Christmas Break is over.... :(

Here we are again, at Winter Youth at the Red Lion. It seems like we've never left! Andrew and I spent the week as the Event Nurse and the assistant. Thankfully, we saw very little action! We kept busy hanging out with our Youth Group and Team B, answering question at the Info table. On Tuesday, God sent a couple of inches of snow! WooHoo!!!
New Year's Eve was fun at Rupke's, starting the new year with a game of Mafia. Eating and hanging out with friends.
So, here we are, back at school, work, homework. A bit tired, very thankful for the break.

This last weekend found us driving to La Grande. Since Trevor has his driving permit, he drove several hours. This is him driving back home, over Meacham. Mark and I thought this would be a great learning experience for him. The roads were dry and clear, though there was dense fog coming down Cabbage. He did a wonderful job!

It was such a joy to see family in La Grande. We stayed with Robin's parents, ate pizza with the Carters and Scott's family. Played dice...the scorekeeper and his wife win again! The kids are all growing so fast and beginning to look so much like adults. God has blessed us all with such beautiful children. Scott and Ingrid - so fun to see you and meet Noah! Katie and Jessica - May God bless you!
Saturday night we spent the evening with Allan and Eddie - What a fun time of looking at pictures of their travels over the last year. We also checked out the Living Nativity at the Adventist Church in La Grande - so cool!!! Angels, animals, Bethlehem. The reminder that this small child that was born, came to save us all. God, you are amazing!

We have a roof over the hot tub!

No more waiting for the rain storm to pass, we can now sit outside in the hot tub in the wettest weather! Mark designed and put up a roof over the last two weeks. He's pretty amazing with that handyman stuff . A big thank you to Allan for teaching him all that when he was a kid! Now, Trevor and Andrew are learning it, too. The roof is clear, UV rated, and beautiful!

Raphael - a new addition to our family!

After much prayer, we have a new addition to our family!
This is Raphael, named after a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Raphael is a 2009 Ninja 250. And it it green! Woo hoo!
As a family, we had been praying for God's will regarding a motorcycle. Riding a motorcycle is great 'man' time, something all the men LOVE! Even Robin enjoys a long ride.
So, God opened the door for Raphael. He provided a motorcycle with few miles on it, no dents or scratches, at a reduced price. To top it off, we bought it from another pastor!
Now Andrew gets dropped off at school daily on Raphael - the coolest kid in town! Thank you, God, for blessing our family!

Where has the time gone?

This picture is courtesy of Karen, she found this and forwarded it to Mark and I. It's amazing to see how the boys have grown! Trevor is now driving, Andrew is in middle school. Both are involved working at church. God has blessed us!
Names of the boys - Trevor, John, Paul, Daniel. This was taken about 10 years ago...whew!

Mt St Helens

We decided to drive up to Mt. St. Helens today, to check out the road since Mark and I rode the Tour de Blast last Saturday. We were both curious to see what the road looked like from the vantage point of a vehicle, and I wanted to see what Mark rode since I did the short ride (33 miles).
I must say, I have a deep respect for my husband and his riding ability. The elevation gains, the hills that kept going on and on, added to cold weather and decreased visibility. Anyone who made it up that mountain at all is amazing! Nancy, we should try for Elk Rock next year. We will need to train for it - more of what we did on Saturday, with a steeper, longer hill. I know we can do it!
At the top we did the usual pictures and checked out the visitor center. The film they show is very impressive, showing the power of the mountain on the day it blew in 1980. They used words like awesome, amazing, powerful. It's funny. The mountain has that power because it was given by God. He is amazing, awesome and powerful.
Besides, how cool is it that he allowed the mountain to erupt on a sunny sunday morning so we could watch? It could have just as easily been in the middle of the night, or in bad weather.

Maybe, just maybe, he was showing us his power and might?

I love you, God, for your thoughtfulness to us. For showing us who you are, in all your power and glory.

The Tour de Blast with Nancy at Mt St Helens. We rode from Toutle High School up to Hoffstadt Bluffs, about 33.22 miles for us. We has a blast (no pun intended!).
Mark and Matt did the 84 mile ride up to Johnston ridge - Mark was great, doing the ride in 5 hours.
Riding with a friend, in the woods, smelling the forest and going FAST down the mountain. The spaghetti feed at the end was soooo good! This is such a beautiful area to live in - in the last three weeks, I've been to the gorge, the beach, and the mountains. Thank you God!!