We are here, and everywhere

Do you have a friend that you always want to write as the days keep passing, but each time you think about it you feel overwhelmed wondering how you can possibly bring this person up to date on your life?  Well, the blog sometimes hangs over my head in the same way. Love the blog. Love to read blogs. Love to communicate.  But unlike a lot of amazing people in blogworld (who somehow have more magical minutes in their day I haven’t found yet), I just can’t seem to carve out consistent time to post daily, or weekly sometimes!  The momentum of life and the reality of responsibilities have me tied to a few other things right now.  Wonderful, beautiful things.  But things that are much more needy, demanding and often urgent than the beloved computer (and rightly so!). But I’ve submitted this burden of feeling the blog is meant to catch you all up on every aspect of our lives.  It’s actually quite a silly (okay…we’re really into this word right now since it’s about the only nice way of saying anything with a 2 yr. old in ear shot) notion. Who could possibly communicate all of who they are through a one-dimensional avenue?  So, I’m going to stop expecting that of myself, and trust you all are not expecting that of me either.  I’m going to continue giving snapshots of our life and ministry here in the good ole northwoods, and maybe if you want more, you’re going to have to just come and visit us!

Sam & Truman discovering eggs during a hunt with the cousins on a recent trip to Omaha.  Oh to see things through the eyes of a child. 

Truman & his cousin Jack laughing it up.  What buddies they will soon be.

Tava at 8 months.  Smiling, scooching, playing, laughing, munching, loving life.

Becoming quite the two peas in a pod. 

Yes, it’s quite officially begun.  Success you ask?  Well, we’d like to think this past week of “boot-camp” (as we like to call things) potty-training has gone unexpectedly well.  Though, with all other skills learned and miletones embraced…set-backs do come.  We’re proud of our little man though.  Even if it means staying in the house like a hermit for a while.  He will thank me someday, right?

And there you have some snapshots. 

Next up this weekend?  Mother/Daughter Retreat at Camp Forest Springs!  Woo-hoo!  I’m heading out tonight to scoop ice-cream and serve up some pizza fries for the dear ladies.  Pray for a wonderful time of connecting for these mothers and young adolescent daughters - what a special time for God to richly bless these relationships for years to come!

This is what the sun can do

...it can make you want to spend hours here….

...or here…(it can also dry up all of that pesky water in just a matter of days and save our young apple trees from being water-logged:)...

...it can give a little (big!) babe her stroller debut and a big brother another opportunity to be a helper

...and like magic, it can make your kiddos play happily together even while back inside.

Man are we ever grateful for the sun and this “bonus” weather we’ve been having.  Even a little streak of back to normal chilly now is fine by us.  We’ve had our tanks filled and know it only gets better from here!

Our Tava Girl

Tava’s smile can light up any room!  We are loving her smiles and her growing desire to interact and play!  These days she still loves her exersaucer, though I’m trying to give her more opportunity to learn to sit on her own.  She’s rolled over a couple times, but it’s certainly not her favorite thing to do. She’s been introduced to daddy’s leg-rides and loves his “zerbert” kisses on her tummy. She’s eating cereal, fruits and veggies now too, and has grown much more interested in them over the past month. 


And humor me here…..I really do believe our children look mostly like Sam now, but come on….look at my baby picture below and tell me that does not look a little like Tava:)  That’s an 8 month pic of me and Tava is almost 7 months.

His Hobbies

We may live in small-town America, but this kid’s gonna be cultured…:)

What doesn’t he drum on?

The beret was completely his idea….

He’s as obsessed with guitars as he is drums….we are using my guitar as a reward now.  Today was a good day for him. 

Doing his rendition of the ABCs.  Coming to a youtube near you. 

The Night (Ski) Life

Sam was scheduled as Ski Hill Supervisor last night so we got got someone to watch the kiddos for us and I went out skiing with him!  It had been over 2 years since I’d been out on the ski hill (I’ve been cross-country skiing, but hadn’t been able to venture out down-hill skiing).  It was just like riding a bike and it came back to me…I was even going off jumps by the end of the evening…okay…mabye not very high…but I was going off of them:)

As ski-hill supervisor Sam’s responsibilities are to oversee all activity on the hill, enforce rules, get help for those needing lessons, and keep everyone as safe as possible.  I enjoyed skiing with him and watching campers enjoy themselves.  We had a couple large groups in this weekend made up of mostly youth so the hills, both tube and ski were steadily busy.  There were quite a number of snowboarders out attempting all sorts of tricks - they were fun to watch as I’m sure they were all aspiring Shaun Whites:)

Here are some pictures of the nighttime ski hill….mostly for those of you who’ve never experienced it.  Some of them are a bit harder to see….it was lightly snowing and the camera kept wanting to focus on the snowflakes…wasn’t sure how to get around that.  Nevertheless, here they are:

My favorite winter-time scene at camp

A view of the tow-rope, where skiers & boarders load and ride to the top of the hill

Look closely…it’s just been in the past few years that camp has created a section of moguls on the hill.  I avoided them.

A view of the main tow building at the top of the ski hill.  Inside this building is where the tow is operated from and where Sam is sometimes scheduled. 

We’re grateful for all of the recreational areas at camp that draw so many youth - but we pray and trust that amidst the fun and excitement of activity, God is drawing their hearts closer to Him as a result of their time away at CFS. 

Thank you to those of you who are a part of supporting, praying and/or encouraging our family as we serve at Camp Forest Springs!