The Earnst Family Visits the

Gerald Ford Museum

Grand Rapids, MI

Top Row: Ethan and Corey Signing the Guestbook inside the Gerald Ford Museum

Second Row: Kathy Signing and the memorial wall

Third Row: Grandma Parker signing and Ethan putting out flowers

Fourth Row: Kathy being interviewed by Channel 13/ABC

Fifth Row: Kevin at Memorial, Kathys interview

Bottom: Corey and Kevin filmed while observing Memorial wall

While visiting family in the Grand Rapids area we had the opportunity to stop back by at one of our favorite museums and be a part of the Gerald Ford Memorial where he was burried today. After signing the guestbook in the lobby we went out to the curb and got picked to interviewed about our visit to the service and spent time observing the items left along the wall. ( a home recording of the interview will be on youtube soon).

Corey's Baptism in Buchanan, MI!!

Corey made the decision to become a Christian a couple months ago so on New Years Eve in front of my family, Kathy's family, friends from our old church in Detroit and my home church he gave his confession and was baptized. It was a little over twenty five years ago that my dad baptized me there so it was a great moment for all of us!!!

Christmas Craziness!

(pictured above are my marsh- mallow snowmen toasted in an open fire)

It's the day after Christmas and we have made it back to Michigan finally to visit family. The only down side is there is no snow. Its cold but no snow. Christmas eve after a 13 hour day at church I came home and tried to wind down. This included lighting all the candles in the house and turning on some of my favovorite Christmas shows to watch while packing for our trip. Yes that is plural. Christmas vacation in the living room and the "Christmas Story" in my bedroom. Both shows that I hadnt gotten to see yet this season. Now I could enjoy the rest of the evening I had left while packing and getting the house ready for us to be gone two weeks.

The full day we spent travelling here seemed like 3 days rolled into one. (As if 5 services at church on Christmas eve wasnt enough already!) If you were to see us hanging in the airport (in either Phoenix or Chicago) you would notice we taking advantage of the time with our gifts and gadgets.
*Ethan was taking pictures on his new digital camera and transferring it to the laptop
*Corey was playing music on his new MP3 player,
* I was surfing the internet for music for my Ipod
* and Kathy was texting friends and drinking my Starbucks Coffee.
We are so high tech. Or pretend to be anyway.

Now we are at my parents house where my mom has been blessed with the gifts of every musical toy you could imagine:
*A 3 foot nutcracker bear is in the corner singing "The Little Drummer Boy"
*A little magical piano is playing while magnetic snowmen dance on the top,
*A mechanical Santa claus is banging on his minarature piano ("Santa Claus is coming to town") *And a family of mice sits on top of the TV singing " All I want for Christmas if my two front teeth".
(someone stop the madness!)
And yes they are all playing at the same time. My niece and Ethan make sure every few minutes to keep them going whenever the song is over.

And the technology savy Christmas continues as :
*Mom and I compare our new Ipods and ipod accesories and of all shapes and sizes,
*Corey and Tyler play Lego Star Wars games on Uncle Todd's laptop and
*Ethan designs cars from the Cars Movie on my laptop.
*and my niece Alisa is now joining the fun on grandmas computer playin her new game.

It's official. The days of the tinker toys are over. The noise is getting louder.

As for me even though every minute of my life has been filled with noise and business since a couple days before Christmas all I can say is that it is definitely good to be on vacation and enjoying the holidays with the family. Even if I can't hear a thing. In the meantime I will be praying for more Peace on Earth. Or at least for peace within the hearing distance where I am sitting right now.

All About Ipods, Leeland and other cool new tunes


So I just a month or two ago joined the world of Ipods and got my own 30gig pod with all the cool features. About 5 years ago I had purchased a Creative Zen MP3 Media player that had song capabilities but nothing like what the Ipod can do. After selling the old player on ebay I went to Best Buy and got it and have been in love with it ever since. I know, I know Ipods are old news. They've been out for a while but I guess I'm still catching up with the times. I have hundreds of songs on there, some tv shows (including lost) pictures and tons of podcasts from some of my favorite worship services and speakers. Its pretty amazing. So while Im talking about all my new Ipod let me throw in my 10 second commercial of some new music you should really check out that I recently purchased and have been listening to.....







Leeland: Sound of Melodies
This CD is awesome. This is a brand new group with a whole new sound including worship and heartfelt lyrics about life from an amazingly creative and gifted 18 year old named Leeland Mooring. The title song "Sound of Melodies" and "Yes You Have" have already been radio hits and are some of my favorites that I listen to all the time.








Jeremy Camp: Beyond Measure
What more can you say. The name says it all. This is just another project filled with great music from Camp that anyone can enjoy. (check out the song "Let it Fade")
Ok Im done with my commercial now but you have to check out these two new CDS.

Live From the Set of "Jolene"
It's my "supposed" day off work for the week and so I ventured downtown here to check out a new movie being filmed on the main stretch off the square downtown Prescott, AZ. (click here for news story) They have the street blocked off and are filming straight across from me at a Pub and the gift shop next door. So here I am hanging on the square with tons of other curious Prescottonians and tourists looking to see what big celeb might pop out on the set. Rumor has it Donald Sutherland is in the movie but he's nowhere to be seen. OK he's not here. I've been told as I just talked to one of the directors of the extras here out on the street. No I didnt harass him he came up to me. I guess he thought I was an extra as I was just out here chillin at the square in the exact right spot sipping my my java. " Were you asked to be in this spot for this particular scene sir?" he asked me in all seriousness (His name was David) To which I responded. " No I wasnt asked. Would you like me too?" Sidenote: This turned out not to be a good approach to apply for the part of an extra in a movie but at least I tried. I then kindly moved over (about 20 feet) with all the other " unwanted extras" he had rounded up and had moved out of the scene. In the meantime a couple of actors are now out on the street. They are filming the same scene over and over. I feel like I'm having De Javue. They run out of the store, hop in the convertible, pull out, drive down the street. rewind. they run out of the store, hop in the convertible, pull out, drive down the street. rewind. Anyway Im now curious to who this guy is. He looks very familiar. The website lists quite a lineup for a cast. Donald Sutherland, Denise Richards, Jessica Chastain (the main actor) Theresa Russell (in Spiderman 3) Dermott Mulroney and some guy from Alias. Oh yes, Michael Vartan. You can click those names to check out the site. This guy however looks very familiar. Familiar as in I've seen him in a movie before and I'm not sure which one.

Then it finally registers. Dermot Mulroney. Thats the guy from "My Best Friends Wedding" and "About Schmidt". By the time I figured it out the 15 second scene is over and, they have wrapped up the shoot and are moving equipment to another part of town. I spent over an hour watching the filming which will turn out to be about 20 seconds maybe of the movie. I have no idea what it is about or when it's out but its called "Jolene" and they are filming in several different states. Other than the worlds oldest rodeo this is probably the biggest thing to happen up here in Prescott in a long time. They are here filming for the next week so If I'm lucky maybe I'll just try magically appear in another scene.

So last Saturday night I suprised Kathy and took her to an acoustic Michael W Smith concert at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. Although I have seen him dozens of times I hadnt actully been to one of his concerts in years so it was cool to check it out. It was actually a very different kind of concert setting (including a rotating stage in a theatre in the round) and a great evening of worship with Smitty getting back to his roots on the piano. I have been a fan since my early teen years and even though my preferred musical style has changed since those days I was still very impressed by the creativity in the music and songstyles that is on the new album Stand. The Cd is actually not even out yet but will be in November. For us it was quite a flashback of our Nasvhille, Tennessee days where we saw him regularly in concert, at events, at church and many other place. More than the music though I am always impressed with his involvement in "ministry" outside the box including his movie, his involvement with the support of the president, his leadership in settings like 9-11, the Columbine shootings and the worship led by him in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the Amish memorial service. This guy has definitely gone above and beyond even his main calling in life to reach people. That to me stands out even more than the music itself. (check out the new CD. The song Cover Me is awesome)

The Hike at Granite Mountain

Saturday we spent the day hiking around Granite mountain. It's only a few miles from our house but we had never had the chance to get over there. Here we are hiking around and enjoying the scenery on a 4 1/2 mile trail all to ourselves. Lions and tigers and bears.... coyotes.. oh my!