Saturday afternoon/evening we celebrated the sweet 16th birthday of Lina Witulski at the home of her exchange student parents in Kearney. Lina has been living with the Gillespies this past year while their daughter Sofia has been an exchange student in Latvia. Lina's birthday was actually Thursday, May 1 - May Day -- but the … Continue reading Sweet 16 to Lina →

Today I ran my first 5K. I didn't train. Well, that isn't precisely true.  I didn't do any RUNNING to train for running a 5K. I have been doing weights and working on my swimming to prepare for the Kansas City Corporate Challenge swim meet. So I was getting my strength, and more importantly, my … Continue reading KCCC 5K →

My Niece Sofia is spending the year in Latvia as an Exchange Student. Here is something from her "spring break" trip to Estonia.

Kearney United Methodist Church had its confirmation service for this year's class of confirmands this morning. Sixteen confirmands, including my nephew Isaac Gillespie, were presented. The service was the conclusion of a two-year program where they met regularly to review and discuss their understanding of their faith. The service began with some congregational singing, which … Continue reading Kearney UMC Confirmation →

The Kansas City Corporate Challenge kicked off Friday afternoon at the Truman Sports Complex with the kickoff walk. The whole event is a family fun walk and celebration. The participating companies sponsor tents for their employees, many with live music, food, etc., in the middle of the annex parking lot. The competition portion of the … Continue reading Corporate Challenge Kickoff →

My son has an argumentative essay to write on an article they gave him to read in his social studies class.  I read the article and then looked to find an actual link to it online, since according to the ending blurb: Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be … Continue reading Is Chocolate Milk the real issue? →

March--Out like a lamb?. As my April fool's blog I will repost what my wife posted, along with my own note.  THis year we most definitely had March come in like a lion, roaring with snow, and the last day was warm like a lamb. But it its April Foolishness it almost reached freezing last … Continue reading March–Out like a lamb? →

We belong to a book club at our church. The club has been around since 2010. We have read quite a few interesting books. Below you will see the full list of ones chosen, and the ones nominated but not chosen. One of the limiting factors is which books get chosen, besides which ones the … Continue reading The gatekeepers of the book publishing world →

Alert: there are possible spoilers here:   The Croods. My kids got this movie out of the library. We have been watching it today. My first thought watching: Is this going to be one of those dad-bashing movies? We have the rebellious girl, and the dad trying to keep the family safe. They have to … Continue reading The Croods →