Terrific Spring Break Tuesday

Today the Youth Group enjoyed "Triple Sonics Tuesday." They met and viewed Sonic at the theater, went to the arcade and played Sonic, and then went to Sonics for lunch.

Stacia, Josiah, Jesse, Evan, Allie, Krista

lunch time 

 The highlight of my day was visiting Bre and the grands.  They were finishing lunch when I arrived.  I brought some Almond Poppy Seed muffins and some sugar free banana/chocolate/oatmeal cookies. The cookies were NOT a hit - but I "enjoy" them. The muffins were devoured.

Gideon often falls asleep over lunch 

Bella enjoyed tea with Mom and Grandma

Annie is growing so fast 

 Bella wanted to put together is awesome puzzle. I was happy to attempt it with her. Annie was happy to try to add chaos to the endeavor. I LOVE this photo. Bella looks proud and a bit nervous, Annie is heading for the puzzle with all she's worth and Bre is chasing her. ::snort::

Magnificent Spring Break Monday

It is SPRING BREAK. We are filling the week with lots of activity. 

Nolan and Alex are working. Alex is busy trying to get caught up, and ahead, with school work.  Stacia and Alex have work samples due on Monday, the 15th. All of Alex's work and grades for the year are due May 1st.

Us gals started the week off with a breakfast meeting at Sophia's. Arielle and Stacia are going to have a table at the upcoming Bella sale to highlight Monat and Alaskan Happy Hats.  They met to discuss their table and shop for supplies. Krista, Benny and I joined them.

Impressed with the cinnamon atop my chai

 We checked out a couple of thrift stores.

Krista and Stacia needed to duck out to get on with the 2nd part of their day....Arielle, Benny, and I made a quick run to the library.

It was snowing all day - but the youth had plans. They decided to do a variety of local activities this year, rather than a youth winter conference. Today, they climbed to the top of Bodenburg Butte - in a snow storm. It was a fine and pleasant misery. 

Pastor Krista 

Go, Stacia. 

 The group at the top - they are NOT on the edge....

Stacia, Jesse, Evan, Josiah, Allie 

 They SLID down the Butte and it made for a much quicker descent than the ascent. Note the depth of the snow on the posts. They are sitting on ice-encrusted steps. 

Success! Back at the trail-head

They showed up at our house for hot chocolate, showers, and to change into wedding attire. All that in an hour - quite impressive. 

Quite the change in an hour! 

 We loaded everyone into our van and raced for the church. We arrived before the start of Ethan and Stacy's wedding.  The wedding was sweet, simple, and timeless.  There was a 2 hour break between the end of the ceremony and the start of the reception. We went with the D family and Mark and Mona to a local cafe for dinner. It was fun to fit that bit of community into the day. The kids kept our conversation lively with stories of their afternoon adventure.

The reception was in a beautifully decorated, historic train depot. We love this couple and are honored to be a part of their story - we enjoyed pre-marital counseling with them.

 I think we cleaned up well. None of us had worn dress up clothes since moving to Alaska. ::snort:: 

Michael and Stacia

Michael and Krista 

Michael and Me

It was a great first day of spring break filled with family time, youth adventures, a romantic wedding, table community, and a fun reception to top it all off.

Resurrection Garden Growing

It's growing. We may need to give it a trim soon. 

I MUST go dig in the snow and find a big rock to close our "tombs." Bella reminds me of this each time I see her. It will be fairly easy to grab some twigs to form crosses from our trees....

Paper Adventures

Our paper delivery man has been interesting in the choice of daily placement of the paper. I've had to call numerous times as the paper is simply not present - or has possibly sunk in a snow drift.

He's taken to throwing it down the driveway or leaving it on the snowdrift in front of the box...either is fine.  We never know if we'll find a paper when I go to get it each day.

This morning....two papers! 

Stacia Encounters Dissections

I don't understand it 100%. I remember being squeamish about dissections in high school. All of the girls have been. I didn't expect it with Stacia! 

We're Alaskans now. We process salmon, moose...

Wait! You were there when we gutted and cleaned 65 salmon this year...you are worried about cutting open one worm? 

She recovered like a pro and found it interesting. 

Into the life of each homeschooling Freshman a little biology must enter.

Lazy Saturday

It was a somewhat lazy Saturday around here.

The men around here tend to sleep in. Dad thought today was Sunday and was up at the crack of dawn to get ready. I explained it was Saturday and suggested he join me for a workout. I encourage this often.

Go, Dad! 

Stacia is interested in learning how to decorate cakes. Does anyone local do this? She has a book and Youtube.... She's been buying pans, tips and such and today decided to give her idea a go.... not bad for a first try and it tasted great. I had a small bite.

The top is especially cute

In the future Stacia plans  to send her practice cakes to BreZaak's weekly church potlucks at Alive Alaska.

While everyone else hunkered down at home I drove across town to a BRIDAL SHOWER!

A bonus is that it was held in Ed and Jennifer's new home and I got a tour. What a beautiful home and setting.

Some people are just fun gift receivers. 

Connection

There used to be a local Friday morning Gather Bible study. We no longer have a study in this time period. We now have one evening study.  When the change was made, I decided to be intentional about making Friday mornings available for "coffee" dates, one on one relational building. It feeds my spirit. NOW - I've often switched Friday to Tuesday or had two or three dates in a week - but I found time in the schedule to connect. This was needed.

Last night I was offered the opportunity to take a quiz to determine my natural rhythm of renewal (Rebekah Lyons book). I was promised the discovery of my most natural rhythm of renewal...rest, restore, connect, or create.  I read the list and knew connect is my natural rhythm. I have enjoyed this year of having ONE local study and extra time for personal connection. More than "enjoying" it, it has fed my soul and kept burn out at bay. Connection feeds my soul as much as rest, but I've learned rest has other important benefits so I make time for it too....I have this book on my shelf to read and am interested in hearing her thoughts about resting, renewal, connecting and creating.

Today, I connected at Crema and then ran errands.  Somewhere along the way I realized I'd not had breakfast or lunch.

I made this revelation while picking up a few groceries and getting a  "loan" of meds for Dad as the pharmacy continues to unwind the maze of referrals. 

Michael texted and asked if I would like a Southwest salad. WHAT? I love the McDonald's Southwest salad. I do. Alex had suggested they stop and pick one up for me after Michael and he finished their study.  Look at God and my men taking care of me.

I pulled into the driveway right behind them and was happily eating a fresh salad (without cheese) within minutes.

The boys stopped over. We had a nice visit. We ate pizza. They took Cody home.

I didn't take a single photo that would go well with this blog post.  I did take THIS photo....a new batch of kombucha bottled, another batch getting started. I suppose this new hobby/skill was born of connection. Sandy, whom I connect with,  is the one who started me with a scoby and answers my relentless questions...so maybe this is a good photo for this post afterall. ::snort::