How to make photo blocks

Buy some wooden blocks from a craft store and paint them.

Ahhhh, what lovely colors!

Cut out photos or pictures and other do-dads you're going to put on the blocks.

Lay out on a table everything you need before you start gluing.

After you have glued everything on, use a fancy schlack glue over the top to make everything secure and shiny.

Slowly it will dry and you'll be able to see your pictures again.

I had Todd drill a small hole in the top of each one.

Put the photo holder in the small hole and put a picture in it and "ta-da!" you're got a photo block!
Enjoy!

How to Make M & M wreaths

A completed M & M Wreath

1st:  bend and cut a hanger...

2nd:  Get Todd to weld the cut hanger closed...

3rd:  Cut pipe cleaners into about 2 inch pieces...

Fun and colorful...

Making wreaths involves jobs for everyone...

Drew loved his job...

Drew and Ben counted out 15 M & Ms....

Patty cut the plastic wrap into squares...
 

 

We wrapped the M & Ms in the plastic and used the pipe cleaners to close them and attach them to the hangers...

Kimberly is holding up a partially completed wreath...

Yum!  A completed wreath.....

 

 

We made one for each family:  The Breuns, The Hensens, The Iversons, and the Sapps...

You may be wondering what makes these M & M wreaths special.... Well, my Grandma and Grandpa Alber always had one of these at their house when we would visit over Christmas vacation.  All of my cousins and siblings fondly remember that we could have one baggie of M & Ms a day.  What a treat!  My Grandma's friend was the one who made them each year.  So, at Thanksgiving this year, my siblings, my mom, and I made our own M & M wreaths.  I think Grandma would have thought that was pretty great! 

Merry Christmas from The Sapps!

 

 Greetings from Todd and Jennifer!  We hope this note finds you happy and well!  Here is our Christmas letter.... a year in pictures....enjoy!  God bless you!  Love, Jennifer

Daniel graduated in May!  He works at Buffalo Wild Wings and goes to St. Cloud Technical College for Industrial Electronics.  He spends a lot of time working on his 1977 Ford Ranchero.

James and Jaimee Sapp got married in June!  They live in Becker.  James works at Remmele Engineering and Jaimee is going to St. Cloud Technical College studying to be an Administrative Assistant. 

Daniel, Jennifer, Todd, James, and Jaimee Sapp!
Merry Christmas, 2012!

Todd and Jennifer enjoyed a trip to Colorado this summer!
It was nice for Todd to get some time off from Remmele and I enjoyed each day of my summer vacation from teaching.   

This is Todd's 1948 Ford Truck and a 1957 Foley lawnmower that belonged to Todd's Grandpa Sapp, and two stationary engines (one with a grain grinding attachment).  We displayed these things at Albany Pioneer Days this fall.

Jennifer's extended family got together for Thanksgiving at the Sapp house this year!

Grandma Alber went to be with Jesus last year, but this year my siblings and I made M & M wreaths to remind us of all the great times we had with our grandparents through the years.  Yum!



We love picking out our own Christmas tree each year! 
Enjoy your family traditions!

Todd and I about to go underground on a mine tour in Colorado!
We are carrying flashlights to help us find our way. 
We are so grateful Jesus was born to help us find The Way!

 

 

 

Oh, Freedom!

Oh, Freedom!

    I adore being a second grade teacher!  November is one of my most favorite months in which to teach.  Each day, my students write down something they are thankful for.  Listing thirty things seems overwhelming to a 7 year old at first.  How rewarding to watch them come to understand the concept that you can be thankful for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!  It's a choice and it's easy.   

   I love telling my students about those first Americans who left their native land to come to the New World full of new freedoms.  They left a land of being told what to believe and were instead able to build up their own churches and develop their own faith freely.  They abandoned a land where they had to keep their opinions secret to find that in America they could express themselves in newspapers, on soap boxes, and anywhere they went.  It is hard for my second graders to comprehend a world where someone didn't have these freedoms.  These lessons build up an appreciation for our country and the freedoms we still enjoy.

  The Church recently celebrated Reformation Sunday and the impact Martin Luther had on the history of our Protestant faith.  Because he was willing to protest and make reforms, we can enjoy freedom to know God in a very personal way.  Luther rewrote the Bible from Latin to German so we could understand it and read it ourselves.  Luther taught us that we do not have to go through a priest to connect with God, but we can pray directly to God.  We no longer have to pay large sums of money to the church or do elaborate good deeds to be assured of Salvation,  but we know that it is through Jesus we are saved.

   While Luther was doing his own searching before the Reformation, he searched the Bible to find the answer to how he could be SURE he would go to Heaven when he died.  He focused on Galations, Psalms, and Romans.  Luther came to a deep understanding that it is by faith we are saved, not through works.  The heart of his discovery was found in Romans 3:21-31.  Here is Romans 3:21-25: 

   "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.  He did this to demonstrate his justice......

So, everyone has sinned.  Sin must be punished.  Jesus took the punishment (He was the sin bearer) so God could be just in forgiving us.  The only way we have "right standing" with God is through Jesus.  Once we understand this and put our faith in Jesus, we begin the process of sanctification and we do our best to uphold the law and do what it is God has laid out for us to do.  

    So, just as the first Americans were free, the first Protestants under the leadership of Luther were free.  What a weight lifted off their shoulders.  Free to be.  Free to enjoy God's grace.  Free.  I'm thankful for freedom.