together. Which seems increasingly rare for married couples in their careers.

2.) My job. My desire is to teach children. Yet, I have been out of school for 2 years and still continue the grueling application and interview process. It has lead me to be very bitter and angry about my job situation. The school I have been a permanent substitute at the past 2 years is once again laying off teachers due to budget reductions. This is the hardest I have ever work for anything before with no "pay off", still no classroom. But when I look at the past 2 years of permanent subbing, I think about how much I have learned. I think about the amazing support system of teachers that have become such great friends. And most importantly, I think about all the children I have taught and loved on for those short periods of time. Hancock Elementary, has truly been a blessing. And I am confident that God will provide.

3.) Finances. Oh boy. Especially lately, I have felt very worthless. As the "bread winner" in our marriage, it has been a weight of self doubt and discouragement to not be in secure place of employment and providing steadily. Sam is more then wonderful in this area. He has been encouraging and backed me 100% in my choice to return to permanent subbing. However, several times during a day I find myself saying 'this too shall past'. When I walk into Target and see something I want, its hard for me to leave what used to be my favorite store with just the bare essentials. I want so badly not to have to worry about finances. Yet - in the midst of the financial struggle, God is so great. Our parents, grandparents and friends are so great. And even though its a battle, I am thankful for the way God has changed my heart. I no long look to materialistic things to bring me happiness. I see where the need is, and fulfill it. I see where the want is, and I wait on the Lord to fill the desires of my heart. Never in a million years did I think I would walk into Target and be okay walking out with just paper towels. This is a good thing.

As my friends around me secure their careers, buy their first houses and start having children- I find myself coveting in a very unhealthy way. Here we are - stuck in Seminary. Then I reflect on the blessings. The money we can set aside (very slowly) for our future home, the quiet nights and trips with just my sweet husband, our dog that brings us so much joy and the job that I love. I am truly, truly blessed. As much as Satan gets in my head and fills me with self doubt and insecurities, I am rejoicing knowing that God has won the battle. He will bring me through and will fulfill my desires. He is a great God. For this I am sure. I will daily repent of my sinful heart and mind and seek the blessings.


I apologize for the long and boring blog post. In a way, it was venting. In a greater way, I am hoping that you will keep me accountable and help me on the those bitter days to see the blessings. For I am blessed.

Love you all very much.
Katelyn

Meatball.

Last weekend, we dog sat our good friends French Bulldog puppy- Meatball. Oh was it quite the adventure. Not only did we realize we don’t have a real dog, but we completely skipped the puppy stage with our sweet “not dog”, Ethel. Needless to say, Meatball kept us on our toes and playing nonstop.  The funniest part of the weekend was when Sam and I would be sitting on the couch watching TV or reading and Meatball would be barking for us to play -as we kept ignoring him, he would realize we weren’t budging and would go down to Ethel’s bed and bark about a half inch away from her face until finally she would get up and play. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the end of the weekend and so was Ethel.

We did enjoy an hour-long walk in Forest Park and the 10 minutes of silent sleeping dogs that followed. We also enjoyed our time in the basement due to tornado warnings with both dogs; Ethel in the corner shaking, Meatball running around the dirty basement finding every piece of dust and guzzling it down (thanks little vacuum cleaner!).

All to say, by the end of the weekend, Ethel and Meatball were best friends. They would lay down together, walk together, and relax together. We’re glad Ethel found her St. Louis buddy. 

Update on our lives to come soon… 

Love,

Sam, Katelyn & Ethel 

Celebrate.

Dear family & friends,

We have returned to St. Louis after a wonderful visit in Wheaton and Indiana. We got in late on the 21st and celebrated with a few gifts, Krista's 21st birthday (on Dec. 20th). On the 22nd, we enjoyed seeing and visiting with friends. We started our morning off by seeing Kelsey and Tim - it's been too long. The visit was too short, but worth every minute to catch up and give Kelsey lots of hugs. We also enjoyed visiting with the Klobucher girls, the Gerry clan, James Grout and Allie Showalter. It was nice to have a day to see people we don't usually get to see on our short trips home.

Our Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve morning. We headed over to the Haist's and enjoyed a delicious breakfast  of Eggs Benedict. We had fun visiting, opening gifts and squeezed in one more delicious meal of Rubens for lunch. It was fun to relax and enjoy eachother for the morning. Christmas Eve evening we headed to Blanchard Alliance Church for a beautiful candle lit service with the Dean's and then headed over to Aunt Chrissy & Uncle Len's house for appetizers/dinner and the gift exchange. The house was decorated beautifully, and the food was delicious. We enjoyed visiting with family.

Christmas morning we woke up and excitedly came downstairs to see what Santa brought. He was good to everyone (maybe too good!). We enjoyed opening gifts, and a beautiful breakfast of Egg Casseroles, Laffsa and Mr. Clausen's Danish ring. Delicious! It was fun to have the morning to relax, visit and enjoy each other before heading off to Indiana with the Haist's. Leaving on Christmas Day will probably never get easier for me. However, it was a JOY to spend time with the Sundheimer clan on Christmas evening. We enjoyed visiting and hearing all about little Violet (soon to be born to Molly & Ross). It was fun to celebrate Molly that day too. The Sundheimers are a fun group to be around!

The celebrating didn't stop there! We headed to Warren to Grandma & Grandpa's condo on the 26th to celebrate yet another Christmas with the Haist's. It was wonderful. We had the gift exchange, and enjoyed yummy food and time with family. We were thankful we all got to be there, even Gretchen from London! We missed Peggy and John and their family, but are praying for Jake and a full recovery from a concussion earlier this year.

The night of the 26th we drove back to Wheaton. The next afternoon, Sam and I took a mini getaway downtown Chicago for the night. We decided this year instead of gifts for each other, we would plan a fun trip downtown. We got an awesome deal on Groupon for the Whitehall Hotel and ate at one of our all time favorite restaurants that evening, Rosebud. It was fun to walk around downtown and see the lights, and do a little window shopping. We slept in the next morning and then enjoyed breakfast and a walk to Intelligentsia (of course), where we enjoyed the perfect cappuccino. It was a great way to relax and "debrief" after having five Christmas celebrations in 3 days!

The trip was wonderful. We couldn't have asked for a richer time spent with family, visiting and soaking up the gift of Jesus' birth. We were also overwhelmed with the beautiful gifts we received. We have some great gift-givers on both sides of the family! Every gift was perfect. We are beyond thankful for the gift of family. God is good.

We hope all of you found yourselves enjoying the Christmas season and lavishing in the celebrations of our Savior's birth. C.S. Lewis says it beautifully-

"In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down...down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature he has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world us with Him."

Lots of Love.
Katelyn, Sam & Ethel

1.) Besties reunited. Breakfast w/ Kels & Tim at Egglectic.

2.) Delicious breakfast of Eggs Benedict at w/ the Haist's.

Ethel loved her new Christmas sweater from the Haist's!

3.) Christmas morning, waiting patiently to see what Santa brought!

4.) Yummy Christmas morning breakfast @ the Dean's.

5.) The Whitehall Hotel- A fun getaway with my cute husband.

Ps. - Thank you to everyone who sent us Christmas cards, definitely a highlight of the season for me and I loved opening all of them! Its fun to hear how everyone is doing and see pictures too.