STORRS STORIES

Morocco

2012-01-31T05:03:00.008-06:00

What do you do when you have 70 bucks and a free weekend . . . . you go to North Africa. This past summer Danielle and I found tickets on easyjet for $70 roundtrip to Marrakech Morocco. In the end we ended up with 5 of us and had the time of our lives. We are so blessed to have friends like Luke and Steph and Corey. Corey is an RA in another guys dorm and he was a great addition to our group. We stayed in a Riad, shopped in the Souq's, got shaved (a first ever experience for me, and a great cultural "guy" time), bought spices, went to Jemma El Fna Square . . . .and just all around enjoyed the sun and fun!

The terrace of our place

The Souq's (Market)

I didn't buy the scarf . . . but the guy tried hard

Corey and I bartered for different spices and stuff and ended up having mint tea with these two shopkeepers
The dudes
The ladies
Jemma El Fna Square

Mint tea . . .the thing to drink in Marrakech
Sunset over the city
A man with a razor at my throat . . . kind of scary . . . but a lot of fun for $3

View from our balcony
We ate at a restaurant above the famous square

BFA home basketball weekends

2012-01-20T16:42:00.004-06:00

The past 2 weekends we've had some fun on friday nights with BFA home basketball games. Our guys varsity team is actually really good this year. It's been fun and it's a blast to root for some HBR guys in these games

A Birthday extravaganza

2012-01-13T09:25:00.003-06:00

Over Christmas break we had 5 guys celebrate their birthday . . . so we tried something unique when they got back! We had a first ever "HBR Birthday Creeking Royal Rumble!" One of the guys who celebrated a birthday was a senior (and seniors don't get creeked), but we still had four good young candidates for the festivities David, John, Danny, and staff member Phil. Unfortunately John got his head split open at basketball practice right before all of this fun, so he was in the hospital getting stitches instead of getting creeked. We were now down to four birthday boys and three getting creeked! As you can see from the pics it was organized chaos, and a lot of fun as all of the guys in the dorm got to participate : seniors on the young guys and everyone else on Phil!!!!!

Tony on the far right got cake and he got sung to, but he didn't have to worry about being dragged outside . . . instead he got to help!

New Semester . . . same issues

2012-01-09T16:35:00.005-06:00

Well here we are in our third year in the dorm. . . . and once again we have construction throughout the dorm!!!!! We are so excited to have the boys back, but just like last year we have projects going on to start the semester.
1st: Danielle and I are getting new vinyl flooring in our apartment (courtesy of reslife). We were assured that this would happen over Christmas break, but it surprisingly didn't get done while the boys were gone! So here we are as the boys are coming back getting our kitchen floor, entry floor, and back floor re-done!!!!
2nd: We also have the burnt room getting fixed with a new ceiling, new walls, new floor, etc!

HBR is always under construction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our kitchen with a new "level floor"
Our front entry way with a new "level floor"

Matt and Kyle's "burn" room

HBR Christmas Party

2011-12-11T15:43:00.004-06:00

Tonight for dorm fellowship we had our annual HBR white elephant gift exchange and Christmas party. The staff bought all of the gifts and there was a lot of laughter and frivolity as the guys opened them! We have a tradition that no matter what a guy opens he has to go nuts and act like he won the lottery, it is always a blast! In fact the reactions are better than Opera's Favorite Things! The highlight of the night was at the very end when the dorm staff surprised the guys with a t-shirt for each of them. The t-shirts had hangil's face bleached into them (Hangil is kind of the HBR mascot/hero). The guys loved the shirts!

HBR fire

2011-12-11T09:31:00.006-06:00

Please pray for our dorm. About 20 minutes after school on Friday there was a fire in HBR. The good news is that the 9 guys who were home (the rest stayed after school or went to a wrestling meet) did a great job and left the building and everyone was safe. Joe, Phil, and myself went back up to the JR. floor and put out the fire using fire extinguishers. The fire department arrived and there was a flare up in the room (the oxygen got to the fire, from the open door and windows). They put the fire out quickly and only one room in the dorm was damaged. It was Matt and Kyle's room on the Jr. floor and unfortunately with the smoke damage and the water damage most of their stuff is lost. The senior floor and the top floor both have zero damage and are 100% okay, the junior floor has some dust/ash in the rooms and the hallway but once we get that cleaned out we have been given the okay to let the guys go back to there rooms and live as normal. How you can help: 1st, praise God that everyone is okay and the protocols put in place worked well. 2nd, please remember Matt and Kyle and their families as their Christmas will now be filled with replacing everything and working with Insurance. The insurance is coming on Monday and we will begin to work through all of that! Lice to start the semester and a fire to end it . . .this is living!
On Saturday all of the guys that weren't in wrestling went to the Freiburg Christmas markets for some shopping and fun. The weather was cold and rainy and most of the guys were worn out by the time we got home at around 5:00. Hopefully they found their parents a gift, but no guarantees. We ate Lasagna for dinner and then we asked the guys if they could help us clean up the Jr. floor. With 17 and 4 staff it only took us about 20 minutes and now we have to just keep aerating the floor and clean out the damaged room (we have to see if we will be doing that, insurance will hire a company, or if maintenance at BFA will be doing it.) We have also been going through the rooms and making sure that guys don't have more than one extension cord. The fire fighters have said that there were too many things plugged into one outlet (extensions cords, power strips, etc) and that along with some clothes nearby allowed the fire to get started. For now we are glad that Matt and Kyle have a new room already set up and we are glad we were even able to salvage some of their clothes and get them washed right away and get the smoke smell out of them.

Matt and Kyle's Old Room

Matt and Kyle's new room
Helpful dorm brothers

christmas banquet

2011-11-28T06:28:00.004-06:00

We had a great weekend full of Christmas festivities. The highlight of the first semester is Christmas banquet . . . BFA's version of a homecoming or prom. The guys looked great and the ladies were lucky to be with these gents!!

Family Christmas tree

2011-11-26T06:10:00.003-06:00

I am a big believer in cutting down my own tree . . .and this year we got one of our best ever.

A Banquet day tradition

2011-11-26T05:57:00.004-06:00

Every year on Christmas banquet day the girls from our neighboring dorm come over and do a chant and taunt our guys . . . well this year we were ready for them. It's rare to see such military precision like I saw today from the men of HBR! They hit them with water from behind and drove them right into another group of attackers waiting around the corner. I'm a proud papa. We had fun and we surprised the girls!

Here they come down the street chanting
The calm before the storm
Tony fakes like he has hot cocoa, while the other guys hit from the backside

The girls try to run . . . but the second wave is waiting
The girls run right into our second wave!

At least we drove them home
The conquerors

HBR Thanksgiving

2011-11-20T16:33:00.005-06:00

We have gotten better and better at cooking for 50 plus people . . . and this year we had almost zero stress in getting all this food out. It's sad that we don't celebrate on the same day as our friends in the States, but we are glad to have it all wrapped up and ready to move on to Christmas!

Family Day in Todtnau

2011-11-15T06:46:00.008-06:00

About 45 minutes from our house is a pretty quaint town called Todtnau. This past weekend we took Titus and Addison to try out the local Rodelbahn (summer sledding). We got their a bit too early so we grabbed lunch at a cool little Italian place and then we rode the rails. Sis hated it and had a death grip on her car the whole time and wouldn't let go of me on the chairlift ride up. Titus loved it so he and I decided to go twice, whereas mom and sis were good with just one go around.

Lunch at the Italian place

Danielle's lunch/dessert

The chairlift ride
The coaster

Titus taking care of mom on the way up
There's a beautiful girl on a beautiful day in a beautiful place

At the top of the hil
He wanted to drive

Here we go . . .
My view in the car
Mom and Addie finishing up their ride. That's Addie with the look of fear on her face
Titus and I decide to go again
This is the 3.2km coaster
Good times

Martinstag

2011-11-10T16:24:00.003-06:00

So tonight I got pretty sad. . . . okay let's be honest I was really close to tears. Tomorrow is Martinstag in Germany (St. Martins Day). The Kindergarten that Titus goes to celebrated it like most German communities. They lit lanterns and walked around town singing about St. Martin. The whole family and community is invited to walk with the kids take pictures and celebrate (I forgot my camera). It's kind of like a mobile children's school musical. It's all to honor a saint who supposedly gave a piece of his cloak to a cold and weary traveler back many centuries ago. So tonight I watched my son walk around our town and stand to sing with his classmates and . . . stare into space. When your kid doesn't know a language and he's thrust into it, it stinks. You feel like your screwing your kid up. Danielle reminded me that he wasn't sad and that he was okay, but as his dad my heart just went out to my son and it broke for him.

here's the Wikepedia description of Martinstag

St. Martin's Day, also known as the Feast of St. Martin, Martinstag or Martinmas, the Feast of St Martin of Tours or Martin le Misércordieux, is a time for feasting celebrations. This is the time when autumn wheat seeding is completed. Historically, hiring fairs were held where farm laborers would seek new posts. The feast day is November 11, the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized; he has clothed me."

The day is celebrated on the evening of November 11 in some parts of the Netherlands, in a small part of Belgium (mainly in the east of Flanders and around Ypres), and in most areas of Germany and Austria. Children go through the streets with paper lanterns and candles, and sing songs about Saint Martin. Sometimes, a man dressed as Saint Martin rides on a horse in front of the procession. Over time the lantern processions have become widespread even in Protestant areas of Germany (Martinisingen on 10 November) and the Netherlands, despite the fact that most Protestant churches do not recognize saints.

Skate or Die

2011-11-06T17:34:00.004-06:00

We had some fun Friday night, as all of the dorm students went ice skating in Basel. Our guys fell a lot and laughed a lot.

Fall Fun

2011-11-02T15:11:00.005-06:00

Halloween time means Herbstmesse in Basel and trick or treating in the dorm. This past week/weekend the weather has been fantastic and we've had a lot of fun with the guys in the dorm and our own kids!

HBR guys by the bumper cars

Trick or Treating time

Titus the dragon and Addison the Monkey
Garrett the small eyed monster
Tony the blind man - this was Titus' favorite
David the Snowman
Trey the magician
Phil the flute playing pirate
This was my favorite outfit - Andrew Stefan as a fat pirate
John and Evan decided to dress as . . . .
Scott the Russian Police officer

Friday Night Lights

2011-10-30T11:52:00.004-06:00

On Friday night we played a football game under lights . . . van lights that is. It was a blast!!!

I Can't believe Danielle let me do this to his hair

2011-10-26T04:58:00.002-06:00

I love being a Dad and experimenting with my sons hair!!!

Lots of Fun this weekend

2011-10-23T06:40:00.005-06:00

We started the weekend out by inviting the girls from Storch over and doing some pumpkin carving. Everyone had a great time and all the groups were very creative. Personally I could care less how the pumpkins turned out, I was just glad that ONLY one person managed to cut themselves. The injury wasn't too deep and only required a band aid, so we felt pretty lucky.
On Saturday it seemed like the guys were going a million different directions. We had some taking the ACT test, some hanging out with friends, some with parents, three involved in practice for the school musical, three in cross country, one playing club soccer, and a bunch went into watch the girls home volleyball games! Wooh! I'm worn out just thinking about all the different directions we were going yesterday. Congrats to Evan, John, and Kyle who helped BFA cross country finish fourth in their meet. Also, Garrett, one of our seniors just started playing soccer with a local team and scored a goal in his first game! Needless to say the guys were pretty worn out by last night. We tried playing a dorm game around 9 pm, it didn't work all that great and the guys just ended up wanting to wrestle in the rec room (surprise, surprise).

HBR KAYAK ADVENTURES

2011-10-02T08:23:00.005-06:00

We are some of the worst KAYAKERS ever! As I took pics, 8 out of 9 of the guys fell over! WooHoo!

Scott leads us in . . .and falls

Mark (red kayak) and BJ (lime green) are the next victims

Big John makes a splash

Joe almost makes it through

Evan . . . finally someone makes it through safely!
BJ is exhausted

A little bruised by no worse for the wear

My kids are SO INTERNATIONAL!!!!

2011-09-26T12:21:00.003-06:00

I love our life here: Titus is in a German kindergarten and will probably fluent in German by the end of the year . . .and then in the dorm they have authentic Korean food and Korean guys teaching them how to hold chopsticks! Living overseas rocks.

We're Midwesterners . . . and we found a corn maze in Switzerland!!!

2011-09-24T16:20:00.003-06:00

The title says it all . . . you'd think we were back in Morton IL . . . .

The Falconer!!!!

2011-09-16T04:23:00.024-06:00

We went to the weirdest Zoo ever yesterday. We just found out about this place and it's about 15 minutes from our house in the middle of the Blackforest. It's called Vogelpark Steinen. And it was awesome!!!! Weird, but Awesome! This Zoo basically specialized in 3 animals - Kangaroo's, Falcon's, and Monkey's. . . . not the mix I might go with but that's what they liked. The first hour we spent walking around the zoo looking at different birds. I was thinking . . . "what a waste of money." Then in the second hour we went to the "FALCON SHOW". It was all in German, but it was still amazing. Couldn't understand all of what the guy was saying, but I did understand Falcons, Owls, Bald Eagles, and Vultures, swooping so close to my head that they hit me with their wings! That needs no translation! After the Falcon show we went over and helped feed the monkeys . . . another amazing time with Danielle laughing and the kids having a blast. It was a great time as a family and a memory I won't soon forget.
Titus took a picture of mom, dad, and sis in the Falcon Arena!!!

That bird swooped right over our heads right before this picture.
This was Titus's face for 30 minutes

Sis thought that if you covered your ears it would keep you safe from the swooping birds
The owl hit me with it's wing immediately following this shot
It's right behind me

Here come's the Bald Eagle
Yes! That's a bald eagle inches from Danielle's head

Me, Sis, and America!! - Grandpa P. will love this

Feeding the Monkey's

Titus 1st Day of School

2011-09-13T11:40:00.003-06:00

Today Titus started his first ever day of kindergarten. He is going to a German kindergarten in Holzen, the town next to ours. The Germans start sending their kids as early as 33 months. I decided to keep Titus home until this year. Last year I did My Father's World with Titus at home. Titus had the first day of school in front of the door picture. He was showing off his binder that he decorated for school. He will keep all his projects and things in this so we will have a keepsake at the end of kindergarten. We snapped a picture of Titus with the guys getting on the bus in the background. Titus left when the boys left, and we decided to walk to kindergarten on our first day. The walk was beautiful but was taking much longer than we had time for. Dad figured this out early and ran back to get the car so we wouldn't be late. The last picture was supposed to be a cute one of him spontaneously hugging dad, but instead the camera snapped the scowly face instead. Titus was excited to go and he waved goodbye to us from the window with big smiles. I picked him up with the same big smiles and he is excited to go again tomorrow. Praise the Lord for His goodness.

Cute kids in the tub

2011-09-05T11:39:00.002-06:00

Grandparents will love these . . . and maybe someday future spouses of Titus and Addie will find these and laugh at them

2011 HBR football season

2011-09-03T13:03:00.008-06:00

Today was a beautiful day in southern Germany and our boys had the chance to enjoy the outdoors while participating in the American pastime of backyard football. Every year we get dressed up and pumped up for this day . . . and so far we have yet to win a game. Today we played two games and won the first on and tied the second one . . . but the home students scored on the last play of the game. Oh well, we enjoyed our win and it was a great day to bond as a dorm!

The beautiful men of HBR

don't pull a hammy

Coach Storrs motivates the troops

The offense watching the "D"
Tony and Evan try to sack the quarterback

Greer goes in for a touchdown, he's so fast he's blurry

Tony talking trash

Our freshman David
One of our new sophomores
Greer scores his second TD of the day
HBR celebrates

I thought my new RA's loved me . . . I found out a few moments later they were setting me up for a gatorade bath

My first win in 3 years as the HBR coach . . . this is very deserving of being carried off the field

Friday night dinner at the park

2011-09-02T16:32:00.005-06:00

We had a great dinner tonight with the girls from Witt dorm. We ate a park on a beautiful ridge up behind their dorm and the weather was beautiful. After the sun went down we played some night games and got back to the dorm late.

LICE

2011-08-30T17:52:00.005-06:00

7 days into the new year and we're tackling something that we have never had to worry about before. LICE! Actually our guys only had the eggs not the full blown little guys. We caught it early so we are hopeful that this will soon be a distant memory!

The painful vinegar hair wash

A beautiful day for some lice checking

checking inside

I don't think we'll finish doing laundry for another a week

Luke

2011-08-29T15:08:00.003-06:00

This is my good friend Luke. Danielle and I do a ton of things with him and his wife Stephanie. I'm really grateful for him and his friendship. Somebody shot this picture of us the other day and showed it to me, it reminded me that I am blessed to have such a great friend. . . and fellow idiot to contemplate life with! HA!

First Weekend

2011-08-28T05:25:00.007-06:00

Friday night immediately following school the guys attended “Chillin and Grillin” and there was lots of games and food and ample amounts of social awkwardness as students try to meet new people and make new friends (come on you remember high school). We got back to the dorm around 7pm and by 9pm we were playing a dorm bonding game called “jailbreak”. It’s a mix of tag, hide and seek, and capture the flag. It’s a fun game and the guys love that they get to run around in the dorm with all the lights off (It got a bit hot in the dorm and a few of them showed us all of the working out they did this summer by losing their shirts.)
Saturday we took a trip to Carrefour for school supplies and then in the evening we had the girls from Storch dorm over. We had some smores and then played a trivia game with the guys competing against the girls. Unfortunately HBR lost, but the really scary part was the amount of trivia that our guys knew about Justin Bieber (teenage heartthrob/singer). The girls were trying to stump us with questions about him, but the guys knew way too much to be fooled (not sure if that’s a good thing).

Opening weekend

2011-08-24T01:01:00.008-06:00

Well the boys are all back in the house and we have 22 awesome young men for 2011-2012! The past 4 days has been filled with shocked and shy new guys arriving, wild and crazy upperclassmen moving back in, opening ceremonies on Tuesday, and a bit of pole soccer thrown in for good measure. HERE WE GO!!

The HBR Sophomores

THE HBR STAFF 2011-2012
The cool kids of reslife

Some new RA's and some new and old HBR guys

BFA class of 2012
Bahrain

HBR's 8 Seniors with flags

nothing like starting your year off with a van ride in 840 (our ghetto dorm van)
Pole soccer crew
Hanging out
A classy welcome back
HBR door name tags (HBR band of brothers)

Dining Room Renovations

2011-08-23T16:12:00.006-06:00

Going into any school year is a ton of work . . . but this year we decided to add renovating our dining room to the list of things to do! We had a work team from Washington State show up help us with painting and patching the walls. I am so proud of our staff for all of the time they spent fixing, painting, decorating, etc.. . . .I even had the chance to learn how to sew with the help of a crew of BFA women. We have made our dining room much more "homey", and the comments from the guys have been nothing but fantastic. HBR is classy now!

How it was 2 weeks ago, as the staff takes down the wallpaper and starts fixing the walls
The Washington State work team

New paint job
Sewing Club
I learned how to sew . . . and I feel like less of a man
The room coming together
new paint and a few new accents

It's the worst time of the year!

2011-08-17T15:34:00.002-06:00

Sorry for not posting in a while . . . . been a few things going on lately. Somehow getting a dorm ready to open is a never ending task. This year has been especially crazy because we have been working on our dining room for almost 10 days. Painting, fixing, adding on, etc. I can't show any pics yet, because I want the guys to be surprised when they get here . . . at which point they will say these magical words, "Why'd you change it? I liked it the way it was!" The joys of high school guys. Anyways keep praying for us and I promise to update consistently throughout the year.

NEW HBR STAFF

2011-08-08T14:46:00.004-06:00

We got our 2 new RA's!!!!!

Phil Smryl - A Taylor grad, who actually lived on the same floor as me . . . just 5 years after me!
Joe Hull (brown shirt) - He graduated from Moody in May and he's a great guy!

Get used to seeing these people . . . they'll probably be showing up on this blog a lot!

Dave and Becky's Wedding

2011-07-30T04:38:00.003-06:00

I had a once in a lifetime chance yesterday to marry my brother . . . now that both of my brothers are married I won't get to do this again. It was a great ceremony with beautiful weather on one of the world's most beautiful beaches. Congrats to Dave and Becky!

More Summer pics

2011-07-16T07:04:00.005-06:00

We have been living out of a suitcase for 5 weeks . . .and it's getting old . . . but we're enjoying time with family and cousins, here are some shots:

Cooking Marshmallows at Grandma and Grandpa's

4-H Fair

Mini Golf - Titus loved this

Summer Fun . . . so far

2011-06-26T16:18:00.007-06:00

Here's some pics from our summer. Hanging out with cousins, going to the zoo, checking out parks, and chillin in Children's Museums . . . and finally today celebrating our little girls 3rd birthday.

Sis turns 3
Titus's gift for his sister

BFA grad day

2011-06-06T05:25:00.010-06:00

I know it's supposed to be a celebration, but grad day at BFA tends to be the WORST day of the year. You are physically/emotionally/spiritually exhausted and then you have to say goodbye to people who have been such an important part of your life. There are a lot of tears and sad farewells, but excitement and joy for what God has in store for the grads. This has been a tough year in HBR, the dorm wasn't super tight, we had some guys go home during the year, and we faced a number of challenges. However, as the year wraps up and you hug these young men one last time and tell them how proud you are and how you love them, you tend to forget about all of that other stuff and you just wish you had more time with them. We love you men of HBR and we miss you already.

A healthy grad day breakfast
All of the couches are back in the attic
seniors running around getting all the final touches ready
signing year books
HBR seniors

HBR 2010-2011

Our grad chariot

Titus and Sis's favorite 2 grads
HBR cheering section
5 tall HBR seniors, Mark, Peter, Michael, Isaac, and Sam

BFA class of 2011 (click on photo to enlarge)

Reece throws a "football" to the HBR underclassmen . . . . .
. . . And we give him the HBR touchdown salute . . . .classy (we did this for each HBR senior)
Jay gets his diploma

Danielle and our babysitter Eliza
Andrew rocking some different glasses

Danielle was pretty sad saying goodbye to the guys

Michael is our notorious crier . . . .this year was no exception

Ross graduates with honors

Family Time

2011-06-05T08:51:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we took Titus and Addison on the local steam train. Titus loved it and it was good to just be our family for a little while in the chaos that is the end of the year.

Buying our ticketsThe engine
Titus and Sis look out the window
Our seats

Titus gets the tickets punched by the ticket taker

Sis chooses the Swan
Titus on the Merry-go-round

HBR dorm Party Weekend

2011-05-28T16:12:00.007-06:00

What a great final weekend to the year!

Thor in 3D - Check
Go-Karting - Check
Laguna Water park - Check (no pics, due to Speedo issues)
Awesome Steak dinner - Check

Cool guys in coats and 3D glasses

The Hammer of THOR

Weirdos

Watching the go kart race and getting a few tips

Here we go
The HBR crew
Danielle is on the track

This is all lies

The real top 3
Massive steaks for dinner

Angry meat eater

Special visitors

2011-05-28T15:56:00.003-06:00

Danielle and I are quite blessed right now to have some great friends to come and help us make it through these final few weeks. Jim and Carol Bitner from our home church in Morton, are helping us make it to the finish line this year. They arrived on Monday and are dedicated to cleaning, serving, and helping with our kids . . . basically Titus and Sis think these two are the greatest thing in the world. Today I asked Sis at dinner, "Do you want to wait with me or Mrs. Carol?" She said, "Mrs. Carol!" The last 2 weeks here at BFA seems to be loaded with goodbyes and parties, so we either have to find a baby sitter for every night of the week or have kind friends come and help out. We are way too blessed

Som Random shots

2011-05-27T11:02:00.004-06:00

These pictures are evidence that we live in a NUT HOUSE!!! From playing doctor, to picking strawberries with the kids, to sticking our heads out the van window, to Michael using the kiddy pool, these pictures from the past week prove that there is truly never a dull moment at HBR.

Senior Tribute Day

2011-05-23T14:08:00.003-06:00

Saying goodbye is way too hard. Yesterday we had a great day in the dorm as we spent 5 hours telling our Seniors, "We Love You!" The whole day lasted from 2-10, but we broke at dinner time for some killer ribs! You might think that 5 hours of goodbyes would be hard, but it was just story after story and funny memories galore. It was hilarious as well as emotionally exhausting . . .but mostly it was just great to come together as a dorm and love each other.

May 15 weekend

2011-05-15T08:50:00.003-06:00

Friday night was quiet until nine of our guys returned from their field trip, so we kept things low key. A few guys made a fire by the dorm and cooked some sausages. Another group of guys played a game called “jail break” in the dorm (kind of like capture the flag). . . .and we ended up taking a guy to the hospital and didn't get back till midnight . . . and then we had to leave for soccer at 5 am!!!! AAARRRGGGGHHHH. The rest of the guys spent the day at the track meet.

rules before the game of jailbreak

Tony and Ross taking off

Oops!

2011-05-15T07:36:00.004-06:00

Here are some Easter pics we took of Titus and Addison that I forgot to put on the blog. . . . I hope the grandparents will forgive us. FYI: as I look back at these I am reminded that we live in a really beautiful place.

HUGE WEEKEND

2011-05-08T16:39:00.011-06:00

This should be about 10 posts, but it's been a chaotic weekend and here's a quick recap with loads of pics

Friday night - We did a drive in Movie Night and invited over the girls from Storch and Witt.
Saturday - We had soccer games during the day and a chill night (with guys joining me in the kitchen for burger making and free tattoos)
Sunday - We had lunch outside, a trip to the Rhine to enjoy the beautiful day, a birthday creeking, pre-banquet pole soccer, getting ready for Junior Senior Banquet, and pictures before, during, and after the banquet.

HBR's Godfather shot
More typical HBR photo - let's dive on each other and yell

HBR's Juniors and Seniors

Seniors
Juniors

Titus helps tie some ties
Pre-Banquet Pole soccer

Tyler's birthday creeking
Guys enjoying the Rhine
Outdoor lunch

I slave away all day and make them food (preparing burgers for the next day) and they abuse me and hold me down so they can write on my neck. They told me they were giving me a tattoo.

Soccer on Saturday

Friday night "Drive-in Movie Night"

Some Quality time together

2011-05-01T17:12:00.005-06:00

The next month is going to be awful! It will be a successive string of goodbyes, tributes, parties, etc. all leading up to the worst 24 hours of the year . . . graduation and then mass exodus. Through the next 30+ days we will all become exhausted, emotionally drained, and worn out. Please remember us. Today, however, was a good day. We had some time down at the Rhine and around a campfire at night. . . these times of just "hanging out" will become fewer and farther between, pray we cling to these times!

Putting up the May Pole

2011-04-30T13:58:00.003-06:00

I was driving back with the soccer team today and on our way to Kandern we drove through a town that was putting up their May Pole! Pretty cool thing to watch as the whole town was out and helping. Germans do so much with their communities, there always seems to be some festival or party going on . . . it's something we could learn from. Anyways here are some pics I snapped. One last thing, tonight most of the towns in this area will have a group of men sleep out by their May Pole, because it's tradition to go around and try and steal each other's May Poles. Ha! I love Germany

These guys on the balcony cracked me up, they weren't part of the original "putting up team", but they yelled down to the crowd and had them toss them up a rope so they could help.

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Spring Break

2011-04-15T13:26:00.004-06:00

We are currently on Spring break and we found a great place on one of those vacation rental websites . . . it's kind of small, but right on the water down in Italy! We are enjoying some time together as a family and on Saturday we head down to meet Grandma and Grandpa Storrs

The fam outside of the apartmentDad's view from the breakfast cooking area
Cool bridge by our apartment
538 steps up to the car . . .no joke!

Playing on a playground
The tunnel to the bridge and waterfall

we're in front of a waterfall . . . okay you can't see it, check the next pic.
waterfall
lake como
Titus and Sis try and touch the water
Titus shows his sister how it's done . . .lay down like this and touch the water!
Dinner on our patio . . .while the kids fall asleep inside
okay the kids aren't sleeping, but their reading books

What do you do when you only have 10 guys in the dorm the night before Spring Break?????

2011-04-09T01:59:00.010-06:00

A: YOU DIG A HOLE IN THE BACKYARD AND HAVE A MUD WRESTLING TOURNEY!!!!! THIS WAS INCREDIBLY NASTY!

Here are the Muddy warriors - 7 guys who had a blast and 1 old man who was really in a lot of pain when this picture was taken.
Pre-match preparations

homemade cut off jean shorts . . . yes these were made mere moments before the wrestling! No, I don't keep a pair of daisy dukes in my closet for occasions such as these.
Match 1 Tony v. Greer

The mighty mud warriors
Match #2 - Kyle v. Luke

Muddy friends
Match #3 - David v. Tyler
These two kept ending up in the grass - so not too muddy!
The HEAVYWEIGHT division - Michael v. Greg
As you can see I clearly have Michael right where I want him.
Flexing for the crowd
Take down #2
Michael beat me 3 -0 . . . I stink, but I'm still smiling
After all of the matches . . . the guys wanted to get the dorm dad
This was the final act to a great night . . . Anna and Jon using the sink hoses to spray guys off outside, so they didn't destroy the dorm
Anna's window shower stand!

I swear Jon switched the water to cold for me!

Friday night Fun

2011-04-06T06:36:00.003-06:00

On Friday night we had the girls from Palm over . . .always a good time hanging out with them!

With all of the activity outside . . . I went to check on our two and Titus had managed to crawl out of bed to sleep on his floor, and Sis snuck out of her room and laid down with Titus. So this is how I found them! Pretty cool brother and sister!

Medieval Lunch

2011-03-29T16:08:00.003-06:00

Today for hot lunch we went with a utensil's free meal!!! Every other Tuesday we try and do something creative for lunch for the guys, and last week our lovely RA Anna found a special deal on Turkey legs at the grocery store. You combine turkey legs with fries, chunks of bread, punch, brownies, and fruit and your basically transported right back to the middle ages. The guys hands got pretty greasy and their bellies got pretty full . . . that's what manly hot lunch is all about!

Whiffle Ball

2011-03-27T15:58:00.004-06:00

Today, we took all of the guys into school for a little slice of Americana . . . whiffle ball! I have to admit I love playing any type of “American” sport with your HBR guys. Most of the time they have never had the chance to grow up playing sports like baseball . . . so they think I’m actually good!!! We had a good time and laughed at some of the mistakes!

Getting ready for whiffle ball

Michael explains the finer points of batting

warm ups

Team #1
Team #2

Could today be the best day of my life?

2011-03-21T17:37:00.008-06:00

Today could possibly go down as the best day of my life! Bold statement, I know! Okay, maybe not the best day, but possibly the best lunch of my life. As a parent and as a dorm dad I have to cherish the moments I have with Titus, Addison and Danielle. Today, after grocery shopping for the dorm, Danielle and I decided to take the kids up into one of the vineyards by our house (less than 2 minutes by car) and have a picnic lunch. I'm telling you the sun, the temperature, the blue sky, the breeze . . .they were all PERFECT! We were outside for over 2 hours, laughing, smiling, eating, enjoying the amazing views, playing bocce ball, exploring, climbing into old tree houses, picking flowers for mom, etc! IT DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS.

Beautiful location and a beautiful family

Lunch time
Strawberries
Cheese puffs

Such a beautiful girl
Capri sun . . . or in German: Capri Sonne
Bocce Ball game

Picking flowers for mom!
Titus picking flowers for his momma
Addie runs to me, after she has collected Danielle's flowers.

Titus and Sis, head out on an adventure to the treehouse in the upper left corner of the photo
there they go
They are so big, they don't need us as much anymore . . . and I'm starting to cry.

HBR/STORCH OUTRAGEOUS OLYMPICS

2011-03-20T11:22:00.009-06:00

We rounded out the weekend with the first ever HBR/Storch outrageous Olympic games. We had all kind of random events that included everything from students being blindfolded, or tied together, or piggy backing up the staircase, etc. The guys started out pretty unenthused but once the events got going and we broke them into different teams everyone had a grand time. . . and luckily nobody got injured . . . I really thought the “giant slalom down the staircase” was going to end with a hospital run!

Team Macedonia

Team Bahrain
Team Russia
Team CCS
Tyler swimming

Blindfolded steeplechasers

The crowd tries to distract a steeplechase contestant

No handed weighlifters

A giant slalom photo finish
Heat 2

Wheelbarrow races up the stairs

CCS is victorious

BFA Soccer

2011-03-19T18:22:00.005-06:00

Today we got our first win in the soccer season!!! It was our first game so we'll take it, we won 3-2 . . .we were the better team, but we got lazy after we scored our first goal 11 seconds into the game. But the boys played hard in the second half and came out victorious! HBR is well represented on the soccer team with 7 players (6 varsity, and 1 JV) and 1 manager.

HBR soccer guys
The crowd watches the girls game
This is just a phenomenal picture

HBR yearbook photo crew

Note where the ball is . . .THE BACK OF THE NET!!!

End of the game cheer

Tea Party

2011-03-19T18:12:00.001-06:00

The other day Titus and Sis wanted to have a tea party . . . my kids are pretty cool!

HBR March Madness

2011-03-19T17:59:00.003-06:00

The past few days HBR has been doing it's part to celebrate the American tradition of March Madness!!! There is nothing quite like filling out brackets with kids who have lived overseas their whole lives and have no clue who to pick!!

Dream Come True

2011-03-08T17:19:00.004-06:00

Alright, I know this job is crazy hard and nuts and you have no time for anything . . . . but I recently have had the chance to live out a life long dream . . .and add to my crazy schedule! I've been given the chance to coach the BFA JV guys soccer team this year! The past two days we have had tryouts (I'm wearing the mustard colored fleece - ugly I know) and I have to be honest . . . coaching is really hard: especially when all you want to do is get out there and play . . . but never fear, I've had a few chances to play with the guys a little bit . . . and . . . . the old man still has some talent!!!

H.S. Retreat

2011-03-06T17:16:00.005-06:00

This past weekend, Friday-Sunday, was high school retreat
down in Lenk, Switzerland. Guys had mixed feelings about
going, some guys wanted to go, others wanted to just chill
at the dorm.  However, once they got down there and saw
the view of the Alps and hang out with their friends, they
had a good time.  Saturday was split two ways.  About a
third of the high school went skiing/snowboarding for the
day in the beautiful Alps while the other two-thirds hung
around the resort area and played games, watched a movie
and had some good fellowship. Anna, Jon and Michael all
decided to attend the retreat to get some rest (ha ha),
Danielle went to London with her sister and I was back at
the fort with Titus and Addison.

HBR dorm pic

The toilet paper game

Beautiful scenery
The pedometer game: attach 4 pedometers to a student - 1 one on each limb - and then have them shake as violently as possible for 1 minute and see who can get their pedometer to score the most points!

chapel

the chaos before a group picture

The big man turns 4

2011-03-01T07:04:00.008-06:00

Can it really be that my son is 4 years old! Yesterday Titus had the joy of turning 4, having a Toy Story birthday party, and going through his first ever HBR creeking. Don't worry I didn't allow my son to be thrown into an icy creek in February, but the guys asked if they could fill a tub up with warm water and put him in. In the end it worked out, but at first the tub was outside and Titus was screaming and I was trying to put him in it and I probably traumatized him for life . . . but at least we'll have something to talk about in therapy . . .after that failure we brought the tub inside and he climbed right in no problem! All of the guys applauded and we ate some delicious cake!

Pin the Badge on sheriff Woody

Musical Chairs to "You've got a friend in me!"

Danielle hid Toy Story Army men around the foyer and the kids had to look for them!
Presents

Later that evening was Titus' creeking
Titus shows off his armor - and shows he's ready for a creeking fight
Here comes the cake
The traditional pre-creeking fight . . . he only had to battle dad and not the whole senior class

Sis coming back inside after the failed "outdoor creeking"
Indoor Hot Tub Creeking!

check out that sweet Spider man speedo

And then the guys try to throw Garrett in!
Titus stayed in the water much longer than most guys who get creeked

Life Stinks

2011-02-27T17:24:00.005-06:00

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS . . .

Today has probably been one of the toughest in our almost 2 years in the dorm . . . this post is going to stink. Actually for the past 2+ months I've been sensing the same thing through different conversations with the guys . . . life as a high schooler stinks! I think back to when I was in high school and remember all of the questions: Who am I really friends with? Where do I fit? Why does everyone else seem normal? Why doesn't that girl like me? Why does that girl like me, what is she thinking? . . . .etc. And kids at BFA have those same questions, BUT THEY ARE LIVING THOUSANDS OF MILES FROM HOME WITH THEM. Living with normal adolescent "stuff" is hard enough, but at least at the end of the day I went home to my parents and family and my cat and my room and I could take a mental break and let my mind rest. . . . one of the guys tonight said to me, "I feel like I'm living high school 24 hours a day." HBR is not as tight as it likes to claim. That's the truth, it's tough to write, but it's true. The sophomores hate the juniors, the juniors think they rule the place, and the seniors are starting to check out . . . and everyone looks at the past with rose colored glasses. HBR rallies around the idea of the building or the dorm or the brotherhood, but the truth is that we are really struggling to be a family and living with all of the normal high school/adolescent questions all day every day is really tough. Tonight we had "gripe night" and allowed the guys to complain about the dorm and tell us where we needed to improve . . . if your feeling kind of down this is a really bad idea! So yeah, that wasn't easy to hear, but later when I stopped feeling sorry for myself and talked with some guys about life my heart really broke. and in the midst of it I realized that guys are feeling lonely in HBR. Why is that? What are we doing wrong as a staff? How can we change it? Is our goal to be a close family/dorm or is it something else? This job stinks . . . it makes you question yourself constantly . . . . luckily that wasn't the end of my day

At 11:30 I had finished putting guys to bed and telling them that I loved them, then I went downstairs to lock up and saw the cake Anna had decorated. . . .

Four years ago today my son came into the world. I used to beg God for a child I now get to live with 24 amazing sons who hurt and love and laugh and whom I care for deeply. God is good . . . and the icing on the cake is that at 12:08 am when I finally made it to our apartment I heard Titus wake up and cry out "Daddy! Daddy!" I went in and settled him down, laid with him and then whispered in his ear, "Happy Birthday Titus! Daddy loves you!"

Life is good!

Bringing in the big guns

2011-02-23T02:27:00.004-06:00

The dorm is still in some chaos with all of the plumbing problems we are having . . . on Monday night we had to ship guys to different dorms and homes, because we were getting some slight flooding and backing up of "brown water". But we continue to get different crews coming out and trying to fix the problem . . . and my vocabulary of unique German words continues to grow!!!!

Jon helps the plumbers look down the hole of pooooooo

Valentines day lunch

2011-02-21T02:35:00.002-06:00

Danielle did a special valentines day lunch for Titus and Addison . . . What a mom!