On this day in history....

My sweet husband was born 26 years ago... and so to honor that occassion I decided to do something a little fun and fill this post with facts from this date in history.

On this date in:
1289 - Qala'un, the Sultan of Egypt, captured Tripoli.

1429 Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a victory over the English.


1636 - Composer Esaias Reusner was born.

1661 - The Chinese Ming dynasty occupied Taiwan.

1672 - King Louis XIV of France invaded the Netherlands.

1813 - Rubber was patented by J.F. Hummel.

1852 - The first edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus was published.

1856 - A peace treaty was signed between England and Russia.

1858 - Austrian troops invaded Piedmont.

1861 Maryland's House of Delegates voted against seceding from the Union.

1862 New Orleans fell to Union forces during the Civil War.

1864 - Theta Xi was founded in Troy, New York.

1879 - In Cleveland, OH, electric arc lights were used for the first time.

1899 Jazz musician Duke Ellington was born in Washington D.C.


1913 - Gideon Sundback patented an all-purpose zipper.

1916 The Easter uprising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.

1918 - Germany's Western Front offensive ended in World War I.

1924 - An open revolt broke out in Santa Clara, Cuba.

1927 - Construction of the Spirit of St. Louis was completed for Lindbergh.

1941 - The Boston Bees agreed to change their name to the Braves.

1945 Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler married his longtime mistress Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker. The couple killed themselves the next day.

1945 American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

1946 Twenty-eight former Japanese leaders were indicted as war criminals.

1952 - IBM President Thomas J. Watson, Jr., informed his company's stockholders that IBM was building "the most advanced, most flexible high-speed computer in the world." The computer was unveiled April 7, 1953, as the IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine.

1954 - Ernest Borgnine made his network television debut in "Night Visitor" on NBC-TV.

1960 - Dick Clark told the U.S. House of Representatives that he had never taken payola for the records he featured on his show "American Bandstand."


1961 - ABC’s "Wide World of Sports" premiered.

1967 - Aretha Franklin's "Respect" was released.

1968 - The musical "Hair" opened on Broadway.

1974 - Phil Donahue’s TV show, "Donahue" moved to Chicago, IL.

1974 President Richard Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of secretly made White House tape recordings related to the Watergate scandal.

1975 - The U.S. embassy in Vietnam was evacuated as North Vietnamese forces fought their way into Saigon.

1975 - The Bee Gees released the album "Main Course." The album featured "Jive Talkin'" and "Nights on Broadway."

1976 - Bruce Springsteen climbed the wall of Graceland to meet Elvis Presley. Elvis wasn't home.

1979 - Van Halen's "Dance The Night Away" single was released.

1980 - Black Sabbath began their first tour with Ronnie James Dio as singer.


1981 - Steve Carlton, of the Philadelphia Phillies, became the first left-handed pitcher in the major leagues to get 3,000 career strikeouts.

1981 Truck driver Peter Sutcliffe admitted in a London court to being the "Yorkshire Ripper," the killer of 13 women in northern England over five years.

1983 Harold Washington was sworn in as the first African-American mayor of Chicago.

1984 - In California, the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor went online after a long delay due to protests.

1985 - Billy Martin was brought back, for the fourth time, to the position of manager for the New York Yankees.

1986 - Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox set a major-league baseball record by striking out 20 Seattle Mariner batters.

1988 - The Baltimore Orioles set a new major league baseball record by losing their first 21 games of the season.

1988 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev promised more religious freedom.

1988 - Eric Clapton filed for a divorce from Patti "Layla" Boyd.

1990 - The destruction of the Berlin Wall began.

1992 - Exxon executive Sidney Reso was kidnapped outside his Morris Township, NJ, home by Arthur Seale. Seale was a former Exxon security official. Reso died while in captivity.

1992 - Rioting began after a jury decision to acquit four Los Angeles policemen in the Rodney King beating trial. 54 people were killed in 3 days.

1992 - Paula Abdul and Emilio Estevez were married. They divorced two years later.

1993 - An animated Barry White was a guest on "The Simpsons."

1994 - Israel and the PLO signed an agreement in Paris which granted Palestinians broad authority to set taxes, control trade and regulate banks under self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

1995 - Tupac Shakur married Keisha Morris inside the Clinton Correctional Facility. He was serving a 4 1/2 year jail term for sex abuse.


1996 - Phil Spector cancelled a recording project with Celine Dion due to a lack of a contract.

1996 Former CIA Director William Colby was missing and presumed drowned after an apparent boating accident in Maryland.

1996 The musical "Rent" opened on Broadway.

1997 A worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect.

1997 Astronaut Jerry Linenger and cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev went on the first U.S.-Russian space walk.

1997 - Staff Sgt. Delmar Simpson, a drill instructor at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, was convicted of raping six female trainees. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was dishonorably discharged.

1998 - Steven Tyler injured his knee at a concert in Anchorage, Alaska. 14 shows had to be cancelled.

1998 - The U.S., Canada and Mexico end tariffs on $1 billion in NAFTA trade.

1998 - Brazil announced a plan to protect a large area of Amazon forest. The area was about the size of Colorado.

1999 - Tommy Lee announced that he had quit Motley Crue to devote time to his new band, Methods of Mayhem, and his family.

2002 - Kelsey Grammer and his production company, Grammnet Inc., were ordered to pay more than $2 million in unpaid commissions to his former talent agency.

2003 - Mr. T (Laurence Tureaud) filed a lawsuit against Best Buy Co. Inc., that claimed the store did not have permission to use his likeness in a print ad.

2003 The Palestinian parliament approved Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister.

2004 President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met behind closed doors with the Sept. 11 commission.

2004 A national monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who served during World War II opened to the public in Washington D.C.

2006 Economist John Kenneth Galbraith died at age 97.


Famous People You Share a Birthday With, Derek...


1584 Melchior Teschner composer
1636 Esaias Reusner composer
1642 Christian Weise German writer (Niederländische Bauer)
1660 Matthias Henriksen Schacht composer
1667 John Arbuthnot Scottish writer (Alexander Pope)
1727 Jean-Georges Noverre French dancer/choreographer (ballet d'action)
1745 Oliver Ellsworth 3rd Chief Justice Supreme Court (1796-1800)
1771 Matthaus Stegmayer composer
1780 Charles Nodier French writer (La fée aux miettes)
1783 David Cox English painter (Treatise on landscape painting)
1806 Earnest Freiherr von Feuchtersleben Austria, physician/philosopher
1808 Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch German politician/reformer [or 1883]
1815 Abram Duryee Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1890
1818 Alexander II [N Romanov] Tsar of Russia (1855-81)
1830 Adolph Sutro San Francisco mayor, built Cliff House, railways, tunnels
1842 Karl Millöcker Austria conductor/composer (Beggar Student)
1854 Henri Poincaré France, mathematician/astronomer/philosopher
1855 Anatol K Liadov Russian composer (Bewitched Lake)
1855 Edmund van der Straeten composer
1857 Edouard Rod France/Swiss writer (Mishel' Tes'e)
1857 Frantisek Ondricek composer
1860 Lorado Taft US, sculptor (Black Hawk)
1862 Vittorio Mario Vanzo composer
1863 William Randolph Hearst publisher (San Francisco Examiner, Seattle P-I)
1871 Louis William Stern German/US philosopher (Intelligence of Children)
1872 Eyvind Alnaes composer
1873 Alida J M Tartaud-Klein actress/stage star (Rotterdam Stage)
1879 Sir Thomas Beecham England, composer, founded London Philharmonic
1882 Hendrik N Werkman painter/printer/resistance fighter (Hot printing)
1885 Wallingford Riegger Albany GA, composer (Bacchangle)
1885 Egon E Kisch Czechoslovakia, writer/journalist (Rasende Reporter)
1893 Elisaveta Bagrjana [Beltsheva], Bulgaria, poet
1893 Harold C Urey Walkerton IN, physicist (discovered Deuterium, Nobel 1934)
1894 Paul Hörbiger Budapest Hungary, actor (Liebelei)
1895 Malcolm Sargent English conductor (Promenade Concerts)
1896 Jacques Leon Wolfe composer
1896 Walter Mehring writer
1899 Duke [Edward Kennedy] Ellington Washington DC, bandleader (Take the A Train, It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing))
1899 Karl Yngve Skold composer
1899 Natalie Talmadge actress (Our Hospitality)
19-- Greg Christian rocker (Testament-Souls of Black)
19-- Mark Kendall rocker (Great White-Twice Shy)
19-- Richard Kline New York NY, actor (Larry-3's Company, Dr. Mark Benson-Bold & the Beautiful)
1901 Emperor Hirohito of Japan (1926-89)
1901 George Osborne Sayles historian
1902 Theodore Chanler composer
1903 Frank Parker New York NY, singer (Arthur Godfrey Show, Masquerade Party)
1904 Russ Morgan Scranton PA, orchestra leader (Welcome Aboard)
1904 Enrico Mattei Italian oil magnate
1907 Fred Zinnemann Vienna Austria, movie director (From Here to Eternity, Day of the Jackal, Julia)
1907 Tino Rossi Ajaccio France, singer (Deux Amours, Marlene)
1908 Jack [Stewart] Williamson US, sci-fi author (Firechild, Golden Blood, Cometeers)
1908 Philippe Brun jazz trumpeter
1909 Daniel Raphael Mayer journalist/resistance leader
1909 Tom Ewell [S Yewell Tompkins] Owensboro KY, actor (Tom Ewell Show, 7 Year Itch, Adam's Rib)
1910 John Beavan newspaper editor
1912 Richard Carlson Albert Lea MN, actor (All I Desire, Flat Top, Valley of Gwangi)
1912 Italo Valenti Italian sculptor
1912 Terence de Vere White novelist/critic
1913 Jack Alexander Bently trombonist
1913 Thomas Chalmers broadcaster
1914 Ewan Roberts Edinburgh Scotland, actress (Pvt Benjamin)
1915 Donald Mills singer (Mills Brothers)
1918 Mervyn Roye Harvey cricketer (brother of Neil, Test for Australia)
1919 Celeste Holm New York NY, actress (Gentleman's Agreement, All About Eve)
1920 Edward Blishen writer teacher/broadcaster
1920 Harold Samuel Shapero Lynn MA, composer (9 Minute Opera)
1921 Cornelis de Jager Dutch astronomer (Sun)
1922 George Allen football coach (Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins)
1922 Parren J Mitchell (Representative-Democrat-MD, 1971- )
1922 Tommy Noonan Bellingham WA, actor (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Promises Promises)
1922 Toots [Jean] Thielemans Belgian/US jazz musician/composer
1923 Irvin Kershner Philadelphia PA, director (Never Say Never Again)
1923 Maxine Audley London, actress (Peeping Tom, Ricochet, House of Cards)
1924 Al Balding Toronto Ontario Canada, Canadian Tour golfer (Québec Open-1952)
1924 Renée Jeanmaire Paris France, dancer (Hans Christian Anderson)
1925 Ab Abspoel Dutch actor/director (Surprise Attack, Elevator)
1925 Danny Davis rocker (Nashville Brass
1926 Carie Meek (Representative-Democrat-FL)
1927 Dorothy Manley England, 100 meter sprint (Olympics-silver-1948)
1927 Betsy Ancker-Johnson physicist/auto company exec
1928 Big Jay McNeely rocker
1928 Carl Gardner Tyler TX, rock vocalist (Coasters-Searchin)
1929 [John] Jeremy Thorpe British MP (Liberal)
1929 Peter Joshua Sculthorpe composer
1929 Vaclav Kucera composer
1929 Walter Kempowski German writer (Tadellöser & Wolff)
1930 Alf[red Lewis] Valentine Jamaican cricket player (great West Indian lefty spinner)
1931 Aleksei Aleksandrovich Gubarev USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 17, 28)
1931 Anthony "Lonnie" Donegan Glasgow Scotland, skiffle vocalist/guitarist
1931 William Ball actor (Suburban Commando)
1932 Alexei A Gubarev cosmonaut (Soyuz 17, 28)
1932 King Hu film director
1932 Yevgeni Alekseyevich Zaikin Russian cosmonaut (Voshkod 2 backup)
1933 Keith Baxter South Wales, actor (Barretts at Wimpole Street)
1933 Darijan Bozic composer
1933 Raymond Earl Hill saxophonist
1933 Rod [Marvin] McKuen Oakland CA, singer/composer (Alone, Beatsville)
1934 Pedro Pires premier (Cape Verde, 1975-91)
1935 Len Weinrib New York NY, comedian (Spike Jones Show)
1935 Otto M Zykan composer
1936 April Stevens Niagara Falls NY, rock vocalist (Deep Purple)
1936 Lane Smith Memphis TN, actor (Perry-Lois & Clark, Chiefs, Nathan-V)
1936 Richard Lynch actor (Xavier-Battlestar Galactica)
1936 Zubin Mehta Bombay India, conductor (New York Philharmonic)
1936 Jacob Rothschild English banker/multi-millionaire
1940 Brian Taber cricket wicket-keeper (Australian between Grout & Marsh)
1941 Jonah Barrington British World champion squash player (1966-73)
1942 Galina Kulakova USSR, skier (Olympics-3 golds-1972)
1942 Klaus Voorman rock bassist (Manfred Mann-Mighty Quinn)
1943 Duane Allen Taylortown TX, country singer (Oak Ridge Boys-Elvira)
1944 Jim Hart Evanston IL, NFL quarterback (St Louis Cardinals)
1944 Benedikte Danish princess/daughter of Frederik IX
1945 [Thomasina] Tammi Terrell [Montgomery] singer (Ain't No Mountain High Enough)
1945 Hugh Hopper rocker (Soft Machine)
1945 Richard Warwick actor (Johnny Dangerously, Sebastine, If)
1946 Franc Roddam director (K2, Bride, Aria, Quadrophenia)
1946 John Waters Baltimore MD, director (Hairspray)
1947 Jim Ryun US, 1500 meter runner/broke 4 minute mile (Olympics-silver-1968)
1947 Tommy James singer (cri-im-son & clo-o-ver o-o-ver & o-o-ver)
1947 John[ny Laurence] Miller San Francisco CA, golfer (US Open 1973, 1974 PGA Player of the Year, British Open 1976)
1948 Reb Brown Los Angeles CA, actor (Cage, Yor, Captain America, Fast Break)
1949 Anita Dobson England, actress (Annie Watts-EastEnders)
1949 Eddie Hart US, 100 meter runner (Olympics-1972)
1949 Susan Pratt actress (Barbara Montgomery-All My Children, Claire Ramsey-Guiding Light)
1951 [Ralph] Dale Earnhardt Kannapolis NC, NASCAR driver/"The Intimidator"
1952 Deborah Van Valkenburgh Schnectady, actress (Too Close for Comfort)
1952 Nora Dunn Chicago IL, comedienne (Saturday Night Live, Miami Blues, Working Girl)
1953 Dale Earnhardt auto racer (6-time NASCAR national champion)
1953 Nikolai Nikolayevich Budarin Kirya Russia, cosmonaut (STS 71, TM-27)
1954 Bill Paxon (Representative-Republican-NY)
1954 Deborah Iyall rocker (Romeo Void)
1955 Kate Mulgrew Dubuque IA, actress (Captain Janeway-Star Trek Voyager, Heartbeat, Kate Loves a Mystery)
1955 Jerry Seinfeld comedian/actor (Seinfeld)
1956 Ron Verlin rocker (Shooting Star)
1957 Richie C Robertson rock bassist/vocalist (Fabulous Poodles)
1958 Eve Plumb Burbank, actress (Jan-Brady Bunch, I'm Gonna Get You Sucka)
1958 Michelle Pfeiffer Santa Ana CA, actress (What Lies Beneath, Up Close & Personal, Ladyhawke, Married to the Mob, Grease 2)
1958 Simon Edwards rocker (Fairground Attraction-Find My Love)
1958 Daniel Day-Lewis England, actor (Last of the Mohicans, My Left Foot)
1960 Joseph Guzaldo Chicago IL, actor (Stir Crazy)
1960 Gerard Joling Dutch singer (Love is in Your Eyes)
1960 William Lee Glasson Jr Fresno CA, PGA golfer (1985 Kemper Open)
1962 Bruce Driver Toronto Ontario Canada, NHL defenseman (New York Rangers)
1962 Dieter Hegen Kaufbeuren Germany, hockey forward (Team Germany 1998)
1962 Robert Druppers runner (world record 1 km indoor)
1965 Reggie Miller NBA player (Indiana Pacers)
1966 John VanderWal Grand Rapids MI, outfielder (Colorado Rockies)
1966 Phil Tufnell cricketer (England slow lefty & slower fieldsman)
1967 Curtis Joseph Keswick Ontario Canada, NHL goalie (Team Canada, Edmonton Oilers)
1967 Elizabeth "Betsy" McCagg Kirkland WA, rower/twin sister of Mary (Olympics-4th-92, 96)
1967 Mary McCagg Kirkland WA, rower/twin sister of Elizabeth (Olympics-4th-92, 96)
1967 Rachel Williams Greenwich Village NY, model (Absolut Vodka, Elle)
1968 Browning Nagle NFL quarterback (New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons)
1968 Carnie Wilson Los Angeles CA, rock vocalist (Wilson Phillips-Hold On)
1969 Arthur Marshall NFL wide receiver (New York Giants)
1970 Andre Agassi Las Vegas NV, tennis star (Olympics-gold-96, US Open-1994 & 1999, Wimbledon-1992)
1970 Arnaud Briand hockey forward (Team France 1998)
1970 Derrick Frazier NFL cornerback (Philadelphia Eagles)
1970 J R Phillips West Covina CA, infielder (Philadelphia Phillies)
1970 Leuea Tagoai CFL defensive end (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
1970 Mark McMillian NFL cornerback (Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs)
1970 Uma Thurman Boston MA, actress (Baron Munchausen, Pulp Fiction)
1970 William Martin III Charleston SC, Finnish yachter (Olympics-23rd-1996)
1971 Sterling Hitchcock Fayetteville NC, pitcher (New York Yankees, Sea Mariners)
1972 Gwendolyn Wentland Flint MI, high jumper
1974 Alana Blahoski ice hockey forward (USA, Olympics-98)
1975 John Macready Los Angeles CA, gymnast (Olympics-5th-96)
1976 God Shammgod NBA guard (Washington Wizards)
1976 Nayla Micherif Miss Brazil-Universe (1997)
1978 Mike Bryan Oxnard CA, tennis star (USTA National 18 doubles)
1993 Aurelia Clasina Lucia Wildeboer daughter of Pieter & Mirtle

happy birthday parker!!

Today is not only my friend Michelle's birthday, but also my nephew parker! Yesterday we celebrated by having a small family/friends party at their home. Here are just a few pictures of what went on! Hope you enjoy! Happy 3rd Birthday Parker man!

A legacy....

I chose this title for this post, because that is exactly what Dale and Lori have left at Harvest Temple. A legacy. A legacy of integrity, a legacy of faith, a legacy of a Christ-filled life.

Yesterday, we had refreshments after service to honor Dale and Lori for their 11 1/2 years of service to our church and community.

I am sure I speak for many others when I say that they will be deeply missed around there, and they will always be loved by our church.

For me personally, and for Derek as well, Dale and Lori have been an integral part of our Christian growth. While the focus is to seek Christ and Christ, alone, Derek and I have always looked to Dale and Lori as mentors and friends.
There were several periods in our lives, where we can honestly say without them influencing us and pointing us toward Christ- we would've walked away from the church. But because they loved us enough to teach us and show us the love of Christ, we grew in our faith and stood firm.

Words cannot express the gratitude that we have toward them for their unfailing love for our family, and for their ministry.

They will always have a place in our hearts, and we hope that we continue to be friends until the Lord returns or til the day we die, whichever comes first.

Here are just a few pictures from the time we got to spend honoring them yesterday.


































We love you Dale and Lori!!!

Michelle :)

You know how sometimes you sit back and marvel at the way God has worked things out in your life? Everytime I think of Michelle... this is what I think of. We were talking the other day, about how we became friends through a mutual friend, but never really hung out in high school, but God allowed us to know each other just enough that we'd add each other on facebook and begin talking again all these years later.

Who would've thought...



Michelle is an incredible, Godly woman, wife, mother, who puts Jesus at the foremost part of her family's life, and I love her dearly.

Today she celebrates her birthday and I wanted to post this to say

Happy Birthday!!!

I love you chica, may your day be blessed beyond measure and there be many more to come.

Proudly wearing orange tomorrow!!!!

I haven't said much about this lately but it is fresh on my mind daily.



Tomorrow, Stellan will be having a very invasive heart surgery to fix his heart. Please pray for wisdom and guidance upon the surgeon's hands and mind.

My heart aches for this poor lil man and his family- I pray that God is with them and that they will know His peace through this all because He truly is the great Physician.

Join me tomorrow and wear orange for little Stellan.

oh how I love them...

I cannot get over how much love leaps out of me when I think about these two beautiful munchkins. Every day they amaze me more and more!

"Family"

Yesterday, Scott (our guest preacher), spoke on the importance of the church functioning not only as individuals but as a family of believers in love. Basically instead of just being at church, we should find ourselves becoming ONE with one another, working in unity, hanging out and loving on one another.

I've always looked at our church as a family. But today I want to share with you a little about some people in our lives that are very dear to us.

From not long after we all really started seeking Christ, Derek, Will, Abigail, and myself started hanging out and have always been a "family". We always knew we were meant to be best friends and that anyone who married into our group would fit in perfectly as well.

As a group we've led ministry together, we've shared in joyous occasions and some hardships and tribulation. But through it all we've stood by each other and loved each other and we will always be the best of friends.

The first big leap in our group of friends, was that Will left us to go into the military. We missed him greatly but we talked with him often and whenever he came home to visit we made a big deal out of it and we all hung out like nothing had changed, and it hadn't.

Then, Derek and I got married. Even though now we were the "married" couple amongst many single people, our group remained and we grew together in Christ and spent time together as often as we could.

A few month's after our first wedding anniversary we welcomed the first "addition" into our group. Kyley Grace Jordan. She was born into the world already knowing she had a built in godmother and godfather in Abigail and William and anyone they eventually marry.


It still amazes me to this day how much she is loved by all of our friends, and things while maybe different within our group from this point on, never "changed."

Then, we were blessed to have another "addition" to our group, but this time in the form of a wife. William decided that he had found the one God had for him, and married Angelica. And like I previously stated, we knew from the start that anyone that married into our group would fit in perfectly.
We celebrated together a few months later when they had a ceremony to bless their wedding with all of their friends present since when they originally got married it was away from home while they were both in the military.









After this, both Will and Angie got out of the military and they moved home to Montgomery, and we couldn't have been happier to have them home!!!

Then, we welcomed Isaac Marcus into the world, a healthy baby boy born to Will and Angie in January 08.







3 months to the day later... along came Elijah Franklin


Our boys were instantly best friends by default :)

During all of this time, we experienced heartache through death and joy through the healing of Abi's dad from cancer and many other things, but our "family" stood strong through it all!

Just 2 months ago, our latest addition was added to the group. In February, we welcomed Molly Eulogia Elizabeth Rus to our family.


The boys truely have become best friends...


and all the kids love each other so much.


And all the while, we are praying with diligance for the one that God has created for Abigail because we know that in His timing that her mate will fit in perfectly with us as well, and we'll have several more "additions" to our sweet little family :)




I love you guys!!!!

Some random photography...

Ok so maybe it's not so random, but Amy wanted a few pictures of her and the kids together.
So while we were at the park we took advantage of the beautiful scenery. Only problem is, I had 2 boys who wouldn't cooperate for anything. At least the girls did.