Visiting with Santa

On Wednesday December 16th, 2009 we took Audrey to see Santa Claus at the mall for the first time. She ran right up to him and sat on his lap. Once she realize whose lap she was sitting in the fear set in. Maybe fear is a strong word. An unsure feeling set in as evidenced by the look on her face. For being almost two years old she did pretty well. She didn't cry and she told Santa that she wanted a Christmas tree for Christmas. She was more excited about all the Christmas decorations at the mall than sitting on a large bearded mans lap. Audrey really has little to no fear. She is a very independent little girl who loves to explore her world. It has been fun to watch her grown these past 21 months. She keeps us on our toes and brings a lot of happiness and laughter to our family.

Mery Christmas

The years seem to be going faster and faster. It is hard to believe that 2009 is drawing to a close. We once again have had a busy year and it seems that life is not going to slow down any time soon.
We started 2009 living in Edmond, OK. Adam completed his vicarage at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in August, and we packed our belongings once again into a moving truck and headed back to St. Louis for Adam's concluding year of classes. The transition back to classes for Adam went well, and he is continuing to learn how to balance homework, activities, and family life. Since our return to seminary, Adam has really enjoyed being involved with intramural sports and the seminary soccer team.
We are living on campus this year because of the tight schedule we are keeping. Rachel was a stay at home mom until she returned to St. Luke's division 6600 as a RN on September 1st. She is currently caring for Audrey in the morning and working full time in the evenings. The transition back to work as well as the transition back to seminary life has been a little harder on Rachel. She does not have much energy to spare, but God has continued to provide.
Audrey is now 21 months old and has quite the little personality. She can repeat her letters and numbers back to you. She does not quite have them memorized yet, but she is working on it. She repeats just about everything that you say now which can be quite entertaining, some days. Audrey is very social and loves people. She seems to have adjusted to her new home quite well. Being closer to her grandparents has allowed for more frequent visits with them. She has made a few friends on campus and loved going to Adam's soccer games this past fall.
We are looking forward to 2010 and all the joyous occasions that will take place. Adam will receive a call to a LCMS congregation somewhere in the United States. this past fall we began the call process by interviewing with the placement staff at Concordia Seminary to help them formulate our profile. Now that it is completed, churches that are interested in calling an associate pastor may view our profile and decide whether to interview us. Interviews will take place in January and February. During March and April, the calls will be finalized, and April 27th, 2010 we will receive our call. Adam will continue classes until graduation on May 21st.
April and May will be busy months. As if call day and graduation were not enough, we are expecting the birth of our second child the day after graduation, May 22nd. We hope that the baby arrives just a little early so we can actually go to graduation. We have been anticipating Adam's graduation for some time now, and it would be a shame to miss it due to being in the hospital.
Another joy we are looking forward to is being able to settle down somewhere and purchase a home of our own. We have been looking forward to a little more stability. Our hope is that Rachel will be able to stay home with the kiddos and Adam will be able to support the family as an associate pastor. We know that these plans may not line up with God's, but we are trusting that his plans will be the best for us. We will see what happens. You can tune into a live broadcast of the call service on the evening of April 27th, at www.csl.edu.
May God bless you this Christmas Season ad throughout the New Year.

Love from the Pecks

On the move

August 9^th we said our final goodbyes to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Edmond, OK. The day began with Adam giving his last sermon at all four services and then a potluck lunch followed. After lunch a special farewell and god speed service was held for us. The congregation shared stories from our vicarage that reached every emotion within us. We laughed and we cried. We received very nice gifts from the church and from some of the congregation members but the best gift are all the memories that we will hold close to our hearts. Adam’s parents attended all the festivities with us and helped take care of Audrey while she squirmed and ran around the gymnasium. Ellen had to return to WI but Steve stayed and helped us finish packing and helped with Audrey.

Packing seemed to take forever. What can I say; we are blessed. We picked up the moving truck on August 15 and started to load it with the help of some of the congregation. We had about 10 or so people helping pack up and the Collisons even brought lunch. We were so blessed by everyone who came to help. The truck was loaded by about 4:00pm and then the clean up began. We finally finished by about 6:30pm. We ate some dinner at good old McDonalds and started driving toward St. Louis, MO. We drove about 4 hours that night and stayed with a friend and pastor we know in Springfield, MO. Audrey pretty much slept the whole way. That was a blessing all on its own. They graciously welcomed us at 12:00 that night even though he had to get up and preach the next morning. It was nice to visit with them even though it was a short stay.

Sunday morning we had breakfast and then headed back on the road. Adam and Steve went straight to our apartment with the moving truck and Rachel drove to her parents home to drop Audrey off for a nap. The drive could not have gone better. Audrey did well and she seemed to stay in her routine pretty well. We had about 6-7 individuals-some seminary friends, some friends from our fieldwork congregation, and family come help us unload the truck into the apartment. Almost everything was out of the truck and then the sky opened up and it rained for about 30 min. When the rain broke we had our bedroom set to get inside then all was unloaded. Yeah we had moved again without breaking a thing. We are quite the moving professionals these days.

After the unloading process, we started to unpack Audrey’s room first. I figured it would give her the most stability. She really did well through the whole process and we are truly blessed that she was so cooperative. After Audrey’s room was finished, the kitchen and our bedroom were tackled. In the days to come we slowly but surely were on our way to settling in.

It really took almost the entire year to adjust to living in OK. Moving is a hard adjustment, whether you have lived there before or not. We had to acquaint ourselves with hwy 40 construction and figure how it was going to affect my commute to work. We had to relearn the operation and hours of the food bank and resale shop on campus. These are just a few of the adjustments.

Adam has been adjusting to the new schedule at Seminary. He is balancing caring for Audrey, reconnecting with fellow seminarians, and studying. Not a moment is wasted. He is enjoying the time he has with Audrey after class, but it is straight to the books as soon as she is asleep. Adam has also been finding time to play soccer and tennis this fall.

Adam has had plenty of time with Audrey but not a lot of time with me. I went back to work on September 1^st. I work at St. Luke’s Hospital as a RN on a Cardiac Telemetry unit. The only fulltime position that was available was an evening position. I leave the house at 2:15pm when Adam gets back from classes and I return around 12am. I sleep until Audrey arises and then proceed to take care of her while Adam is in classes. He gets home at 2:00 and the process repeats. On the upside, we don’t have childcare cost. On the downside there is not much family time or time for me to connect with friends. We are praying that a day position opens up so I can have more days/nights off to participate in Seminary activities as well as spend more time in the evening with Adam and Audrey.

Audrey seems to be adjusting well to the move. She is making friends and is enjoying taking walks around campus and to the park. She misses daddy when he is at school and mommy when she is at work but I think she is starting to get the hang of it all. She is still working on teething and this fall we will be starting to do a little potty training. Audrey has become more and more vocal these past two months. Her vocabulary has grown significantly and she is mimicking a lot. She is growing up so fast. She is able to climb up on the couches and she has learned to climb the steps up to our apartment. She has really grown over the past two months.

Hope this update gives you all a better perspective of how we are doing. I am sorry that it has taken this long to post but this was low on the priority list for the past couple months. Hope all is well with you and your family. God's blessings.

Saying our first goodbyes

Today was the last Body and Soul class for the summer here in OK. I think the hardest part was watching Audrey say goodbye to the nursery helpers at Quail Springs, Hope and Vicki. Audrey will certainly miss them. She will miss all the other little children as well. Here are a few pictures from today.

Moving Soon

We are moving back to St. Louis on August 15th. We are going to be living on the Seminary campus for Adam's final year of Seminary in STL. We will post our addrress and other contact info soon.

Body and Soul Workshop

Rachel leaves for Baltimore on July 29th and will not be returning till August 1st. She will be learning the routines for this falls session. She is traveling with 17 other women from OK that are body and soul instructors. She is looking forward to this opportunity to see more about how this ministry runs. Keep her in your prayers please as she prepares for this. It will take a lot of energy to exercise for three days straight.

Visiting Wisconsin

Audrey and Rachel had the opportunity to go visit Grandma and Grandpa Peck in McFarland, WI. We arrived by plane to Milwaukee,WI on June 30th and returned on July 7th. The week consisted of visiting with family, swimming in lake Wabesa, visiting with friends, and seeing the Madison zoo for the first time. It was wonderful to see everyone. Audrey was thoroughly spoiled during our visit. Audrey had a great time chasing after her canine cousins buster and mac. She had a blast playing with Uncle Noah, Aunt Stephanie, and Aunt Molly. The Neilds(Steve and Ellen next door neighbors) came over to visit as well. Their youngest daughter really enjoyed playing with Audrey. Rachel was able to run a 5k with Adam's Aunt Aleta, cousin Tim, and his sister Molly on the fourth of July. The Fourth of July was fun and included all the essentials family BBQ, games, and fireworks,. Rachel even learned how to play euchre. Audrey is a great traveler and seems to be more and more flexible these days. Grandma and Grandpa Peck were great hosts to us girls and we appreciate the ability to travel to see them. We will see them shortly. They are coming to see Adam preach his last sermon at Holy Trinity and to help us pack up for the move back to St. Louis.

Grand Lake Getaway

Weekend getaway- Grand Lake NE Oklahoma
Adam and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary in January 2009. We had planned to take a weekend and stay at a bed and breakfast near Edmond in January but decided to wait for warmer weather so we could enjoy some outdoor activities. Adam received an email in March about a unique opportunity to stay at a bed and breakfast on Grand Lake for an affordable rate. Our budget was tight and Adam dismissed the email at the time. However, a second email arrived two weeks later advertising a free stay at that same bed and breakfast; Adam jumped at the opportunity. I did not know about the emails and Adams communications with the owners. Adam worked out all the details and my only input was the dates of our getaway. I knew when we were going but I had no clue where.
We decided to leave on Wednesday, June 17 after dropping Audrey with her sitter for the weekend. We drove about 3 1/2 hours to Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma. We arrive at 10pm and pull up to large home and I thought maybe we were staying at a cabin or something and had to get the key from someone but instead we walk in an we are introduced to the owners of Panoramic Symphony a new bed and breakfast in the woodland shores area of Grand Lake. All the rooms are themed and we had a suite with a King sized bed, a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, and the hot tub was just outside our room on the deck. We had access to a gas grill under the deck and a small fridge in the room. The room we stayed in is called the De lovely suite.
After being shown our room, Adam informed me that we staying there free of charge. Daniel and Marsha Clarkson, the couple that owns the bed and breakfast, are letting full time church workers stay free of charge. They ask for a free will donation at the end of your stay but otherwise the accommodations are free. Marsha even serves you breakfast in the morning.
We settled into our room and started to enjoy the amenities that the Bed and Breakfast offered. After a good nights rest we woke up to the beautiful view of the Lake and a delicious breakfast. For our first day, we took a bike ride around the neighborhood to see more of the lake. The weather was wonderful, a little on the hot side, but perfect for our dip in the lake. Panoramic Symphony has a pebble beach, one of the only ones on Grand Lake. The bed and breakfast has beach chairs and floats available for use. We loved being able to just relax in the lake. After our swim we took a boat ride with one of Daniels friends. It was a little disappointing because the boat started to smell like gas and we had to turn back early. Since the boat ride ended early, we decided to use our extra time to “read” in the hammocks. Adam read his book Rachel read the backs of her eyelids. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we lost track of time and quickly had to make diner at the B & B in order to make it to our evening plans. Adam had arranged for us to take a wine tasting and wine pairing class at Summerside Winery in Vinita.
Summer side Winery gave us a quick tour of their site and then we headed into the dining room to have our class. We learned how to taste wine and what wines to serve with certain foods. It was very educational. They allowed us to sample most of the wines they produce. We stayed a little while after the class was over and sampled some of the cheeses they sell there as well. The owner was nice and was glad we had made the trip to visit them. We enjoyed ourselves and decided to purchase some wine and cheese to enjoy during our getaway.
After returning from the winery, we decided to head to bed and prepare for the next day. We had plans to take a tour of the lake by way of the Cherokee Queen, an old fashion paddleboat. We bought our tickets, ate our picnic lunch, and boarded the boat. The weather was not cooperating and the wind cancelled our boat ride. They offered us a dinner cruise later that evening but we had already made plans to have a romantic dinner back at the B & B. Since the cruise was cancelled, we decided to drive to a nearby garden to finish our lunch. The garden had some flowers blooming and had a pond with coy fish. We enjoyed walking around in the garden and taking photos of the beautiful flowers including the lilies and the hydrangeas. We finished our lunch in the Japanese tea pavilion and then fed the coy fish in the pond.
After visiting the garden, we went to Har-ber Village to see one of the largest collections of antiques. The village is made of many old log buildings that were once in working condition back in the day. They recreated what an old village would have looked like. There was a jail, dentist office, school, church, and many other buildings. They had enormous collections of old cooking equipment, farm equipment, furniture, dishes, and so much more. It was interesting and educational walking around in the old village and imagining how the people of that era would live. After the walk through the village, we decided to go to the local Braum’s. Adam had a sundae and I had a single scoop of the birthday cake ice cream because it was indeed my birthday. I turned 25 on the June 19th. After the birthday treat we had a boat ride with Daniel.
Daniel took us to a cove where people jump off the cliff into the lake. The top jump is 45-50 feet and the lower jump is 20-25 feet. Adam was the brave one and jumped off the bottom and then the top jump. He seemed to have a good time. I was not that brave and I stayed in the boat to cheered him on and capture it all on video. After the boat ride, we headed back to the B&B to make dinner.
We made filet mignon and potato packets on the grill and had a glass of wine with our dinner. It was relaxing and a joy to be able to eat a quiet meal together. We did not go out for any of our meals while we were staying at Grand Lake. It really made the trip extra affordable. I had a great birthday and we enjoyed our last night at the B&B.
Saturday started with a yummy breakfast, and packing our bags. After breakfast, we went for a dip in the Lake. We wanted to enjoy the lake one more time before we headed home. After realizing how late it was getting we decided to head inside to gather our things and pack the car. We had a little drive ahead of us 3.5 hours or so. We needed to be back home by 5:30 to get Audrey from her wonderful sitters.
This short trip was wonderful and every detail about the trip fell into place. God blessed us with awesome hosts, scenery, and time together. Audrey was well taken care of while we were gone. The couples who cared for her were so willing to give us an opportunity to get away. We were truly blessed to have their help and support.

Grandma Dwyer comes to visit

I picked my mom up from the Airport in Oklahoma City on Friday June 5th. She flew in for a long weekend to see us. Audrey gave Grandma a big hug and a kiss at the airport. She had not seen her since the week after Easter. Audrey was so spoiled having all Grandma's attention this weekend. We took Audrey swimming in the afternoon on Friday. Friday evening Adam and I attended a friend's 40th birthday party while Grandma stayed back and watched Audrey. I'm sure she did not mind one bit. On Saturday morning mom and I decided to take Audrey to Mitch park. The park has a really cool play structure and a paved walking path. We met Adam for lunch and then headed home. While Audrey napped and Adam worked at home, mom and I went to the mall to do some shopping (something I don't get to do that often especially without Audrey). We arrived back home just in time to see her wake up from her nap. We had a snack and then off to the pool. We have really enjoyed having a pool at our apartment. On Sunday Adam had responsibilities at church to attend to. He lead the 9:30am Bible study and the 11:00am worship service. Mom and I took Audrey to the 8:15 service and then came home to pack for Turner Falls. After Adam arrived home after church on Sunday we packed up the car and went to Turner Falls in Davis, OK. It was about a two hour drive. When we arrived we were surprised by the number of people there. They have a 77 foot waterfall that you can swim up to. The water was cool but still refreshing. We had a great day of looking at the falls and swimming in the Honey creek. It was a really awesome experience for Audrey. She could sit in the water and splash around. Audrey went on her first hike there with Adam and I in search of a cave. They have a swimming pool area that had a slide and a diving board. Adam enjoyed jumping off of the diving board and going down the slide. I jumped off the diving board once and that was the end of that for me. I told Adam I am getting to old for that stuff. It was fun and worth the drive. After our afternoon of exploring we went to the picnic area for dinner. I had packed a cooler and we had dinner next to the running water of the creek. It was relaxing after a long day. After dinner we packed up, changed out of our wet swimsuits, and got ready to drive back home. We were exhausted. Audrey and Adam crashed in the car on the way back. We arrived safely back at home and then went to bed. On Monday Audrey and grandma played until it was time for Audrey to take a nap. After her nap we packed Mom's suitcase into the car and headed for a ice cream treat before we had to take her to the airport. At the airport it was hard for me to see Mom say goodbye to Audrey. I had to hold back the tears. It is great when family comes to visit but it is so hard when it comes time for them to leave and go back home. It has been hard for our parents to have their grand child so far away. We will move back to St. Louis in August and our parents can hardly wait.

Mitch Park Edmond, OK

Poolside

Chasing Waterfalls

Meet the new instructor

Way to go Rachel! She received word that she has been approved as a Body and Soul instructor. She will be attending a workshop in Baltimore, MD in order to begin teaching. Another step in becoming an instructor is becoming a certified group fitness instructor. She has a year to complete this process. It is like a ACT test about leading a group fitness class. Thanks to all that have been praying for Rachel. We do certainly appreciate your support.

Audrey woke me up bright and early at 6:30 this morning. She was ready to go for the day. She has a new game for when we come to get her out of her crib. She wants you to try and catch her. The crib is a safe place to explore all the things her little body can do. She trys to do flips and she will run from one side to the other and then fall down and pretend she is going back to sleep. It is pretty cute but also frustrating when you are still tired and haven't had your eyes open all that long. Usually I give her about two minutes and then I scoop her up and sometimes I get a huge hug. This morning she just wanted to run. I had to convince her she needed her expanding diaper changed and that getting dressed for the day would be a good idea. We had a usual day at home. We ate breakfast. Then we played dress up and tea party. I included pictures of that event. Audrey then took a nap while mom tried to clean up the house a little. We ate lunch. We were able to go swimming this afternoon as well. The water was not real warm yet but by next week it should be perfect. Audrey did not seem to mind though. After she was tired of swimming we came back home and she had her bath. Then it was nap time again. What is usually a 45 min nap was two hours long. I guess I wore her out with the swimming. I was able to nap as well. Oh what a glorious event! She was rested a ready to go after that nap. We ate dinner and then headed to the mall where mom did a little window shopping. Audrey was busy saying hi and showing all her tricks to the sales people. She can be quite a ham these days. We then came home and got Audrey ready for bed. Now I am writing the blog and then will go to bed soon. Tommorow we will be going to church and then......

Memorial Day Weekend!

Adam is on his way to St. Louis for a mission conference with the Lutheran Student Fellowship group of Edmond, OK. He will be meeting Chris the gentleman who will be taking Adam's place as vicar in August. Audrey and Rachel stayed home this time much to our family's dismay I'm sure. Rachel was able to tape her audition video for Body and Soul today and will hear in about a week or two whether she did well enough to be approved. The instructor here in OK said that she should be proud of herself for being able to get the calling and cuing down so quickly. I think that is a good sign. This approval will allow her to travel to Baltimore, MD for the national workshop in late July-early August. Audrey and Rachel have plans to swim this weekend while Adam is away as long as the weather holds out. But we don't have plans yet for Memorial Day. What ever will we do with so much time...I guess you will have to here about that on the next post.

Hello from Oklahoma

Hello Friends and Family,

We have finally started a blog. yeah! Sorry it has taken so long. Here is a little update for everyone.

Adam is in his third year at Seminary. During that year students receive a vicarage placement. Vicarage is a big fancy word for a seminarian's internship. It is a practical learning experience that a pastor in training must go through before graduation and ordination. We received our placement at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in April 2008. We moved to Edmond, OK in August of 2008 and we will be here until August 15th, 2009. Adam has been busy preaching on Wednesdays and Sundays, teaching confirmation, and is now leading one of the many Bible studies offered here. He has been involved with the college ministry in the area as well. The University of Central Oklahoma is in Edmond and a few of the students attend the church we are placed at. He leads them in Bible study on some Sundays and also goes to campus to meet with them for lunch where they have an informal chat about their weeks. It is a time to be able to share their prayer requests and concerns. He has really put a lot of effort into this ministry and has decided to expand the ministry to include other colleges in the area. He would like to get the group recognized as a Lutheran Student Fellowship group. Adam is not all work and no play though. He enjoys playing sports and getting some exercise as well. We have started playing volleyball on Tuesday nights in the church gym, and Adam has been playing soccer with a local team as well. We enjoy our home and we are looking forward to using the pool this summer at our apartment complex.

Rachel's days are filled with caring for our 14 month old daughter Audrey and the home. Along with caring for Audrey, Rachel has been involved with Body and Soul, an exercise class that combines contemporary Christian music with aerobics and strength training. She has loved it so much she is planning on becoming an instructor in the next few weeks. She passed her phone interview and will be sending in an audition tape here in about two weeks. If the audition tape is approved she will be attending a workshop in Washington D.C. in order to be eligible to teach a class. The Body and Soul instructors in the Oklahoma City area have been great mentors for Rachel and she will surely miss them in the Fall. Since Rachel will be returning to work at St. Luke's in the Fall , she will not be using this training until we receive our call in the Spring of 2010. She may have an opportunity to do something similar at Seminary called Faith and Fitness. It is a similar class led by student's wives for seminary women. Along with Body and Soul, Rachel has been attending a Bible study for moms on Monday mornings. It has been a blessing to be a part of that group. Rachel has found being a stay at home mom quite a challenge. Being a stay at home mom can be a lonely job. Audrey does not offer the needed adult conversation throughout the day and Adam is gone for extended periods of time during the day as well. The mom's bible study has been one outlet for her to network with other moms in similar situations. Rachel loves the people of Holy Trinity but is looking forward to seeing all her Seminary friends in August.

Audrey has adjusted to being in Oklahoma just fine. She has endeared herself to so many of the congregation members. It is hard to worship if you sit behind our little girl. Dropping cheerios and saying "Hi" to the people sitting behind her while she gives them a huge grin and a wave are just some of her church activities. She is so busy these days. She is walking now and seems to get into everything. She celebrated her 1st Birthday on March 8, 2009. We had our small group Bible study over for a cook out. We also had a cute cake that she destroyed out on our patio. She had fun opening her gifts and sharing a good time with some friends. She has made a few friends through church as well. There is a little girl that is just four days older than Audrey named Amelia and a little boy named Jack who is only a month older that she. They usually hang out in the church nursery when we have Bible study or when Rachel is in exercise class. She is such a social butterfly and loves other kids. She is so easy going when it comes to going to the nursery and she does not show many signs of separation anxiety yet. She recently has been cutting a lot of teeth. She is working on her first set of molars and her I-teeth. Her mouth looks like it hurts. I've heard it said that if we teethed like they do we would be on a morphine drip. I kind of believe that. Audrey has been walking well since about 12.5 months. She says two words. "HI". and "Bubble". She also can say "da da" and "ma ma" but she does not really use them that often. She loves to read and will keep bringing you books till you are blue in the face. We have been teaching her baby sign language and she can sign "all done", " more", "please", and "Thank you". We are working on "thirsty", " hungry"and "eat". She can point to her nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, and today we found out she knows where her butt is. She is very smart and does all kinds of tricks. We will try and share them with you on the blog.

We unfortunately do not have time to catch up with everyone individually so we decided to start the blog. Please feel free to write us. We do care what you have been up to and would love to hear from you all. Blessings to you and your family.
In Christ,