God's Multiplying Groups

Last night we went to a small group reunion Memorial Day BBQ / surprise birthday party for a friend in Rochester. We went because we hadn't been to Rochester for a while and we aren't sure when we are going to get back there. Two of our friends from there are finishing their residencies with U of R and we really wanted to see them and their families before they skipped the country. One of our friends has taken a position working in a hospital in Tanzania and the other is doing a two year Samaratin's Purse post residency fellowship in Napal.

It was fun to catch up with some old friends and meet some of the new people that are now part of our old small group. One of the neatest things was to hear news of how the small group ministry at Northridge Church and the small group that we started was doing.

Our first year in Rochester we were part of a neat small group from church that really helped us to grow spiritually and provided much needed friends and connections in our new town but at the end of the year it had grown to the point that it needed to multiply. We felt led (with another couple from the group) to break off and start a small group in the city that met on Monday nights (most of the other small groups met on Wednesdays and none were in the city). It was neat remembering with Brad how, on the first night, God brought two additional couples that we weren't really expecting and they were quickly followed by another couple. Brad told us that now, 3 years later, that group that we started has multiplied into 3 small groups. We  are humbled to see what He is doing. God is amazing. We have encouraged two other couples that we knew that were moving to Rochester to be involved in that small group (regardless of whether they decided to go to Northridge or not) which gave them immediate friends and God has used it to grow and develop believers for His glory. I am so thankful for what He has continued to do and how He at work in the small group ministry there. I am humbled that He used us to be a small part of it for a season.

From what I understand there are now 50 small groups meeting weekly and 80% of adult attenders are a part of one of them. To God be the glory great things He has done and is continuing to do through Northridge Church. I am so thankful that God allowed us to attend there for 2 years!

Rochester Weather Changes

Yesterday Glenn was off so we went to the Museum of Play. It was such a nice day we didn't need to wear coats and we even went to the playground outside the museum to play. We have noticed it and thought it looked fun ever since we started going to the Museum of Play but it has just been too cold and snowy to check it out. Here are some pictures of us playing on the playground. It was a beautiful day - Hannah was even only wearing a t-shirt.

Then... this morning we awoke to this beautiful sight. I love seeing the snow on the trees. It is so beautiful and I know that late March snow doesn't usually last that long so I don't mind seeing it. I was just talking about putting the snow pants up for the season yesterday... I may wait a couple more weeks for that one :)

Zoo... Laser Show... Corn Maize

This has been a busy week with school. We are learning lots and having fun. The highlight to Caleb's week for school was playing addition war - a game of war that I made up using addition flash cards. Hannah is loving learning how to read new words.

We are loving our Seneca Park Zoo membership and went to the Zoo three times this week. We are getting to know the animals better and learning some of their names from zoo keepers and docents that are around. Cool things from this week include the male cougar jumping on the head of Glenn and the kids when they were in the peaking house, the brother and sister tiger getting into a spat, the arctic wolves howling, getting to see a big frog up close, and getting caught in the rain right by the sea lions so we got to watch Puff and Flounder for a long time. We always go to the zoo on Wednesday before AWANA so we don't have to drive through rush hour traffic on the way to church. We were up north yesterday and stopped by on our way home and we decided to stop in quick after church today. It is so fun to live near a zoo!

On Friday night we went to a Laser light show and fireworks downtown at High Falls. Russ stopped by after dropping Camy off at work and went with us. We can remember going to it once as kids during a Gideon convention. It was fun to stand on the bridge and see the show and all the cool things they could do with the lasers.

Yesterday we wore the kids out. In the morning we went to the Public Market to get some produce and ran into Russ and Camy. Then after a quick stop at the bank to get cash (our ATM card isn't working so we are thankful for shared CU branching!) we were invited to Brian and Christina's house for pancakes. We hung out there until about noon with Brian and Brad and Melissa, another couple from our community group. After leaving Brian's we drove out to Hilton to Zarpentine Farms for their corn maze. They were having a special day for people with Time Warner Community Rewards cards where you could do the maze, get 3 shots with the corn cannon and a cup of cider and a donut all for $1. It would have normally cost over $30 for all of that for us as a family but instead we got it all for $5 for all of us. We don't even have Road Runner anymore but we still have our card that hasn't expired yet. Yeah! Anyway, it was fun but it tired us out. After the Maize (Noah's Ark theme - check out the photo of it from the air) we headed to wander the zoo then got groceries and headed home for a late supper exhausted. Once again, we are so thankful that God has brought us here. We have had a lot of fun since moving to Rochester and are looking forward to another fun week!

Why we like Rochester...

We have been living in Rochester for almost a month now and we just wanted to write down a list of things that we like about living in Rochester.

1. Seneca Park Zoo - This Zoo is just a couple of blocks from our church and we have decided that we are going to visit it every Wednesday before AWANA after we get our school work done because then we don't have to drive through rush hour traffic!! We got a family membership for under $50 and we had SO much fun there on our first visit.
H: There's tigers there and snow wolves and sea lions.
C: My favorite animal is the sea lion.
S: I think that everyone's favorite animals are the sea lions. We made friends with them from underground first when Puff kept chasing Hannah all around and wanting to play with her water bottle. They also performed for us from outside showing off their skills of jumping on the rocks and throwing things on the rocks.

2. Strong Museum of Play. We have heard great things about this place and we had lots of fun there. I think that it will be a great place to go and play when we get cabin fever this winter! We got a membership there too but it was not quite so cheap. We first went last Friday with the Dawleys, some of our friends from Waterloo and the kids had a ton of fun! I can't wait to take Glenn.

3. Highland Library. It is right across the street from Highland Hospital, about a block from our house. We go there every Tuesday to pick out books.

4. EMS Grand Opening. We went to the new EMS store in Pittsford. It was pretty fun and we got a free t-shirt and free BBQ - yum!

5. Highland Park. This is our new playland. It is just across the street and we go out there ever day at 10am for recess. There are so many different kinds of trees and plants and they are all labeled with what they are and when they were planted. It is so cool! There is also a Reservoir with a fountain that we like to walk around and sit by. When we walk around the park you can easily forget that we live in downtown Rochester!

6. Mt. Hope Cemetery. We have driven past this cemetery tons of times over the years but we finally walked to it yesterday (it is a long block from our house). It is so cool! Some of the gravestones and mausoleums are so amazing. There is a really old fountain that still works. I guess that there are 14.5 miles of roads throughout the 197 acre cemetery. It is all "up hills and down dales" and I know that we will go back there to explore a lot! Fredrick Douglass and Susan B Anthony are two of the famous people buried there but we haven't found their graves yet.

7. North Baptist Church. We found our new church on the AWANA website and we are glad that we did. The kids are loving AWANA and their Sunday school and junior church classes and we have really been challenged in the services and community group that we have gotten involved in.

8. 60 Second Science. We went to this free hands on science event at the Rochester Museum and Science Center on Saturday. We made ice cream, disected seeds, looked at stuff under a microscope, made paw prints, played with air and made gases, and did lots of other fun things.

9. Public Market. We had heard raves about this from Russ and Camy and we went with them a couple of weeks ago. It is a huge open market with all kinds of things for sale. The produce was amazing and at such great prices, I can't wait to go back.

10. Christian Medical & Dental Association Quarterly Breakfast. Glenn was invited to this by our friend Matt Mack. He was so glad that he went. He never would have been able to go to it had he not been living in Rochester.

11. Linden Meigs Park. This is our local playground. It is about 5 blocks away. We had a big neighborhood picnic there a couple of weeks ago that was really fun.

Here is just a start. We are so glad that we moved here. We love our apartment and our park and all the activities that we are getting involved in. We are glad that God brought us to this place for this time. We want to take in as much Rochester as we can in these 11 months that we will live here. Keep posted for more fun in Rochester events (hopefully with some pictures) to come!

Orientation and school starts

We are here!!! Sorry no more pictures at this point but did want to write a quick update. We moved in on Tuesday the 4th with the help of Sonja's brother Russ and his wife Camy. (We also had help moving out from Amy Jo, Sonja' aunt.) We did not get electricity until Friday so we spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Russ and Camy's in Farmington about 30 minutes out of Rochester. Thursday night we spent the dark night here. When the power came on Friday morning the kids all cheered. We went to church at North Baptist this past Sunday. It is a bigger church but seemed somewhat friendly. We are planning on going back this coming week. Today was the start of orientation for Glenn and also the first day of school for Caleb and Hannah. Hannah was so excited to start school and had a good day. (Caleb had some power struggles with Sonja but the day went ok.) It is going to be an adjustment to teach two kids and Sonja would appreciate your prayers. Well that is all for now. Thanks for all of your prayers and keep them coming as the house is still far from settled (even though we did have company over tonight for supper as Russ and Camy were able to come over for Lasagna.)

Changes, changes, changes...

We haven't posted on here in a while and I still have to post on Caleb's birthday and the rest of the summer so far but the biggest news is that Glenn got a job at Highland Hospital and we are moving to Rochester! We went for Glenn's drug test on Wednesday and to look for a place to live. We found this house on rentrochester.com and it is only about a block from Glenn's work. We will be living in the upper left apartment - 1090 South Ave. It is a two bedroom apartment with a big living room and dining room and kitchen and enclosed unheated front porch. It is a little more than we wanted to pay but being less than a block from work we will be able to get rid of the Corsica and we are just steps from Highland Park and there is a public library just across the street from the hospital. The only driving we'll really have to do is church and grocery shopping - yeah!

We also found a dining room table and 6 chairs and a set of bunkbeds on Craigslist. I would have posted pictures of them but they were yanked off craigslist so they wouldn't keep getting calls. We picked up our table and chairs on Wednesday and left it in Russ and Camy's basement. We will pick up the bunkbeds on Monday when we go up for Glenn's physical and to sign our lease.
Right now I am supposed to be busy packing so I better sign off. Just wanted to share the good news!