Jan/Feb Highlights

My weather app tells me it will be 60 degrees today and almost 70 tomorrow.  I notice daffodils and crocus coming up (and blooming in some areas) and track season began last week.  I think spring is officially here in Boise, so here are the last of the "winter" highlights.

After returning to Boise from Matthias' funeral and treasured time with family, Anna and I flew out again a few days later for the scheduled Distinguished Scholar interviews at Dordt University.  Thankfully, we arrived before the snowstorm and planned to leave a few days after the storm/wind ended so our flights were not affected.  I know others that interviewed were not so fortunate.  The one negative was that several of the activities we had planned on attending that weekend were canceled--the Texas Tenors concert with NISO (Nicolas plays cello in the orchestra) and Dordt's home indoor track meet (Nicolas runs and Caleb coaches).  We were still able to watch nephew Caden play basketball for Dordt, however, and Anna and I spent lots of time with Caleb and Nicolas.  Because of the events the week before, spending time with my older boys was a precious gift.  While there, Anna officially signed to run track at DU.  A week or so later Anna found out that she was one of the distinguished scholar recipients!

Family picture at Matthias' funeral

Keith and Beth family

Renee and Andy family

The Herman family's former pastor came to the visitation.  This was a very moving reunion.

Playing games and spending time with cousins at the hotel in Des Moines

Caleb took us out to eat at the Ridge where he worked last summer.

Shortly after we returned home, Anna Grace celebrated her 18th birthday.  Hard to believe that three of my five children are officially adults.

After dealing with a sore toe since our Stanley hike last September, Lydia finally allowed me to take her to the doctor.  The doctor had some concerns about the viability of the big toe nailbed so she referred Lydia to a podiatrist who removed the nail.  A few days of soreness and a few weeks of saltwater soaks and she no longer has problems that big toe!

Seth and I keep plugging away at homeschool.  Last semester when we studied the Civil War, we spent quite a bit of time reading books about slavery such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.  We watched Ken Burns' Civil War series, and Seth wrote a paper answering the question "Can words start a war?" He read primary source documents reviewing Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address to help answer this question.  This semester we read To Kill a Mockingbird and are spending time studying the Civil Rights Movement answering the question "Does racism still exist in America today?" We watched the movie "Selma" and read excerpts from the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  We read varying opinions of the Supreme Court's action in 2013 stating that a portion of the Act was unconstitutional.  We are currently watching "Eyes on the Prize," a history of the Civil Rights Movement.  When studying WW2 we spent some time looking at various propaganda.  This "required" a trip to the Warhawk Museum to look at all the different posters they had on display so he could classify them into different propaganda categories.  

A perfect picture of the homeschooled boy.  He'll miss this next year!

Seth also teamed up with a friend from church for National History Day.  His friend attends a charter school and was required to submit an entry based on someone in history who broke a barrier.  She decided to do a poster presentation on Martin Luther and asked Seth to help her.  Although Seth contributed a bit, his friend did most of the heavy lifting in this project.  

Seth spent several days on Bogus skiing.  Friends from church have season passes and love to take him up when they go.  I drove him up four times, three of those he just skied on his own, and the last time I borrowed equipment from a friend, used one of Seth's buddy passes, and skied with him!  The weather was gorgeous that day and we had a great time.  

Other than about a dozen "Baby Yodas," I also crocheted a few cute animals for some friends at church.  I also created a pattern for Anna's Dordt University blanket.  Since the boys both have a crocheted Dordt blanket, I figured she needs one too!  

I've made a Huck Finn before, but I added arms on this one.

Heartache and Grief in the New Year

Last Sunday evening after church, Russ received a horrible phone call from his dad letting us know that our nephew Matthias had taken his own life.  After much debating we decided to fly the entire family to Iowa for the funeral service this past Thursday.  We are so glad we did, as it allowed us to grieve with Philip and Pam and family as well as with the other aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who loved him.  We love this guy so much and he will be missed terribly.  What follows is Matthias' obituary and the letter Philip wrote to friends and family.

Matthias Stephen Herman, 22, of Fayetteville, AR and formerly of Des Moines, went home to his Lord and Savior in Heaven when he passed away unexpectedly on January 5, 2020. Matthias had a huge heart and touched the lives of many with his hard work, brilliant mind, and God-given desire and ability to help others. He will be missed beyond measure. Visitation will be Thursday, January 9 from 2 to 4 pm at NorthPoint Church, 9901 NW 62nd Ave. in Johnston, IA. The Celebration of Life service will follow at the church at 4:30 pm.

Matthias was born on October 20, 1997 in Arlington Heights, IL to Philip and Pamela (Bendixen) Herman. He lived in Illinois, Nebraska, and Iowa before graduation from Des Moines Christian School in 2015 and then attending John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Upon graduation in May 2019 he worked as a Marketing Specialist at Branches Mission Lab and in Strategy Support at Field Agent, both in Northwest Arkansas.

He is survived by his parents; siblings, Josiah, Nathanael, Abigail and Kaylan; grandparents, Wayne and Carol Herman, Paul and Betty Bendixen; aunts and uncles, Paulette Bendixen Brown, Thomas (Brandi) Bendixen, Keith (Beth) Herman, Nathan (Tisha) Herman, Renee (Andrew) Olsen, and Russell (Laura) Herman; and many cousins and friends.

Matthias was preceded in death by his paternal grandmother, Georgia Herman and great-grandparents, Verne and Bernice Herman, Esper and Mary Casper, Herbert and Florence Lehrman, and Fred and Nellie Bendixen.



To our beloved family and friends,

It is with great sadness of heart that we must inform you that our second oldest child, Matthias, took his own life Sunday afternoon by killing himself with a gun. It is a tremendous loss for all of us who lost such a loving and kind soul. The question that many of us will wrestle with is why, and the short answer is that the lies that Satan told him, he believed. This is more of that explanation.

We have known Matthias all of our lives as a vibrant and alive person who had a smile for everyone and enjoyed life to the fullest. He was kind and caring and helped so many people around him, even working on projects that would help others around the world. He loved the outdoors and all that God has created. This took him to many back roads, including county, state, and national parks. Many of us enjoyed his wonderful pictures and the stories that came with them.

He was an excellent student in the classroom and made many friends with his classmates (Christian Liberty Academy, LHNE, and Des Moines Christian School) and teachers. He loved his time at college at John Brown University and had many wonderful experiences in the Enactus club, allowing him the experience to compete regionally, nationally, and internationally with & for his school.

He was a wonderful son and a great brother to his siblings. He loved us and we loved him deeply. We have so many tremendous memories of doing everyday things with him. He was deeply committed to being in church and in church activities all of his life. He loved God and counted Jesus as His Lord and Savior. All of these things continue to beg the question of why he would end his life in this way.

Early this last fall Matthias began to share with us that he has had internal feelings and beliefs about being inadequate with who he is. He felt that something might be wrong with his brain because for the longest time that he could remember, he didn’t feel like he had anything to offer to conversation, or plans, or thoughts about deeper things in life.

Those of us who’ve known Matthias for a long time simply know that this was not true, but this lie was deeply planted in his heart by Satan. Intellectually he knew that his identity was in who God had made him and that he was “fearfully and wonderfully made”. However, this truth never reached his heart and soul in the deepest ways that would allow him to be set free.

We saw his sadness at Thanksgiving and had good and honest conversations with him at that time. He promised that he would continue to seek answers and pray about these things that we were talking with him about. A college friend’s graduation present allowed him the opportunity to take a cruise in the Caribbean right before Christmas and when he spent a week with us, as immediate and extended family, during Christmas and New Year’s break time; we had wonderful times with him. We could see a clear improvement in his attitude and his interaction with all of us. We told him when he left and in texts when he got back to Arkansas that it was so good to have him with us and we loved him so much. We encouraged him to stay in touch with us regularly and he responded that he would and that he loved us too.

All of this takes us back to the question of why. Maybe the police officer who confirmed the sad news of our son’s death to us had the best answer we may ever get. She said that sometimes the caring ones carry the cares of this world so deeply in their hearts that they don’t know what to do about all of these things. When they are convinced that no one can help solve that, then they make plans to die and give few or no warning signs and cries for help. All we can do at this point is to entrust him to a loving and caring God who made our wonderful son just the way that He wanted to. We celebrate the 22 wonderful years that God entrusted Matthias to us. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement to us in this deep loss.

Philip, Pam, Josiah, Abigail, Nathanael, and Kaylan Herman

Christmas 2019

We took a break from our regular family worship devotions to read this as a family for the advent season.  I think this is one of my favorite Christmas devotionals we have used.

We were not going to put up a Christmas tree this year, but we ended up getting this little guy and made one boy super happy.

Annual Christmas tea with the CURC Tuesday morning Bible study.

The BSF classes had a cookie fellowship on the last night before Christmas break.  We all brought special Christmas cookies and went home with a plateful of yummy treats.  I used to make these Christmas mice all the time but haven't made them for several years.  I was surprised how excited my kids were that I resurrected this recipe from Taste of Home.

Friends invited Russ and me to use their extra tickets to the Messiah.  The concert was in the beautiful downtown St. John's cathedral.  A week or so later, we all went to the same cathedral to enjoy the Nampa Christian Christmas concert.  Several of the youth group in our church participated.

I think all the Dordt kids from our church flew back to Boise on the same Southwest flight.  Nothing like a little church fellowship at the Boise airport at midnight!

Russ and I hosted Christmas crafts and cookie decorating for kids at the church the Saturday morning before Christmas.  These are a few of the crafts we offered for the kids to make along with dozens of cookies to decorate.

After discussing via Facetime for a semester, we enjoyed watching the last episode of the "Masked Singer" with Caleb.  It was also fun to watch the season finale of "The Mandalorian" with Caleb and Nic.  I crocheted "The Child" (also known as Baby Yoda) for each of the kids.😂

We didn't have any snow on the ground for Christmas but did enjoy looking at the snow on the mountains!

The Herman musicians provided the music for our Christmas Eve service.  I even borrowed a violin to join their string trio! Nicolas and I played a beautiful cello/piano arrangement of "Away in a Manger" for the offertory.  Anna had played plenty of organ leading up to this night, so she was content to sit back and just listen.

Russ and I had been stockpiling a few restaurant gift cards, so we treated the kids to Bella Aquilla (Italian) for a noon lunch and to the Fork downtown one evening (they have the best brussels sprouts appetizer😋).  At Bella Aquilla, the waiter poured an entire glass of ice water on Lydia's shoulder and lap. It couldn't have happened to a more gracious and forgiving person, but I'm sure she won't forget that outing too soon!

Walking through the Village is always fun at Christmas with the beautiful lights, Christmas tree, and fountain.  This year they also had a special animated light show along one of the buildings.

We loved our relaxing Christmas break with the boys.  I think we fixed 10-12 puzzles, played oodles of games--including two fun family escape room games, and put together our first Lego Christmas Village piece.

 The younger three kids all received Diamond Dotz for Christmas.  Seth finished his in one week and is ready to order another one!

Nic finished up the last five doors--replacing the old gold knobs and hinges with something a little more updated.

Putting together spring rolls was a family project.

Russ and I also hosted the college kids who were home for the holidays one night for a meal, fellowship, and an escape room adventure, and then did it all again two nights later (Russ' birthday!) for the senior high youth group.

Anna had the privilege of playing on two awesome pipe organs downtown over Christmas break for part of her senior project.  One of the musician members of our church has access to these organs.  She graciously helped Anna for a morning, choosing stops, educating on acoustics, and just sharing her expertise on these beautiful instruments.

St Michael's Episcopalian Church

Cathedral of the Rockies