New things...

Yes.. I am alive. and guess what! that is our new sanctuary at our new church building.

We are all moved in. well. we are almost all moved in. there are just a few little things that have to be done. but for now it works :)
Yesterday was our first service there. anyhow. I thought that I would share our progess...

sorry about not posting recently though. I just lost about 1200 pictures from a harddrive that crashed. and I stupidly did not back up :( And yup. We also have been crazy busy.

Maybe I will be able to post more now though... :) wouldn't that be lovely?
I am assuming if you read this that you like to. and so yup.
anyhow.
Have a very wonderful new year.

Brrr

This week a pipe for our boiler heater cracked. We had to turn the heat way down to prevent it from leaking and you can imagine the coldness. Brr...
Yesterday it was -11 degrees here in Rochester and today it's -1. How cold is it in Bemidji? Are the roads super slick? There are here.

you and me at camp victory...

Last weekend Jim and I went with our youth group to Camp Victory for a weekend retreat. It was a ton of fun and really exciting. We got to play gopher ball, do the high ropes course (which I avoided), go on a hayride, and shave our youth leader's beard. We left Friday afternoon and came back Sunday. We stayed those two nights in lovely, spacious cabins with nice showers, bathrooms, and heated floors. Yeah, it's wasn't really camping bit it was still super.

Pictures:

A. Volunteers B. Todd's beautiful new beard C. Goofing around D. The group F. Gopher ball!

Thank you so much.

The last 24 hours have been very rough but my friends and family are awesome and take really good care of me. I am so thankful for all of them. Here is just a sample of the thank you's that are in order.

Thanks to:

*Rachel and Jake Rudlong for taking me home at 2:30 am after our basketball trip this morning.

*Mom for going into work for me at 5:00 am and letting me get some extra sleep.

*Emily Heller for giving me so many hugs today to make me feel better.

*Pam Cook for asking if i was okay even when she already knew the answer.

*Natalie Hitchcock for telling me I was beautiful even if my lips were swollen and it looked I'd gotten in a fight.

*Polly for making me skip choir.

*Jordan for offering to make me smile.

*Brittnee Johnson for letting me nap on her bed for 3 1/2 hours.

You're all so awesome.

just thinking...

What if the sky was always purple?
What if snow never came?
What if all the ice cream in the world was chocolate flavored?
What if there was no such thing as music?
What if Jerry (my Dad's fish) could talk?
What if time wasn't precious?
What if people never grew old?
What if sliding down the banister was acceptable in all placed and at all times?
What if Math class was easy?
What if I had listened instead of talked?
What if all imaginary friends in the world were real?
What if the government could actually fix all the world's problems?
What if I prayed?
What if I counted to 10?
What if nobody ever forgot anything?
What if the Loch Ness Monster was really in Ireland?

It's definitely worth thinking about.

I love...

... a wall of Pictures from talented Nieces and Nephews.


...Playing a good game of rook. (and winning!)

.. goofy kids coming to visit :)


Oh yes I do...

Obsession

This is Margaret and she is my giraffe. Giraffes are my favorite animal and someday I'm going to own one. We'll take a walk together and you can walk Fido and I'll walk my giraffe.
Life has been really busy - this month especially. School takes up a lot of my time but I think it's very worth it. It's been fun.
Last night my American Government class had an Election day party. It was fun night full of snacks, games, and stimulating conversation. We also had all of our guests take the political compass survey at politicalcompass.com/test. You should definitely take it. After you do, I'll tell you my results.
The biggest conversation of the night was over whether it was a good idea to vote for someone you don't agree with just because you don't want the other candidate to win or because he is the lesser of the two evils. The majority said yes but the answer is still no. :)
Good to talk to you all again! The blog looks beautiful Keren!
P.S. Will you vote for me when I run in 20 years?

Voting and Anniversarys

Today is Dad and Mom's Anniversary. :) 36th one to be exact.

Also today is Election day... ( Whoa... Totaly forgot right!?! Since it hasn't really been mentioned on the news at all....)

But hey! :) I am not going to talk about the election. Well. Maybe a little. Vote for LIFE!

There we go. Got that over with.

Peggy, I really think should post... don't you? I think she is slightly busy though.

Tonight we have company coming. 4 Smallish children actually. It will be fun. :)

And company on Thursday, 2 people. and they are not children. And that will be fun too.

Happy Dad and Mom's Anniversary and Election day!!!

Adventures in the back 40.

Today we butchered Chickens, So the Abbi and the kids came over. And when we were done with the plucking Mara wanted to go for a walk in the woods,
So while Mom and Dad and Abbi finished cleaning chickens we took our adventure.
And of course the rest of them came too. It was a Beautiful fall day.
Abbi might have a blog on it sometime. (about the chicken process) Oh and I have a video that I should show you. It involves a chicken... anyhow. have a good day!


Miss Mara


Mara, Aaron and Jonathan.

A boy...


Mara, Hanging over the culvert.


All them cute kids. Megan was kinda preoccupied. :)

Rearranging.

I have been rearranging a lot around here. People have hobbies and that is one of mine.
I like to move my bed every few months and maybe the dresser and sometimes Mom will get in the mood and we will rearrange the living room.
Most recently I rearranged my bedroom. actually I completely moved.
I find it so exciting although sometimes I feel a little disloyal to my old bedroom. But I am making up to it by making it a craft room. And art room. I have also been into Painting.
(that is one of my normal hobbies) I really like water colors. and yup.
When ever I do rearrange I am quite excited and happy.
It is like art, and I show it off. although when I try to show it off to
Luke he doesn't quite get it. He says that just isn't his thing.
I guess I can relate, as his hobbies of guns and amps and making clamp thingies for dragging logs just don't really excite me. I enjoy them and like to use them occasionally, but the enthusiasm is not there. Anyhow. what are your weird hobbies?

:)

Little Luke.. :) He bears with me. I guess I really like having a live dolly to dress up.
there are boy ladybugs right???


Pip.. He was helping me set out our green tomatoes to ripen. We had about 50 gallons!



I was trying to swing and take pictures... while Luke was throwing tomatoes at me! :)
I tried to get him back. But.. anyhow....


And a beautiful sunset, The picture doesn't really do It justice. but yup. I love taking pictures of them anyhow.

Today I made a coconut cake with raspberry filling. I am really looking forward to eating it.
I think it is the kinda cake that doesn't look perfect but It tastes perfect. :) hehe. partly why you don't see a picture. Mom and Irindee butchered a Pumpkin today. It was 150 pounds. Irindee took some over to Abbi also. Sooo.... Pumpkin everything here we come. ( I put pumpkin in my coconut cake).

Super duper day to you!

Falling...

It's pretty much fall around here. And I pretty much like it.
I have been keeping pretty busy.
My whole family has actually.
This picture \/ Luke is with our new Lumber mill trying to figure something out.
It works Lovely, and I am hoping to use some of the lumber they make for a
play house. I am going under the impression that it is for my nieces and nephews.



I have also been scrap booking a lot lately. thanks to a birthday present from Anna.
:) It's lots of fun to do that sort of thing.
I also read and really liked the book "Brisingr" by Christopher Paloni. It is the 3rd book in his series.


And also keeping me fairly busy is the little baby I take care of. He likes to eat most every thing
as in this picture he is trying to eat my camera. I guess I should feed him more often :)

Life is good and I like living it.

Happy autum to you!

a favorite.

Keren, Heidi, and I mud-puddling.

Special thanks to Polly for:

* This picture

* Smiling at me

* Letting me pick out her outfit

* Sharing her clothes

* Doing the dishes

* Telling me stories

* Letting us stop at Panera this morning to say hi to Mom.

* Lending me a dollar for a pop

* Being crazy wonderful.

Missing kids.

Well yup. I thought I would share this photo cause it is a pretty sweet one.
and because I miss the cute kids in it. and the cute kid that is not in it.
Because it is fun to feel sentimental. and I am feeling sentimental about Summer.
Because this captures Summer at its best. and Summer is almost over. It feels over.
But thats O.K. because I love fall. and Fall brings things that are sentimental,
Like birthdays and bonfires and s'mores, cosy sweaters and hot chocolate.

Yah, so I'm pretty much famous...

Well. I am a published writer!! :) yup. It is slightly embarrassing the insignificance of the topic I wrote on and the editing is severe,
But the idea is utterly delightful :) I have my name in the Readers digest!
( Autographs are free -s&h $1.58)

1 O LORD, You have searched me and know me.

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

You understand my thought from afar.


3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.


4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O LORD, You know it all.



Psalms 139 NAS version

Oh dear!

I like pictures and I think posts are a little bit better with them. but I think I am going to try to go with out for once :) I don't have anything specific to tell you just little tidbits.

~We now have a basement for our church building. Well. There is a big hole in the ground right where the basement will be. It is exciting and encouraging.

~I have a job! I am starting sometime the end of this month. I will be babysitting a 3 month old.
I am excited to do something I really enjoy. Which I think that you can enjoy most anything, but some things just come more naturally.

~Last week I went to visit my grandma in Iowa. We had 3 picnics, One Circus, 30 Hay bales. 5 jillion cornstalks, 4 cool neices and nephews and one sweet sister. That about sums up the experiance.

~Oh yeah, I read the 7th Harry Potter book. And I am thankfull that I read it. I was so happy. :)
I sound like a nerdy Harry Potter reader..... Oh wait!

~I think My next post will be pictures. It is killing me not to put any in this post.

~Oh yes! Abbi has put up the new Bemidji CoC websight. go here.

Keren

i believe we were tagged. your turn keren.

A Accordion or Viola: I probably lean more towards viola.
B Best Friend:
C Crisp or Pie: maybe a slice of both.
D Day of Choice: ask me again tomorrow.
E Essential Item: pencils.
F Flavor of Ice cream: twist. does that count?
G Gummy bears or worms: I don't really like either of them a lot.
H Hometown: Ooh so many.
I Indulgences: Giggling at nothing in particular.
J January or July: July. I'm sad it's almost over. But yay for August!
K Kids: Yes, they are nice.
L Last movie I saw at a theater: I saw Charlotte's Web a couple weeks ago on free kids movie day with Jonathan, Jimmy, and Betsy. I love that movie.
M Musician: I like so many.
N Number of Siblings: I can't count that high.
O Oranges or Apples: Apples but I like oranges too.
P Phobias or Fears: meeting new people by myself, Ferris wheels, Watcher in the Woods.
Q Quote: "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." - G.K. Chesterton.
R Reasons to Smile: autumn, Robin Hood, books.
T Tag: I pretty much think everyone has been tagged already. Are tag backs allowed?
U Unknown fact: eating before bed makes you more likely to dream.
V Vegetarian or Carnivore: Uh, both.
W Worst habit: I have a lot of those too.
X Xerxes or Hezekiah: what sort of a question is that?
Y Your favorite food: potatoes.
Z Zoology or Philosophy: philosophy but i kinda like zoology too.

Remember this?

Seems like a very long time ago.

It's been a very busy summer. I've been to camp, Sonshine, Carre's, and will soon be going to spend some time in Iowa at Jessica's house.

Keren, you are MORE than amazing. I miss you. Thanks for keeping this blog alive my friend.

Many faces of Megan.

Independence day!

This is a flag cake that I made.

We watched these guys jump out of planes and land in a small field. It was cool.

Fireman ( and Women)

It started to rain, But Martha was prepared.

It stopped raining so we waited for fire works. And took pictures.

Weeping willow looking firework.

Yup, And thats a good way to celebrate.

Just Because.

Are they beautiful or what? I am a biased auntie. And my favorite subjects are my nieces and nephews. And... I like editing photos at Picnik.com.

Happy day!

Home Improvement......

Yup, I think its pretty nice too.

Black and White.

Molly

Heidi

Lars


Martha and I have been doing Rearranging and Decorating of her house.
And I thought that she needed black and white photos of these cute children.
I took the pictures and now I guess they are there if she wants them :)
I did them in her Garage, It has lovely natural light. And of course they liked getting their pictures taken, For the most part anyways. It helps to know where the chocolates are at...


We went to the Ocean early-er this week, Myrtle Beach to be exact. South Carolina Makes 28 states that I have been too. Quite exciting. Other ways we have been keeping busy doing summer things. I have read the Harry potter books 1-6. I decided not read 7. I don't know if I am ever going to. I decided that because I am Afraid of what the ending would be, So I made my own Happy and sappy ending. :)

I am excited for Independence day coming. I Love Fireworks.... Sadly I will be missing the parade in Bemidji, I am not sure if there is going to be a parade here. Oh well. :)

Happy June 28th!

Happy Birthday!!!

I thought I would Let you see a picture of my lovely Nieces.