Blog from the Past

We are such terrible bloggers. It has been way too long. It might just be due to the fact that we have been so busy... anyone who was reading this blog before has probably given up by now... but hey if there is anyone still out there here you go. I will start with the end of April and bring you up to speed or almost.

After Easter weekend - which was so much fun - the following weekend was Women of Faith here in Spokane. I went with my dear friend Jane and had a great time. The speakers were wonderful and the musical artists were fantastic. It was a really good time to reflect and remind me why I sacrifice and try to live the life God would want. Our friends from Tri-Cities were also up for the Conference and afterwards came over and had a good time.

The next week April 24-26 we had our hard wood floors refinished. Lots of sanding and dust and did I mention the STINK! WOW that stuff is smelly. We thought we could handle it by staying downstairs for a couple of days but we quickly discovered that it was necessary to evacuate. Thankfully we have wonderful friends and we retreated to their guest room for a couple of nights. Thanks Rusty and Jordan.
When it was all dry and we were let back in the floors looked wonderful! We love them.

April 28-30 brought us outside for our motorcycle training class. It was a ton of fun learning to maneuver the bike and feel safe on it. By the end of that really long weekend we were both legal motorcycle drivers. We got our licenses updated that next week and we are now enjoying the bike in the warm weather.

We had a bit of fun with the teens on Cinco de Mayo with Game show night. All the teens and their families were invited - the youth staff set up 4 or 5 different game show games and we pulled the contestants out of the audience. It was great fun.
After that we ended the night at a Cinco de Drinko party with some friends and had a good time there as well.

The following weekend May 11-13 was filled with picking out, deciding on, buying, cutting, laying and grouting new tile for our fireplace. It was a totally new adventure and thankfully it turned out really great. We still can't wait to get it finished with the rest of the wood pillars and mantle. But that will come soon enough.

Starting on May 15th we began the adventure of installing a sprinkler system. There was lots of figuring, drawing, charting, mapping, discussing and then came the removal of the sod the digging the digging and more digging! Both of our parents joined us for a long weekend... after it was all in it was wonderful to know that our grass would be green and that Mark would not be moving around a hose and sprinkler all summer again.

Saturday morning the 27th of May we loaded up the Subaru, picked up our friends, made sure we had birth certificates along and took off for the northern border. We went to a fun little town in Canada. While in Nelson B.C., we stayed in a historic hotel, visited the Ainsworth hot springs. On our way home we took a ferry ride across Kootenay Lake, stopped at a couple casinos and had a nice drive home. It was an action packed trip full of good memories.

The first weekend in June was great! We finally emptied the garage onto the driveway and had a "garage sale" with some friends. We sold just about everything on the first day and thank goodness because the next couple days were super rainy.

The first part of June went by so fast with us finishing up small jobs around the house, celebrating Karen’s 25th birthday, painting a carousel pony for a charity auction and just trying to stay ahead at work.

Soon we were leaving for Mexico (June 16). We packed the church bus full of 45 people (teens and adults) and headed this time for the south border. It was a long ride but we made it with little trouble. Once in Mexico we set out to build 3 houses in 3 days, finishing with time to spare. There was lots of playing with the Mexican children and giving away lots of toys. Those teens work so hard and gain some real perspective on how others live in our world. Mark and I feel really blessed to have been apart of such a great trip again this year.

More to come soon to bring you all the way up to date...hopefully

Easter Weekend

Friday and Sunday night our Church put on a Musical / Drama Presentation for Easter titled Eyes of Faith. Karen had a part as Mary Magdalene and did a great job. The whole presentation was amazing, better than anything else I've seen at Church in a long time. I am very proud of Karen for using the talents that God has given her.

The Calender Was Full!

Sorry that we have been such lazy bloggers. We have been super busy. Here is a look at what we have been up to since I last blogged.

Shawn McDonald Concert - March 7th
We drove out to Post Falls ID to see Shawn McDonald, Warren Barfield, and Ali Rogers (totally great new artist). The best part was getting to see our friend Scot Mortimore (drummer for Shawn McDonald). We had a good time catching up and watching them perform. Good night.



Putting For The Green - March 9th
Mark raised money for Life Services - crisis pregnancy center here in Spokane. The event was really great. Mark got lots of sponsors and we went and golfed, drove go carts and played tons of video games all for free. We had a really great time and supported a really great charity.




Skiing at 49 Degrees North - March 11th
Wow what an amazing ski day. The conditions couldn't have been better and the company wasn't half bad either - Just kidding friends. It was powdery, fresh, sunny and wonderful. We (Karen) found out how out of shape she was - the next morning with SORE muscles. But a great day!






Revolution Tour - March 17th-19th
I (Karen) headed to Seattle with the teens for a conference centered around sharing your faith. The teens had a great time - the schedule was PACKED! We headed out to the streets to go door to door collecting food and sharing our faith. It was an event I'll remember for a long time - challenging me to be open and honest with what I believe as I share the greatest gift I have with others.




Tri Cities - March 24th-26th
Once again we headed to Tri Cities - this time to celebrate Dan and Megan's baby on the way. We had lots of fun at the baby shower - as you can see by the photo us girls finally have something to count down. (For those of you who don't know - Mark's friends have been counting down the number of guys left single at each wedding - now all the brides and girlfriends can start the count down this time with babies) Tri Cities is always so much fun. Good times and good friends.



Hardwoods - March 27th-31st
Mark and I got crazy one night and decided to rip up all of our carpet in the living room and hallway upstairs. We knew there were hardwoods underneath and were pleasantly surprised by how nice they looked. In a few weeks we will have them refinished along with the dining room. Then we can move back in to the living room.




Painting Mark's Office - April 1st
Mark was tired of working in a boring white office with no personality. So we went in on a Saturday and gave it a makeover. We painted three walls blue and one accent wall orange/copper, bought him new office organizing stuff, and spray painted his old nasty bulletin board all black. He is still working on finishing three b/w photographs of us to hang above his desk. It looks so much better and makes him feel at home.




Re-Roof Garage - April 6th-7th
Our spring projects didn't stop with the carpet. Just this last weekend we tore off our garage roof down to the skip sheathing (1x4s) and put a new pretty one on that doesn't leak. It was a TON of work (4' x 8' sheathing, drip edge, tar paper and architectural asphalt shingles) and we had to do it fast. We only had one night and one day without rain. We are crazy to re-roof in early April in Spokane. You never know what the weather will do. But we got it done just in time before the rain and it looks great. Thank you Chris, Andrea, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and definitely Dad for all the work you did. It would not have been possible without your help.





SO now it is on to putting in a sprinkler system and a few other small projects around the house. We hope to finish everything before our trip to Mexico in June where we are going to build houses for families in need through Amor Ministries.

We will keep you updated.

Road Trip

We just got back from an amazing weekend road trip to Southern Idaho. On Friday we got off work early loaded up the vans with teens and stuff and hit the road. We arrived in Nampa/Caldwell and stayed the night. Lots of poker and watching Olympics and at least some sleep for the teens and Mark - Karen went to bed early. Then we were up for a huge breakfast, some fun stops around town and by Saturday night we were at a Relient K concert. TONS of fun. Then it was off for a day of visiting the family while the teens had fun with Colin. Our new nephew is sooooo adorable with his red hair. Then Monday took us to NNU our alma mater campus. The teens went to classes and explored. We loaded up and made the long haul back late Monday night. It was another great weekend with the youth-group and our family. Plus it brought back some really great memories of where we first met at school.

Friends

Do you remember those days when you just had so much energy that you couldn't sit still. I do and I was reminded of that this weekend when we had over 20 teens come to our house for an Aftershock. We had a great time. We played video games, foosball, poker, uno, catch phrase, taboo, and I think there were a couple other games going as well. Sometimes I wish I could be a teenager again so that I could experience all that fun again. Sure I still have fun now but it just doesn't seem to come as often as it did back then. Life changes as you grow older, but at least I still have all of the wonderful memories. I thank God for the friends that he gave me during that time in my life. But I thank him even more that they are still my close friends now.