A Thank You Note To My Husband

Thank you for helping me come out of my shell.
Thank you for helping me take down the walls of my box. Even if it was one window at a time.
Thank you for giving me the two most beautiful little girls and helping me make sure they are good kids.
Thank you for initiating this crazy adventure we are on.
Thank you for waiting 11 years for me to come around.
Thank you for always making me feel beautiful.
Thank you for helping me fall in love with dogs, camping, Disney World, pepperoni pineapple pizza, and of course, you!
Thank you for making me laugh countless times a day.
Thank you for helping me realize what really is important.

I love you!!

Baby Steps

Christianity is like baby steps. For me it seems like it has been 36 years of baby steps. Sometimes it seems like it is two baby steps forward and one giant, adult size 12 step back.

I am so thankful that God is patient, gracious, loving and kind. Even when, in the tiny little corner of my mind, the part that I sometimes don't like to admit is there, I get frustrated. Wondering where God is when I "want" him. Wondering when it is going to be MY turn. But that does not mean that God is not there. Just because I want it does not mean that God wants it for me.

When I was a kid I wanted to eat frosting for dinner. That was not what was best for me. My parents made me eat veggies and fruit because they knew that was what was best. God knows whats best for me. It may never be my turn and that is fine. God will provide what I need. As long as I give up control to him my life will be so much better!

My Mothers Day

Mothers Day weekend we went to Brainernd International Raceway to watch the first weekend of motorcycle races. Kelly has decided to start racing again this year (I am not really sure how I agreed to this but really, compared to everything else that has happened this year, this is nothing).

We knew that it was going to be cold that weekend but figured we would make the best of it. Well, about half way to Brainerd it started snowing.

Yep. That's snow falling

Watching the drag races

My pit bike for the weekend

Kelly and the girls watching the bikes

What else do you do when it's freezing at the race track? Luckily we had a very good furnace in the camper!

We all had so much fun! It was great just being together and doing something that we all love. We watched both the motorcycles and the drag races. We had breakfast at the track on Saturday and on Mothers Day morning Kelly and the kids took me to a little local diner for breakfast and then Starbucks for an after breakfast coffee. What a great weekend!

Bedtime Stories

Some nights when I was little my mom would sit in the hall outside me and my siblings rooms and read to us. A couple years ago I tried reading a chapter book to the girls. When they saw that there were no pictures they were a bit disappointed. I explained to them that they could use their imaginations and make their own pictures. They were good for a couple nights but they just didn't really get into it.

About 2 weeks ago I finished reading "Percy Jackson - The Sea Of Monsters". Ada started asking me questions about it and so I decided to use it as a bribe to get them into bed on time. I told them that if they got into bed on time I would read a couple pages to them. It worked. Two weeks later and they are still hooked. They lay in bed with their little heads hanging over the edge watching me. Every day Em comes up to me after dinner and says, "If we get right into bed are you going to read to us?" I love that I can finally share this with them!

Creativity

One of my favorite quotes is, "Teach a child to color inside the lines and you take away their creativity." (sorry, I don't know who said it) I love to watch my kids get creative! This is Ada's latest creation. I am not quite sure what it is. It is a cross between a dinosaur and a platypus. She took the box after I was done unpacking it and I didn't hear a word out of her until she was done.

A Little Piece Of Monticello

Last weekend we went camping (I will post those pictures when I get them downloaded) and when we came home there was a package at the back door. It was a care package from two of my best friends back in Monticello. It had something for everyone. Even the dogs.

I think the thing that I miss most about Monticello is my friends. It took me several years to make these friends and then I had to leave. I know that I will make friends here and they will be good friends I'm sure. But nothing will every compare to the friends I made and left back in Monticello.

Does This Field Make My Butt Look Big?

Before I moved up here my dad was telling me how flat it is. He told me that if you go outside of town, look out into the distance, squint and look really hard you can almost see your own butt.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Last week we had a guest stay at the motel for 2 days who was bicycling from Trois Rivieties Quebec to Vancouver. That is around 3200 miles depending on the route you take. He is following the best roads for bicycling which brought him through Crookston. Usually he finds somewhere to set up a little tent but last week it was just too cold and he decided to stay with us. We were very pleased. Not only to have him as a guest but also to hear a little of his story. He speaks French but his English was very good. However, I did not get some of what he was telling me written down because I was so interested in what he was saying. So, I will paraphrase.

He had taken a short canoe trip when he was 18 years old and did a little camping when his kids were little. Then life got busy and it wasn't until he was about 45 (I forgot to ask how old he is now) that he started these "adventures". A couple years ago he and his girlfriend took a 3 week canoe trip (he told me where but it was in French and I didn't want to interrupt his story to have him spell it for me) where they did not see another person for the whole 3 weeks. They had all their food which was dried foods and those "just add hot water" packets you get at camping stores. They also took 2 weeks to climb a mountain (12 days to climb, 2 days to come down) but again it was hard to understand the name and I didn't want to interrupt.

This is the camping set up he has for boiling water and cooking

For this trip he left Montreal on April 19. He will be meeting up with his sons at some point and bicycling with them until about June 30 when he will meet up with his girlfriend and ride a tandem bike to Vancouver.

He has no website or blog so I have no way of seeing how far he has gotten or how he is doing. I wish him luck and pray that he has good weather and safe roads for the rest of his trip.

Everything he needs is packed into this bike trailer. He stops for fresh fruit when possible and has packets of dried food.