Air Show Week

What a week!! It was fun, but I'm so glad it's over.
The beginning of the week was spent in intense preparation for the air show. I was working with the schedule, which we finished Tuesday night at 11pm. Sending it to all the needed people took a bit, and then I finally got to hit the hay. Wednesday was the calm before the storm. My Dad took the boys and Emily up to the cabin, so I got a quiet day to catch up on laundry and surface cleaning amidst the phone calls.
Thursday morning, the older boys and Emily returned. Then Jeffrey and Josiah went with me to the Air Show, while Emily got to spend time with her other grandparents.

Thursday night, I spent the night up the hill, so G&G didn't have to get up early as I did. They ended up worrying about whether I would wake up at 4 am. I had set the alarm a little early and slipped out of the house so quietly even the dog didn't wake up. Papa woke up, and was having trouble getting out of bed with his sore arm. He finally asked Gma to turn on the light so she could help him. She accidentally hit some alarm button which started going beep, beep really loud! She jumped and started over to the bed to get Papa up to turn it off. Meanwhile, Papa had finally made it up by himself and was on his way over. Gma ran into Papa in the dark and then screamed that someone was in the room. All this was while they were both trying to be so quiet so they wouldn't wake up Emily and I. :) Emily didn't even wake up when they finally got to my room to see if I was there. Gma crawled in with Emily and peace reigned. :)

Jeffrey and Josiah did a great job working the air show with their CAP buddies. Friday, we worked from 5:30 til about 6. Then we had box suppers and I stayed until there we other Senior Members back from the Flight Line and I was free to go. Jeffrey and Josiah spent the two nights in tents at the air show. I got home about 9:30. Anna had been picked up from coming home from camp by Papa W, so she was home. My Dad brought Ryan, Mark, and Emily home just after I arrived, and then Jerry showed up 20 minutes later. What a zoo for awhile. Finally, we all hit the hay.

Saturday was a repeat of Friday, except for much more intense at the air show. Jerry and the rest of the crew went and helped at a couple parades, and then when he headed back to his car, found out he had two flat tires. He had driven over something in a ditch. Bummer! He went to my folks, left the kids there, borrowed my brother's car, drove back into town and bought some stuff at the hardware store to fix the tires. Two hours later, he was back to pick them up and head home. Phew! I got home at 9:30 to a happy, dirty crew. We got the next day figured out, and finally hit the hay again.

Sunday, Jerry took Ryan and Mark to the air show, while Emily, Anna, and I hung out at home. I took a 3 1/2 hour nap and still felt so wiped out. We did get the kitchen cleaned up and started on the mound of laundry, but not much else. Jerry and the boys had a great time. After the air show, they picked up the two older boys (that took 2 1/2 hours) and their buddy, and then came home! Their buddy was picked up and we were all home again, except for Joy, who returns late tonight.

I have not one picture of the week. Joy has her camera and Jerry's battery to his camera. Anna had hers, and mine is broke. So, no pictures. Hopefully someone will have some from the weekend, and pass them on to us. We'll see. We were all so busy, there was hardly time for pictures. If there is an air show next year, we'll have to designate a photographer for the weekend.

From Joy in Haiti

Bottles, cans, wrappers, plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and other miscellaneous filth blanket the ground. Goats trample garbage in their rush to escape the rain. Crumbling cement walls stand meaninglessly on the landscape. A torn blue tarp waves in the wind.
Someone calls this home.

A sense of spiritual decay is as rampant as the physical decay. Hope feels like that tarp, waving aimlessly in the wind. Joy has been smothered under the garbage heaps. Peace has turned to loneliness.


Two women stand on a heap of garbage. They’ve walked two hours to be here just in case the truck comes today. One hugs a swath of plastic around her neck against the rain. The other wears a plastic bag over her dress. One of them has an injured knee. I ask Shadrach to ask them if I can pray for them. They say yes. I pray for strength, a sense of God’s presence, a reminder of the riches stored up for them in heaven. She smiles and I cannot continue. I’m choked up because I don’t know what to say.

My biggest challenges are overcoming fear and pride, in reaching out to people I don’t know, in battling the feeling of desperate inadequacy in sharing the Gospel. Her biggest challenge is staying alive. She told that to Chris.


What character! What a heart! Strength without sustenance, endurance beyond mere patience, a heart that has for years held on to that tattered tarp of hope. She amazes me to no end. She’s not garbage. She’s a shell. Inside her the hardships form a pearl of great worth – a character born of stress I’ve never imagined. This woman is the person I want to be – enduring, patient, hopeful. She will someday experience this verse – and oh, how much more keenly than we will. “The will rise up on wings like eagles and soar. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not grow faint.”

God bless her.

A Moment

I love this picture. Look at the moment of quiet in the midst of vacation fun. The tubes, the fishing boat, the paddle boat, the fishing pole on the dock, the swim rafts, the deck chairs, the sun on the water all speak of summer. In the quiet yard, a squirrel on the bird feeder pauses, inches from the porch where a quiet soul crept patiently to snap a picture. The squirrel's moment of a sneak treat from the well stocked feeders. His pause to wonder whether the intruder will let him catch a snack, or scare him away. (He got his snack this time.)

On the way to Haiti!

Joy's on her way to Haiti! Please pray for her this week. I know she's in the center of God's will for her. It's in the 100's during the day there, and the 80's at night. The team's motto is: We like it that way! They are eager and excited to be Jesus to the people of Haiti.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Last May, we enjoyed celebrating Ryan's birthday. He had his cousins here and had a blast of a day. On the cake is Dibl, the minor dragon from the Dragon Keeper Series by Donita K. Paul. I had trouble transferring Dibl from the pan to the cake, so his wings broke a bit. I'm still learning to work with the fondant. I thought his body turned out so cool and then I had to cover it with the folded wings, oh well. Ryan was happy!
Ryan really enjoys books and gets into a series with passion. While I'm reading aloud the next books in the series, he'll start with the first and work on reading it himself. How he keeps it straight where he is at in the story, he figures out. :)
We are now in the fourth book of the DK series.
Ryan enjoys flipping on the tramp (even adding a twist to the flip!), catching rabbits and chipmunks in the back yard, playing with Mark and Emily, riding bike with Jeffrey, and hanging out with Dad. Ryan is saving up for a laptop. He loves computers and cell phones, and drools over his Grandpa and Uncles iphones. I think he'll be a techy as he gets older. He has a webkinz pet, Puddles, and loves to discover the unique things he can do on that site. He's had a cell phone for two years now. After a year of begging, we added his line. He's been faithful paying for it and keeping his phone charged and kept track of. If anyone in the family has a problem on their phone, we ask Ryan. He'll figure it out.
Ryan's been mowing the grass up the hill at Papa W's this year. He really enjoys that job and riding the tractor. He does alot of the mowing down the hill as well. His favorite is the riding mower, but he'll do the push mower part when needed. Ryan enjoys riding his unicycle in the parades for his Grandma, and handing out stickers to the younger kids.
Ryan's cheerful personality is a blessing in this family, and we are so grateful God chose us to have Ryan. May God bless you and direct your year ahead, Ryan.
We love you!!

Little Details

I'm constantly amazed at the little details in life. Sometimes the "little" details are not so little for that day, but in the grand scheme of life they are. I need to get some laundry done, pay a bill, file some papers, talk with Dime, visit a friend, find a receipt, bake bread, deal with Darling, etc, etc. They are all little details, but they are important at the same time.
Anyways, lately I've been spending a lot of time on those little details. :-)
Meanwhile, I've been thinking about friends who have had huge weeks on top of all those little details. Their little details are on top of big deals like dealing with a wedding and surgery for a baby. They've been in my prayers a lot.
Drum made it home from Leadership Quest. It was a great experience for him. Yeah!
Dime headed off to camp this morning. Next Sunday, Dot heads to Haiti, and Deer heads to camp with her friends. It feels like such a busy June. The guys and I are gearing up for a huge local airshow where we'll be volunteering. They have Flight Marshaling Training in a week in preparation for it. I'm excited for the activity, but there sure have been a ton of little details in arranging for it. Whew!
Drum's excited as he's earned enough to get his own phone. When the kids get their license, we require that they get a phone line added to ours, and pay monthly. Besides paying their bill, they are responsible to keep it charged and with them when they drive. He's looking forward to purchasing his. I'm enjoying watching my kids grow up. :-) Another one of those little details that mean so much. :-)

Fresh Starts

My inspiration for today is:
God's not given up on me yet, so I guess I won't.
Sometimes when I haven't jogged for a few days, and I'm having a "fat" week, I feel like quitting. It feels hopeless. But then I remember that God doesn't give up on me. He keeps chiseling away my imperfections until my last day on earth, so why should I give up when He won't. That's why each day feels like a fresh start. Sometimes I mess it up from the get go, but I'm still going to keep starting.

Smoothies!

Dot's new hobby is making smoothies. She's even got me hooked (on eating them, not making them). What a great way to have yogurt, banana, strawberries, and blueberries! All that nutrition in a delicious drink. Her Great Aunt Juletta heard about her interest and gave her a smoothie recipe book on Memorial Day weekend! Dot was thrilled, and she's looking forward to making most of the smoothies in the book. The girls tried the raspberry peach one in this picture. We are looking forward to freezing tons of strawberries and blueberries this year. :-)

The Great Northern!

On Memorial Day Weekend we were up at my folks cabin. Most of the guys were fishing on a bigger lake close by. Jerry decided to take the younger boys out fishing on our lake for fun. Duke was casting when all of a sudden he felt a sharp tug on his line. He was in for a hard pull. "Grab the net!!" he yelled as he was pulling it in. They had forgot it at home. He kept reeling until laying right next to the boat was a huge Northern! Jerry grabbed the line to help get it in the boat. It snapped! He made a quick decision and reached over and flipped the fish into the boat. It immediately started thrashing viciously, and they had to stand on it to keep it from flipping out of the boat. They finally were able to head back to the cabin, where they arrived soon after to an excited audience! It measured 32 inches and weighed 6 1/2 pounds! After lots of pictures, they stored it in a bucket of cold water until the rest of the crew arrived. The guys came home proud of their catch. Each had caught their limit, and they laid them out on the ground to see. Then Duke got his fish and laid it next to theirs. It dwarfed them. So funny!!! What an exciting night!

He Passed!!!!!!

We now have a new driver!!
On Wednesday, Drum passed his behind-the-wheel test and became our second child to be able to go somewhere by himself. Yeah!!
Thursday night he soloed and drove himself to a friend's house to visit for a few hours. Ahh...Freedom... :-)

Were you wondering whether I forgot I blogged?
Well, this Daisy got so crazy, and then it felt like so much to catch up on that I was overwhelmed. Here's to a fresh start for the summer!