Our weekend

Friday: We watched most of the inauguration coverage in between dropping off and picking up our car for some repairs.

Saturday: The Lambs began confirmation class. Pastor taught about commandments 1-5. He spent a long time on "You shall not murder"-explaining it in terms that the children would understand. I am enjoying my refresher catechism class when I am able to attend with the Lambs.

After confirmation we participated in Fort Wayne, Indiana's March for Life. First we gathered for prayers and speakers. The speaker included Stanton Healthcare in Boise, ID in his talk. Then we marched together through downtown. The weather was unbelievable, it was in the 60s!

Sunday: Lamb 2 and 3 sang this Gerhardt hymn with the Sunday School children during our church service. I thought it fit very well with our other events this weekend. I am printing one verse here, but I encourage you to read through all the verses of this wonderful hymn. I love that the Lambs are learning this in Sunday School.

Why should cross and trial grieve me?

Christ is near with His cheer;

Never will He leave me.

Who can rob me of the heaven

That God's Son For me won

When His life was given?

LSB 756:1

This afternoon Ram took the Lambs to the park for a little while. Then he studied for one of his classes. I worked on a Shutterfly book while I had a code for a free one. I completed our family album for 2015. I am hoping to complete our family album for 2016 before the end of January while I have another code for a free one.

Tomorrow we are back to regular schedule after a crazy week of Symposia at the Seminary and Ram beginning his first classes. We are all looking forward to a "normal" schedule again.

Sickness Round 3

Here is what has happened in March:
March 1: Lamb 2 got sick at the post office, canceled piano lessons
March 2-3: No activities, Lamb 2 not well, missed roller skating with PE class
March 4-5: Ram's parents were here for Lamb 1's birthday. On Saturday we went out to lunch with Ram's cousin that moved to Boise.
March 6: Church, Sunday School, last Downton Abbey
March 7: First track practice
March 8: Ewe prepared breakfast for the area pastors that met for a meeting at our church, our family went out to lunch with the pastors, piano lessons, listen to Concordia Seward choir at an area church in the evening.
March 9: Lent Supper and Church
March 10: Lamb 3 got sick during school in the schoolroom-I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the mess and doing laundry. No activities, missed parkour with PE class
March 11: Ewe and the Lambs no activities, Ram ran lots of errands
March 12: Lamb 1 and 2 did awesome at their first piano contest, did some shopping including new shoes for Lamb 1
March 13: Church and Sunday School, Lamb 1 spent some of his birthday money shopping online, Lamb 3 made his birthday wish list
March 14: Lambs went to track practice, there was hail for about 15 minutes of practice
March 15: Lamb 1 and 2 piano lessons, Lamb 2 and 3 did several math lessons so they could finish their math books
March 16: Lamb 1 woke up not feeling well. He got sick right before his orthodontist appointment. No orthodontist or supper or Lent service for him today. Lamb 2 and 3 begged to go to Lent service because it is the last one this year. Hopefully I don't regret allowing them to go without me.
March 17: Will we go to PE tomorrow?
Next Week: It would be right on schedule for Ram to get this sickness during Holy Week!

I must say I am getting lots of projects done at home while I have to stay home with sick kids! Although by the third round of cleaning my house well, I'm ready for everyone to be healthy.

#75!

Doctor Visits

Ram had his physical last week and is very healthy. Since he is an adult I won't post his stats here like I did for the Lambs, but his stats were great. We don't take annual physicals lightly after his surgery in 2010. We are thankful to God for this good news.

I have been calling several doctors to make different kinds of appointments for the 5 of us before the end of the calendar year since we met our deductible this year. Lamb 2 is scheduled for nose surgery on December 15. There is an order to appointments for everyone in our family-I would like to have all of our other doctor visits done by December 15. I needed to postpone one appointment because of the order of these. This is how the phone call with the receptionist went.

Ewe: "Hi, I need to postpone an appointment I made a long time ago for this Friday."

Nice receptionist says with panic in her voice: "Oh, I'm not sure we can do that, our schedule is really packed. You know Dr. _____ only does those kinds of appointments on Fridays."

Ewe: "I was hoping to postpone it until February or so. It's just not going to work to come this Friday."

Nice receptionist with a big sigh: "Oh, the February schedule is wide open. I was thinking you needed it in the next month. What date and time would you like?"

Along with this I have been seeing a naturopath chiropractor and I feel better at age 40+ than I did at age 30. I made appointments for everyone in our family to see him since we met our deductible this year and insurance pays for this. I am hoping he can help Ram with some of his aches and pains. I am curious what else he may find is wrong with them. We have seen several chiropractors in the lifetime of our Lambs, especially after we moved here, and this is the best adjustment to my pelvis I have ever had. He also said my thyroid is very healthy which is not what I have heard from the endocrinologist. But he said I need to get my emotions in control which is hurting my thyroid. So I have done my homework for him and he is helping me work through my emotions. I am going to be curious what the endocrinologist says at my next yearly appointment after I have worked with the naturopath. I am so thankful to my friend that recommended this naturopath.

Along with this we have begun using essential oils. I have a friend that told me she began seeing a naturopath and using essential oils about 10 years ago. Now I'm wishing I would have listened to her and used both of these the past 10 years. I really doubt that we will meet our deductible next year so I am hoping that these natural remedies work so we see the doctor less.

Oh give thanks to the Lord!

So much has happened the past few weeks I'm not sure I'll ever get caught up on blogging. I have many pictures of recent events. So many good things happening for the Lambs, our church, and our family. Some days I want to tell everyone I know about the miracles God has worked for us in Idaho over the past few years. These miracles were done by the Lord and they are marvelous in our eyes. Yesterday Psalm 118 was one of my Bible readings. I thought I would begin by posting some selected verses from Psalm 118.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!

Let those who fear the Lord say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in man.

  The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation.

 I shall not die, but I shall live,

and recount the deeds of the Lord.

 Open to me the gates of righteousness,

that I may enter through them

and give thanks to the Lord.

 This is the gate of the Lord;

the righteous shall enter through it.

 I thank you that you have answered me

and have become my salvation.

 The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

 This is the Lord's doing;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

 This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

 Save us, we pray, O Lord!

O Lord, we pray, give us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

We bless you from the house of the Lord.

 The Lord is God,

and he has made his light to shine upon us.

 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;

you are my God; I will extol you.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!

First Day of Spring

 After 2 weeks of many doctor visits, constant prayer, shots twice a day, and unanswered questions we received an answer to our prayers last night. Another one of our children joined his/her 8 siblings to be held by Jesus. His/her siblings are ages 8 months-9 years. 

We spent some time yesterday afternoon looking at the flowers around our yard on the first day of spring. We marveled at God's work on those bulbs and plants we planted last fall and how they are blooming beautifully now. We can see Easter Sunday on the calendar in a few weeks. We can see that in a little while we will join the angels and  archangels and all the company of heaven to evermore sing praises to God.

We praise God that our baby had 6 weeks and 6 days to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord's body and blood often. We thank God that our baby is alive in Christ forever!

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.

(LSB Compline Service)

Interruption in DeSmet postings

Sorry to interrupt the DeSmet postings, but I have to announce that my sister is ENGAGED! He's visiting her now so she hasn't posted it on her blog so I have to announce for her.

He surprised her and immediately when he arrived in he town he tried to propose but she said "yes" before he asked. Welcome to life with Hannah, Eric! They hadn't seen each other since January so I expect they will have lots of late nights talking this week. Ram and I had our first chance to talk to Eric on the phone on Friday night. It reminded me of talking to Ram's brother, Tim, after we got engaged. You know a lot about your future brother-in-law, but what do you say when you are on the phone for the first time?

She will finish out her contract teaching English in South Korea in October and if everything goes as planned they will get married in Hawaii, possibly as early as November. There are a lot of details to work out yet.
Our Lambs are thrilled that they will now have an uncle to say "uncle" to.
Hannah, you thought I was so OLD when I got married, but I was still younger than you will be when you get married! We are so happy for you and Eric that you connected after all these years. May the Lord bless your wedding planning and especially your life together as husband and wife.

Yesterday

Get up
2 hours of working hard-dishes, laundry, major packing up for the day, showers and get Lambs dressed
Make and eat lunch
Library story/crafts/pick prizes/check out books
Snack at local diner/ice cream place
Lamb 1 and 2 soccer/Lamb 3 play on playground and wish he could play soccer
Lamb 1 and 2 change clothes in car
Lamb 1 and 2 swim lessons-life jacket day-Lamb 2 didn't like it at all-he's scared of the deep end of the pool-Lamb 1 loved it because he floated in the life jacket/Lamb 3 play at playground and really wish he could be in the pool
Lambs change clothes in car
Tour of local hospital-Lambs enjoyed seeing ambulance garage, nursery for babies, helicopter pad
Supper from hospital-hamburgers/hot dogs, watermelon, chips, lemonade, ice cream bars
Thankful A/C was on and Ram was home after being gone 3 nights to Doxology
Short time for Lambs to see Ram, showers, and Lambs to bed
Ewe put her feet up on the ottoman and read a book
Bed

Being a rural pastor's wife post #22

Happy Birthday to Ewe's dad today!
I am going to talk about family vacations today. My parents live 2 days drive and Ram's parents live 3 days drive away. My sister is currently in South Korea after several years in South Carolina. We have no other living siblings. My sister came to visit us, but we never visited her since we moved here almost 8 years ago.
What we have tried to do with vacation time is one week to my parents, one week to CA to Ram's one living grandparent and Ram's parents come to CA the same time as us, and some years one week to a LCMS conference for Ram and we tag along and see friends. Many years it doesn't work to go to the conference. Unfortunately our parents live in two different directions so we can't do one big vacation and see everyone. We fly to CA and drive to Ewe's parents. Even flying to CA is difficult because we live 3-4 hours away from the airport. Because Ram has a tri-parish it is very difficult for him to be gone on Sunday. We try to time vacations that we are back for Sunday with the exception of one Sunday a year to go to my parents-it's too far to drive there and back if we didn't miss one Sunday. But our CA trips are usually back by Saturday night. Once I went without Ram with my parents and the Lambs to a wedding in CO. When I got back we both decided we don't want to do vacations without each other again.
1. For our trips to my parents, I plan for weeks before we go. I don't do Facebook so it is the old fashioned way of snail mail to the older people, e-mail to the younger people. Our last vacation we went to Fort Wayne, Saint Louis, and back to Fort Wayne before we came home. It actually worked to see everyone in our limited time without using Facebook. On this trip we saw 1 church friend from my single days, got haircuts with our "family beautician", 3 college friend families, 3 high school friend families, 1 Seminary friend family, several church friends from where Ewe taught, Ewe's last living great-uncle, Lamb 3's godfather, Lamb 2's godfather, played at the new Fort Wayne Seminary playground, went to the "new" public library, went to a splash pad, went to the Fort Wayne zoo, and of course spent time with Ewe's parents and sister. We also saw several friends at the installation service at St. Louis, but I'm not counting them in this tally. It was a lot of work to contact everyone and work out a time to see everyone and do everything we wanted to do. It was definitely worth the planning.
We also plan a few restaurants to make sure to go eat at. This is our chance to eat out at Fort Wayne restaurants. We also planned a time to have my parents babysit the Lambs so we could go to Hyde Brothers book store and out for lunch at the restaurant where we went out on our first date.
I sent my dad a tentative schedule for our vacation before we went. He thought we were trying to do too much in too little time, especially considering the ages of our Lambs. It all worked out. I treasure the time that we spent with friends and family on our last vacation and it helps me to get to our next vacation.
2. I would encourage you to set a tentative date (and where) for your next vacation even if that date is 2 years away. We went to Fort Wayne when Lamb 3 was a few months old. We did not return for over 2 years. When we decided to take our next vacation and Ram talked to the elders of each church to tell them the dates we would be gone, the elders were surprised it had been that long since I had been "home". It was a huge relief to me to have a date to look forward to. My parents had come here, but I hadn't been "home". As soon as I had the date I started planning even though it was too early to start contacting people about possible times to get together. I started thinking about places we wanted to go-possibilities for fall if the weather was nice, people that we wanted to see, restaurants we wanted to eat at. I didn't realize how much I needed this until I actually was planning it. It will be a long time before we go back to Fort Wayne, but I'm already thinking about places to take the Lambs next time.
3. I think by the way that I plan vacations, we probably see some friends more often than if we lived in the same town. I know I rarely got together with some of my high school friends when we lived in Fort Wayne, but they made time to get together when I visited last September.
4. Maybe some day we'll be at the point where we can take a vacation to go sightseeing around the USA, but in the meantime our way of doing family vacations will have to do. I'm not going to give up seeing our family when we only see them a few times a year as it is. There are so many places that I would like to take the Lambs as part of our homeschool education. We also have friends all over the country. I am jealous of friends who live within one day drive of at least one set of parents-that would be so helpful for us. Lamb 3 has never been to Ram's parents house and Lamb 2 doesn't remember ever being there. I think it is terrible that our Lambs don't even know what it is like to go to the home of one set of grandparents. Maybe some day we'll be able to go more of these places. For now, it is important to us to go to see our family.
5. I would also encourage you to find the time to take a short overnight trip with the family some times. We went to Mayo for Ram's check up in January. We stayed at a hotel two nights. He had doctor appointments, but we didn't have any other scheduled things for 3 days and the church members knew we were going to be gone that whole time. It was really fun to have no schedule-just swim at the hotel, do some shopping, eat out at a little nicer restaurants, etc. I didn't realize that I needed this break until we were there. Since our family vacations are usually very scheduled to make the most of our limited time with our family, this was a nice short get away. I hope to find time to do this again once or twice a year.
So how do you deal with family vacations?
Check back tomorrow for more tips about being a rural pastor's wife.

Home Sweet Home

Ram came home today. My dad met his parents at about the halfway point and they handed Ram off to my dad. They arrived home in time to eat supper with us. Ram is moving really slow and taking his pain medication as prescribed. I'll set my alarm to get up and give him medicine every 4-6 hours. His parents were tired after a few nights of this. I know he'll gradually improve. It's amazing how well he is doing only one week after surgery.

Today is Ram's mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Ram's mom! We gave her a card from us, but she'll have to wait until she gets home to open up her presents that are waiting at the post office!

My sister made it to South Korea with all her luggage. She has already been blessed with some unexpected things. She is currently in a hotel until the teacher she is replacing leaves. That teacher was able to stay to help her the first week. She is at an elite elementary school and highly respected as the only native English speaker on staff. She is having all kinds of new experiences. It will be fun to hear of her adventures this year.

My hubby...

Ram in the hospital courtyard with his parents today. Ram was able to get outside in this beautiful weather.

Ram may be leaving the hospital tomorrow to go to a hotel for a few days. We may go get him as early as Wednesday. We'll have to see how his recovery goes. He is doing so much better than even when I saw him on Friday. He is eating more normal foods, doing nearly everything without help from the nurses, and is not hooked up to anything any more. I'm so glad to get the update that he is doing so well. He'll move really slow when he comes home, but it will be nice to be home again.

The doctor is going to mail us photos of the tumor. I don't know if I really want to see them, but I think it is cool they are going to mail them to us. It was the size of a football (18x10x10 were the exact measurements). I just can't imagine where he had that since he is so thin. Mayo is amazing to have photographers to take photos during surgery.

It is amazing how God has provided doctors that knew what to do to help Ram and that God has designed our bodies to recover after surgery. "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14

Home after a little set back

Wednesday night we had several phone calls in the middle of the night from the doctor which I will blog about later. The short version is Ram was put in ICU for a few days because of loss of blood. He was given several blood transfusions and he went back to a regular room on Friday afternoon.
I had planned to visit Ram on Thursday morning and go home. I didn't want to go home until he was released from ICU. I am now thankful that car problems caused me to stay on Wednesday so I was there to receive the phone calls Wednesday night and not at home feeling bad that I wasn't near the hospital.
So we visited Ram on Friday morning and came home on Friday. I took it slow with the Lambs and we got home about 9pm. I hadn't checked e-mail all week and had some phone messages too. Some people that expected me to be home already were a little upset that I wasn't answering the phone. I'm sure when I explain what happened they will understand.
Everything was going so well until Wednesday about 8pm. From 8pm Wednesday until now is a big blur to me. I'm going to bed now at 1am. Tomorrow morning I'm hoping we make it to our local early childhood event that the Lambs are looking forward to.
My dad made it safely to our house and has his sermon prepared for Sunday.
Please keep my sister, Hannah, in your prayers. She flies to South Korea Saturday night/Sunday morning. She is going there to teach English for one year. She is really looking forward to this new experience. Please pray for a safe flight and that she is able to manage her luggage and get to her destination safely.
The good news is that Ram looks a lot better and feels a lot better too. It is clear this is going to be a long, slow recovery, but we are so thankful that it was benign. We are also thankful for the excellent doctors at Mayo.
I will try to blog tomorrow and also send out a mass e-mail to our friends and family, but we'll see how tomorrow goes. I'm trying to catch up here after being gone for a week, trying to catch up on sleep (especially that which was lost on Wednesday night), trying to make phone calls that were too difficult while I was alone watching the Lambs, and trying to be a good single parent especially by taking them to this early childhood event tomorrow. A friend reminded me to take care of myself through all this and I'm trying to follow that advice.
Ram's parents are still there and plan to stay next week too. Ram will probably be in the hospital until Tuesday and come home on Saturday. I will blog more about that later too.

We Praise Thee O Lord...

Beautiful words by phone today...

BENIGN!

I took the Lambs to Rev. Loel and Kathy Wessel's home today. Ram's parents took Ram to the hospital and waited during the surgery. Kathy served a nice lunch with two kinds of soup, 3 kinds of bread, and homemade cookies too. The Lambs played with their two boys. Then we went to a park. We stopped to see Ram for a few minutes and ate supper before going back to the hotel.

They removed the tumor and the kidney. The tumor was probably growing for a long time. The tumor was all in the kidney and the kidney has probably not been functioning for awhile.

When we got back to the hotel our minivan had a small electrical problem. So in the morning we need to get that checked out before we can go home. We may be staying longer than we planned...

Ram will have a tough recovery but because this was not cancer after he recovers this is the end.
We are thrilled with this good news and thankful to the Lord.

Our VCR

I have been spending a little time each night watching some old camcorded stuff and deciding whether we should put it on DVD or just throw the tapes out. Last night when I went to put a tape in, the VCR didn't work. As I unhooked it from the TV to see if I could tell what was broken, a DVD fell out of the VCR. We still had Ram's old VCR so we pulled that out of the basement and set it up. I really need a VCR right now because I'm in the middle of this project to see what really is on the old tapes. The Lambs have a lot of VHS tapes that they would be sad to no longer watch too.
This morning we tried to question the Lambs about the VCR. We knew Lamb 1 didn't do it. Lamb 2 denied doing it a little quickly to make me believe him. Lamb 3 admitted doing it a little quickly to make me believe him. Lamb 3 has such a limited vocabulary that we don't know. Ram tried questioning the Lambs and they all (even Lamb 3) blamed Lamb 3 very quickly. We'll never know who put the DVD in the VCR. Ram suspected Lamb 3 because he is the one that is always taking apart the music instruments-perhaps he wanted to watch a movie so he tried to start the movie by himself.
I would really like to have a backup VCR because Ram's VCR is older than mine was. We need one both in case of the Lambs having another accident or if it breaks because of age. Does any one have a VCR to sell to me? I know they are almost impossible to find to buy new-well maybe you could buy a DVD/VCR combo, but I'm sure that would be very expensive and we don't need a DVD player. I am hesitant to get one on Ebay even if I could find one there, because who know how old or what kind of shape it would be in?

Family Update

Decluttering-This week I worked in the kitchen a little cleaning out cupboards and counters. There is still a lot to do even though I'm always complaining that I don't have enough cupboard space! Hopefully I can reclaim some more space by cleaning out and organizing.
I also started a huge project to type a list of all the fiction books that we own. I have finished 2 big bookshelves in Ram's office, one bookshelf in our living room, the cradle in the living room is full of the Lamb's books, and one big bookshelf in our library. I am still working on two small bookshelves in the Lamb room. I am going through each book and deciding to keep it or not and typing in the ones we are keeping. I have several boxes to give away and tonight Ram said I need to give more away! I am close to 1300 books typed in. I will remind you that we have less fiction than we have nonfiction in this house. I'm not even going to attempt the nonfiction this summer-too much more that I want to do.
I also cleaned the main bathroom and cleaned the kitchen floor-both tasks were not done in a long time!
I also watched some videos this week to decide to keep or give away.
My plans are to finish the book project and then to focus on one room in this house each week-I'm finding it is too overwhelming to think of everything that needs to be cleaned out in this house. I'm going to take a break from books after I finish the fiction and next week I plan to work on our guest room-especially the closet. Hopefully I will accomplish a lot if I focus on one room at a time.
Dry Underwear!-Ram and I both were bed wetters so I haven't been too concerned about the Lambs being bed wetters. On Wednesday Lamb 1 kept his underwear dry all night. On Thursday Lamb 2 kept his underwear dry all night. We're making progress even if it isn't both Lambs the same night. I do plan to potty train Lamb 3 this summer, but we haven't started yet. Some days he seems completely ready and other days he doesn't seem ready at all. I plan to wait a couple more months unless he seems more ready before that.
VBS-Lamb 1 and 2 ended up attending VBS for the last two nights this week. They were thrilled that they received a couple of headbands so they can pretend to be bees. They went to story time by themselves for the first time this year (one or the other cried and didn't stay the whole time before). I feel bad they missed some VBS this year, but they enjoyed the two nights they went.
Bike-Our babysitter came on Friday. Lamb 1's bike, the chain continually comes off. Our babysitter offered to fix it for him and while she was at it, she took his training wheels off. Then she took him over to the baseball field and helped him learn how to ride without training wheels. I think this is something that either the mom or the dad should teach the child, but I didn't have time on Friday and our babysitter was a good motivator (probably better than I would have done) and it was hot on Friday-SO I'm really glad that she taught him. He still needs a little help, but overall he did really well for his first day.
Dick and Jane-Ram's mom got us a Dick and Jane Treasury. Lamb 1 has enjoyed reading some stories this week. He's fascinated that all his grandparents and his Mama read that in school. Ram doesn't remember if he read Dick and Jane in school. He thought it was cool that Grandpa and Grandma knew the names of the people (Dick, Jane, Sally) and pets (Spot, Puff).
Fishing-Our area has another youth fishing day today. This time Ram is able to take them so he's going to take Lamb 1 and 2. They have a tackle box full of nice supplies that they won at the last fishing day and we got them a fishing pole too. They should have a fun day.

Mama's mistake

Our tri-parish doesn't have VBS. They are welcome to join one of the neighboring LCMS churches for VBS. Ram is asked to help at one church where most of our member's children go for VBS. That church has a family come and lead the VBS. The Lambs didn't like it the one year we went-EVERYTHING was different-VBS songs, games, etc. and many more children than our small Sunday School. It was just too overwhelming for them. The last few years Ram has gone to one church to help and I have taken the Lambs to another church. The Lambs preferred the more traditional VBS with some VBS songs and some hymns, smaller classes, and lots of art time. I prefer the CPH curriculum over this family's curriculum. The class was small enough that if they wanted to do art a little longer and miss a little music, that was ok. They weren't allowed to do that at the other VBS-it was just too big of a VBS to allow that. This is important for our Lambs that don't go to a traditional school and don't understand the time limits that a classroom has. Last night I had Ram send an e-mail to register the Lambs for VBS next week. We got an e-mail back that VBS was THIS week. Oops! I just assumed it would be the same as the other church. I bet the other church had to do it when the family that runs VBS was available. I didn't even think to ask or register them ahead of time. So the Lambs missed at least half of VBS because of my mistake. I'll ask the Lambs if they want to go to the last two days of VBS or go to the VBS that Papa goes to or just skip VBS this year. I have to say that I'm not going to be disappointed if they choose skipping VBS this year-it makes a week of a crazy schedule with getting supper ready on time, getting home and to bed late, and needing to have laundry done for everyone to go to VBS every day instead of just wearing play clothes around the house. And when Ram goes a different direction than us every night, it's even worse. I do feel bad that they missed VBS this year though.

Vacation Post 1

Our expenses
Checking 3 Suitcases 2 times=$150
Lunch Monday=$20
Parking=$47
Supper Friday=$50
Hotel one night=$70
Lunch Saturday=$20
Water for plane=$5
Rice milk for plane=$5
Gas to airport x2

Ram's parents expenses
Monday lunch and supper
Tuesday groceries for birthday party and supper
Wednesday admission to Knott's Berry Farm and lunch and supper
Thursday lunch and supper
Hotel 4 nights
Plane tickets (thank you frequent flyer miles!)
Rent 11 passenger van for 5 days
Gas
Admission to beach so our Lambs could spend about 15 minutes there

Thank you Ram's parents for making our vacation possible.

Spending time with Great-Grandma at her house= PRICELESS

Home Sweet Home

We're home after a 5 day vacation to CA to visit Ram's grandma. The Lambs are exhausted. Hopefully we can get up for church in the morning so Ram can preach, I can play my flute, and the Lambs can sing with their Sunday School class. Photos and trip report to follow next week. Most of our bags are unpacked, next week I'll get to the laundry and we'll resume homeschool.

7 years

May 25 was the 7th anniversary of Ram's ordination and installation as pastor here. Sometimes it is hard to believe that was only 7 years ago and other times it seems like it was longer than 7 years ago. We didn't have a digital camera yet so I can't show you any photos from that day. Maybe some day I will get organized and put some of our old photos on the computer.


In those 7 years we have had 3 Lambs and sent 3 other Lambs to heaven. Ram's younger brother, both of my grandmas, both of Ram's grandpas, and one of Ram's grandmas went to heaven. Several other family and friends have also gone to heaven. We sold the vehicle that we drove here and have bought 3 other vehicles and sold one of those. We got a new computer and 3 digital cameras (one broke). As pastor, Ram has done about 45 funerals, 1 wedding, and 5 baptisms (including our Lambs and I'm only counting members that regularly attend church, not baptisms for grandchildren that wanted to be baptized at our church).


I recently watched a video that we made when we first moved here, giving a little house tour. I was amazed how little stuff we had then as compared to now. We didn't have any baby, toddler, or children's toys, clothing, games, or furniture. We had a lot less books. We had a lot less furniture. Everything was clean and organized in that video.


I'm so thankful for the Lambs and the other good changes that have happened these last 7 years!

Youth Fishing Day

Last Saturday, there was a youth fishing day at the wildlife refuge near our town. I wasn't brave enough to take the 3 Lambs by myself and Ram had a meeting all day. I was so thankful our babysitter was willing to come with us. It was stormy in the morning and I thought they might cancel it. It was very windy and around 60 degrees but at least it stopped raining.

Our babysitter was so good working with Lamb 1. We borrowed fishing poles for the day because we didn't own any. By the end of the morning, Lamb 1 was starting to catch on a little bit. Hopefully we can take him fishing a few more times this summer and let him practice some more. Lamb 1 was frustrated that you don't catch a fish every time you go fishing and that you can't catch a fish instantly. It was very good for him to learn this about fishing on Saturday.

Lamb 2 was really too young for fishing. He just didn't have the coordination or a big enough hand. He enjoyed watching everyone else along with Lamb 3. They had a good time just being outside.

They served a delicious lunch of fish, hot dogs, chips, and pop. Lamb 1 only ate fish, no hot dog. Lamb 2 had both. Lamb 3 ate a whole bag of Cheetos and a little fish. Lamb 1 and 2 were so happy to have their own can of orange pop.

We didn't even get close to catching a fish so we weren't in that contest, but they had drawings for those that preregistered. Lamb 2 got a tackle box and Lamb 1 got a nice box of fishing supplies. Our babysitter helped the Lambs organize Lamb 1's prize in the tackle box.

Lamb 1 and 2 were also each given a nice backpack full of fishing supplies and treats. If we get them some fishing poles and bait, they are completely set to go fishing between what was in the backpack and what they got for prizes.

I know they advertised the local company that paid for the pop and water for lunch, but I'm not sure who paid for the rest. I imagine it's a combination of our tax dollars and companies that sell fishing supplies and donations. It was so nice that they do this for our local youth. Everything was well planned from registering, getting backpacks, other things to do besides fishing (look under microscopes etc.), providing bait, serving lunch, and giving out prizes.

City Girl Disclaimer: I went fishing a few times when I was little, but my parents never took me fishing and I never went fishing in a boat. I knew how to put a worm on a hook and that was about the extent of my fishing knowledge. I felt like a terrible mom when we arrived there today. I had worked out the logistics of getting to the fishing, (not going to a bridal shower at church, getting Ram to his meeting on time, etc.) but until we arrived at the water today, I never thought about needing to help the Lambs fish! I should have made Lamb 3 wear a life jacket, but I was worried about him by the water and couldn't help much nor did I know how to help much. I was so thankful that our babysitter was with us and could help them. There were a few others there that helped us when our line got tangled on branches too and I was thankful for their help. I'm slowly learning to be a better "boy mom"!