Random Pictures

Update

We are headed out tonight to visit family for Thanksgiving!!! Yay!! The long drive through the night awaits us. Before we left, I wanted to post a couple pictures of the houses and other work being done. The houses are beautiful. It really is wonderful for camp to have most of these homes donated. They will be very efficient and I don't think that the snow will be getting inside these toasty homes.

Waiting and dreading the inevitable?

You know the feeling... your child is puking and you know you are next. Still holding out hope that he ate something weird, or that you already had what ever he had... he just was hit harder(HA HA). But every stomach grumble (which happens when you are up in the middle of the night for an extended period of time) has you running to the bathroom only to find out that you need something to eat. However you end up looking through the fridge figuring out what you could stomach throwing up. Isn't that funny, we think "would that be easy to watch come out of me? Would this gross me out any less?" You sit terrified to eat anything and all the while stomach grumbles increase in intensity and frequency. Ohh... if only I didn't have to use my brain in the middle of the night. I could continue to help Ethan with my hands but my mind would be still in bed oblivious to the inevitable.

Well, off to the kitchen for some Ritz crackers with the bucket dangling from my wrist.
BRING IT ON!

Snowy Sleep

A couple of days ago, I woke up to snow falling on my face. No I wasn't camping, I was in my own bed. For those of you who have visited our home, it may not seem so far fetched. We live in a trailer, provided by the camp, that was constructed in the early 70's. We have 3 inch walls and single pane, crank out windows. However, over the last 30 plus years, all but a couple of them fail to close completely. In the winter I do my best to cover them in plastic but honestly, when we have our wood stove going and the temperatures reach the 90's in our house, I like having a window to open. Obviously, as the fire dies down throughout the night, the temperature also plumets causing, crazy things to happen like... our pillows freezing to the wall from the moisture in our breath. So as I struggled to open my eyes with snow melting on my face, I thought, "how many people get to experience this?" And I also thought about the stories I will tell my grandchildren some day. But most of all I thought about how good God is to provide housing for us..... and..... that I need to get some plastic for the windows.

Thank You God

Ethan came so close to losing an eye today. A broom he was playing with was missing the plastic cap over the end of the handle. So there was some jagged metal hanging out there and he fell on it, puncturing his eyelid. Praise God it was high enough to avoid his eyeball but it was a scary moment for me. So he has a "mommy-made" eyepatch now that he is pretty proud of.

We also got our first snow of the season over the weekend and throughout this week. It is only about 5 inches, but it is beautiful.

Preparing for the snow

The Youth Camp Lodge just got a VERY needed, new roof. A construction crew from our Church in town had some down time, so they volunteered to help us put the new roof on before the snow. If you think snow is a ways off, we have already had snow on the mountain tops twice and a year ago today, we were sitting in 10 inches of wet, heavy snow. (we usually have light fluffy snow) So this roof is a huge blessing.

Our Crazy 3 weeks

Every year, starting with August 20th, we celebrate Ethan's Birthday, John's birthday, my birthday and our anniversary, all within a 3 week period. It is lots of fun, but straining on the budget at the same time (I am sure you understand). I just wanted to share some pictures from the last three weeks. John and I got home last night from our weekend away in Denver for our anniversary. It was a lot of fun and sleeping in!

Ethan's Party August 20th

John's Birthday August 25th

My Mom's Birthday August 27th (she was with us in Colorado to celebrate)

My Birthday September 1st

The Hyatt in Denver where we stayed for our anniversary
(Thank you priceline for the $45 room!)

Fall is in the air... offically

Today was Ethan's first day of Soccer. It was a day much anticipated and talked about non-stop for the last week. I have rarely seen Ethan so excited about something (Birthdays, Christmas and visits with family aside). It was shocking to me because my timid little boy was actually looking forward to something he knew nothing about, a coach he didn't know, a situation out of his control AND he would be separated from Mom and Dad. It is not that we haven't pushed him to do things in the past, it is just that it never happened without a fight. Ethan loved it. I loved watching him. the scene was hilarious. If you have never watched 4 and 5 year olds play a game they know nothing about, you are missing out. There are those 5 or 6 who are all over the ball, running the game. Then you have the majority of the team acting as "ball magnets," never touching the ball but drawn to the running crowd. They follow the mass of children the entire game, just happy to be running. Then you have those 4 or 5 kids picking flowers, grass and clover, or singing and dancing. My very favorite were the 2 girls, told to stand in specific places and kick the ball when it came to them. THEY NEVER MOVED! They remained in their designated spots the entire game, determined to obey the coach. Adorable (and obedient). Ethan loved it so much, he and John made up a song for the team about soccer.





Progress on the houses is going well. John is really enjoying the responsibilities of his job. He was meant to build. He is meticulous about his work. I enjoy watching him "do all things heartily as to the Lord."





Wade and Matt Lange have been working with John and moving along on some other projects around camp.

Goodnight, Sleep Tight, Don't Let The Bears Bite

The result of last night's late night visitor

Tonight's Revenge

In place of our welcome mat

We screwed this board in front of our door, so we don't expect any visitors tonight, bear or human.

Ethan attempting to make his own bear board

Just a note to those of you who are worried about the bear's health, we don't intend to hurt it, just keep it out of our house.

Still here!

I just wanted you to know that I haven't forgotten about my blog. We have just had company for the last 10 days and will still have a house full for another week. Ethan turned 5 this last week and John turned 34 today. Needless to say we have been celebrating a lot. In 2 days my mom, who is visiting right now, has a birthday and I have a birthday in a week!!!! Whew! Just wanted you to know that I fully intend to continue to keep you updated, it may just be another week before I get back to it. Oh yeah... I also planned and put on a wedding on the 14th. I was the florist, decorator and caterer... (sigh).