Halloween

Just a note to let you all know that I haven't forgotten to blog. I just don't have any new info to share. We are having some beautiful weather here and are gearing up for our Harvest Bash tomorrow night with the youth. The kids are going to trunk-or-treat tonight at one of the baptist churches here in Sioux Falls. That should be fun. We are going to be taking lots of pics for all of you. We love you so much...miss you

NO SNOW!

Well, everyone was really worried that it might snow today. No luck...so sorry. We had a lot of rain in the last few days. It didn't stop at all. I think they said we had 2 inches of rain. It got real cold yesterday at about 32 or so. Now we have to swim every where we go. Everyone here is doing well. Tym has finished up one semester already here at the school. If you are interested in raising money for our school here's some info on how to do it for free. Go to www.goodsearch.com. When you get there put Christian Center Elementary School in the charity box. Every time you use goodsearch.com it gives us money. It's just a search engine through yahoo. You can get to all of your regular sites on there it just gives us money when you do it. Thanks in advance...We love you all and miss you too.

Howdy

It's been a few days since I've updated you on the Hofer's. We have been trying to get back into the swing of things. Mike has been gone a lot in the last few weeks and that usually throws everything off. The big thing here in SD right now is that it's raining a lot and we have a chance of snow tonight. Wow, it's only October. That's what we get for moving to the real north. Winter coats, hats, gloves and scarfs have been found and have been used for the last few days. We are so thankful for a warm house to live in and a garage to put our jeep in. No scraping the windows this winter. PRAISE THE LORD!!! Hope you are all doing well.

Some pics of NY

Here's some random pics. The gram's and Sarah were waiting while we were making Melissa and David's grilled pizza. Here's the famous gram Liddick's snickerdoodes.











Papa with Nathan and Robbie. Unfortunately their mom likes the Jets.

The Following Days...

So, I made it to NY and Mike made it home safe. We had crossed paths on Saturday and are just waiting to see eachother again. We have been going through the motions of the passing of Wally. It has been surprisingly uplifting. We all loved grandpa and will miss his smile. So many people have been to see us and they all say the same things. It's all about what we learned from him and that is to serve others without asking for things in return. BE A SERVANT AT ALL TIMES!!! That's what gramp did and it has showed this weekend. Mom and I (Kristen) were able to get through "I've Just Seen Jesus" originally sung by Sandi Patti and Larnell Harris. We made it through and there wasn't a dry eye in the building. How powerful!!! We've seen aunts, uncles, cousins and friends that we haven't seen in 15 years or so. They really don't recognize Sarah and I and we really don't recognize them. It is so neat how death brings us all together again. Melissa, I have a picture for you that I'll post when I get back to SD. I took a pic of Gram's snickerdoodles for you guys. I got some great hugs from your folks today too!! Wish you were here. Well, tomorrow is the graveside stuff and then we will celebrate mom's birthday. Yep, going from one emotion to the next but mom deserves it. Continue to keep us in your prayers. We have felt them so far and thank you for them. Much love from NY...

NY Bound

I just wanted to thank everyone for their prayers. Mike has arranged for me to get back to NY for my grandpa's funeral. I will get to see family and friends. It's a sad time but it will be good to see familiar faces again. Of course we knew this was coming we just didn't know it would be so soon. I leave for NY at 5am tomorrow and return on Tuesday. Hopefully I will be able to update you while I am away. Much love...

Grandpa VanHarken

For all of you who know my family... Just letting you all know that Grandpa Van went to be with Jesus early this morning. We have been anticipating this for quite a while but it is still a shock when they are actually gone. We've been praying for his suffering to go away quickly and God heard our prayers. Gram said that she prayed last night that God would lessen his suffering and then she got a call to go to Gramps side this morning. He passed away right after she got there to hold his hand. How sweet...just to know that he waited for her. The family is doing well and we are hoping to get home. Keep us all in your prayers while we figure this out. Mike is in Atlanta and I am here in SD. Much love...

Nothing New

Just thought I would write something so you all know that we are still here. Mike is leaving in about 10 mins. to go to Catalyst in Atlanta. All the pastors are going from our church. He'll be gone until Saturday so you all know what we'll be doing. Staying home and getting things cleaned up for dad. We all enjoy being home but dad loves to be on the move all the time. So if you are a reader that loves to pray for us...that's our prayer request. At least we all go to the same school at the same time and we don't have to find helpers for that. Hope you are all doing well.

I've been tagged

This is a first for me. Thanks for including me:

Meme Rules: Each player answers the question themselves.At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

10 years ago (1998):1. I was 20 years old.2. I was a Junior Church Music/Applied Voice major at Indiana Wesleyan University. 3. I was rooming with my favorite cousin in the world Melissa. 4. I was in the quartet Rejoice at IWU 5. I was still searching for a husband at that point.

5 things on today’s “to do” list:1. Finish some laundry 2. Put away the clean dishes 3. Read my kids a book before bed. 4. Finish this blog and figure out who to tag since I don't know that many people. 5. Watch Numbers on the DVR

5 snacks I enjoy:1. Anything with chocolate 2. Grandma Liddick's chocolate chip cookies from the freezer 3. Real Key Lime Pie from Emeril's 4. Mike's Apple Pie 5. Mom's ice cream cakes that she makes for my birthday

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:1. Pay off all of our school debt 2. Tithe 3. Put money into Retirement 4. Put money into my kids college fund 5. Charity

5 places I have lived:1. Newark, NY 2. Antioch, CA 3. Decatur, AL 4. Marion, IN 5. Sioux Falls, SD

5 jobs I have had:1. Cashier at a grocery store 2. Ophthalmic Tech/Surgery 3. Ophthalmic Tech 4. Certified Paraoptometric 5. Music Teacher/K-5

Now, I’m supposed to tag 5 others:1. Christin Carpenter 2. Jenn Mealy 3. Cammie Delph 4. Julie Lamb 5. Megan Hutsell

A few more pics

Here some pics from this weekend.

The 1st day with Teresa and Amy

They have finally arrived. Friday was Grandparent's Day at Christian Center School. Teresa and Amy came to eat lunch with us and the Amy and Alex went to the mall. Imagine that.

No they didn't go to Victoria Secret, it's just a bag. Teresa stayed with Tymothy in his class and watched them do show and tell and a few other things, then we had an assembly.

We finally went to the church and got Mike out of work. We went to Johnny Carino's for dinner. Wonderful Italian food if you haven't ever been there. Then we came home and made brownies and watched IronMan.

After all that we were exhausted and we all fell asleep during the movie. We have lots of things planned for Saturday. We'll keep you posted.

Another Thursday

Yesterday was another big day for us. We had 80 again at youth last night. We are doing really well so far. Mike is happy with that but would like to get more adult help I think. Not that we really need it here. The students are so great and they just do their own thing. They don't really need supervision. What a change from before, huh? Teresa and Amy are on their way here and the kids are about to jump out of their skin. They are so excited to see some familiar faces and probably can't focus too well in school today. They talked with them on the way to school this morning just to make sure that they were on the road. We'll take lots of pictures of Grandparent's Day at school for you grandparents that couldn't be here. We will be thinking of you and missing you all very much. I'll let Teresa know how much you appreciate her for filling in for you:).
With much love...