New Tenants

We have a bird's nest behind the wreath ON OUR FRONT DOOR! I don't know how they like living there, since the kids have been playing outside alot lately (translation - lots of noise and lots of going in and out - our favorite game right now is "trick or treat").

I found the nest last Tuesday - does anyone know how long they take to hatch? I think the bird that laid them is some kind of finch.

Our Baby is ONE!

Can't believe it...Chloe's one year old today. She's been such a sweet addition to our family. We thank God for giving her to us! Here she is enjoying her birthday cake...

And here's some pictures of her from this past year. We love you Chlo-Chlo!

A Night to Remember

Well, Dr. Budahl's last Madrigal concert was amazing. How could it not be??? The music itself was terrific and the audience was so receptive since everyone was there to honor a man who has dedicated himself so wholly to God and other people. What can I say about Dr. Bu? He has had such a huge impact on so many lives, mine included. I think through him I found out that professors and people in authority were actually just real people. I spent so many Friday nights at his house playing ROOK with Hope, G-Knee, Kim and Anne. I watched him on choir tour displaying graciousness and humility every mile of the way. He has such a deep love for Jesus, which is evident even in his plan for retirement - traveling to foreign nations to reach people for Christ. It was such a great evening for me to sit, be surrounded by wonderful music and memories, and appreciate a great man that God led into my life to teach me at such a critical stage.

Enough words.

Here's some pics...

In concert.

That's Joelle Isaacs at the piano.

If you want to hear a solo you've never heard before and probably never will again, click here.

G-Knee, Jill, and Hope (Budahl) Robertson, who's expecting her fourth child.

Dana (Rodabaugh) Towberman, Jill, Anne (Ronemus) Binkley, Hope and G-Knee

Anne, Hope, Kim (Cardot) Scott, Jill
Mrs. Budahl and me! Love her!


Paul (holding our autographed copy of the program), Jill, Dr. Budahl

The after-concert party...

Heidi Jahnke (what's her married name?), G-Knee, Ginger (Silver) Clarke, Jill

We stayed up until 2 a.m. talking. I'm still recovering - I'm not as young as I used to be!!! We went to church at the Teasdale's church in Waukesha on Sunday and had dinner with the Teasdales. So nice to catch up with them! A special thanks to my parents for babysitting our kids in the hotel on Saturday night! We also had a quick birthday party for Chloe - more pics to come from that!

Music, music, music!

Paul and I went to a church music conference this week near Indianapolis. We had such a great time learning new things, meeting new people, hearing lots of new music, and just generally being inspired! Another nice thing was the fact that we were without children!!! Thanks to Grammy Peterson for watching the kiddos this week! It was a mini-vacation for us.

One of the main draws for us to go to this particular conference this year was the clinicians that were going to be there. And they did not disappoint! So this post is mainly going to be about the people we met at the conference.

We didn't expect to see anyone we know, but we saw Greg Habegger (in the red) who grew up in Paul's church in Muncie. The man on the right is Fred Coleman, who is the head of the church music department at BJU. The Muncie connection is strong there too - he used to be the music pastor there years ago. We've used some of his music in our church recently, so it was nice to meet him. He's a super nice guy!
Okay, this is me and Mark Hayes, a fabulous composer and arranger. He has arranged oodles of choral music and some simply fantastic piano pieces. This picture was taken almost immediately after I told him that he looks like my cousin!!! :)
Me and Joseph Martin, another wonderful composer and arranger. He knows everybody in the music business, it seems like, and has great stories to tell. A very classy guy and a great sense of humor! He was the first Christian musican to record for the Yamaha Disklavier. He signed my book with the phrase "Happy scales to you"! This is Paul Leddington Wright. He is a famous organist and conductor from London. And he's also a terrific story-teller (what is it about musicians and story-telling???). We had dinner with him the first evening. Before dinner we were led in prayer by the pastor of the hosting church, and he instructed us to hold hands with those around us. So I got to hold his hand during prayer! Right before this picture was taken, I had told him that my claim to fame was that he held my hand during prayer! :) He's a very nice gentleman - he even has an office in Buckingham Palace because he runs some ceremony for the queen every year!!!
Ahhh...here's the whipped cream on the whole conference...Keith Getty. Along with Stuart Townend and his wife Kristyn, Keith has written "In Christ Alone", "The Power of the Cross", and many other new hymns. He describes himself as a modern hymn-writer. I attended his workshop entitled "Hymns, Worship and Christian Thought" and it was absolutely wonderful. He is truly writing hymns which embody his goals of 1) teaching the doctrine of God and 2) using melodies which are singable and memorable. He is very passionate about music in the church.
One quick postscript to an already too-long post...Keith Getty's parents were at the conference as well. This was their first trip to America - they are all from Ireland. So Paul especially talked to Mr. Getty (Keith's dad) quite a bit during the conference. What a sweet man! He is just a proud father who is so happy that his son's music is having an impact on people. When we said goodbye to him, Paul said something to him like "If we're ever in Ireland, we'll look you up!" And Mr. Getty said "Oh, yes, please do!" And he gave us his phone number!!! How great is that?!

Our Week in SC

On Monday we loaded up the church van with our three kids, three high schoolers, one sponsor and all of our stuff - so we were packed in tight. After an overnight stay in Kentucky we arrived at BJU on Tuesday, got the students settled in and went over to Paul's brother's house.

We had so much fun with Ben and Dayna and Isabelle! The kids loved playing with Isabelle and all her cool toys. One of their favorite toys was an actual working stoplight. How cool was that to play red light/green light with a REAL stoplight!

We stayed up way too late both nights playing Settlers of Catan. It was our first time learning the game and now we are hooked!

Here are some more pics of our visit and our trip to the zoo. Thanks Ben and Dayna for a GREAT visit! We love you guys! Oh, and my students won second place for classical piano duet! Woo-hoo!

The Easter Picture

Poor Chlo-Chlo!

Believe it or not, this is the best picture I took of the kiddos!

The Lord Is Risen!

These are the lyrics to one of our new favorite hymns. Paul will be singing it on Sunday morning as part of our Easter musical. I will probably be fighting back tears as I play the piano. The melody is gorgeous!

Click on the title below to hear an audio clip, although it's not in the same style we will be doing it.

"The Power of the Cross"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.