I spent three days with Noah and his 5th Grade class at Timberlee Christian Camp in Wisconsin. We had a blast. The highlight of the trip was the camp fire Thursday night. The entire class stood and committed or recommitted their lives to following Christ. Many kids gave their testimonies of how God was growing them through difficult situations. Please pray that God will use this experience as a catalyst to deepen their relationship with Christ.

Mom's 60th Birthday

Papa John treated Mom, her "boys" and our wives to an evening aboard the Odyssey. Dad surprised Mom by flying in John, Brianna, Fin and Ben. A rare moment - mom and all her boys. Rain fell as we departed from Navy Pier, but that did not put a damper on the evening. No one mustered the courage to dance - I thought for sure we would find mom on the dance floor. I guess sixty really is the age one starts to slow down. Happy Birthday mom - every year you have been a blessing! Love you, Troy

Spring Break

We left on Friday, March 28th. Saturday the weather was perfect; 80 and sunny. The next day was 60 with 20 mile per hour winds. Yuk, but we still had fun. I took the boys fishing in the backwaters. Sam caught a Redfish and Noah caught a speckled trout. The boys loved the ocean. Near the last day of trip my computer caught a virus and deleted my sermon that I had to preach the day after our return. So, sadly I was working on school work by the pool on the last day. Non the less the vacation was a hit. I would highly recommend Amelia Island, Florida to anyone.

The Troy Van Dyke's, Brandon Van Dyke's, VanPoolen's and Tameling's gathered for an afternoon of sledding. The highlight for me was Steve running down the hill chasing after Lola. Don't worry Susie, somehow the only one injured in that event was Isabel. I thought I would feature Connie because she is usually able to hide behind the glass.  Connie, I did not take a lot of pictures of your kids because I figured you had that covered.  Check out the photos in the sledding slide show on the right. You can download them to your computer if you would like.  Love all you guys, Troy

New Years at Lake Geneva

Lousy Lake Geneva pizza, great time! Brad has a master’s degree in Wii kid management. Somehow Brad kept the 8 hoodlums from fighting despite only having two controllers. He is also an expert pig pong player managing to beat me, one of the greatest ping pong players in history, six consecutive times. For more pics see New Years slide show – the first of 08.