Yesterday Kate and I had our first appointment with the doctor and was it a good one.  We were able to listen to the baby’s heartbeat (164 beats per minute) and they performed a brief ultrasound.  The picture was not super clear but you could still make out the shape of a tiny baby and see a very small beating heart.  Kate is 13.5 weeks along.  Our Creator is amazing!

Psalm 139:13

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:6

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

Here is a picture of Kate the day we found out the exciting news.  Some of you may be wondering how this will affect the adoption.  Our agency’s policy is to put you on hold until 6 months after the birth.  At that point we will resume somewhat where we left off, God willing.  

Today Kate and I were able to Skype with my sister and brother-in-law.  How great is technology.  We have a new computer so it was great to be able to see them and for them to be able to see us.  Here is a picture I took during the conversation.  Little buds was awake for a few minutes of the conversation so it was fun to see him wave and point.  He appeared to enjoy looking at us on the screen.  

Since it’s fall, I’ve started trying a couple new recipes in an effort to start using my oven again!  I’ve tried a couple duds already…the zucchhini bake won’t be tried again, but the corn chowder I’m trying tonight is a keeper.  It is a bit…indulgent…so I’m planning on cups of soup, not bowls   Try it out if you’re a corn chowder fan.

Corn Chowder

1 cup chicken stock
1 cup cream
1 can cream corn
1 cup Jiffy cornbread mix
1 cup shredded cheese
1 T. butter
1 T. honey
Salt & pepper to taste

Just what weekends are for, right?  Friday Mitch & I had an all-around fun evening visiting the Old Bank Winery & Inn in Kanawha, IA for some wine tasting…delish.

The winery is, as it’s name eludes, in an old bank building.  They’ve been around for about six years and started their vineyard on a plot of land that belonged to the owner’s grandma.  We bought a bottle of each of our favorites – Apple, St. Pepin, and Blackberry.  I really like fruity wines and they had quite a few fruity, sweet options.

After enjoying some steak, something you can’t get in Algona, at a restaurant in Mason City, we went to see the movie Julie & Julia.  I thought it was really cute, Mitch thought it was “okay”.  Meryl Streep did an excellent job…she played the role perfectly (I’m no film critic but I could tell that much!).

And then to the work…we walked beans with Jared & Emilie all day Saturday & on Sunday afternoon.  No fun stories there…just walking with a corn knife in a bean field.  But we did have perfect weather for it – 70 and sunny.  Can’t get any better than that!  It’s a good thing we don’t have any pictures of that…we were dirty and worn down by the end of the day – we’ve covered somewhere around 65 acres so far. Oh yes, there’s more to come.  About 100 more acres to come.  But we were glad to help.

Here is a great video that I found at the blog Between Two Worlds. It wastes no time getting to the heart of the matter. Go, Send, or Disobey?

Here is the last 45 seconds of the fireworks we went to last Friday.  It was the best display of fireworks I have ever seen.

I have posted below before and after pictures of the built-in bookshelf.  Kate had done her best to fill the bookshelf with books and a number of knick-knacks.  She will not like that term but it is the best I can do.  We both felt the bookshelf was legitimately “full”.  Oh how were we wrong.

My sister Kellie and her family are moving back overseas in October.   My brother-in-law has a large collection of books.  We told them we would store any books they wanted to keep.  We are now blessed with a library, the Shramek Library.  And I do mean blessed.  We have now cancelled cable and are going to make an attempt to read…a lot.  The grand total was 354 additional books plus approximatly 100 books of our own.  The bookshelf is overflowing.   We even went the extra mile and made an Excel spreadsheet with the title and author, categorized each one, and then placed them in alphabetical order within that category.  Maybe a little nerdy but fun nonetheless.

So what books will we start first.  I (Mitch) started Truman by David McCullough today.  Dustin said that of all the president books he owns it would be one of the better ones.  Kate is planning on reading How People Change by Paul David Tripp and Timothy Lane.  We will let have to let you know what we think of them.

The Before

The After

I thought I would give some props to my brother’s new blog “His Peace Upon Us.” He is a great writer and has some valuable insight into Christian-Muslim relationships. In his own words, “The basic premise of this blog is that we cannot love those we do not know. So I am hopeful that this blog is one way Muslims and Christians get to know each other.”

You don’t just have to take my word for it. John Piper recently recommended the site on his blog at Desiring God. I believe the recommendation led to 4,000 hits that day for his blog. So with the additional 5 people I send over he should be heading for blog-star fame.

This is my new favorite summer snack, thanks to my friend Val – fruit salsa with cinnamon chips. It is much easier than it sounds!

Fruit Salsa

1 peach
2 kiwis
10 strawberries
1 pear
1 apple

Dice & combine all fruit. Use whatever fruit you have on hand…although the peach and the kiwi really make it.

Cinnamon Chips

10 flour tortillas
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup real butter

Melt butter and coat tortillas. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Cut into 6 pieces per tortilla with and bake on un-greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes, until crispy. Serve immediately!

This week I was in the Minneapolis area for work so I made time to visit the Shrameks, my sister’s family.  We  were able to catch a Twins-White Sox game and hang out for a night.  I also came home with a library of books (more on that later) and some good pictures and videos.  Below is a quick video I took of my nephew Elias.  He is a cutie.