Monthly Archive: December 2002

Merry Christmas from the Heartland

We are heading into this winter extremely grateful for one example of modern technology—a garage door opener! What luxurious lives we have here in America… Not only do we have shelter for our heads, but our car also has a shelter! And when the snow began to fly last week, the garage and door opener sure came in handy. The snow, however, didn’t stay for too long and today we had wonderful fall-like weather with temps in the upper 50’s. Such is life in Nebraska; the weather here changes unbelievably quickly.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with our families, eating more than we thought possible! Thursday lunch was spent in David City with Jeremy’s sweet grandparents, Fred & Lucille Helman. Turkey, dumplings (a must-have in Czech families), mashed potatoes and cranberry salad. As Chelsea (Jeremy’s younger sister) and I sacked out on living room couches, Jeremy listened to stories of grasshopper invasion (after the Dustbowl of the 30’s, they ate everything in sight—fenceposts, horse saddles, any vegetation not already dead), enormous pigs that could eat humans (Grandma had to outrun several while rescuing a wounded goose in the pigpen) [Normal sized swine, albeit full-grown. Swine have been known to kill and eat people who find themselves in the unfortunate position of being in a pig-pen and under their hooves – JT], and numerous smaller challenges faced by farm folk.

Dinner was hosted at our place since Mom and Dad have recently become apartment dwellers. We all provided a few dishes and ended up with more food than we could handle! Again, turkey… But also ham, grits, green beans, sweet potato souffle and homemade potato rolls. It was great to have Andrew around (back from Covenant College) and always good to spend time with Adam & Kristin who live in Omaha. We spent the evening playing a board game called “Imaginiff…”—lots of fun, but not for the easily offended! In summary, Jeremy is a brain and I’m penicillian. Get the game to see what we mean.

Our final Thanksgiving meal was at Bill & Karen Tredway’s home, situated on the top of a little hill outside the city of Lincoln. Once more, turkey (Karen’s delicious version)… But also mashed potatoes, veggies and sweet potatoes with marshmallows. All these fantastic feasts brought about long hours of sleep over Thanksgiving weekend as well as a bounty of leftovers in our normally sparse refrigerator! We’ve eaten like kings and slept like babies… quite a wonderful weekend.

In other news, Jeremy continues to create websites at iUniverse and as a freelance web designer and I work as an Administrative Assistant at Zion Church. Our largest goal in the short-term focuses on the adoption of our first child. We are adopting within the United States with the help of an attorney; our homestudy is already completed and approved through Jewish Family Services in Omaha. Apparently, many adoptions are successful by word of mouth associations—so if you know of a courageous birthmother who is seeking adoptive parents, let us know! Otherwise, please keep us in your prayers. We trust that our Sovereign God will expand our family according to His perfect will and timing. Nonetheless, sometimes it is a challenge for me to fully submit myself to this timing; my shortsighted human mind is indeed a fallen one. Again, your prayers are desired.

Though Lincoln, Nebraska, is truly on the way to Nowhere, I will continue to invite our family and friends to come stay with us whenever possible! Lincoln is a great city with small town appeal and lots to do for fun and relaxing entertainment. If you’re in need for rest from the hustle and bustle of real life, plan a visit and come stay with us.