We’ve got the family further north in Tenstrike, MN, on beautiful Gull Lake (see Birch Haven Resort). Micah and Isaiah went fishing last night with my sister’s husband, Jerry, and caught about a dozen northern. We had a huge fish fry this evening where a couple other cabin campers joined us for fun as the sun went down. I don’t have much time to type, but here are some grand pictures for you to enjoy…more later!

Tabitha swimming	Josiah!	Maddie & Lydia	Our tent.
Birch Haven	Good night!

The entire day Sunday was spent cooking, eating, talking, laughing, making-smore’sing, and having a great time on Wendy’s side of the family. The Larsons–many of whom we have not seen in years–traveled to the Jeub home for a long-overdue family reunion.

After the long, long day, I spent some time relaxing with my mom, Judy. She said something quite profound, “After all this family has been through, I truly believe we can achieve world peace.” Wendy goes into just a tidbit of dysfunction in our book Love in the House, and our “Kids by the Dozen” TV show only mentions a poor childhood. Wendy doesn’t like to go into detail, but her upbringing was incredibly difficult.

Despite all the crud that life shoveled her and the rest of her family, LOVE has shone through. Yesterday was an ultimate manifestation of God’s overreaching love that heals wounds and builds relationships. Wendy’s family is a group of beautiful people, and their collective testimony–while interesting–is nothing unusual in God’s family. When love is the main ingredient in a family, no worldly dysfunction can hinder His will. I really believe that.

Here are some pictures with some short footnotes that explain a lot…

Joshua & Isaak	Mary Ann’s 70th	Newest parents	Abby
Derek & Amanda	Goofy faces	The start of it all	Josiah’s toad
Grandma L.	Alicia & Isaak	Grandpa & Isaac

It has been a great few days at Grandma and Grandpa’s in Minnesota. I (Chris) has had to spend some time working on the computer while Wendy and the kids enjoy themselves. It has been difficult to find time to post on the blog. Today will get real busy real fast, as the Larson side of the family is all meeting here at the Jeubs for a family reunion, the first in several years. We’ll be posting pics of that soon!

Here is a video of something that happens only when you “hang” at a home long enough. Our trip to the Midwest purposely allows time to relax and enjoy the people and surroundings. The backyard of my parents’ home always had these odd looking vines hanging from large poplar trees. Cynthia got the idea of tying two vines together and making the most incredible swing in the world! We’ll be sure to have a video of it posted soon…but for now, here’s a couple pictures. The little boy is my nephew, Charlie. (Click the picture for a larger view)

When I worked at Focus on the Family, I had the privilege of spending an entire hour with Steven Curtis Chapman. Yep, he and me, alone in a room, talking about his family’s new adventure of adoption. It was when he just released “When Love Takes You In,” a song dedicated to the adoption of his daughter Shaohannah from China. The excitement in the Chapman family lead to Shaohannah’s Hope, an adoption ministry that has helped thousands of families make it possible to bring children home from China. The Chapmans adopted two more girls from China since I wrote the article for Focus on the Family.

Three days ago, when we were traveling cross-country to Minnesota, the Chapmans lost their youngest daughter, Maria, in a tragic accident in their driveway. Busy with our trip and sort of removed from the world, I just found out about this last night (you may have already heard about it). My heart is simply broken for their beautiful family. Here’s a post from the Chapman manager and friend:

Maria Sue Chapman, adopted and youngest daughter to Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, was killed tonight in a tragic accident in the family driveway on Wednesday evening. She was LifeFlighted to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital but for only reasons God can explain she went home to Him… Not to Franklin as we all so desperately wanted.

The family eventually left the hospital and was surrounded by friends and family at their home church where many had instinctively gathered to hug and cry and pray together. There must have been 250 people or more there at this impromptu gathering after 9pm at night

Friends. Please pray for this family who has loved so generously so many.

I don’t know about you, but I am hugging my kids tightly this day! Our prayers are out to the Chapmans as they grieve. We are crying with them…

Today Chris and I had a lovely time spending the day with some homeschool families at Heppners Legacy Homeschool Resources bookstore in Elk River, MN. It was relaxing to spend one-on-one time with folks in the area. One mom, in particular, made our day with the counsel she sought. She was naturally concerned with the power struggle she has with her 3-year-old son. He’s a bright, active little guy, but he really loves to wear the same clothes every day: a Batman pajama shirt.

I, too, have had this issue with some of my young boys. My conclusion is not to fight them on this issue. So, I encouraged this mother to let him wear the Batman pajamas and let the battle go. I had this identical issue with my now-9-year-old son, and I even had an old family picture in my purse. I pulled out the picture and this is what this mother saw:

Click for full view

There’s my Noah at 3-years-old, plain as day, in the family picture several years ago. What a picture! And what a lesson. Noah is standing in the front row with his Superman pajama shirt, a shirt we couldn’t tear off of him at the time.

The mother’s mouth dropped to the floor. “That’s my answer!” she said. Chris said, “That’s a God thing,” and she replied, “Ya think?”

When Chris and I returned home, we saw this response in our email:

I just wanted to say “thank you” for your special visit to Elk River, MN!  I learned so much from the two of you and it restored my energy (and faith) as a parent. As a mom of 3 young children, I simply devour any information on parenting and you two are certainly full of that!  I pray that you all have a safe rest of your trip and good luck to Lydia at her competition!  Thanks again for sharing with me…it really meant alot.
P.S. I am washing the Batman shirt tonight, so hopefully I have a good morning:)

I love to encourage mothers to be the best moms they can be. It’s not about the clothes they wear (and I understand the struggle), but it’s about letting the child go through the stage in their life and loving them through it. I’m so happy to see a mom willing to look beyond a dirty Batman shirt and love her child made in the image of God. She made my day!

The leaves on the trees are fully grown in Minnesota, unlike the trees in Colorado. The travel from MN was 19 hours total, a couple extra hours from what Google Maps told us. I guess we’ll have to keep in mind that Google Maps assumes you never have to stop for gas or potty breaks.

But I am extremely proud of my kids! They were fantastically patient. Micah wasn’t feeling very well (a bad cold is going through the kids right now) and at about lunchtime he looks panicky when I said we had about 10 hours left of driving. Most times we needed to stop at a rest area between fill-ups, but we made it through TWICE from full to empty without stopping. Way to go Jeub kids!

One reason we took so long is because I took the advice of a trucker friend of mine and slowed down on the Interstate. Keeping the van at a steady 65 mph saved considerably on gas mileage. The following is a chart that I kept during the trip. I started the trip busting out of the mountains screaming at 75-80 mph. Once on the plains and through a second tank of gas, we slowed down to 65 mph. Notice the significant change in mileage: 1.3 miles per gallon! Not too shabby: that saves about 2-3 gallons every fill up. That used to not mean much, but now that’s some serious cash…

You can tell where I was anxiously trying to get to Grandma and Grandpa’s. (heh)

Mom, Dad and 12 kids ages 15, 13, 12, 11, 10, 8, 7, 6, 3, 2, 2, and 5 months will be stuffed into this small 15-passenger van for 16 hours to the upper Midwest. We’ve managed a comfortable route that the kids have grown used to. We blast out of here and stay in a hotel in Albert Lea, Minnesota, but we’ve chosen to skip the hotel this time around. The savings will be roughly $150, and you know that our gas tank will be swallowing that up. Grandma and Grandpa’s country home in Minnesota will be much more suitable…so we’re planning to make the entire trip.

Another cost-saving maneuver was retiring our old reliable bus. A family came by to look at the bus yesterday, and they are mostly likely going to buy it (I can see it in their eyes!). I was tempted to make this trip with the bus, but the gas mileage would be more than twice the mileage as our van with trailer. Oh well, we as a family need to make decisions based on what God gives us at the time. The bus has served us well, but now we’re onto different adventures.

There are three public events that we’ve scheduled in our trip. Here they are, and we hope to see you there!

1. Thursday, 5/22/08 Elk River, MN 3:00-7:00 details
2. Thursday, 6/5/08 Springfield, IL 6:30-8:30 details
3. Mon-Fri, 6/9/08-6/13/08 Birmingham, AL NCFCA Nationals details

The Jeub Family — Cheaper by the Baker’s Dozen

Parents to 14 children Chris & Wendy Jeub are convinced that the downturn in the economy should NOT limit the calling God has for families. Their lives are living proof as they claim to “live like kings” while maintaining a frugal budget. The Jeub grocery budget is under $700/month (feeding 12 children at home, mind you!), they homeschool on a single income, and they live in a modest mountain home. Their secrets are available to families of all sizes!

For homeschool families, come to watch Lydia Jeub (age 13) perform her nationally qualified expository speech on amateur movie making. You may or may not know, but the only nationally recognized homeschool extracurricular activity is speech and debate, and the Jeubs are on their way to compete at the National Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. Chris has written extensively on this most exciting activity and the entire Jeub family have been involved since HSLDA started the league 11 years ago. The Jeubs are open to questions after Lydia delivers her Expos.

Chris and Wendy were featured on Discovery Channel’s “Kids by the Dozen” series in 2007. The family of 16 live in Monument, Colorado, where Wendy homeschools and Chris runs an academic nonprofit ministry. The Jeubs wrote Love in the House: Filling your home with the greatest commandment in response to the numerous questions about their lifestyle, and Wendy has just recently come out with a cookbook on affordable meals for growing families. Chris and Wendy are traveling through the Midwest on their way to the national homeschool speech tournament in Birmingham and have stopped to share with us.

West Side Christian Church, 2850 Cider Mill Ln, Springfield, IL. (Google map)
Thursday, June 5, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
This event is FREE
West Side Christian Church is conveniently located just off IL Route 4 (S. Veterans Parkway) in Springfield, IL.

It’s easy to find and there’s plenty of parking. The presentation will be in the Centennial Room. (Enter from the south entrance and you’ll find it easily).