Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its on the river retreat I go...

I am so excited! I leave Sunday morning with 'my girls' on our last outing as Jr. High students at Grace Fellowship. Actually the guys going into the Sr. High program are going too.

We are going on a true roughing canoe trip! I got new Keene shoes! I will be hitting up Target tomorrow for sunscreen, bugspray, batteries and ziplocks. This group is such a great group of kids, I know I am going to have a blast. It will be so wonderful to be out in God's glorious creation seeing with this group and without most of the modern age 'trappings'.

This is also my last year officially with my girls. I am stepping back as they head into Sr. High. It is hard to think about that, but I know I will get to see them all regularly! I am taking next year off from any formal kid ministries, but will be back at it when G-guy hits the Jr. High (if they need me).

UNDER RE-CONSTRUCTION...

Please bear with me!

The End of an Era...

My great aunt Kat died late Sunday night. She was 104. She had been fully able almost to the end - her prayer. It is hard to say goodbye, but she had a long and full life.

Can you even image all the new things and changes she encountered in her long life? Born in 1905.

1. Her favorite: toilet paper
2. Great Depression
3. WW1
4. WW2
5. Vietnam War
6. Korean War
   
7. Gulf War
8. Iraq War
9. Indoor Plumbing
10. Riding in horse drawn wagon with heated rocks to church
    
11. Automobiles
12. Electricity at the farm
13. Phone - the party line
14. Phone - single line
15. Phone - long distance
16. Phone - cell
17. Phone - a computer in your hands
18. TV, Cable...
19. Man on the Moon
20. Space ships to other planets
21. Submarines
22. Affordable Flight (flight?)
    
23. Computers (rooms, desktops, laptops, palm sized)
    
24. Combines
25. Cigarettes...Cancer
26. Prohibition
    
27. How many presidents?
28. How many popes?
29. Flappers?
30. the 50's
31. atomic bomb
32. nuclear power
33. solar energy
34. digital photography
35. internet
    
36. ...

what else? there has to be sooooo much!

Would love any additions that you can think of.

Busy, busy, busy...

I actually have not excuse for not blogging for almost 2 months other than every time I started I couldn't find the words, the picture, the desire. You get it - lazyness.

A great deal has happened!

• My great aunt celebrated her 104th birthday & a van of her female relatives drove down for a visit (me, Stephanie, Marissa, Kirsten, Callie, Katie).
• My SIL is PG (as my great aunt would say) and it is sooo cool.
• I got older.
• My sister visited from Oregon.
• My son is playing Lacrosse, went to state for Destination Imagination & made the gymnastics team.
• DD is doing well in school, has a social life that makes me jealous and has taken on our housecleaning as her new job. She also was accepted to the MAT (ministry assistant team) at her favorite summer camp. She will be gone for 5+ weeks this summer.
• Mocha got a huge haircut - will post a picture when I find one.
• I had my once high gloss white walls on my main floor painted into 4 different colors.
• The family has geo-cached - it replaced Easter egg hunting this year.
  
• I have spent the weekend in Duluth with 3000 youth and lived to tell about it
• Mocha is having fun in Agility class - Pat says there are have been some owner errors.
• Pat and I have started Financial Peace University and hope to be debt free at some time in our lives.

Well lunch break is over, so I am signing off.

Pat's Birthday today...

Pat is 45 today.

Because I am really poor at planning for things like this, I have amazed myself!

• Pat had frosted cinamin rolls left out for him this morning
• Marissa & I went shopping last night and she is cooking dinner
• We have a pecan pie for 'cake'
• I have a present (actually came 2 weeks ago) and a card
• Gunnar is wrapping present
• Kids have cards for him
• The kids have cleaned up the main floor
• Pat has tomorrow off so he can sleep in & then help M paint her room.

Funny saying I found (i do believe in term limits):
Politicians and diapers have one thing in common.
They should both be changed regularly and for the same reason. (stinky!)