Fall Weekend

We had a beautiful fall weekend with JP's family, celebrating his step-mom's birthday. Here are some pictures of the festivities.
The first picture is of a pumpkin Rae's great-grandpa made for her.

Disco Fever

Blockbuster Coupon...is a hoax

Sorry, everybody - I just found out the coupon is a hoax. My bad.

Posted earlier:
"I have a blockbuster coupon for two free movies, free popcorn and a drink, but I am not sure how to post it on the blog. So if you want one, send me an email (link on the right) or post a comment with your email address and I will send it to you."

Baby Blog

We had Israel's 9 month pictures taken today, and one of them made it onto Spirit Grove Art Photography's baby blog again.
Click here to see it!
And leave a comment - the more comments there are, the longer the picture will stay posted!

Lamentations 3:37-40

Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins?
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.

The Golden Compass

There is a new movie coming out on Dec 7th called "The Golden Compass" and starring Nicole Kidman. It is based on the first of a trilogy of children's books by English author Philip Pullman called "His Dark Materials." Pullman is a proud atheist and secular humanist who despises C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia." This trilogy is supposedly "anti-Narnia." In a 2003 interview, Pullman said "My books are about killing God."
If you go to the movie's website, it tells you that every person has their own person "daemon" that follows them around wherever they go. It's like an outside expression of their soul. On the website, you can enter your name and answer a series of questions to find out what your "daemon" is. Creepy.
Also in the books, the "church" is kidnapping children and "castrating" them - cutting off their "daemon." It is intended to prevent the onset of “upsetting emotions” and allow children to grow up without ever feeling passion.
A conservative English columnist has described Pullman as the author "atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed." I have even heard (not researched yet, though) that the children in the books eventually kill God, who is sometimes referred to as YAHWEH.
The idea is...unsuspecting parents take their kids to see the movie. Kids like the movie & ask for the profoundly anti-Christian books for Christmas. The movie is a watered-down version of the least-offensive of the three books, so parents may not pick up on the disturbing undertones. Thanks to Harry Potter, kids are already into these kinds of witches and demons types of books and movies. (By the way, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling recently announced that "Hogwarts" headmaster Dumbledore is gay.)
The Catholic League has boycotted the movie. They have put together a pamphlet called "The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked" that you can order on their website. They have also posted a video of President Bill Donahue talking about the issue.
Parents, please be vigilant about what you let enter into the eyes, hearts, and minds of your little ones. You are held accountable for guarding their souls.
And please, everyone - get the word out about the anti-Christian, anti-God message of this movie and these books. Please don't be naive.

Pictures of Naomi

Welcome Naomi

Naomi Lynn Peterson was born today at 12:46 pm after only 20 minutes of pushing and no epidural. Amber had her first contraction at 9:07 am...and not even four hours later - a baby!
Stats:
8lbs, 5oz (I cannot believe she was that big! The doctor said she would almost surely be smaller than Elijah's 7.5 lbs.)
20.5 inches long
13cm head circ.
Apparently she has a lot of dark hair and looks much like Elijah. I am waiting for Rae to wake up from her nap so we can go meet her!
Thank you, Jesus, for a healthy baby girl!

Here She Comes!!!

I just got a call from my sister, Amber. She is on her way to the hospital to give birth to my sweet little niece, Naomi!!!!
Please keep her in your prayers!
I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!

Good Riddance

When JP and I first got married, we chose not to put a TV in our house. We lived that way for about a year. But when the '06 football season came around, JP decided he didn't want to live that way anymore and we got a very nice HDTV.
Now, a year later, we have decided to get rid of the TV again. It just ends up distracting us from precious time spent together and with the baby. So...now we embark on a period of TV "weaning." I think we've both gotten spoiled to it. I don't have it on much during the day, but on the evenings that JP works late I like to flip on a movie or re-runs of "What Not to Wear." :) And JP has used it as a prop to help him fall asleep at night.
It's going to take some getting used to, but I am already very happy with our decision. Last night our house was so peaceful. No flashing lights or blaring commercials. Just music playing softly as we hung out as a family.
As we did the first year of our marriage, we will probably continue to rent movies and watch them on our laptop from time to time. I won't have the Style network anymore...and we'll both miss the Colbert Report. I don't know what we're going to do when Lost starts back up again. :) But it's worth it.
So long, TV!!! And good riddance!!!

Uncanny

A lot of people have been telling me that Israel is starting to look more and more like me, but when I look at these pictures of JP as a baby compared to Rae...all I can see is her daddy.

Pulling Up

I can't believe Israel is big enough to do this already. Over the past couple of days, she has started pulling herself up to her feet. She pulls up on everything now! Yesterday for the first time I found her standing in her crib when I went in to get her up from her nap. The only problem is...she doesn't know how to get back down yet, so she cries when the fun of standing up is over.
She is getting so big so fast. It seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago that she was able to sit up (with stability) on her own. Now she's standing. And I'm sure it won't be very long before she starts taking those first steps....

Lift & Lunge

Here is a video of what I like to call Israel's "lift & lunge." It's not really a crawl, not really a scoot. But she sure does get around.
Sorry for the poor quality. This was taken in my poorly-lit hallway with my camera (vs video camera).

JesusBranded

I just stumbled across the coolest website: www.JesusBranded.com. It's just a bunch of young people who design and sell really cool Christian clothing. If I had enough money, I'd buy a ton of them. They are really cool. The one pictured here is one of my favorites. You can click on it to make it larger. Check out all the different designs they have. They've designed clothing for Leeland, Sanctus Real, Acquire the Fire, Jesus culture and more.
Besides clothing, they also have Christian resources, like song lyrics, guitar tabs, Christian myspace layouts, a blog, and info on an orphanage outreach they are involved in.
(Becky, their style really reminds me of stuff you would wear!)

New Website

My dear friend Nicole Russell (better known to some of you as "Beckett's Mom") has started a new web site/blog that will track the preparation of the 2008 GOP Convention happening in St. Paul.
Check it out: www.gopconventionreport.com

Solids

Israel got her first bites of rice cereal today - and she LOVED it! She did really well, too, as far as keeping it in her mouth, swallowing, etc. And her tummy must be good and full because she's been sleeping for a loooooong time this nap. :)

Mark Sathe

Our dear friend Jono's dad died today. He had been fighting cancer for years. The good news is that he is home now. He is with Jesus in glory, no longer in pain.
Thank all of you who have been praying for him. Please continue to pray for Jono, his mom, sister & the rest of the family.

Identity Theft

I am sorry to say that JP and I were the victims of an identity theft scam. Everything is ok now, but it sure has been a pain.
The day we were leaving to go camping, we got a call from our credit union saying there was some weird activity on our card. I went in and found out that someone had tried to make a couple of Western Union transactions in JP's name. A small one went through for about $26, but a larger one for about $279 was denied and we were contacted. There was also a weird $1 AOL charge that I didn't recognize. We got those taken off and our cards were canceled.
Today I got a letter in the mail from AOL saying that my payment was late because the card information we had given them was out of date. Funny thing is...we don't use AOL. The letter referenced an email account with the user name JAMESCHAR100. Using the information on the letter, I was able to access that email account. In it I found four emails from Western Union. So, basically, whoever got our information set up an AOL email account in JP's name and sent the bill to our house.
I called Western Union to see if I could find out where the money was trying to be sent. Of course they wouldn't give me that information, but told me to contact my local authorities so they could subpoena the information. I called the police today and got them started on that investigation.
Then I finally figured it all out. A couple weeks ago JP got an email from PayPal saying we needed to update our account information. He forwarded it to me, I foolishly clicked the link and updated the info. When this all went down, JP suspected that email may have been a scam. I changed the cookies on my browser and went back to that site. A message appeared on the screen that said the web site was suspected of Web Forgery. They're called Phishing attacks - fraudulent web pages and emails imitate sources you trust to get your info. I was not careful. There were numerous signs that - looking back - I could have picked up on.
All I can say is praise God that it wasn't worse. We didn't end up losing any significant money or have to go to great pains to get things rectified. Just be careful out there, people!

Back to Work Update

Monday was my official first day back on the job at WCCO-TV. Last week I went in a couple time to learn some new stuff they had changed since I left, but didn't actually produce the show. But yesterday I was back at it and so far things are going really well. I'm finding that it is kind of like riding a bike - stuff is coming back to me easier than I had thought it would, and Rae is doing great with her new situation. She is loving the time with her grandparents, and it is fun to come home to her because she gets so excited.
Thanks for all of you who have been praying for a smooth transition. One week out of eight is already done!

Not My Will, But Thine

It is so hard to pray "Not my will, but Thy will be done." It seems like everywhere I turn, something difficult is happening to someone, and I just wish I could pray for the outcome I think would be best. But only God knows best.

A baby dies. Not my will, but Thine.

A friend's parent loses his fight with cancer. Not my will, but Thine.

Another struggles to get pregnant. Not my will, but Thine.

Another faces relocation, far away. Not my will, but Thine.

Father, if you would but take this cup from us! Nevertheless, not our will, but Thy will be done.

Family Camping Trip, Fall 2007

We had our annual fall family camping trip this past weekend at Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park, about a half hour south of Rochester. It was amazing. The weather was incredible, and the site was OUT OF THE WORLD AMAZING. The only down side was that Amber & Pete weren't able to be there the whole time because Amber is too close to having her baby! But they came up and visited on Saturday.
Here are some highlights.

Ants on a log

Wagon Ride

I call this one, "Ninja Mist." This picture encapsulates the essence of a Harpel family camping trip.

She couldn't pick up her toys because of her mittens

The other kids playing in the water

Bundled up to go into the Mystery Cave
In the cave

Gotta love Malachi's shirt

See the fishes?

Back to Work

A couple weeks ago I got a call from my old boss at WCCO-TV asking if I would be willing to come back as a freelance producer on a temporary basis. Apparently they are really short-handed right now and just need some help as they fill a number of open positions. He basically told me I could pick my own schedule - they'd take anything they could get.
After talking it over, JP and I decided that I could help out for a little while. So for the months of October and November, I'll be producing the noon show on Mondays and Tuesdays. Rae's grandparents are going to take turns watching her during this time.
I'm a little bit nervous to go back. After almost 9 months at home, I'm obviously rusty. And I've never had the desire to go back to work. It makes me sad to think that I won't be here when Israel wakes up. Of course it's only two days a week, and I'll be home by lunchtime...but STILL! :) I'll also have to get back into the habit of getting to bed on time.
We'll see how it goes. It may be nice to have the extra couple bucks in time for the holidays.

Fall is Official

At least in my world it is. I absolutely LOVE this time of year and the cool, crisp air! We have been getting outside just about every chance we get. Of course, Israel gets bundled up.

Rae is changing every day. She now has three bottom teeth and is working very hard on the fourth one. I can feel it with my finger but can't see it yet.

She is also learning to crawl. Actually it's more of a "scoot." She was doing really well at it, then yesterday she started going backwards when she wanted to go forward. I found her almost completely under the couch yesterday from scooting backwards.

And of course, fall wouldn't be fall without football! We had our friends the Gills over for the Vikes opener on Sunday. They brought their almost one-month-old, Abigail, and she and Rae were both donning their Vikings garb. It was pretty cute.

Our adventures really begin next weekend when we will be packing up for the annual Harpel Family fall camping trip. We are going to Forestville State Park this year. This is the best time of year to camp. I am so excited!

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

-Robert Louis Stevenson

Two Months Later, $200 Cheaper

So, yes, it is true that two months after the release of the iPhone, the price has dropped by $200. I guess it's a bummer, but you knew it was coming, right? However, many people were so upset about it that they wrote Steve Jobs nasty letters...and he has responded in the form of a $100 gift card to anyone who bought the $599 iPhone (that's us!).
This Letter is the reason why we are Apple people. Steve Jobs is the man, and he's taking care of his most loyal customers. He is by no means obligated to throw us all a bone, but he did it anyhow in order to maintain a good relationship.
By the way - JP has been thrilled with his iPhone.

MN State Fair 2007

Today ends the 12 days of fun known as the Minnesota State Fair, and this year I did more than my share to contribute to the success of the fair. In all, I ended up visiting FIVE TIMES this year. Don't get me wrong, I love the fair, but I am definitely ready to be done with it until next year.
Still, I had fun, and here are my pictures.
On Thursday, Rae and I met up with Scott, Nicole & Beckett. Here is Beckett with a little lamb at the Miracle of Birth Center:

And Nicole as a Mountie:

We were given free tickets to the BB King Blues Festival on Thursday night!!! Etta James opened - she is an amazingly talented but surprisingly DIRTY woman!!!

Next was the Rev. Al Green - our favorite part of the show!!! He even got his preach on...

And of course, the King of Blues, BB King:

As I mentioned in my previous post, Rae and I went to see Bill Carlson at the fair on Friday morning. This is him greeting the crowd:

Friday night, we went back to the fair with James and Alyssa Knoblauch, but I didn't get any pictures of that.
Sunday, we went with JP's dad, step-mom, sister, brother-in-law, and our niece Ava. Here she is eating sweet corn:

Ava and Scott actually went down the giant slide, but Rae just got a picture.

You'll notice the Sweet Martha's stand in the background. :)

Israel and I were on TV

Israel and I were in the background of some video WCCO shot for their noon program on Friday. We were at the fair to visit Bill Carlson and ended up on the air when they showed video of him making his appearance that day.
You can watch it here.
Please keep Bill in your prayers. He was cheerful and wonderful, but very obviously tired and weak.