March Madness

A few highlights from March Madness!

Swimming in the Ocean
Brotherly LoveRoyal Oak Farmer's Market
1st Blooms in the Garden
Pig-in-a-blanket winterhat

Ann Arbor Farmer's Market
Zingerman's Birthday

(Mom, Emily, & Carrie's Birthdays too!)

Painting at the Creative Arts Studio

Genesis Communications Team

Pastoral Search Committee

Parent Teacher Conferences

Ice Cream Treats at Jim's Dairy

Helping out the South Africa Missions Team

Exciting news from our house

I thought I'd take a minute and update everyone on the exciting things happening in our little family during the next couple of months.  

Pete got some great news this week about a job he applied for as a Software Engineer at Shure --a company that specializes in professional audio equipment.  He had a phone interview this week, and the next day they called to schedule a second interview for next Friday.  I am so proud of Pete! Please pray hard for him. A new job with this company would mean a lot, including a  much shorter commute and more time with family.  

I am in the last quarter of the school year. The last day of work for me is June 5.  Then I'll be at home getting things ready for our most exciting change this summer!!! Pete and I are so excited to welcome Alaina, and I'm having a great time planning the nursery. Thanks to both sets of grandparents, Alaina's room is already shaping up nicely with the additions of a beautiful crib and dresser/changing table combo that are both in white.  We are going to paint two of the walls in sage green, and the theme will be Classic Pooh.  

We have a some very happy celebrations to attend in the next few months.  Some of our friends are getting married (Marie and Rob 4/5, Brandi and Brad 6/7, and Lindsey and Travis 6/28) some have new jobs, and my sister, Anna, is graduating from Purdue at the beginning of May. 

Pete and I have been trying to find a church family here in Chicago since I moved to the city in December, and last week we finally found a church that we feel could be a great fit for us.  We attended CitiChurch of Chicago, and loved the feel of the small gathering of young professionals, couples, and families. We felt welcomed right away; a few of the worship leaders for last week introduced themselves to us and explained about how the worship service would run and how they got involved in CitiChurch.  The church meets in a middle school about 15 minutes from our house and has a children's program starting at age 2 which of course is a big plus thinking ahead.  

CitiChurch has a great worship setup that really lets you connect with God and prepare to hear the message.  The guest speaker --the regular pastor was gone due to the birth of his third child the Thursday before!-- was wonderful and spoke about the need for God's people to be generous to others through the gifts and talents He has given them, not just through monetary tithes.  Pete and I left feeling like people in this church wanted to make a strong connection with God and each other, and I can't wait to see the message for this week.  

This will be a very busy, but very exciting spring and summer for us. We'll try to keep everyone posted.

Take care,

Emily Ann

Had a Great Time in Florida

Hello Everyone

We had a great time in Florida this past week with everyone and I thought you enjoy some highlighted pictures. You can see my post at my blog for more details.

Paul is home from Japan. He is a little tired but overall doing well. Peter had a touch of the flu when he was down but he went to the doctor when he got home. (Emily Ann took good care of him and called before they left) He is doing better. Tim and Tracy's plane was delayed in Atlanta for two hours but they are home safe and sound. They got to see Paul when he came in from Japan to Atlanta and before he went on to Fort Lauderdale. That was a lot of fun for the three of them.

I helped again at the Blessing Pantry. This weekend the church here we go to "Christ Church" is worshiping by serving the community at large. There are all different work groups doing all different things. Then we all come together Sunday night to share and worhsip with music. It is a really great way to show the community God's love. They had a whole crew at the pantry sorting and cleaning. I donated a new label maker so I got to make new labels for everything. I love that kind of thing.

I hope you all enjoy the pictures and I sure wish you would put a post up so I can learn what is happen with all of you. Joy how are the boys? How is your mom doing? Did you get the box I sent? Do the boys have any new art work lately to see? The last pictures were wonderful and I printed them and put them up to enjoy! Addy I would love to see pictures of Faith in her Easter outfit. How is she doing? I bet she is so big! Carol what is up with you what have you been working on around the house? Have any kitty pictures to share????!!!! Linda the out look looks great! Any new projects to share? I love the link to it from the blog! Sara how you doing? I would love to see a picture of you in your Bolero. If I get to see pictures of the last one I will have another one in mind for you. It could come soon with pictures! Debbie did Winter get her other job she wanted? I have been praying she did. How is Linsey doing? Do we have an action picture of her in her school teacher class? Does anyone have a picture of Dad lately sure would like to see him and mom too! Carol and Linda I still need a picture of each of you in your sweaters for my blog. Debbie is already in there. Thanks Debbie. Joy and Ryan still need a picture of you home for my prayer wall. I miss not having you there! (I pray for you anyway :=).) I look forward to seeing and hearing from you all soon. I check everyday to see what is new in the family. I miss being part of the action!

take care love you all

Emily

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!

Hope you all have a wonderful day. It is hard to believe that it is Easter! It seems like we just finished putting away all the Christmas stuff. I am looking forward to going with everyone to Florida. This will be the first time that Emily Ann will be with us. I am sure Tracy and her will spend a great deal of time at the beach!

Paul will only be with us for three days as he has to go to Japan on business on Monday. BooHOO! But he will return to Florida on Friday and we will stay until the following Wednesday so that he has sometime to rest too. He will miss most of the fun with the kids and they will miss him too.

Next Easter we will be taking the little bunny Alaina to the beach! I can't wait. Everyone take care and we will see you on Memioral Day.

Emily

Move With You

It's finally here. The recording "Live in Detroit" has been transformed into its final form. The CD title is Move With You. It is an album that captures the heart of our worship at Genesis. I can't wait to share it with you!

Don't forget to Spring Forward!

Don't Forget that to night we Spring Forward. More Daylight at night!!!

Yeah Spring is just around the bend.

Emily

Snow Day!!

Tim felt his blood pump'n when he did the 5:45 am snow shoveling. It must have been a lot of snow because it was the first time he has ever come in to take a break!








I am SOOOOOOooooooo glad that Tim and Pete gave me a new snow scoop for Christmas this year. I had no idea how many times I would get to use it Tim would shovel the driveway for me.













The best part about the Snow Day - God answered my prayers for a little bit of rest today!!!

Bravo Tim!

You did a really great job at the MSBOA Festival this weekend. I am so glad that I was able to watch your performances. Your dedication really shows through all of your performances.

*******

Tim's band at Rochester High School performed at the Michigan Schools Band and Orchestra Association Festival. It's sort of the MEAP test for the musicals. The first performance included three pieces of music that the students prepared ahead of time and was performed in the auditorium. The second performance included two pieces of music that the students have never seen before. Tim lead them through only 7 minutes of instruction to pull off both of the pieces. The judges seemed pretty impressed with their musical interpretation!

The Varmint Stikes Again & Again & Again

So Rocky hasn't exactly moved out. He's living in my garage. Who can blame him - it's cold out there. He's not paying his rent on time though, so I think I am going to have to evict him.

Sorry Rocky. You have to pay on time - and you have to put things back in the garage where you found them. You just haven't been living up to your part of the agreement. Sincerely, the management of the little blue house.

March Birthdays

March is a very popular month for birthdays in our family. Here are all of our special days so you can make sure to give each other a ring, drop a card in the mail, or send off a birthday e-mail!

1st - Carol Carlson
5th - Addy Cain
15th - Emily Marie Nadeau
21st - Grandpa "Marvelous Marv" Nadeau
23rd - Emily Ann Nadeau

Dear Lord, We ask that you continue to be in the lives of our precious family, especially of those who were born in March. God, please keep them in good health and spirits. Bring Joy into their next year! Amen

The Varmint Strikes Again . . .

and it's a RACCOON!

Carrie was getting out of her car and saw the rascal face-to-face. I've never seen her run so fast and squeal so loudly (carrie, that is). Rocky the raccoon found the one bag of mostly eaten goldfish crackers that I had taken out of my car when I was getting ready to pick up my view. He spent a couple of nights in the garage. We found footprints all of our cars and he moved all of our junk around. He even managed to climb up into the attic and nestle into the large bag of left over insulation that I had up there. I figured this out once I was brave enough to go up into the attic to see if he was nesting in there. Rocky was no where to be found - just the ruffled up insulation was left behind. I am glad that Rocky has found a new home besides my garage - but I am equally impressed that he managed to make a warm spot for himself on those bitterly cold days.

Need a Boost?

One of the ways that I get a boost each day is to reflect upon scripture, spiritual questions, song lyrics, or something that points me towards God. This year I started a daily devotional that record the inspiration for these reflections. I was going to just keep it to myself, but on second thought, I thought it would be better to share - just in case - it might give you a boost too. I have included the links in the sidebar. The devotional is called from fear to Faith. Please feel to comment when something inspires you or causes you to think too!

Love, Tracy

Meet Alaina Marie Nadeau!

Dear Family,

Here are the pictures of our beautiful little girl! We can't wait for July so that we can meet her. The ultrasound showed a nice, straight, spine and no sign of a cleft lip~ such a blessing! 

Alaina (said ah-LANE-ah) means "rock."  What a wonderful name to give such an amazing miracle!

All our love,

Pete and Emily

It's a Girl!

Dear family,

Pete and I received the wonderful news today that we are expecting a baby girl! Her name will be Alaina Marie, and the ultrasound showed that she is a mover and a shaker already.

I will post the pictures next Monday so that everyone can share in our amazement.

Love you all,
Emily Ann

My New View!

I mean - My new Saturn VUE!

Is Your Computer Screen Dirty?

Clean it with this!

Hope Rising

This is our current series at church: Hope Rising

Stuck in the dark: Feb 10
Scripture: Psalm 40

Help in a Perfect Storm: Feb 17
Scripture: 1 Kings 17:7-24; 2 Kings 4:1-7

Light at the end of the Tunnel: Feb 24
Scripture: Matt. 18:15-20

Get up and Walk: Mar 2
Scripture: John 5:1-15

Detroit United: Mar 9
Scripture: Eph. 2:14-18; Is. 19:19-24; John 4

We Need a Hero: Mar 16
Scripture: Luke 3

Hope Unflinching: Mar 23 Easter
Scripture: Romans 5

Visit Genesis the Church to download the podcasts and listen to the messages!

Progress on the Live In Detroit Recording . . .

I just talked with my friend Beau who is producing the CD that we (Genesis Worship Leaders) wrote and performed Live in Detroit. He said that the master and all of the cd artwork have been received at the production company and the 1st copy is being made for proofing. When the proofing is done - they will produce 1,000 copies that will be ready in approximately 10 days. I am really getting excited!!!

The recording event was titled "Live in Detroit" because that was exactly what we were - recording live in Detroit. The title for the CD is going to be Move With You which comes from the title of a song on the CD that my friend Carol wrote.

I can't wait to share it with you!!!

Love, Tracy

Coming Soon . . .

Will Baby Nadeau be a Boy or a Girl!

Cast your vote by February 29th. You can vote even if you aren't part of the Nadeau Family - we'd love to see what you think! So go ahead - place your vote right now!

The results of the poll will be published the first week of March.

The ultrasound will reveal the winners in just a few weeks!!

Bitter Cold Sets In. . .

Yesterday morning when I woke up (late) I was greeted by melting snow, traces of sunshine, and 45 degree weather. Everything looked like spring. I knew what was on the horizon, however; Bitter Cold forecasted for Sunday. I took out my snow scoop and swished all of the slush and water toward the lawn in order to prevent the ice rink that was about to form on my driveway. I noticed, in the process, footprints leading underneath my deck again. Were the skunk's relatives back? Oh No! I can't have a skunk under my deck - I will for certain get sprayed. So I took a beautiful heap of slushy snow and blocked up the hole and left it to freeze into an icy boulder. This morning when I brought the trash out, I noticed it had done just as a wished - but . . . buT . . . bUT . . . BUT now there were a whole series of frantic footsteps leading up to the hole and around it. My icy boulder worked - but my heart sank into my feet. I can't believe that I blocked the only shelter for my dear little skunk, or bunny, or possum, or whatever it is. I am now responsible for the life of one of God's creatures. UGgghhhh . . . . the horror. I am going to remove the boulder today and hope for the best.

appended 7:10 pm - Carrie removed the icy boulder before church this morning.  No sightings of the critters yet today.  I am hoping the critter found a warm spot.  It is currently 3 degrees 

F.

A 1/2 Inch Short!

We just experienced another winter blast in the metro Detroit Area. The snow was falling in a way that reminded me of the lake effect snow in the U.P. Big - Fluffy - Driving - Wet Flakes. It piled up really quickly on everything. Tim & I have been loving the snow scoop! He's truly a lot better at it than me - but we are both just loving the new blue scoop. The snow glides off like a well buttered egg!

Last night Carrie measured our final snowfall at 5.5 inches which put me a 1/2 inch under the "snow day" mark! Tim's school, however, had a great deal more school and so he was able to enjoy the "sleep in"!

Have a super day eveyone.
Love, Tracy

Hi Everyone

Hi Everyone,

It sure was a beautiful wedding and so much fun to be all together. I think the weekend went as well as possible. We sure were glad to have the good travel weather. I liked looking at all the pictures. I will try to post mine sometime soon.

Winter has applied for a new job at the same place but on the adult side. It would be full time and she would get benefits. I hope and pray that she will get it. She missed not seeing everyone.

Lindsey is in her first week of teaching all on her own and is a litte stressed out. Her first day went well but today she had a bad day with many discipline problems. It is a trying class. She will do well though.

Faith ended up with ear infections again after coming home from the wedding. She is doing better now. When we look at the pictures from the wedding she knows everyone's name. She is a smarty!

Hope you all are doing well. Love from the U. P. Debbie

What a Beautiful Wedding - Just Splendid!

January 26 = Wedded Bliss

Pete & Emily's wedding was just beautiful. Their personalities shined the entire weekend! Here are my favorite pic's from the weekend [Oh let's just face it - there are a million favorites that I have and blogger just takes too long to upload a million photos) - So enjoy the slide show at the end!


Blessed Man! (aka Mr. Super Woo)



Family Reunion



Sisterly Love


Lady in Waiting



Proud Pauls



CheeseBalls!


Dancing Duo (Diva and the Dame)



Sibling Smiles



Sacred Union



Raw Talent



The complete slideshow

Goodbye Ruby . . .

Our sweet little pig is now playing in God's lovely garden with all of the other little piggies who have gone before her. Please pray for our sad hearts (and for piggy too.) God did answer our prayers to have her survive through the wedding weekend and give us a last chance to give her a kiss on the nose. Love, Tracy

Finals . . .

There are lots of finals going on today!

I am giving final exams this week in chemistry and biology.
Here's a quick and easy question: If the wavelength of light increases what happens to the frequency?

I had my final dress fitting today. It took a lot longer than I expected but I was finally happy with the results. Thank God for the Miracle Wedding Village.

The wedding is finally here!

Tim, Carrie, Deedee, and I will be heading south to Indiana to tomorrow for the big event. We can't wait to see everyone - and celebrate the union of Pete & Emily.

Love, Tracy

ps. my little guinea pig Ruby finally has a diagnosis. It is unfortunately of lymphoma. Please keep her in your prayers: no pain, no suffering, and that she makes it through the weekend.

Wedding Shower Slideshow!

Generations!

This was my favorite picture from last weekend.

Well It Snowed Again!!!!!!!!!

Well It Snowed Again!!!!!!!!!

I think that our friends in Georgia are about to send us back to Michigan with our weather. It is snowing again. This time the snow is a lot more than before. I knew something was up when we went to our local ACE Hardware store this morning and they had sleds, saucers, and salt all out at the front door. I though to myself “Yeah right someone really going to need those saucers”. Then on the way out there was a woman on her cell phone talking to someone saying “Yes they have those saucer things. Yes do you really think I should pick it up for the hill out back? Well you know the kids will love it.” I gave her a look like any good Michigander would to say are you crazy lady this isn’t real snow you know. Well I think she was right! It is beautiful and snow covered.

We were going out tonight with Super Club. I arranged a dinner at a really neat old restaurant in Newnan called 10 East Washington. It is a delightful old Georgia restaurant. Well I started getting calls from the group saying that they know I wouldn’t think this is much snow but they can’t get out of their driveways because of the hill and one said her church called and canceled all their services for tomorrow. Well I figure if it is good enough for God then it is good enough for me! I canceled. I figured the church had inside knowledge about the freezing roads and more snow that the weather man said would come tonight. We will just have to go in a couple of weeks.

I am just going to spend my time working on the Welcome bags for the Wedding. They are for those who will be staying in the hotel. They will get one as they check in.

Take care, stay warm, and go sledding

It Snowed in Peachtree City

It snowed in Peachtree City Georgia!

I have been told that is has not snowed in Peachtree in nine years. The last big snow storm was in 1993 fifteen years ago but the last time snow fell and stuck to the ground was 1999.


They kept telling us on the weather reports that it was going to snow. They called it frozen precipitation (AKA SNOW). There were reports every half hour and weather warnings running on the bottom of the TV all day. It may stay on the ground was the warning. No one I talked to believe them. The answer was: “Oh they mean up in the Northern Mountains. It snows up there. We never snow here.” So I went about my day believing my neighbors and friends who have lived here longer than me. Besides I just got back from the being with all of you and we had snow (real snow not frozen percipitation) all the time I was up there. I was not to excited to see more. I get my fill with my Christmas visit just fine!


I was working in my craft room when Paul called me from Detroit where he was at the auto show. He wanted to tell me someone texted them a picture of the parking lot at work in Peachtree City and there was snow on the cars. He then told me to go out and take pictures. I thought he was nuts but just as I open the front door to look out the school bus with all the elementary kids was unloading out front and all I could hear was squeals of joy as they saw the snow coming down. I knew it was true. There really wasn’t much there but boy were they excited to see it come down.


Luckily it did not last but the kids had a wonderful time. Plus I get to say that I was around when it snowed in the Atlanta metro area. Everyone got on boots and hats and gloves it was a site. I put on a sweater laughed and went back in the house. But I must say it was a joy to hear the kids and a joy not to have to shovel it away.