To all my wonderful siblings: I LOVE YOU!!!

**Picture taken April 2010 by the Neely Team.

Around mid-afternoon, everything was ready and the Sorensen’s arrived!! They brought an additional amount of fun, brilliance, and enthusiasm to our home, as, over the next 2 days, their seven children just radiated the joy of Jesus Christ added to abundant energy! During dinner, the dining room buzzed with cheerful chatter. During a tour of Accurate Innovations, they listened attentively. I was also particularly blessed by witnessing how they interacted with each other, and with our little ones – responses were kind and loving!

Another highlight of their visit for me was listening to and talking with the adults. The various topics discussed throughout the weekend were edifying, uplifting, and educational. I enjoyed hearing the new, exciting perspectives they had on different issues facing the Church today.

Thank you, Sorensen’s, for being faithful to carry the Light of Christ to all! He truly shines brightly through you!!

We were touched and encouraged, and can’t wait until next time!   

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

“Wow! I can’t believe this is really happening!!” I thought as I fastened the last buckle of my parachute and climbed onto the wing of the navy blue Stearman biplane. Tingles of nervous anticipation raced through me as Cousin Dave helped me buckle the  seatbelts and calmly explained emergency procedures. In front of us, in his blue and yellow plane, Cousin Rick guided Dad through the same  process as we prepared to make the flight from the hangar to the showgrounds of the Flying Circus. With my ear plugs in, sunglasses and flying cap on, buckles securely fastened, and the last adjustments made, I sat back to enjoy my surroundings and wave goodbye to Cousin Bill and the rest of the family on the ground while we waited for our pilots to finish their preparations. Moments later, another thrill shot through me as the engine sputtered, then came to life with a roar. 

We taxied over to the runway and I remember thinking, “We’re off!!”, as the planes took off in formation. At first, we just flew in big circles, gaining altitude in preparation for the aerobatics. We made a couple passes over the hangar while we were doing this and waved to those watching from below. (One time, I actually reached outside of the cockpit to wave… and about got my arm ripped off because I wasn’t prepared for the force of the wind!) My nerves continued to tingle, and suddenly the feeling intensified when we split from formation – the real fun was about to begin! Glancing in the mirror (the only method of communication in the open-topped plane), I saw Cousin Dave motion to ask me if I was ready for a loop. Shivering with a mixture of nervous suspense and intense excitement, I signaled back “thumbs up!” Suddenly, my stomach jumped as the plane dove down for a second, then began climbing up, up, up. I grabbed the rails as we reached the top of the circle, and then we were upside down! For a few seconds, I savored the exhilarating sensation of hanging upside down in the harness, and then my heart leaped into my throat as we dove back down the other side……

“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) How true we found this verse to be while we were in Virginia last weekend! We had been planning to go to the Family Encouragement Weekend for quite a while, looking forward to it with much anticipation as one of the  biggest highlights of our year. This year we wanted to get there a day early to help with the preparations, so we left on Wednesday night, split the trip, and went the rest of the way on Thursday. Little did we know that the Lord would use the extra time we had planned in a way we would’ve never imagined…

While we were traveling up the Interstate on Thursday, we received a call from my aunt. When she found out where we were headed, she exclaimed, “Oh! We have cousins that live there!” As it turned out, my grandfather’s first cousin, Bill, and his wife, Marty, live just around the corner from our friends! But I’m getting ahead of myself… After another phone call or two, we got the contact  information for them and tried to call, but had to leave a message. Not knowing whether they would be home or not, we decided to stop by anyway, hoping to get to meet/reconnect with them. Imagine what they must have been thinking when their house was peaceful and quiet one  minute, and invaded with 12 practical strangers the next!! However, they were very gracious and invited us in, and we sat and talked for about an hour and a half. It was a great visit! Cousin Bill is a retired commercial airline pilot, and flying runs heavily in the family; in fact, Cousin Marty  has written a book about flying. Their two sons are also commercial pilots, and fly on the weekends at a local airshow called the Flying Circus. Throughout the course of the visit, especially after they found out that Dad has his private pilot’s license, they repeatedly urged us to come back on Sunday to meet their boys and go to the show. We wanted to, but were unsure of whether it would work out, since Dad was supposed to be back at work in Monday, and we had a 9 hour drive between Virginia and home…

We just kept praying about it through the whole weekend, asking the Lord to work it all out if it was His will. Our friends offered their home for another night, and Dad made a few phone calls, trying to get Monday off. We were absolutely thrilled when everything worked out, but our joy then was only a prelude to blessing of that Sunday afternoon and evening. Immediately after  church, we slipped away and raced back to Cousin Bill and Cousin Marty’s house. We met their “boys”, Rick and Dave, while they were getting their airplanes out and preparing to leave for the Circus. Much to our surprise, they told us that “anyone who wanted to ride was going to ride!” (I wonder if they had any idea what they were getting into before they offered that…) Dad and I were the first volunteers… the story above tells about that. The ride over was fantastic! I’ve wanted to ride in a stunt plane for almost as long as I can remember, and I know Dad was absolutely delighted to be in the air again (Cousin Rick let him fly most of the way there)! After we had done a loop and a roll, we headed straight for the showgrounds, and as we flew over the beautiful countryside, I sat back in awe: the only thing I could think was “God is SO good!!”

When we arrived, our cousins took us to the pilot’s briefing. Cousin Dave introduced us, and mentioned that our family sings, and the moderator shocked me by asking if we would sing the “Star Spangled Banner” at the beginning of the  show! Dad agreed, although I have to admit, I got far more nervous about that than I did about the plane ride! The rest of the family arrived a few minutes later, and we had a great time watching the show – it was  amazing! I don’t have time to go into detail about the rest of the afternoon, but between the show, airplane and ATV rides, and visiting, we had a fantastic time! Cousin Dave’s wife, Terry, and their two girls, Rory and Elly, also came – what a delight to meet them! (We’re still waiting to meet Cousin Rick’s family… hopefully next time!) When we finished up everything at the showgrounds, we went back to the hangar, where we picked up Cousin Marty (she hadn’t been with us at the show) and went out to eat.

By the time we said our final goodbyes at 10:30 that night, we’d had an incredible day. The Lord’s hand of providence was so evident in everything that happened; we marveled at the way He worked it all out in a way that far exceeded our wildest imaginations!! But the biggest blessing we received didn’t come from the material generosity of our new-found family. As Dad said it, yes,  the airplanes were cool and everything, and we had a fantastic  time, but what really impressed us the most was the genuine love and tenderness that whole family showed toward one another. Honestly, we have never seen anything like it! There was never a correction or argument, a joke at another’s expense, or even the slightest suggestion of  anything other than kindness and friendship. The couples acted as if they were still on their honeymoon; the brothers were obviously best friends. The loving looks, the care, and concern of parents, children, and siblings for one another was amazing to watch! We came away feeling rebuked for our own lack of affection and tenderness, and yet encouraged to show our love to each other more! “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:” (Hebrews 10:24) “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” (Romans 12:10) “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” (1 John 4:11)

We praise God for so clearly directing our steps; truly, “…Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Well, the cake was in the oven, and everything seemed to be going very well. The aroma of a cake baking in the oven is something that I find hard to compare to anything else. Its just so, ummm, inviting… and it smells so good…nay, scrumptious. Anyway, I continued following the recipe. Now was the time to mix up the pudding. Put the pudding in the pot, pour in the milk, add the butter, stir in the vanilla… the project was going very well. But, then I realized that the pudding wasn’t thickening, and I wanted to use it as a frosting, not a glaze. Some observers came in about then, and willingly offered to taste-test it for me, just in case I had forgotten anything. (We even thought about adding cornstarch to it, but I guess if we had, it wouldn’t have produced quite the same memory, so I’m glad we didn’t.) But the good news was that the general vote was that it was really good.

So, the cake came out of the oven, and after it cooled, I layered it with the pudding mixture. Cake, pudding, cake, pudding, cake, pudding… it was all on… temporarily… that’s when the sliding began. There’s nothing quite like seeing a freshly baked cake sliding all over a plate while you’re trying to assemble it. We did our best to get it to “stand” still long enough to put it in the fridge.

Upon delivering it to the table after a delicious supper, it looked rather interesting, to say the least. I think Daddy was expecting it to be a normal birthday cake… but no, it definitely was not. If I recall correctly, it was still slipping and sliding around on the plate, pudding and bananas oozing out the sides, requiring extra caution, especially during transport.

It was dished up, and there was quite the discussion going on over this new invention, and it was an invention, because I’m sure no one had ever done this recipe that way before. It was a humorous desert to behold, that’s for sure. Daddy affectionately called it “Banana Flop Cake” – that gives an idea of what it looked like. Thankfully,it tasted really good, and ever since that night, there has been a frequent request to make it again. It turned out to be one of the most wonderful tasting messes ever imaginable!

Finally, we made it again today; this time we did it according to the recipe and made it in a 13×9 pan. Everything was going really well. And once again the wonderful aroma was filling the kitchen. Ahhhh, it smelled so good! Then, Beep, Beep, Beep… the timer was ringing, so I opened the oven, and to my surprise, the cake had risen over the edge of the pan! How was I supposed to put the pudding mixture on top of that, especially with it runny enough to get all over the counter?!?! I ended up dumping it, upside down, into a 15×11 pan, and then drizzling the pudding over it. It was delicious, and thoroughly enjoyed. And, even though this time it looked nice, it still will always have the name of “Banana Flop Cake.”  Ahhhh, memories!

Sometimes God gives us something to do and we just make a total mess of it. However, “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” He can take our mess and turn it into something desirable – a ministry opportunity, a life lesson, an example or encouragement to others – which shows His sovereignty and grace, making something beautiful out of our disaster and bringing glory to Himself!!

Lessons to be learned:

• Be careful when altering recipes – you never know what may happen!
• Don’t give up, even when you make a mess twice!
• Make sure you laugh when life sends cake in unusual ways!

Oh… I guess you were probably waiting for the recipe. So, here it is… and think about us if you make it… and enjoy!

Banana Pudding Cake (aka “Banana Flop Cake”)

Cake:

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 15×11 baking dish; set aside.

Place all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low for 1 minute. Stop mixer, scrape sides of bowl, then continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes. Batter should be thick and well-blended. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it out with rubber spatula. Bake for 30-33 minutes, or until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove pan from oven and place it on wire rack to cool.

• 1 large package  vanilla instant pudding mix
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 stick butter, cut up
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 cups sliced bananas (about 3 large)

While cake is baking, prepare the pudding. Place pudding mix and milk in a medium saucepan. Fold in butter and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring, until butter melts (about 3-4 minutes).Remove pan from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Fold in banana slices.

To prepare cake, spoon pudding over cooled cake, making sure all edges are covered. Optional: Serve with whipped topping and/or crushed vanilla wafer cookies sprinkled over the top. Refrigerate cake, loosely covered for up to 3 days.

Jessi’s version:

• Use two small boxes pudding mix instead of 1 large – makes it a little bit thicker, and I used 1 vanilla and 1 banana cream.
• We think its best served cold, but the recipe says to serve at room temperature. Follow your taste buds.
• You could try it in a 13×9, or in 3  9-inch round cake pans; I personally think it would do best in the 15×11. *grin*
• We didn’t have any whipped topping, so we just served it with a can of whipped cream, which is Dad’s personal favorite.

Psalm 133:1 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

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- watching “The Star of  Bethlehem” and then discussing the incredible power, sovereignty, majesty, and wisdom of our Creator

- playing many games, including Dutch Blitz, Occupation, Catan, Duck-Duck-Goose, Swap, Kings-and-Peasants, etc. 

- listening to the Staddon family practice beautiful family harmony – with voice (esp. the quintet ), piano, violin, and handbells

- getting to feed many large appetites

- spending quality times around the table, reading the Bible, relating our most embarrassing moments, sharing spiritual insights, singing, laughing, writing  lists of everything else we wanted to do, etc.

-gaining experience and knowledge regarding photography and operating a website and blog (special thanks to James and Robert!)

- staying up to a record time of 4:00 a.m. on New  Years  Eve

- blowing up our gingerbread house

  Well, needless to say, when the “Staddon  Wagon” pulled out of our driveway on Friday, we were left with a sense of loss but also one of having been wonderfully refreshed! One   particular thing we appreciate about the Staddon family is their constant JOY!! (That comes from having Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last.) Whether in helping prune our fruit trees, eating a peanut butter ball, helping  clear the table, or playing Catan, they constantly had smiles and words of encouragement!  Thank you, Staddons!

Note: For more stories and  pictures, please visit the Staddons’ blog!! (We promise, it’ll be worth it just to see the incredible gingerbread-house-explosion shots!!!)

It started on December 26th. Actually, it was closer to December 27th. After a busy day of preparation, the younger ones had gone to bed and all of the rest of us were waiting with much anticipation for Mommy’s brother and his family to arrive! Though we have seen them several times this year at their home, Uncle Dan, Aunt Lisa, David, Brian, Rachel, and Samantha had not been to our house in over eight years!! (Way too long!!) Well, they finally arrived… and, for now, we’ll let the whole Team give you the highlights of our time together.

Hannah: “Playing games with David and Brian was fun.”

Kathryn: “One of my favorite memories of the weekend was lying out on our deck (in the freezing cold, that is ) looking at the stars, the brilliant moon, and Mars, exclaiming rather loudly about the funny shapes we saw in the passing clouds, and discussing the magnificent wisdom and goodness of our Creator! When we became so cold that we couldn’t stand it any longer, we came inside, prepared steaming cups of hot chocolate, and then went to the basement to spend some time in sharing prayer requests and praying together. What a blessing to have cousins that aren’t just relatives… but good friends and those with whom we can share what the Lord has been teaching us!! A few more highlights were showing Brian some things about the violin, as well as finding out that he is finally taller than me!:)” 

Dad: “It was just a blessing to have them here; it’s been a long time! We’ve been the recipients of their wonderful hospitality many times but they seldom give us the opportunity to return it. I have had a tremendous respect for and have admired big brother Dan for many years and consider myself blessed to be part of their family.  I especially enjoyed our time out with just Dan and Lisa.”

Bethany: “I liked playing with Brian! Herman was a cowboy and me and Brian were the bad guys. It was fun!”

Amanda: “We had a FANTASTIC time with the Conns!! It was such a blessing to have great fellowship with family, and we thoroughly enjoyed having them in our home again after eight too-long years! Without a doubt, my favorite part was the prayer meeting that David, Brian, Jessi, Kathryn, Victoria, and I had on Monday night! There was such a unity between us as we exchanged prayer requests and then lifted our prayers to God! To hear each other’s hearts and then to pray about it together was extremely uplifting, to say the least! Another one of my favorite things was the time that I had to talk one-on-one to Rachel, sharing with her, and her sharing with me. It was a very special time! I also thoroughly enjoyed the general time with everyone… playing games, talking to Uncle Dan and Aunt Lisa, getting up early to make breakfast with our cousins – it was all wonderful!”

Susanna: “One of my favorite times was getting to play in a little hideout with Rachel, Lauren, and Herman. We pretended that we were orphans and that that was a house that our pretend grandfather had once used as a hiding spot during a war. We even “found” some old things that he had hidden in secret places! That was so fun!”

Mom: “How exciting to have my brother and his family here for a visit!! I loved all the  one-on-one time chatting, and our couples night out was a definite favorite!!”

Lauren: “I really liked it when all the parents went out for supper and left all of the kids at home together. We played “Sardines” and “Hide-n-Seek” in the dark!! Then, when the parents called and told us that they were on their way home, we all hid in the basement shower together! It was really squished and kind of hot, but it was so fun! Then the parents had to find us when they came inside. How funny!”

Herman: “I thought it was fun to shoot David’s air-soft gun!”

Victoria: “Our whole weekend was a HUGE blessing! I really enjoyed all the time we got to spend playing games and getting to know all of our cousins better. Spending one-on-one time with Samantha playing the violin was also a  blast!”

Jessica: “Wow! I was told to write a brief summary of my favorite part, but what can you say when everything was buckets of fun! I didn’t used to think about the relationships that I have with our cousins, but the older I get, the more I realize what a treasure I have, not to just have cousins, but to consider them friends. This time that we had to make  memories with them was something that will not soon be forgotten. It is difficult to pick one thing that was my favorite because  everything was so much fun! Lots of memories were made playing “Sardines” and having thirteen people crowded into a small area, laying outside on the deck in freezing weather looking at the stars and talking about the greatness of our Creator, getting up early and making breakfast together, having meaningful discussions, and the list could go on! It was hard to let them leave, but we look forward to the next time we get together, whether it is at our house or theirs!”

Every year, we try to think of ways to simplify the Christmas season so that we can concentrate more on the true meaning of Christmas – that Jesus came to Earth to save us from our sins. Sometimes we succeed; and a lot of times… well, we’ll just leave it at that. This year, we had a kind of “forced simplicity”, which made Christmas 2009 go down in Neely Team history as probably “the most unusual Christmas we’ve ever had!” 

The night of Christmas Eve, we were planning to follow our regular Christmas traditions the next day, and to just enjoy the time with each other. We had invited about ten other people to come have Christmas dinner with us, so we had gotten the house in ship shape,and by the time we went to bed that night, we were ready for a good night’s sleep, in preparation for what looked like would be a fairly busy day the next day. Yes, it was busy, but not quite in the way that we had planned!…

For me, it all started around 5:15 am, when I awoke to hear the excited whispers and restless movement of two of my sisters, in the bed next to mine. We have a rule that no one is allowed to get up before 6:00 on Christmas morning, to allow the sleepy ones (i.e. Dad, Mom, and a couple of us “stick-in-the-mud” older girls ) a teensy bit more time to sleep! So anyway, I was lying there, trying to tune out the noise of the girls’ excitement and go back to sleep, when I suddenly realized how dark it was. The power had gone out! I didn’t think much of it at first, because we have power outages all the time (especially when we have a windstorm like we had that night), and they usually don’t last very long. However, it was about 5:45 before I finally drifted off to sleep again, and my last thought was, Hmm. I wonder if the power will come back on in time…

Well, that altered a few people’s plans to get up at 6:00, as they were still lying in bed, wondering what would be the point of getting up in the dark, with no lights, no water, and no way to cook the breakfast we had planned! Finally, around 6:45, my siblings managed to wake me up enough to get out of bed, and  all nine of us headed downstairs to Mom and Dad’s room, to wake them up, too, in spite of the dark. After all, that’s what flashlights and candles are for, right?

That morning was actually very similar to other Christmas mornings, except that we got up later, couldn’t turn on our Christmas lights, couldn’t turn on ANY lights, except for our candles and flashlights, and had scrambled eggs and grits (which we cooked on our gas-powered stove) instead of baking the breakfast casserole that we usually have on special occasions. After it got to be light outside, Dad went out and hooked up the generator, which some friends just helped us hard-wire to the house back in October – just in time! The effect was wonderful! It wasn’t like having all of our regular electricity on, but it was good enough to run a couple things at a time, so that we took turns running things like the hot water (for showers and dishes), kitchen lights, refrigerators, and freezers. It’s amazing how attached we can become to our modern conveniences… and how much we miss them when they’re gone!!

After breakfast, we all gathered in the living room again to read the Christmas story and open gifts. Usually we just read the Christmas account from Luke 2, but this year we READ it, taking time between each verse to discuss the scenario and imagine what it would’ve been like to really be there. From Luke, we went back to Matthew and read the story about the wise men. Then we got into a discussion about “the star.” What was “the star” that the wise men followed? We had quite the discussion about that, and talked about several different possibilities; all in all a very interesting conversation! But more about that later…

We had to cancel our dinner plans with our friends because of the power outage. That was okay, because it gave us more family time; more time to relax and enjoy each other’s company. We altered our meal plan just a little, so that instead of baking the turkey, we grilled venison cube steaks and tenderloins – delicious!

We had another interesting twist to the day when shortly after dinner, the generator suddenly ran out of gas! We had called the power company, and they had said that they hoped to have the power back on by 11:00… PM… on SATURDAY night!!! So, with that in mind, Dad decided that we had to try to get some gas, so that our refrigerators would stay cold. At first, he was planning to go out by himself, but after some discussion, we decided to all load up and go. So, we enjoyed our time, spending Christmas in our 2nd (or maybe our real) home – the van! I have to mention here that usually we spend a lot of Christmas afternoon settled down in the living room, sitting in front of the Christmas tree. It’s so cozy and homey… but obviously that wasn’t going to work very well this time, so we loaded our two-foot-high tree into the van, plugged the lights into a power inverter, and enjoyed our little Christmas tree in our “home away from home” – how appropriate!

I realize that this is pretty long, and I don’t want to bore anyone, so I’ll skip to the end of the story… The power actually came back on around 7:00 pm, so that night we cozied down and watched “The Star of Bethlehem.” Let me take just a moment here and encourage anyone who has never seen that video to PLEASE do so!!! It is AMAZING!! Words fail me when I try to describe it, but it is an unbelievably fascinating tribute to the accuracy of the Bible and the sovereignty and perfection of God!!!!!! To know that the God of our universe would actually come to Earth, be born as a human baby, live a perfectly human life, and die an excruciating and horrible human death… just to save me, and all of us, from our sins and give us the opportunity to live with Him forever, is hard enough to fathom!!!! Then to see the design and perfection with which He had planned the universe to announce His coming, birth, and death… it was incredibly humbling!! It was a wonderful end to a truly wonderful Christmas!!!!!!!!!!