Graduation weekend

This past weekend, we managed to have two of our children graduate from college.  Nathanael officially graduated from Concordia in Ann Arbor on Sunday, May 19.  Nathanael chose not to walk in the graduation ceremonies (despite Laura's questioning), but he has completed all that needed to be done for the diploma.  We are proud of him, and we are looking forward to see where he will working and what he will be doing.  He has some ideas, but no definitive plans at the moment.

And while we would have made efforts to get to Nathanael's graduation ceremonies in Ann Arbor, we were not terribly broken up about not having to drive through the night from New Ulm, Minnesota to Ann Arbor, Michigan to be at both graduations.

On Saturday, May 18, the whole family managed to be in attendance for Faith's graduation from Martin Luther College, as well as the Call service where Faith was assigned to be a teacher in a Lutheran school.  Faith graduated with a double major, meaning she was eligible to be assigned to any grades from K-12.  Faith's preference was for high school, and she was even recommended for the high school level.  Needless to say, we were all surprised when Faith was assigned to teach science to grades 5-8 at Mt. Lebanon Lutheran School in Milwaukee.  And of course, she will also be coaching.

Faith's Divine Call is certainly different than what was expected, and it is taking some time to wrap her mind around what all of this entails.  But different means different.  We cannot assess it as either good or bad until she experiences the staff, the students, the school, the work, living in Milwaukee, etc...  Early phone calls by Faith to the people at Mt. Lebanon have indicated that different will be good.  And if we believe the Holy Spirit is at work in his Church, then we also believe God thinks it is good that Faith will be serving at Mt. Lebanon.  We are proud of what she has accomplished in the past, and we are looking forward to what her future will be.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

The graduates, Nathanael and Faith.

Grandma & Grandpa Schmidt came to congratulate Faith in New Ulm.

In the Chapel of the Christ.

This photo shows two people who are agonizing over Faith's assignment.  Faith was hopeful that she might return to her alma mater, Michigan Lutheran Seminary, as a tutor.  (MLS did not get any new female tutors assigned to it.)  Philip, who will be a senior at MLS next year, was praying fervently that Faith would not be assigned to be a tutor while he is still there.  Both had strong reactions to the announcement of Faith's assignment--Faith was surprised; Philip was relieved.

Traveling with the Schroeders -- New Ulm, Minnesota

This past weekend, we took a trip to New Ulm, Minnesota (where else would you want to be in January?) to Martin Luther College.  It was Parents' Weekend, and we had never made it to one.  This would be the last Parents' Weekend Faith would be eligible for, so we made the 13 hour trek to the prairie.  All things considered, it was pretty temperate for New Ulm in January -- in the 20's Fahrenheit, not 20 below!

We were able to catch two games over the weekend.  On Friday, we saw a 85-63 loss to U-M Morris.  You can check out the stats of that game here.  The loss did not come as a surprise since Morris is 2nd in the conference.  Still, MLC was hoping for a better outing than they got.

On Saturday, MLC righted the ship, jumping out to an early, commanding lead and cruising to a convincing 71-45 win over Crown College.  Faith had a better game against Morris though.  Against Crown, she ended up collecting too many fouls to remain as aggressive as she likes.  In addition, the large lead against Crown allowed the coach to make sure that all players got to play a good deal, which was nice for Parents' Weekend.  You can see the stats for that game here.

This will likely be the last time that we get to see Faith play live.  It has been a lot of fun to watch her all these years.  She has sure worked hard at the game, and I suspect that hard work and dedication will be passed on through coaching in the years to come.

Some photos from the weekend.

Traveling with the Schroeders ... end of summer, 2016

Vacation was hard to come by because of multiple work schedules and only three cars to accommodate all the schedules.  (It is somewhat embarrassing to complain about "only" three cars.)  So, once we had people placed in football camps, we could afford to take one of those cars out of circulation and hit the road for a week.  As it turns out, we needed that car in circulation anyway.

Back in July, some Schroeders headed to Wisconsin to see my parents.  More of us were supposed to go, but an additional orthodontist appointment for Caleb meant that Laura and Caleb did not.  But Nathanael, Philip, Peter, and I got to go both to see my parents and to catch part of Packers' training camp.  Nathanael had hoped to get his SVSU shirt autographed by SVSU alum and Packers' wide receiver, Jeff Janis.  But Janis walked past, so no autograph for Nathanael.

Our actual family vacation whittled the family down to Laura, Peter, and me.  All others were either at football camp or working.  In this incredibly dry summer for Michigan, we got to enjoy rain on our vacation.  But in the midst of our vacation plans, we found out that Charli had arranged plane tickets for Nathanael to come and see her graduation from boot camp in South Carolina.  We were not able to make the trip, but we were glad Nathanael got to go.  Way to go, Charli!

So, here was the itinerary for our vacation.

Jellystone Park, Frankenmuth (2 nights)
Home to get Nathanael to the airport (1 night)
Traverse City State Park / M-22 drive / Sleeping Bear Dunes (2 full days, 1 night)
Back home to pick up Nathanael from the airport (1 night)
Say "Goodbye" to Faith who left for New Ulm on Friday morning, sleep a lot to get caught up from excessive running around; spend the night at home (1 more night)
Up to Saginaw for Caleb's and Philip's registration & opening service at MLS.  We were going to have a family night at a hotel, but Caleb and Philip said they were going to stay in the dorm.  So, why spend the money?  Go back home.

Anyway, here are a few photos from the last month of summer.  Enjoy!

Green Bay Packers' training camp.

Nathanael enjoys watching the wide receiver drills at Packers' training camp.

Peter's Lambeau Leap at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Me with my parents in Sheboygan.

Andrew got to say "Goodbye" to Faith before he headed back to Ann Arbor for more football camp.

Peter with Yogi Bear at Jellystone Park.

Peter at Bronners' Christmas store, Frankenmuth.

Peter, checking out directions in Sutton's Bay on M-22 in Leelenau county.

Ice cream break at Northport on our M-22 loop.

Sleeping Bear Dunes, from the top of the Empire Bluff Trail.

Peter running down the Dune Climb, Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Caleb and Philip, all ready for a new school year at MLS.  Peter starts 2nd grade later in the week.

A final farewell hug before Faith leaves for MLC in New Ulm, MN.
We will not see Faith until Thanksgiving.  Sniff.....

A photo session -- 2016 basketball games, part 2

Once again, it is time to post a few more photos from the basketball season.  We are quickly coming up on the end of the year (only a few weeks away).  Faith is enjoying a little run in their conference playoffs.  Unfortunately, they play toinght at UW-Superior while we will be coming home after church.  We should be able to catch most of it when we get home.  Go Knights!  (And thanks to whoever has been taking the photos in Minnesota and has been posting them on Facebook!)  This Photo Session will feature Faith (Martin Luther College) and Philip (St. Peter's Lutheran School).

Enjoy!

Since we were not able to make it to New Ulm for Parents' Day,
Faith was escorted by her cousins, Daniel and Jacob Schmidt.  Thanks, guys!!!

There's a background story here, I'm sure.

2nd place at the MLS tournament, co-ed division.  Coach Thuerer was not in the photo.