RoadTrip!

We're baaaaack!! Last Friday we left Seattle for Brainerd, MN where our family met for a reunion! Mom couldn't make it this year (we really missed her!) She was helping her parents move in Colorado. This was one of the smallest reunions we've had so far (there were about 60 people) but we still had a really great time! We stayed at Cragun's Resort on Gull Lake.

Grandma and Grandpa with their four kids and grandkids!

My beautiful cousin Malyssa!

Family softball game




After the reunion we took Kelsea to Minneapolis to fly home, then Erik, dad, and I drove south to Belmond, IA where my aunt and uncle live.



Belmond is a darling little farm town. My aunt and uncle have lived there over 30 years!



After a few rounds of golf (dad played 3 in one day! haha), we got back on the road and headed west to Mt. Rushmore.

This guy rode alongside us: I heard he's a big-time history buff...



One day Erik...one day.


After Rushmore we drove to Crazy Horse to see the carving in progress.



Then we went back to the visitor's center to see a group of Lakotas perform a tribal dance.



From Crazy Horse we drove ALL NIGHT to Yellowstone National Park. Since all of the rooms were occupied, we parked the Tahoe in the Snow Lodge parking lot and slept there. As tired as I was, I couldn't stop laughing because my dad was laid back in the driver's seat covered by nothing but a pair of jeans. The next morning we awoke to lodge guests coming out to their cars and peering at us through the windows. It was...memorable. Let's just say it was a good thing mom wasn't with us. haha. Then we went to see Old Faithful!



We drove the "Grand Loop" and saw all kinds of cool things (including Erik's long lost twin- pictured below).


Yellowstone was gorgeous! It was great to be out in the middle of nature with the two guys I love most!

These guys aren't foolin' around.

En route to MN. Currently in the middle of nowhere.

Driving...driving...driving down the road...

Lake Shuswap, B.C.

Few of you reading know the story of my friendship with Ruth. It began about seven years ago when we were early high-schoolers about to take a trip to San Francisco with our church's youth choir. Kelsea and I had been going to choir practices practically glued at the hip, but when our leader announced the choir tour dates Kelsea realized she wouldn't be able to go because of a cheerleading competition she had scheduled that same week.

Everyone assumed I wouldn't be going to San Fran without my "security blanket" but for some reason (God) I did. Ruth still remembers getting on the charter bus the first day and seeing my terrified face as I sat in my bus seat alone. The rest was history- we instantly bonded and laughed more than our abdomens could handle that week. But when we got home, my family switched churches and Ruth and I went off to high school and our friendship fell apart.

Fast forward 6 and a half years. I am living in Oklahoma- Kelsea has broken her neck. She and mom decide to visit our old church for a women's conference. Ruth notices Kelsea and mom right away and they tell Ruth that I'll be moving to Seattle with my husband in a few months! Ruth says she is married too- to the youth pastor!

So Ruth and I reconnect and she invites me to the High School youth group's "Houseboat Trip '08" and Erik says "sure!" so I go!

Ruth and I led a boat of 14 Junior girls (we DROVE one of those giant houseboats and led small group discussion after the service every night.) There were 99 kids in total at the camp. I was amazed at how God was at work in their hearts! Every morning our girls would wake up and go to the kitchen to make us breakfast- each day asking Ruth and I how they could help out.

In the meantime, Ruth and I are making up for lost time- giggling so much that at night the high school girls are shooshing us and reminding us that we have to wake early the next morning!

On the last day, one of our girls was injured while riding a jet-ski. Her, her best friend, the camp doctor, another leader, and myself all boarded a ski boat so we could get to shore to take her into the ER. After taking her vitals, the doctors wheeled her into the Operating Room where she was put under anesthesia for further testing. We spent the night wondering if she would need surgery- she didn't.

The next morning I was bummed that I hadn't gotten to spend the final night of camp with Ruth- but then God revealed to me the new friendships I'd built with these two girls on my boat- with the other leader- and with the camp doctor.

I'd entered the trip hoping to re-kindle a relationship with an old friend, but in the end God gave me so much more. His love is truly captivating.

Liberty and Justice (and s'mores) for all!

Well I have to type fast because I'm leaving in an hour for a houseboat trip to B.C. Don't get too excited...I'm riding up there in a yellow school bus packed with sweaty, stinky high school kids. :)

My good friend Ruth invited me to spend the week at her church's youth camp (her husband is the youth pastor) and being the impulsive young woman I am, I said 'yes' without hearing any of the details! We are waking at 4am tomorrow to begin the 10 HOUR BUS-RIDE!!! I will post pics when we return.

We spent the 4th on the Washington coast in Moclips. Some of our family rented houses out on the beach and we had a great time sitting out by the campfire and watching the fireworks. People all down the beach had set up camps. We were surrounded by beautiful sparkling lights. Umm, basically I want to live there. It was wonderful.

Did Erik, Kelsea, and I really just stay up until 3am playing online hearts?? Yes, we surely did.
We went to Maggiano's tonight to meet up with a girl I haven't seen since 2001 when we travelled to San Francisco with our church's youth choir. How great it was to reconnect with an old friend...