The Kelsey's

I try to go out with just one child from time to time.  We started this little tradition a few years back.  The first place we go is to the St. Louis Arch.

It would be embarrassing for them to have grown up here and not be able to tell people they’ve even visited our closest monument.  So here are some memories of that outing that happened last Sunday.

We started of taking the car to the train station.  Caleb’s got that GQ look going for him.

Then we took the train downtown (not that we needed to, it’s part of the fun).  After arriving, we walked along the Mississippi and then came to the stairs going up to the arch.

When we got there it was about 11:00 am.  The earliest we could go up in the arch was 1:10 pm.  So we spent time in the museum.  Caleb filled out the requirements to become a Junior Park Ranger.  We learned some great stuff about westward expansion and what things were like around here about 200 years ago.  We even saw what the pioneer’s cattle looked like, see?

The time finally came when we could go up.  The elevator looks like a regular clothes dryer, with chairs.  The place was so crowded that we couldn’t get a picture of Caleb in the actual car.  But they had a practice one next to the ticket counter and we took a picture in there so you could get a feel for the place.

And, of course, he finally made it to the top!  Up in the arch, Caleb had no fear.  He was climbing all around the tilted windows.  He would practically sit on the windows.  I had a hard time leaning out to look through them.

We were tired, but it was a fun day.  Then we topped it off with dinner at Sweet Tomatoes (complete with ice cream!).

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I would rather just let my 40th birthday come and go as days typically do.  But Laura went through much preparation to have a surprise for me.  We went to a social at the church and they had divided off a section of the hall and decorated it and added some “over the hill” verbiage for me.  Here are some snapshots…

This last picture is of me and a church friend who shares the same birthday with me.

It was a great surprise and a wonderful birthday.  By the end of it all I was beat.

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The beauty of blogging is that you can stay current with events that happen.  However, sometimes the events of the day have to be reflected upon and commented about later.  This last weekend was like that.  We had a number of events taking place.  At church we had Honey and Pal visiting.  They watched all the kids for a week while Laura and I went to the Peacemaker annual conference (probably need to post some about that too!  Getting behind is so un-fun).  Then they were here for another week with us.  And at the end of the week we had a couple of events.  We started early in the church service by having Nathan dedicated.  What I mean is that Laura and I have taken vows to do our best to raise Nathan (and all four of our children) to serve God and build a Christian home for them.

In addition, Hannah was baptized.  Here is the first picture.

This is as she was looking out at special friends and teachers who stood as witnesses for her.

Then she made a quick preparation.

Although the picture is blurry, Hannah’s excitement and joy is evident.

And after it was all over, she gave her Pal a big hug and headed off to contemplate her big decision.

I believe that baptism is one of the three biggest decisions you can make in your life.  Here they are in the order I think they should be considered:

1. What will you do with the man, Jesus Christ?  Who is He?  Should he be followed or forgotten?
2. With whom will you share your life?  Have you carefully decided who you will wed yourself to?  Will you stay with your decision for life?  Will you determine to make that decision count?
3. Having those out of the way you can ask – how can I best serve?  What can I make of my life?  What should I do?  What career should I follow?  What is my God given vocation?

Most people these days face these questions in reverse order.

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