Our Valentine's Day by Mary

We had a great Valentine's Day with Kevin. He came down from Knoxville and went with us to basketball games and Dairy Queen for lunch and blizzards. After lunch he took a nap while some of the kiddos shot hoops outside in our driveway. He got up and played Blokus and then we had a delicious crepe dinner. Our crepe dinner consisted of chicken crepes and dessert crepes (crepes with ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate chips, etc,.). We had fun all day, but unfortunately Kevin had to leave early that night.

Here are some pictures from our Valentine's Day -

The Hike To End All Hikes: by Susie

On Friday, January 23rd, Sarah, Mary, and myself (Susie) went hiking yet again at the Chickamauga Battlefield. It was most interesting. It didn’t get too exciting until near the end when it got dark. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We had had a friend over that morning and once she left we had lunch, packed our bags, and headed out. We got there at approx. 1:30 p.m. At first, it was very windy/blustery and overcast. Once we got in the woods, however, the wind died down. It was kind of creepy because you could hear the wind whistling through the treetops above you and, since it was winter, there weren’t any birds singing and all the trees and grass were dead. Creepy. We went along uneventfully for about 4 hours. The only slightly interesting thing we discovered was that whoever measured the battlefield must have believed in approximation, because there is no way that was only a 10-mile hike. We gauged it to be somewhere between 13.5 and 16.5 miles. Not 10. Anyway, at sunset we emerged from the woods momentarily into a big field. In the middle of the field was a big group of deer having dinner. Mary took some pretty cool pictures. All in all, the 6 hour hike went well. The worst part (for some people, anyway) was having to hike 1 ½ hours in the dark. As I said, I thought it was GREAT!!!!! Here are some pics:

Aren't we cute?

Really confusing directions.

A cornfield inside a battlefield. Hmm....

A post!!! by Mary

We haven't posted in awhile because we have been super busy with life. I am writing now to give you a brief update on things that have happened since we last posted...with pictures, of course:-)

While Stephen was in town Dad, Steve,

Susie, Peter and Kathy went shooting.

Kevin carrying all of the kids except for the photographer ;-).
The Christmas lights at Rock City with friends.

Kidnapping Dad to the Ruffs for the weekend.

Those are a couple of things we did recently. We loved having Stephen for 10 days over the holidays and Kevin for 2! We don't get to see them enough :-(. We will try not to let 2 MONTHS pass before posting again!

Woe to the Zeglens by Sarah

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have suddenly realized what a dismal prospect it is going to be this year. It has taken my slow brain a couple of months to realize that this year one vital member of the Zeglen family will not be joining the rest of us for Thanksgiving. For the first time in 22 years (almost 23) Stephen Zeglen will not be here for Thanksgiving. I don’t know how we will manage without him this year. It will not be nearly as exciting and enjoyable with Stephens’s absence. We will miss him greatly.

Eric Liddell Rocks by Sarah

I recently finished reading a great biography on Eric Liddell: Pure Gold. Of all the biographies I have read on him this one surpasses them all. Through the inspirational movie “Chariots of Fire” many people know a little bit about the famous Scottish runner who ran for the gold medal in the 1924 Olympic Games. The movie only provides a small glimpse of the man Eric Liddell really was. In Pure Gold you get to discover the real Eric Liddell, the man who gave up his athletic career to go where God was calling him. I love how this book does not totally focus on Eric’s athletic achievements but rather his mission in China. In all that he did with his life, Eric Liddell strived to honor God with everything he did.

This was one of the best biographies I have read on anyone. I highly recommend it.

Birthday Surprise by Mary

Dad's 29th birthday was November 1st and, for his birthday gift, the 3 oldest girls planned a surprise. The Saturday after Dad's birthday, Mom sent him out to drop Peter off at Lego League and then go to the nearby Wal-Mart. About 1:00 p.m. Dad started shopping, and we planned to surprise him at Wal-Mart around 1:30 p.m. After we arrived at Wal-Mart, Mom called Dad and asked where he was on his shopping list (so that we could find him in the store and kidnap him). We found Dad in the electronics section facing away from us. We snuck up behind him and tapped him on the back. He turned around and he saw 3 girls holding homemade FBI identifications. We asked him to come with us and, after loading mulch into the car, we told him to get on the interstate going toward home. On the way to our destination, Susie played "High School Musical" music in the car. We directed Dad to the Rave movie theater and he dropped me off to purchase our tickets. He was convinced that we were seeing HSM3, but we told him that
we weren't. After we took some pictures in front of the Madagascar 2 posters, we covered his eyes and took him into the movie room. While we were waiting for our feature presentation, Sarah and I bought Raisenets (Dad's favorite candy) at the concession stand. Dad was right about what movie we went to see - High School Musical 3 Senior Year. After the movie, we went over to DQ and got some dinner and blizzards. After we had stuffed ourselves with ice cream, we went to Wal-Mart again to buy the HSM3 soundtrack :-).
The End...until next year

Fireproof Review by Susie

Fireproof: A Must See Movie

Sunday evening, October 26th, we went to see Fireproof at the Rave Theater. It was EXCELLENT!!! We can't recommend it more highly. "Wait," you might be thinking, "Why is this a 'Must See' movie? How can it be that good? Wasn't it a low-budget Christian movie" Even though it was a low-budget Christian movie, it had an exceptional message that was communicated very well.

Book Reviews by Sarah

As the official book reviewer for the Zeglen blog, I’m going to start off with a new favorite author whose books I recently started reading.

In the past few weeks I have gotten Mom hooked on reading Randy Alcorn’s books. Currently we are reading his Ollie Chandler series: Deadline, Dominion, and Deception. Each book has great character development along with ideas about what heaven and hell will be like. In Deadline we meet three men who are in a car accident. One ends up in heaven, the other in hell, and the third wondering why he is alive and what happens after you die. Dominion begins with a senseless murder plunging the main character into a desperate hunt to find answers to this violence and to his own struggles with race and faith. I especially love how each of Randy Alcorn’s books pictures what heaven might be like.

NOTE: I have not read the final book: Deception. I gave it to Mom as her birthday gift and am eagerly waiting to read it.

Randy Alcorn also has two other exceptional fiction books: Lord Foulgrin’s Letters and The Ishbane Conspiracy. Both of these books are like modern day Screwtape Letters. In Lord Foulgrin’s Letters there is a demon writing to another demon telling him how to win a certain man and his family to the demons’ side. Interwoven in the letters there is the story of a man struggling to find answers to what he is supposed to do with his life. The Ishbane Conspiracy is about four teenagers who are being attacked by demons. Both books are incredibly well done.

Randy Alcorn is also well known for his non-fiction books. Currently we are reading through The Treasure Principle in family devotions. The theme of The Treasure Principle is, “You can’t take it with you – but you can send it on ahead.”

All of Randy Alcorn’s books are thought provoking and inspiring. I highly recommend reading them.

The newly appointed book reviewer by "The Committee"

The Zeglens have decided that the blog would benefit from a book reviewer. After some consideration and thought, the committee has nominated Sarah Zeglen to be the official book reviewer for the Zeglen Blog. The committee has found Sarah fully certified for the job as she has read many books in her lifetime. Her job as book reviewer will be to write reviews for our readers on a variety of books that she has read. We hope that you will benefit from these reviews.


Sincerely,
The Committee

Surprises by Sarah

My 16th birthday was the birthday of surprises for me. It was quite fun.

The first surprise was a surprise birthday party while we were camping with our friends the Ruffs. I was sent out on a long walk with Taylor. When we returned everyone else was stuffed into the Ruffs’ little camper singing "Happy Birthday." They all had part of a sign that read “Happy 16th Birthday, Sarah.” I loved celebrating my birthday with such fun friends. It was very special.

The second surprise came the day after my birthday. While I was out shopping with Grandma everyone at home was busy preparing a WHITE birthday dinner for me. The meal consisted of chicken fettuccine, white rice, potatoes, and breadsticks. For dessert they prepared a Krispy Kreme doughnut cake. It was my dream birthday meal.

The final surprise came the next morning. Three of the girls had orthodontist appointments in Atlanta. The plan was to have all of the girls go down and make it a girl date by hitting the clothing outlets in Calhoun. After the appointment I thought we were proceeding to the outlets. Instead I was pleasantly surprised when we stopped at a tea room in Atlanta. This was the same tea room Mom took me to last year for my 15th birthday. It was very fun going back.


That ended the surprises for my 16th Birthday. I will have to be on the lookout for next year.