Drywall Party!

Last night, we had a drywalling party in our basement! Herb, Jr. High Uthguy at church and electrician extraordinaire for our basement, called around to some friends from church to help us get the drywall ceiling and partial walls up in Mark and Eric's rooms. Pastor Steve, Rob, Jeff, and Herb all came over to help out - and it was not only extremely productive, but a lot of fun!!!

The ceiling involved lifting heavy pieces of drywall over our heads for a long period of time while they were screwed in... hold on, guys - screws are on their way!!! :)

Jeff - the "Drill Master" Casey had to be the center of attention! She even laid down in the middle of the room on all the drywall dust just to be in the middle of it all. Here she is getting a little extra attention from Rob... and loving it!!!The Drywall Party!!!
Me, Eric, Herb, Pastor Steve, Jeff, Dad, Mark, and Rob

...with tools in hand!!!

Tonight we actually had a second night of drywalling - and I'm very happy to report that all the drywall that needs to go up in Mark and Eric's rooms is up! We still need to tape, mud, and paint the drywall, then put up the panelling on the lower half of the wall... At least it's starting to look like real rooms down there!!!

This Moment

So I've been waiting for 'this moment' for about six months now... and This Moment is finally here!!! Today's the day that Steven Curtis Chapman's first new album in over three years, This Moment, hits the stores. I actually traveled over 45 min. to get to a store that carried the special edition (with extra acoustic tracks) - and it was well worth it! I really can't pick a favorite song or even top five songs!!! They are all so great... there's the instant classic "Cinderella" about a father dancing his daughter through childhood, awesome upbeat hits like "You Are Being Loved" and "Children Of God," great worship songs "Yours" and "With One Voice," profound yet simple lyrics in the songs "Broken," "My Surrender," and "Definition Of Me," and of course the hit that's already climbing the charts (up to #6 on 20 the Countdown Magazine) "Miracle Of The Moment." I highly recommend that you buy this album, not just because I'm a huge SCC fan, but because this is simply a great collection of songs with a great message from a great songwriter. You can listen to a preview of the album here.

I don't want you to miss the miracle of THIS MOMENT!!!

And on a little side note, today is my dog Casey's 4th birthday! We gave her a bone filled with yummy meat-flavored filling, and she "chewed" it (more like ate it) in less than an hour...

Have a great week, and don't miss this moment! :)

Happy Birthday, Peter!

Yesterday, it was off to Yorkville for cousin Peter's 8th birthday party!!! It was an afternoon of cousin football, playing outdoors on a gorgeous day, watching the Bears win (yeah!), cake and ice cream, and great family time!

Happy birthday, Peter!

Lookout!!! Here comes Joshua on the four-wheeler!!!

Who can resist playing on the swings on a beautiful fall day?
Sammy and Faith sure can't!!!Sammy and Peter were laughing so hard while they were jumping - so cute!Happy 8th birthday, Peter!!!

Blessing and Brupper

I had an awesome God moment as I was driving home from work today! I work for three hours a day in Sycamore after school and today was an especially hectic day at work. After I finally got off work, my mom called and needed me to stop for baking soda at the grocery store. So at the time I would usually be getting home after work, I was just leaving the grocery store in Sycamore and starting on my way home. Then all of a sudden, as I turned the corner, I saw the most beautiful sunset!!!! The clouds overhead were a deep, dark blue and the sun shone under them highlighting them first in deep purple, then pink, and all the way to orange and yellow until all that could be seen was a white horizon beyond the clouds... If I had not gone to the store, I might have missed it!!! I wish I had my camera with me, because then I could show you the sunset instead of trying to describe it to you with such insufficient words as "gorgeous" and "beautiful." So as I was amazed by the sunset, I realized that the song on the radio was one of my favorites - "Foreverandever, etc." by David Crowder Band. It was perfect because the sun's illumination seemed to stretch forever all across the sky! I took the time to call my mom to let her know how pretty the sky was. After I hung up with her, I turned up the radio to hear the song (get this) - "Miracle of the Moment" by Steven Curtis Chapman!!! It was the first time I've heard it on the radio (I've previewed it on the internet, but there's something different about hearing it on the radio!). The blessing I got from all of this? The chorus to "Miracle of the Moment" goes like this:

So breathe it in and breathe it out; listen to your heartbeat
There's a wonder in the here and now; it's right there in front of you,
And, I don't want you to miss the miracle of the moment!

It was as if God was saying, "Stefanie, I know work wasn't very easy today, but I need you to remember to just take a breath and enjoy this beauty I've created in this moment!!!" God, thank You for the reminder that as much as I tend to look to the future or the past, You are here in this moment loving and blessing me!


The other half of this post is brupper. You may be wondering, "what in the world is brupper? some sort of intestinal problem or a small rodent from Polynesia???" No my friends, brupper (a combination of breakfast and supper) is known in the Wessel house as having breakfast food at supper time. It is similar to what some people call brunch (breakfast and lunch) or lupper (lunch and supper). We had brupper last night and since I got home from work early, I was able to help out by making the pancakes! My mom made the scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon bits (yummy!) and my brothers fried the bacon strips. It was delicious!!! Muy Rico!!!

STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN - LIVE IN THIS MOMENT

Need I say more??? It was incredible!!!!! Our seats were fantastic, the concert was amazing, and I have pictures to prove it!!! I don't really know where to start with all the stories and things I experienced, so I guess I'll just start at the beginning!!! My mom got home from work and we set off on the 3 hour drive to Champaign/Urbana. We arrived early enough to do a little shopping and stop for dinner before arriving at the U of I Assembly Hall about an hour before the show started. Once we walked in the door, we were met by the volunteers from Shaohannah's Hope. Shoahannah's Hope is an organization that cares for orphans by helping families get over the financial hurdle of adoption. It was founded by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, and named after their first (of three) adopted daughters. At the concert, they were taking donations of loose change for their "Change for Orphans" campaign. I brought my jar of change to donate - and it turned out that if you donated a certain amount, you got a free t-shirt! And I'm glad I got that shirt, 'cause it was so hot in the Assembly Hall - no AC!!!

We found our seats (the second row in the first section of risers) and sat for a while, but with all the hot lights and so many people, I decided to go change out of my long sleeve shirt into my new "Show Hope" shirt. The concert began with Bethany Dillon (shown here with Eric) singing a few of her songs. I saw her last year at CHIC, so it was fun to sing along with some of the songs.

Sanctus Real was up next - and they were awesome! They were at Fish Fest with Steven in June, so it was a repeat performance of some of the songs for me, but they are so good that it almost seems like you are listening to their CD! After Sanctus Real finished, none other than Steven himself took the stage to explain a little about the Change for Orphans campaign, mentioning that his wife was in the audience. Then there was an intermission for about fifteen minutes. The boys went to walk around for a little bit while my mom and I stayed in the seats.

I was watching the crowds mill about on the floor section in front of us and all of a sudden I realized I recognized a woman being seated with a group of friends. It was none other than Mary Beth Chapman!!!! She was sitting talking to her friends while my mom was urging me to go talk to her. It took me a while to muster up the courage, but just after they made the announcement that intermission was over, I grabbed Mark to take a pic of us. She was so sweet!!! After the pic was finally taken (Mark actually took two) she asked Mark's and my names and the only other thing I could say was "I'm such a big fan...blah blah blah..." I said thanks again and right before we turned away she said, "You're welcome, and I love your shirt!!!" That's when I realized that we were both wearing the "Show Hope" shirts!!! It was so awesome!!! (I couldn't decide which pic I liked best...)Steven got off to a great start, opening with The Great Adventure and then a song off Steven's new album, This Moment, called Children of God. During this song, Steven's sons who were in the band were given solos - Caleb sang the second verse and Will Franklin had a drum solo. The night continued mixing songs both old and new, including a 10 minute montage of some of the older songs. Some that were sang: For the Sake of the Call, King of the Jungle, Free, Let Us Pray, Not Home Yet, The Change, The Walk, Fingerprints of God, More to This Life, Miracle of the Moment, Something Crazy, Cinderella (with the most precious accompaniment video), You Are Being Loved (my favorite off the new album), etc... It was amazing! During the montage of songs, he sang most of I Will Be Here, written to Mary Beth. While he was singing I couldn't help but watch Mary Beth as she watched Steven sing that song to her. I've sung along to that song for years, but in that moment, it seemed so much more personal and meaningful!!!The second to last song was Live out Loud, a great audience participation song. Being that only about twenty young people were there (or so it seemed), not many of the "older" fans were doing anything more than mouthing the words and clapping along during the chorus. Well, that song involves a lot of la-la-la's, and while I was la-la-la-ing, I had my hand in the air waving back and forth to the beat. Even thought I was the only person doing this, I didn't care - it was a great song!!! So once the bulk of the song was over, Steven grabs the microphone and walks from side to side of the stage getting the audience to sing along or whatever. The lights were shining on the audience and when Steven came over to my "side" of the stage, he all of a sudden looked and pointed directly at me, raised his other hand, and started making the same motion I was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This only lasted a few seconds before he had to finish the song, but it was so cool!!! I was the only one doing that anywhere near me, and I can't believe he saw me!!! I was singing along with a lot of the newer songs earlier in the concert because I had previewed them on the website and a few times I thought he was looking at me, but this time I know he did!!!!

Steven and his sons Caleb (guitar) and Will (drums)

He ended with Dive, of course, and his band took the final bow. However, before the night was over, Steven invited a family up on stage. They had recently adopted a little girl and were presented with $4,000 from the money that was raised at the concert last night. It was so cool to see our donations lived out in the face of this little baby with her "forever family." The night was amazing. The music was such a blessing to hear and experience... We didn't get home until two in the morning, but it was so worth it!!! Here are a few more pics (sorry if they're a little blurry!):

During the song Cinderella, the most beautiful silhouette video played of Steven dancing with his daughter as she grew older. Check out the video in my sidebar for more...

Steven did a beautiful solo on the piano while he sang When Love Takes You In. This song was written when the Chapman family adopted Shaohannah (Shaoey), and a video played in the background during the song featuring families meeting their adoptive children, including video of the first time the Chapmans met Shaoey - so beautiful!!!

Various concert pics... The one in the middle is Steven and Caleb in the same pose... could this be a second generation SCC???Steven presenting the family with the $4,000 grant from Shaohannah's Hope - this was actually the family's third child and second adoption!

The final bow... Such a great night!!!

PS - Check out the Chapman Channel. It's filled with tour rehearsal videos, behind the scenes stuff, previews of the new music, and an entire collection of Steven's music!!! (and if you read all the way through this, give yourself a cookie!!!)

Random Photos

So I was trying to think of something to post this week (that is, before the SCC concert [which is only 48 hours away!!!!!] happens...) and I remembered that I still have a few cool photos from the summer that I haven't shared on my blog. So without further ado, I present "Random Photos..."

This is the view from the top of La Roca church in Monterrey. This mountain, the Cerro de la Silla (Horse's saddle), is the most famous mountain in Monterrey - sort of the signature of the city...

While in Monterrey, the Clausons took me to a zoo with the families from their discipleship small group. We took a Serengeti Safari ride in an open air bus. You could buy food to feed the animals if you so desired, and this is how close the camels came - frightening, but it makes for a great action shot!!!

While on the Safari (in the middle of MEXICO...) I just couldn't help but be at awe with the gorgeous landscape... Mexicans joke that God didn't rest on the seventh day, He just spent more time on Mexico - and I believe it! This is a photo from Covenant Harbor at the newly renovated fire pit. The cross is the only thing not newly constructed. Now the campers can enjoy a bonfire without the risk of falling on the rotten old logs that used to make up the seating!!! (plus, there are lights that illuminate the stairway - why couldn't they do this when I was a camper? )These are the gorgeous flowers that grow on the side of the road as you head into Marquette. They were planted a few years ago and are kept up very well... I love the colors in this pic!
While at Susa and Forrest's reception, my mom and I stepped outside on the balcony and snapped this photo. I don't know why my forehead was so shiny, but I think the view of Marquette Bay makes up for it!

September is over?!?

I can't believe it! I feel like this month has flown by...

So not a whole lot has been going on this past week... I did start working back at Kid's Korner after school. I worked for them last winter, and it's located in the same warehouse as Primary, so I'm back in familiar territory! Then last night my mom and I did a laundry run - our washer works, but our dryer made some funny sounds after the flood, so we just bring wet clothes to the laundromat and dry them there... It's not much fun, but there's a Dairy Queen right next door... Hehe! After stopping for ice cream, we came home and had another Mother-Daughter Movie Night. I rented "An Affair to Remember" from the library and it was great - it's from the fifties; a romantic, tear-jerking chick flick. After that, we watched the better parts of "Sleepless in Seattle" - a movie that was actually inspired by "Affair."

Then this morning was Pastor Steve's second Sunday at Hillcrest! It has been fourteen months between pastors, and it's so good to have a great pastor and his family here - finally!!! After church, we had a delicious steak dinner from the grill (thanks Mark!) and I took a little time to clean my room. My mom was working on sorting stuff from the flood and dug out a bookshelf topper from the garage. Since all the bookshelves that were downstairs were thrown away in the flood, she thought I could use it on my desk (I had used it on my desk in the past.) So, I spent a little time rearranging my trinkets...

My new desk arrangement!

Hand-made ceramic gifts from Mexico...

And since this is the last day of September, that means tomorrow is the first day of October, and that means that October 5th is only 5 days away.... What I'm getting at is that I'll be in Urbana for a Steven Curtis Chapman/Sanctus Real concert on Friday!!!!!!! I can't wait!!!

WaNiPa Wedding!

On the weekend of Sept. 8, I traveled with my mom and Granny to my beloved UP for the second time in a month. My cousin Susa had her wedding ceremony on the beach at WaNiPa - and it was beautiful!

We left our house just after lunch on Friday and after a record 3 stops, we arrived at the Nordic Bay Lodge to spend the night. After waking up to hilltop views of Lake Superior, we headed out to the cabins for a midday ceremony. We walked directly to the beach to white chairs set up on the beach. Behind the chairs, we were surprised to find the groom, Forrest, playing a gorgeous new piano - on the beach!!! The piano was a gift to the bride and groom from the groom's parents, and it took over an hour to get it down to the beach. Eventually, the pastor, Althea (the groom's mother), and Forrest walked down the aisle and "Here Comes the Bride" began to play. We all stood in anticipation, waited, waited some more, and sat again when the music changed. After a few minutes, we were informed that the bride did not have cold feet, but the ring bearer had lost the rings somewhere between the cabins and the top of the dune. Being, in fact, the bride's family dog Elvis, it truly wasn't his fault that the rings had come untied from his doggy tuxedo. The ceremony did go on once the rings were replaced with purple ribbon. The flower girl, Susa's cat, was carried by the maid of honor, and Forrest's brother, Birrion, walked Elvis down the aisle as best man.(Yes, that is a piano on the beach!)

The ceremony was beautiful, and shortly after the bride and groom was presented as Mr. & Mrs. Stonedahl, the wedding rings were found in the sand on the path. The wedding party took their pictures on the beach, on Presque Isle, and even hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain. The reception was held in Marquette at Upfront & Company.Me with the Bride & Groom at the reception -

there was a deck overlooking lower harbor...

It was such a perfect day for a beach wedding. We found out later that the day before, there had been 40 mph winds, horrid rain, and waves covering the beach almost to the beach grass! Praise God for great weather!

On Sunday, we were able to spend a little time in town. We went to Messiah Lutheran for church (we were actually early to church - something that never happens when we're up there!), ate pasties at Lawry's, ice cream at Jillbert's, drove around the Island, and went shopping, of course!

While we were shopping at Touch of Finland, I realized that I really don't own anything Swedish. My mom has a few things, but I don't. And what could be more Swedish than a Dala horse?!? Since there were none at touch of Finland (not surprisingly), we went to Scandinavian Gifts and I found the perfect Dala horse!!! I love it! Plus, it was on sale! All in all, a great weekend! And here's a great pic I got from the dune on Sunday - strong wind, but still beautiful!!!