I am surprised by how much time has past since our last post. Being pregnant zaps a lot of energy out of you and we've been pretty busy enjoying the last few warm days of fall. Here's a short post to bring you up to speed...
On Sunday, September 29 Ryan and I were baptized at our church. I can imagine a lot of you who've known us a long time might be wondering why and weren't you baptized as infants, while others wonder what took so long? For me, I wanted to make sure I understood baptism well enough that I could explain the why question.
The Bible says that we should, as followers of Jesus Christ, be baptized. We believe baptism is a public testimony of our faith in Jesus, an act of obedience (Acts 10:48) and thus a choice that each individual person must make for themselves. Baptism holds no special powers (1 Corinthians 1:17) and does not save us; Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me..." (John 14:6). We also believe that baptism does not wash away sins or guarantees a ride to heaven; it is the blood of Jesus Christ that washes away our sins (Romans 3:23-25). When we believe that Jesus' death on the cross has paid the ransom of our sins and we confess to him that we have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, we receive eternal life (Romans 6:23).
On Saturday, October 4 thirty-one of us walked to raise awareness and save lives. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's annual Out of the Darkness walk was a day we could honor my brother William alongside 600 other walkers. This was the 5th year this walk has taken place in Chicago, the first year they only had 36 walkers. The speakers were inspiring and we were fortunate enough to have beautiful weather. Together, our team raised more than $2,500. I enjoyed being with family and friends on this 3.3 mile walk through Elk Grove Village (where we saw real elk) and sharing pizza and bagels afterwards. Thank you to all who walked, donated or prayed for us.
To view photos Ryan and other photographers took the day of the walk, click here.
Our team: Brittany, (Brittany's Friend), Aunt Ronnie, Eric, Aunt Eileen, Gabbie, Uncle Chuck, Sam, Theresa, Kate, Daniel, Aunt Betty Ann, Patti, Sue, Adrian, Devan, Coral, Lauren, Hayden, Anthony, Margie, Megan, Tyler, Christian, Monica. (Not pictured: Ashley, Obi, Ryan, Jillian, Jena and Uncle Paul)
Later that afternoon, Ryan and I went to the annual Klos Fall Party. Ryan's parents got a new tractor this year, all the grandkids, nieces and nephews had a blast taking it for a ride.
On Friday, October 10 we enjoyed a 4-day getaway to Wyalusing State Park in SW Wisconsin along the Mississippi Valley. The weather was beautiful, highs in the low-80s and lows in the 50s, and surprisingly we did not encounter any rain. We camped with 6 of our nieces and nephews and Ryan's brothers, Drew and Matt, and their wives.
View of the Mississippi River from Wyalusing State Park
Our nieces and nephews: Ryan, Jessie, Sarah, Aidan, Kendall and Morgan
Drew, Val and family—Val was a trooper, hiking and camping at 34 weeks!
Ryan and Monica
We took a short drive to the locks and dam, the trees were beautiful
Wyalusing State Park
On Friday, October 17 we completed the launch phase of Symtio's website. This is the project that Zondervan hired on our team for. We are still tweaking, but you can see the website we've been working on at symtio.com.
On Monday, October 20 we enjoyed a family dinner with Dad on his first night back home. Thank you everyone who has been visiting and praying for Dad. Please also continue to pray as he adjusts to being home again. We also cleaned out William's bedroom the weekend before Dad came home, Jillian is in the process of moving in.
Okay, now for the baby update! On Thursday, October 23 we went for our second baby appointment. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat, what a blessing! I had fears that we wouldn't be able to find a heartbeat today. The heartbeat was in the 160's,"perfect," the doctor said. I am now 13 weeks, almost to the end of the first trimester, and am feeling great. In about 7 weeks we have a planned Level 2 ultrasound to check the development of the baby and to see if we'll be having another boy or a baby girl. While having another Level 2 ultrasound is a little scary, we are glad that we will have the opportunity to see our baby.
