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.

Winter Blast '06

Over Martin Luther King Day weekend Karen and I went with the teens from church up to Waitts Lake for our winter retreat. Too bad winter forgot to show up. There was no snow and it wasn't very cold, but everyone had a good time. We played lots of games, listened to a great speaker, and spent quality time with each other but most importantly with God. It is always fun to go on trips with the teens. I can't wait until June when we go on our 2nd annual Mexico Mission Trip to build houses for the poor.