Obama's body language

IN Jane pointed out an article talking about Obama's body language in a recent photo. Then they make connections to the health care reform plans. I'm very thankful IN Jane pointed out this article. Lord Have Mercy, Christ Have Mercy, Lord Have Mercy-especially on the elderly with this administration.

Great Aunt Marie's House

The day after the wedding, we went over to Ram's aunt's house. Some of the family had to leave, but most of the family was able to go over for the afternoon. Aunt Marie was in a great mood. She had one daughter get married last year, and one daughter get married that weekend. She still has one boy and one girl left. Boys and weddings don't involve as much. The last girl has Down's Syndrome. They joke that if she ever gets married, they will have pizza and Slurpies because that's what she wants. She was thrilled to be done with the wedding planning. It's crazy to have two weddings in less than a year! We ordered sub sandwiches and Aunt Marie had some chips and salsa etc. to go with them. It was great to talk to the family as everyone was busy with the wedding and it was the first chance we really had to chat. The bride and groom came home for a little bit so that she could pack for her honeymoon, but they were busy and we only talked to them for a little bit. We laughed because they opened up the cards to get some cash for the trip, but they waited to open up presents. They talked about how nice it was that the reception ended early (I think about 9pm) so they were able to go to the hotel and get some rest. The next day they took a middle of the night flight-first to FL and then to Jamaica if I remember right.

Great Uncle Dan brought a fun beanbag game for the adults but the Lambs tried it out.

Great Uncle Hal (the bride's dad) worked very hard to put in this beautiful waterfall and plants in their backyard. I can't imagine how much it work it was to carry all those rocks and put them in place. He had an "expert" check it out after he was finished. The expert said it would cost about $50,000 to have professionals put this water feature in. He also said Hal did a great job and did everything right. That made Hal feel good to know that everything was draining correctly etc. Cousin Adam was very patient taking the Lambs up the hill so they could see the water. Here he took Lamb 1 and 3 at the same time.

Cousin Adam was impressed that Lamb 3 could handle walking up the steep hill with just a little help. Lamb 3 was determined.

Papa also took trips up the hill with the Lambs. Here he is with Lamb 2.

Cousin Jenna took the Lambs up a few times. Here she is with Lamb 1. Jenna helped Lamb 1 walk across one part of the rocks too.

It was an enjoyable afternoon at Marie and Hal's home! Hopefully tomorrow I can post some final thoughts about our CA trip. I'm out of pictures to post from that trip though!

Rehearsal Dinner and CA wedding

The rehearsal dinner was held at a barbeque restaurant. The groom's family was very friendly and so kind to allow all of our family to attend. The food was a buffet of barbequed foods. It was delicious. They had bandannas for napkins and cowboy hats for the children. The Lambs were excited they got to keep those. They played lots of cops and robbers in the hotel room. They played even more after we got home and had their police man uniform and ride on cars.

Our family after the rehearsal dinner. I heard that Ram was just like Lamb 1 and hated having his picture taken when he was a boy.
Lamb 2

The wedding was on Sunday afternoon. Sunday morning, some of Ram's cousins played with our boys. This photo was taken at the wedding reception where they continued to play with our boys. Annie is Adam's girlfriend and she was the most enthusiastic about playing with our boys. Annie helped the Lambs to run off a lot of energy. One of the groom's nephew's (a ring bearer), Lamb 1 and 2, and Annie are in this photo.

Don't tell anyone that we skipped church and played Duck, Duck, Goose on Sunday morning. Great Aunt Debbie even joined in for a little while. Lamb 3 wiped out on the patio and had a big bump on his head when we went to the wedding. After a long chat with relatives and the Lambs playing games, we walked down to a cute cafe and had a good lunch before the wedding.

All of Ram's mom's family at the wedding. All the siblings and their children and spouses and our children were at the wedding. This is quite impressive because we came from WA, several places in CA, ID, and MN.

Ram's mom with all her siblings

The bride's family (Ram's mom's sister's family)

Grandma and Grandpa with our family

Our family

The wedding and reception were held at a park. A Mexican restaurant catered it. It was a taco bar with great food. I've never seen a candy bar before. There were jars of candy and we were to fill our bags with candy for the ride home. Lamb 2 usually doesn't eat many sweets, but he finished the bag on the way home. Don't tell anyone that Ewe finished her bag too.

It was a little hard to manage all 3 Lambs at the wedding and reception, especially since the wedding was outside and not at a church. But that turned out to help us as there was lots of area for them to run around in during the reception. When they weren't sitting eating, we took turns watching them run around. We hadn't seen Ram's mom's family since Lamb 1 was a baby, so it was great that everyone was there and we were able to visit with them.

Why?

Why does Lamb 2 get up 4 times in the night when Lamb 3 actually sleeps through the night?

(Lamb 3 slept through the night for several months after we brought him home from the hospital. When he started teething, sleeping through the night ended. A few months ago I quit nursing him in the middle of the night, but still was up with him at least once a night. It was usually 2am. We've been battling colds and minor fevers. I think Lamb 2 didn't feel well and that was the reason for all the night waking. Lamb 3 slept through the night for the first time in months. I think that was because he was sick too. I'm hoping to get them all in to the chiropractor today. Hopefully the chiropractor will help them all without changing Lamb 3 sleeping through the night. We can hope...)

This is going to be a long day between the last summer library storytime (they get very excited!), the Lambs are tired and grouchy from being sick, getting up 4 times last night with Lamb 2, and trying to work on the tons of peaches here (actually it's only 34 lbs worth!).

More about our CA trip

I'm finally getting to post about our trip to CA again. The Lambs loved all the flowers in CA. Unfortunately here in MN, we let them pick flowers that are weeds like dandelions. We never did get them to understand that they can't pick the flowers in front of our hotel and other businesses we went to.

Lamb 1 and 2 picking "just a few" flowers for Mama and Grandma.
Lamb 3 had to copy his big brothers.

Ram with Lamb 3.

After our sightseeing on that Friday when we went to the city, we went to a Mediterranean restaurant that was just about a block away from our hotel. It was delicious. It was pleasant weather for a walk down there too.

Lamb 1 and 2 with Grandma, walking home from dinner.

Most nights we went downstairs at the hotel and had treats at Happy Hour. Lamb 1 especially liked the Shirley Temples. They had wonderful food too. Great cheeses and crackers, lots of fresh fruit, chips and salsa, fresh veggies and dips, etc.

Lamb 1 was looking forward to the elevator at the hotel. Lamb 3 also enjoyed the elevator. We were on the 6th floor so they were able to take lots of elevator rides. They enjoyed looking out the clear glass on the elevator.

This was taken in the hotel lobby. This was the best photo I could get of the Lambs-too much to look at. The hotel was really busy, especially on the weekend. There was a huge family reunion, and several wedding parties and guests.

The Lambs loved watching the fish in the hotel lobby. We did our best to keep the Lambs from going swimming with the fish! All 3 Lambs were difficult to handle in the hotel lobby-too much to see and too much room to run around.

The Lambs were happy that this Embassy Suites had fish, just like the other Embassy Suites that we stayed at in L.A. area.

The hotel we stayed at was fine, and this is not a complaint as much as a statement. The breakfast area was far too small for the amount of guests. It was the worst on the weekend, but it was bad every day we were there. Most guests want a nice breakfast because made-to-order omelets are advertised as a perk of staying at Embassy Suites. We had to wait for a table, then wait in long lines for food, and wait for a high chair, etc. all while keeping track of the Lambs and getting food for everyone and helping everyone get their food cut up etc. The rooms at the other Embassy Suites I've stayed at were nicer too, even though our room was adequate. This was a one time event for us to go to San Francisco area for Ram's cousin's wedding. I'm thankful that the Embassy Suites that we prefer is the one in the L.A. area that we go to more often, when we visit Ram's grandparents.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll post about the rehersal dinner and wedding. After all, that is the real reason we went to CA!

Poop!

A Looper friend, Gina, has a boy about the same age as Lamb 1 that recently had surgery. This post is a good reminder that those of us with healthy children are blessed. We shouldn't take for granted the multiple dirty diapers we change and the potty training problems we have. My dad always says to be thankful that "the plumbing works" for our children. We praise God that John is doing so well after surgery.

PRAY

Please pray for baby Stellan, his heart, his family, and especially his Mama and Papa. Click here if you don't know about baby Stellan. Thy will be done, O Lord.

We had a very busy weekend with our town celebration for being 130 years old and TRAM riders this morning (The Ride Across MN) bike riders. I will post about that later, but I wanted to post about Stellan now.

Dental visit today

Today it was Ewe's turn to go to the dentist. We go to the dentist 15 miles away so to drive there, get my teeth cleaned, and drive home is almost a 2 hour break from the Lambs. It's great that all the Lambs are old enough for me to leave them with Ram to go to the dentist. I was looking forward to reading a book or magazine in the waiting room. Unfortunately the dental hygienist met me at the door before I even sat down. So I didn't get any reading time there.
I always do well brushing and flossing right before and after I go to the dentist. But I get lazy and don't do well in the in between time. I told the dental hygienist I was willing to get my lecture, as I hadn't done so well.
Everything went well. She said my gums looked good, x-rays looked good, and I was worried for nothing. She cleaned them well. For the first time since Lamb 1 was born (5 years ago), I didn't need fluoride! This is good because insurance doesn't pay for fluoride for me. It's also good that after pregnancy and breastfeeding 3 Lambs, my teeth have finally "recovered".
When the dentist came in to check, he said he only says "excellent teeth" about once every 2 weeks-and I was one of those with excellent teeth! He said I must have had good habits as a child and lived in a town with good fluoride in the drinking water as a child.
I'm pretty sure my town had good fluoride in the drinking water, and I know it did when I moved to Fort Wayne, IN when I was in high school. My parents also had a rule-no brushing teeth at night time= no sweets the next day. There were a few times where they made me refuse treats (it was the worst when we were at another house and they were offering me sweets!) and that seemed to take care of it.
Ram has never had a cavity and I only had two right when my adult teeth came in-I think I was about 12. It's a sad commentary on Americans that this isn't normal for everyone.
Now I'm motivated to be good about flossing/brushing for a while after my checkup today. And I think it's funny that I can blog this much about a 1 hour dental checkup-that is what is happening in my life right now!

Ram and Ewe conversation today

Ram: You know the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius which covered the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum?

Ewe: Yeah.

(Ram continued to talk about a video he watched on msn today.)

(A few seconds later.)

Ewe: How many wives do you think could answer yeah to your first question?

Ram: I would hope most homeschoolers would.

Ewe: I doubt it. Hopefully most classical homeschoolers, but I even doubt that.

Ram: That's a sad commentary on today's schools.


Here's a link to the video-Ram thought it was pretty cool.

Ancient Secrets of Herculaneum

Reading Mamas

After posting yesterday about how important it is for Mamas to be reading daily, I thought about this topic a lot today.
A typical day in our household goes like this. IF Ram doesn't have any meetings or appointments (which not counting Sunday is most days), then Ram, Ewe, and Lamb 3 sleep in as long as possible. Usually Lamb 1 and 2 get up at 8am and play quietly in the living room until Ram or Ewe get up. Most days Ram gets up about 8:30 and lets Ewe sleep in until 9 or 9:30. In that hour or half hour Ram changes diapers, makes sure Lamb 1 has clean underwear on, makes coffee for himself, gets a cup of milk for Lamb 2 and 3, and sometimes gets cold cereal for the Lambs. We usually try to get dressed before going to get the mail which comes about 11am. I know it's a bad habit, but we don't usually eat much breakfast. We either make brunch type food or lunch to eat after the ones that went to get to the mail get home-about 11:30 or noon. We try to have family devotions at lunch. Ram is busy nearly every afternoon either visiting people, meetings, teaching, or writing a sermon etc. Some days we have activities like ECFE, but most days are free for Ewe and the Lambs. Lamb 3 takes a nap about 1pm. Lamb 1 takes rest time and Lamb 2 takes a nap at 2pm. Often Ram has meetings at night. Bedtime is 8pm for Lamb 1 and 2. Bedtime for Lamb 3 is about 9pm. I seem to stay up far too late because after the Lambs go to bed is my only ME time, even if I'm only doing housework that I couldn't seem to get done with the Lambs under foot. Since we gave up TV last January, we have been a little better about going to bed earlier. But here I am, blogging this at midnight, wondering when I will ever have time to do some intellectual reading.
I figure since the Lambs aren't used to getting attention from Ewe first thing in the morning, I'm going to try getting up a 1/2 hour earlier and spend 15 minutes reading my Bible and 15 minutes reading something intellectual. I'm not going to start with anything real heavy-eventually maybe I'll get to that point, but I have a huge stack of books that I'm interested in that I want to try to tackle. And yes, all those books in that stack have some meat to them, they aren't just romance novels. Most are non-fiction of topics I'm interested in.
I think I'll be surprised how much I can get read with just 15 minutes of reading daily. I know it's not the best circumstances because the Lambs will be playing near by. But I will do better reading in the morning, even if the Lambs are there. I will do much better with a schedule.
I do plan to guard my reading time and do this first thing in the morning. I will definitely need to do my reading before I turn on the computer and start reading e-mail or blogs.
I also plan to teach the Lambs that this is my reading time and when I am finished then I will read to them for 15 minutes. We almost always read before bedtime, but we don't always read during the day. As we get more into homeschooling (Lamb 1 is in K this fall), I think this will be good to do some of the reading first thing in the morning. After reading time for all of us then we'll get the cold cereal and turn the computer on etc.
Recently we've been off schedule with vacations and summer activities. I have been trying to do some decluttering and I hope to do some deep cleaning in August. Hopefully I can begin my reading plan on August 3. I don't know if Ram will join me in my reading plan. I'll try to keep you posted how my plan works. Once my reading plan starts, I also plan to try to not stay up so late. I want to be awake when I'm reading the next morning!

Stop cleaning...and read a book

I will go back to blogging about our trip to CA, but I read an article today that I wanted to post about.
The Memoria Press catalog often has articles that I really enjoy. Susan Wise Bauer, the author of "The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home" wrote an article for the summer issue of the Memoria Press catalog titled, "Stop cleaning the kitchen and read a book."
I wanted to quote the article: "So now you've resolved to educate yourself through reading. But when? You have kids, you have a job, you have this home education thing which takes up some of your time. How do you find the time to do a project like this? We all juggle jobs, housework, bill-paying, family, kids, and late night television; but I think for women, and for homeschooling moms in particular, finding the time to read is vital. As Lydia Sigourney warned us over a century ago: The contemplation of little things puts us in danger of losing our intellectual appetite."
Here are some of her principles:
1. Morning is better than evening. It's a lot better to spend 20 minutes before breakfast reading...than to try to schedule an hour or two in the evening, after you've spent all day with your small children.
2. (This principle really jumped out at me.) Recognize that you may be reluctant to read because, on some deep level, it doesn't seem worthwhile. Activities that produce an immediate result are always more satisfying than activities that don't. We need to acknowledge to ourselves that we enjoy seeing visible results for what we do. In many ways, it's more rewarding to get up in the morning and clean the kitchen than to get up and read. If your house is filthy, the baby is screaming, and you have a book in your hand, you won't feel at all rewarded. That baby will eventually grow up. Eventually he'll come and ask you questions. If you have spent the last years every morning getting up and doing what is immediately visible and rewarding, you may not be able to answer his questions. But if you have spent some of that time reading, thinking, and preparing yourself by educating your own mind, you will be able to have those conversations with your child.
That conversation with your teenager is a long ways away. Remember that the ability to put off immediate satisfaction (clean kitchen) for the sake of future gain (meaningful conversation with growing child) demonstrates self-discipline and maturity. The project of self-education requires you to take a very long view. It requires you to sometimes ignore immediate rewards in favor of a much greater reward down the road. If you can't have that conversation with your child, then who is going to have it? You are going to have to outsource to somebody else. Is that really what you want to do? As you try to carve out a small amount of time to educate yourself, think about your priorities-both now, and for the future.
3. Guard your reading time.
4. Forget about speed. The process of understanding can't be rushed.
To read for 20-30 minutes every morning is a very small revolution. It is a meaningful one. Remember that you are modelling your priorities for your children. You're not just educating yourself. You are creating a sort of mini-world within American culture where a different ethic and a different system of values is at work.
I typed out much of this article, but you can read the whole article at http://www.memoriapress.com/. If you are a homeschooler, I would highly recommend getting on their mailing list-even if you don't purchase their materials. Whether you are a homeschooler or not, I would like you to think about principle #2. Tomorrow I will post about my plans for educating myself through reading.

Captured ID soldier-updated

The war seems really far away until you actually know a captured GI. Click here for the whole story. His family is long time family friends of Ram's family. Please keep his family and especially Bowe in your prayers.

UPDATE:
Our other family friends-our best man in our wedding, his father, was interviewed about Bowe. His daughter's blog has the interview. They are correct, we are not powerless, we have the power of prayer!

When we were out at ID a few years ago for the 4th of July, Bowe's family and our family went to the Baker's house to celebrate the 4th of July. (I hope I'm not confusing them with someone else. It's difficult when you marry into a family and go to a gathering like this and everyone knows everyone else except for you! I was doing well to keep all the Bakers straight that night.) It is awful that the family received the news about Bowe this year on the 4th of July.

We thank all our service men and women for the sacrifices they make and also for their families that sacrifice for our freedom too. May the Lord bless and keep Bowe and his family.

CCA Photo-Finally!

Yea! Sandy was able to send me a photo to replace mine that didn't turn out. These are the Looper Mamas (and a few babies) at CCA in WI in June.
L-R Susan G, Glenda M, Sue M (in pink), Laura K, Ewe with Lamb 3, Deidre (hopefully I spelled that right), Kristie K, (we were able to have pizza with her family before Divine service that night), Fay E, Sandy R, Kathy M, and Erin S with Gus.


I hope that I got this all correct and if I didn't someone corrects me. Plus I hope this makes sense L-R-there weren't quite two rows of us. We may be missing someone as we took a photo with my camera and then many of us left and had to come back when Sandy brought her camera.


It was difficult to round all of us up from our conversations that night to get a photo. I was bummed that my photo didn't turn out. Sandy was the only other one that took a photo that night. Thankfully she sent me a copy of hers. I was only there on Wednesday night for Divine service and then we headed home. We didn't actually stay for CCA this year. There were probably many more Loopers that attended on Thursday and Friday when I didn't.

Sightseeing in San Francisco

We took the BART into the city. Our hotel was right across the street from the train station. Riding the BART was the Lambs favorite part of our trip. The night before I warned Lamb 1 that once we were on the BART we wouldn't get off until our stop. He said, "I would never get tired of riding the train! I could ride it all day." We stopped at a stop to get on a cable car. We soon discovered the lines were REALLY long. They said it was about 45 minutes but none of us thought it would be that quick. We took a few photos by the cable car and then started walking. It was a LONG walk. Ram's mom hadn't worn good walking shoes and Lamb 1 and 2 were getting worn out. We decided to take a bus, but it took us a little while to find the bus stop. We finally took a bus that was a streetcar. Our first stop was Boudin sour dough bread.
This picture is for my friend Pam. (Sorry the iced tea is in the way!) We went upstairs to a restaurant away from the crowds. The hostess said it was a little different menu than downstairs where I had eaten before. The difference was a few less soups and double the price! But after all our walking, it was nice to be waited on instead of order at a counter and try to find a seat. Many of us (including me) had clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl. We all loved the sour dough bread, especially Lamb 3. Thank you Ram's dad for the treats! We were also able to take a nice restroom break for all of us too.

Then we went shopping downstairs as it was after lunch time and the crowds were gone. Grandma bought Lamb 1 and 2 these keychains that were charms of cable car, sour dough bread, etc. We completely forgot to get Lamb 3 one. In a few years he'll wonder why he didn't get one. I looked at several stores after that without finding one. I'll try online, but I don't know. I realized it after it was too late to go back. I was actually looking for a present for Pam so I was distracted and forgot about Lamb 3. Oh well. Pam-your gift is in the mail.

Next we walked to Ghirardelli Square. Again, it was tourist season and really crowded. The Lambs shared a kiddie sundae. I think they would have preferred a plain hot fudge sundae without sprinkles etc. I had a wonderful hot fudge sundae. Ram's mom had chocolate covered strawberries. Then I was able to shop by myself and buy gifts for Ram's grandma (she loves sweets!) and Angie. I bought chocolate chips for our family as it will last a lot longer to make chocolate chip cookies a few times than a few pieces of chocolate. Angie, your gift is ready to mail-I'll mail it tomorrow.

Lamb 1 didn't want to cooperate for photos after eating. They were starting to get tired.

We were able to take a few photos by the fountain with the promise of giving the Lambs pennies to throw in the fountain afterwards.

Lamb 1 and 2 threw several pennies into the fountain.

I tried to get a photo of Lamb 3 like the nursing mermaid Mama statue, but he wouldn't cooperate. He really wanted to throw pennies like his big brothers.

Grandpa was patient and walked Lamb 3 around many times on the trip when he got restless.

This is the streetcar bus that we rode to and from Fisherman's Wharf from the BART station. After sightseeing, the bus was really crowded as we got near rush hour. Lamb 2 and 3 fell asleep on the bus and then we had to carry them to the BART station.

Riding the BART was easy, but as we were leaving the last time, I didn't make it through the turnstyle. Lamb 2 and 3 were free so we carried them through, but we had lots of other stuff with us by the end (our purchases, jackets, stroller, etc.). You stick your ticket in the turnstyle before and after you get on the train. The last time I had Lamb 2 and he made it through, but I didn't. I didn't know what to do as my ticket was out of money at that point. Lamb 1 hadn't gone through yet so I used his ticket and picked him up and went through together.

We had an enjoyable day, eating our way through San Francisco and also riding the BART. Stay tuned for more about our vacation, tomorrow!

Beginning of our CA vacation

We left on Wednesday, July 8. We let Lamb 1 and 2 go to library storytime before we left. They were able to pick prizes and they picked some paper airplanes they had wanted, but we had not been able to find. (We had looked at several stores!) I was glad they found them at the summer reading program prizes. They played with their new airplanes all the way to the Twin Cities. Because we went to library storytime, we got to our hotel quite late. The Lambs got tired of driving the 4 hour trip. We spent the night at the hotel and then left our car at the hotel parking lot for $10. This was much better than the $45 AAA rate we get where we usually park.
We woke at 5 am and took the hotel shuttle to the airport. It was a 4 hour nonstop flight. Lamb 3 slept about an hour at the beginning of the flight and Lamb 1 slept about 1 1/2 hours at the end of the flight. We had no trouble taking rice milk on the plane. Lamb 2 never slept on the plane.
We found Ram's parents at the airport and Ram's dad had rented a big van and 3 carseats. We got all our stuff and all of us loaded in the van. We got a little lost looking for a restaurant and we ended up at this delightful seafood restaurant right on the water. Lamb 2 slept through the entire lunch. I ordered a salad with shrimp on the side. Lamb 3 ate the shrimp like it was Cheerios. I didn't get many shrimp! The food was excellent and we were all glad we got a little lost and discovered that restaurant.
We stayed at Embassy Suites so we drove there and unloaded. I had tried to pack light but that was impossible with 3 little Lambs. Then we went to Target and Whole Foods for some things I couldn't pack (diapers and rice milk). Then we went to a park to let the Lambs run some energy off. They aren't used to tons of kids being at the park when we go so they were a little overwhelmed. Lamb 3 enjoyed swinging. Grandma tried to convince Lamb 1 and 2 to play and she succeeded a little.
Then we went back and ate at the restaurant at the hotel. It was easier than going out and we were all tired. I had another salad that was really good, but I was getting tired of salads!
Then we went to bed anxious for our sightseeing trip to San Francisco the next day.

Home Sweet Bed

We have traveled a lot the last few weeks. We drove to WI and CO and then flew to CA. We have stayed in a lot of hotel rooms and even a monastery for a few nights. In CA, our hotel was next to the BART tracks and I really noticed the BART when it was running. Plus the Lambs slept in the same room as us at the hotels. I was really glad to be back in my own bed with Ram and the Lambs in their own rooms. I don't notice the train here at home even though it is much louder than the BART. Everything is really quiet here in the town of 113 people. I have slept really well the past few nights since we have been home. Eventually I'll get to post about our trip to CA, but there has been much laundry, cherries to can, etc.

Happy Birthday, Kate!

I have one godchild. Kate is 5 years old today! Here she is at her preschool graduation. She had to make a life size Kate, doing what she wanted to do when she grew up. She picked being a mom! I think that is a great career.
I have some girly presents for Kate since I don't have any girls, but we were on vacation so they will be late this year. Kate lives in NJ so I've never met her. We hope she has a great birthday today. May the Lord bless Kate and keep her in His baptismal grace.

Next vacation

I blogged a lot the last few days trying to get caught up on blogging our last vacation before our next vacation. I hope you didn't get tired reading all of it! We're off to CA for a wedding. It is Ram's cousin getting married. We are flying. I won't have internet access so I'll see you next week. I'm going to have a great burrito and sour dough bread in Pam's honor. We usually go to the LA area to see Ram's grandparents so this is a treat to go to the Bay area. I've only been there once before and Ram has never been there before. I'm off to finish packing now and hopefully not get to bed too late.

CO Looper Visit

When I realized we would need a place to worship the day after the wedding on a Saturday, I contacted the Loopers that I knew lived in the Denver area. Jan and Lisa are Looper neighbors, but they had never met before we all got together. I think they are going to try to get together again now that they have met.
We attended church and Sunday School at Jan's church. Her husband is the pastor of Mount Zion in Denver. I was impressed with their church. Everyone was very friendly. An older gentleman came out to our car (we were there a little early) and greeted us and told us how much they love their pastor and how much their pastor is teaching them. They have every Sunday communion. We used TLH this Sunday. Bible Study was on the Book of Concord. My parents attended Bible Study while I went to Sunday School with the Lambs. They have Sunday School in the summer too. Sunday School was based on the Gospel lesson of the day. The church seemed like an older congregation but we could also tell they are really growing. They have an early childhood center and I believe they are adding kindergarten. This was the first church service I attended not at Fort Wayne, IN or at home in MN since we moved to MN 6 years ago. Lamb 3 kept saying "dada" during the service and couldn't figure out who the pastor was. Lamb 2 had diaper blowout and I had a mess to clean up so I missed the end of the sermon.

After church we stopped and got Burger King and took it to a really nice park. Lisa's family met my family and Jan's family at this park. Lamb 3 loves to swing.
This is Jan's baby, Elizabeth. Isn't she a cutie? Can you tell I want a girl?

Lisa, Jan, and Ewe

The park was so hot that after a little while at the park we went to Jan's house. The kids played with toys while the adults chatted.

We attempted a photo of all the kids. One of Jan's was sleeping and one had a tantrum during the photo. The Lambs cooperated because they had some "girl toys" to hold during the photo. Lisa has 4 children. Both of the girl babies (Jan and Lisa's) are named Elizabeth. I think most of the kids played by themselves with the toys, but there was quite a group of them. Lamb 1 and 2 love to play with girl toys when they get a chance. The batteries in my camera died so Jan was able to get better photos than I did.

I was so worried about the Lambs that I didn't take care of myself so I got a little sunburned at the park. I really enjoyed the day with the Melius family. After visiting for the afternoon, we drove to Sterling, CO and stayed at a hotel there. After not sleeping well at the hotels, we decided that instead of staying at a hotel in Omaha, we would drive Sterling-home all in one day. We were home a little before midnight on Monday. It was good to be home and back with Ram. My parents were able to play with the Lambs a little more before they went home on Thursday. We were all glad we came home a day early.

Embassy Suites

My mom's side of the family stayed at Embassy Suites for the wedding. We stayed there two nights. It was a beautiful hotel with very nice suite rooms. They have a great breakfast-omelets cooked to order. When we went to CA last fall, the Embassy Suites that we stayed at had a pond with fish. The Lambs hurried to eat their breakfast there so they could watch the fish. They were hoping this hotel would have fish. It didn't. It had a fountain. The Lambs hurried to eat their breakfast so they could walk across the rocks by the fountain. I'm sure the people that designed this fountain never intended for Lambs to be walking across the rocks!

Lamb 2 wasn't very steady and got his feet wet a few times. I was sure he was going to get soaked, but he didn't.
Lamb 1 was better than Lamb 2

The best photo of the Lambs that I could take on the bridge across the water

Thank you Embassy Suites, for the entertainment inside your hotels for our Lambs!

Loopers

During the wedding reception, I had sat next to the husband of one of my mom's cousins. His name is Rick. Rick and I were able to have a long conversation while we waited for our turn to go through the buffet line. Rick asked lots of questions about where we lived and what Ram did as pastor of a tri-parish and what I did as a pastor's wife. He didn't mean anything bad by asking if I really stayed at home and "just" took care of the Lambs. He continued to ask questions about what we did in our free time and who our friends were.
I took his questions seriously, but also answered what a blessing Loopers (Lutheran homeschool e-list) has been for me. There is only one other family our age in the tri-parish. Everyone else is 5o or older. Ram and I don't have friends in the area that are our age. My friends are either college friends that I rarely see or Loopers. I have met some Loopers and some are just "computer" friends.
Rick couldn't believe that I set up a park date on the way to the wedding and then planned to go to church and then spend the day after the wedding with another Looper family. In the conversation he never expected me to say I was happy with my "computer" friends and thrilled when I actually got to spend time with my Looper friends. I don't know what I would do out here in the middle of nowhere without my Looper friends. Plus the Lambs were able to play with kids on our trip. I have been part of Loopers for nearly 2 years, but it seems a lot longer than that.

Lamb 2's Godfather's Wedding

Ram had to stay home and work. Ewe, Ewe's parents, and the Lambs drove our minivan out to the Denver area for a wedding. The groom was my mom's cousin's son. He is also Lamb 2's godfather. Lamb 1 and 2 never called him by name, nor called him the groom, they always referrred to him as Lamb 2's godfather.

We weren't there for all the photos, but I was able to get one of my mom's cousin, the bride and groom, and my mom's cousin's wife
Here are all the relations to the groom. I didn't think to take a photo of the bridesmaids-you can see the groom's two sisters in the middle. The bridesmaids wore brown dresses and had purple flowers. Lamb 1 refused to be in the photo. The Lambs thought it was cool that the two brothers in purple (groom's cousins-not in wedding party) matched even though they were grown up. Maybe there is hope that I can continue to dress them alike? Probably not. We were pretty distant relatives-my mom enjoyed seeing her cousins from that side of the family. I hadn't seen most of these relatives since our wedding 7 1/2 years ago.

Lamb 2 with his godfather. He wasn't sure about this photo. Later the groom had time to talk to Lamb 2 alone. He was really good with him.

Drinking pop and eating wedding cake-when we were finally allowed to. Lamb 1 said it was mean to have cake that we could see but we had to wait to eat it. It was really good-strawberry filling, coconut on the outside.

This was the first wedding and reception that the Lambs ever attended. The rest of the trip they pretended to "play wedding".

Drinking apple cider while the adults had champagne during the speeches and toasts. Lamb 1 went over in the corner and pretended to serve communion with his champagne glass.

Lamb 2 with his apple cider The Lambs were very hot and tired so this was the best photo we could get. The photographer wanted each family photographed individually-we didn't even try. I had really wanted a photo of the Lambs with my parents, but that wasn't going to happen.

During the reception, we were table 9 out of 10 tables so we had to wait a long time to go through the buffet line. The Lambs wandered off and played with sticks and took walks with grandma and grandpa. After we ate the Lambs played with rocks. The boy here is Joseph. He tried to be patient, but Lamb 2 kept messing up his rock pile. Lamb 1 enjoyed playing with Joseph. I think Joseph and the Lambs were the only children at the wedding.

Here's the best photo of the Lambs with Joseph that I could get. Joseph has triplet siblings that are a little older than Lamb 3. He was really good with all the Lambs, especially with Lamb 3. Joseph's parents didn't attempt to bring the triplets to the wedding. I think Joseph enjoyed the time with his dad, alone. They were able to do some sightseeing while they were in the area.

The bride and groom are going to honeymoon at Yellowstone. Then they have to wait a few weeks before they are allowed to move in their new place. Jonathan is going to vicar (pastor intership) in the Green Bay, WI area. We wish Mr. and Mrs. Ripke God's blessings.