2011-2012 Straight from the hose

I have been running faster than I have strength since school started. It is by no small miracle that I am able to dress and feed myself without breaking down in tears. Before any of you get to worried or pity me, I tell you I am actually running faster than I have strength and my Jesus sustains me.

I have spent many hours worrying and trying to discern which activities I should cut from my life, but I keep getting the impression that I need to focus on the task at hand and endure. I know that there will be some definite adjustments in the future but for now I worry about today. After all, doesn't the Lord tell us that there are worries enough for today without adding the stress of tomorrow.

I am grateful to be sustained by a wonderful family, but more importantly, I am carried by my Redeemer who seems to think that my best is good enough.

No Christmas Music

I haven't listened to much Christmas music at my house this season. I have tried to figure out why this is so and I have identified a few explanations:

1. I am not home very much.
2. When I am home (like now) I cannot escape two pianos and one flute being played.
3. When I am in my car I am either talking to passengers or enjoying the few minutes of silence it provides.

The Christmas music I HAVE heard has been from the Rochester Area Girls Choir rehearsals/concerts and the time I spend in the restroom at work. Let me explain. The office manager at school, God bless her, has placed a CD player in the staff ladies room. When nature calls, I head to the bathroom, sit down (I'm a girl after all), and listen to the lovely music playing. If I didn't have students waiting for me I would probably linger longer in the "music" room.

I have tried to fit more time in for my beautiful Christmas melodies to waft over me, but I think this year I will have to rely on my trips to the loo.

Running vs. LIFE

Well, as I ventured out on a morning run by myself I was enlightened by certain parallels between my running experiences and my life.

Flat and Straight = Sometimes a run seems simple. It's flat and you can see far enough ahead that you know exactly where you are going. Sometimes you can predict exactly how long it will take to get to the end of the straightaway. I find similarities between this type of run and my "coasting" times of life. There is minimal day-to-day type stresses (aches/pains) and things kind of keep rolling on. I begin to feel confident in my abilities and position in life.

Curves = Now curvy paths may be uphill, downhill, or flat. This type of running can be very emotional. You never quite know where you are going, exactly. You can't see far ahead in the path. You may hit a short downhill and feel respite, "This is going to be OK." Then you turn a corner and there is a daunting hill. I think that most of real living is curves. We rarely are able to see our path for any measurable distance before us. Each day is filled with surprises that throw a wrench into our well laid plans or bathe us in God's mercy.

Downhill = For all intents and purposes you would think the downhill would be a blessing to the runner. You are partly right. A short downhill can give you a chance to catch your breath, work a little less, and let your feet just fall one in front of the other. There is relief in a downhill run, initially. If a downhill run is too long it can be murder on your body. I learned many years ago that hiking up a hill is much easier on the body than coming back down. If our downhills in life are too long, each step can become excruciating and jarring causing you to wish you could just sit down and stay there forever.


Uphill = Ugh! The most overwhelming to me as a runner. My neighborhood has many hills. The worst hills are brutal because you can almost see the end from the beginning. When I start that first step up a hill I know I have a long way to go. It is too overwhelming. I have found the only way to get up our hills is to focus on one footfall at a time. If I keep my eyes up looking at the end of the hill I convince myself I will never get there. This hill will never end. I will never get relief. However, if I draw in and focus on putting one foot in front of the other, eventually I find myself at the top. At this point, I look back at the hill and thank the Lord for getting me through it. I hate hills, but they do show us how strong we really can be if we are "running with Jesus".

Humidity = Finally, since I am a Minnesotan I must address the humidity factor. Humidity can make the simplest task difficult or seem impossible. Even those blessed flat/straight areas become difficult because the air is so thick you have to slice it and chew it before you can inhale. Bodies need oxygen to function. So, when you find yourself running or living with a dew point of 81, slow down - WALK. Be gentle with yourself, hydrate with water, living water to keep yourself from passing out along the path.

God promises us he will never leave us. I love Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait (lean) upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles. They shall RUN and NOT be WEARY, they shall WALK and NOT FAINT." You will notice that I refer to life as a run/walk not a race. We are not competing with anyone. We are simply trying to get through one day after another with the Lord by our side. Some days we will run and feel like champions. Some days we will walk and feel lucky to have made it a couple of feet. But, every day we will get up and move because we love our Father in Heaven, we know we are saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ and we want to be more like Him.

Where have I been?

Nowhere, really. I have found that spring is a neck-breaking catapult into summer. Just when I get hopeful about spring coming around the bend we are in the downhill slide to summer. I can't seem to get a hold of anything as time speeds up with choir tour, end of the year field trips, school programs, annual work trip with D, Memorial Day...

In March I envision myself crawling into a comfortable hammock-type apparatus. I know that I can survive the rest of the cruel Minnesota winter and I look fondly to the horizon of a far off summer. "There is still time" I tell myself. I enjoy the schedule of school, lessons, rehearsals, and church activities. Routine wraps me in a warm, predictable embrace all school year long. I snuggle into my proverbial hammock feeling as if predictability will be my companion for a good-long time.

Little do I know that my snuggly hammock is really a fully cocked catapult ready to let loose. And so it does. It lets loose and sends me hurtling through time until I land in a gelatinous puddle of fatigue and bewilderment in late June. I am not saying that March to June are unpleasant days; quite the contrary, I love the blossom of spring and the anticipation of warm days, late nights, and sleeping in. Oh I love to sleep! But my June puddling self can't seem to be present in any of the moments I have "flown" over. Not sure how to slow all that down and really suck the marrow from each day.

My oldest daughter B is well on her way to young womanhood and all the blessings that come with that transition. Her life seems to swirl around my head and I try to keep smiling as I know her time with me is fleeting. I love that child. She is the product of prayer, fasting, and faith. A joy to me she has always been. Even in times of struggle, my interactions with her convince me that I am truly alive and a mother. Is it possible to both dread and eagerly anticipate the future? I am so excited to know her as she journeys into adulthood, but my heart will always ache for the days of snuggles, milk mustaches, and story books together.

My middle child M is an amazement. She colors my world vivid. If not for her, my life would be black and white and often without a soundtrack. Her perspective has opened up new experiences for me and my appreciation of all creation. What a blessing she has been to all of us with her tender heart and sensibility. What will she be and more importantly, what will she wear?

My boy C is my little man. Muscle from head to toe and a heart of gooey caramel. He smothers me with kisses and wants to help and take care of all "his girls". He has an old spirit that seems to communicate easily with heaven. I often sneak up to listen at his door as he talks with God and tells him all of his thoughts. Tender and simple, he thanks God for making his life possible, for frogs and beautiful rocks. He asks that no one will ever be hurt. No one will ever have their house burn down or get sick from carbon monoxide poisoning. (latest obsession) Help us to love each other and for everyone to know God better.

So, where have I been? Right here. Not present in the blogosphere, maybe not even present enough in my every day, but still right here - hurtling through time trying to grab any little bit of joy as it flies by.

GRRRRRRRRR!

I have been sick for a week. Life has been busy and none of us have really been "on our game". Tonight was regroup time. Why hasn't the spirit been as abundant in our lives? Why has there been more contention at home? What can we do to increase the peace and joy in our lives? Well, we decided as a family that we are going to recommit to kinder words, softer voices, more thoughtful communication.

Every day we are given an infinite number of opportunities to really mess things up. With each breath we can offend, hurt, misstep, overstep, step in it, so many steps backward. Mercifully, God has also provided so many ways to repent and be healed. We can recommit, confess, renew and commune. We can bear witness of Him, testify of Him, fast to be like Him, take His word in us, bear His name, serve Him, pray to Him, and know Him more fully.

I praise the Holy One who saved me and my family from the pitfalls of our existence and gave us a way out of ANY place we find ourselves. I accept Christ's atonement as THE WAY, the way I choose to follow and I will live my life to shine God love on everyone I meet. I pray that I will be of use to the Master, especially in my little family.

I am putting my foot down on THE ROCK and saying to all who oppose Him to get out of THE WAY. I am sure of my foundation and I will build my mansion despite the storms that persist because I know that I have a COVERING of protection and mercy. My fear is swallowed up in MY CONQUERER and my life is a song composed by THE VIRTUOSO.

I am waxing. Not actually "waxing", but rambling on. This whole thing started with a return to kindness in our home. So we are memorizing Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Here is to more turning away and a lot less stirring!

Word for today

M proposed our scripture of the week at family home evening tonight. She said she had the verse that we needed and it was also one of Grandma's favorites as well. She proposed:

John 15:7
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Any questions? Let me know when the miracles happen in your life, because they are comin'. Our Father is so good to us, let us praise Him before the blessing because it is WAY more fun than worryin'.

Love ya'll

Kalahari 2011

We have been so blessed to have the opportunity to meet, as a Brey family, at the Wisconsin Dells for 5 years. Our first two years we stayed at Treasure Island, it is now some Greek or Roman name. The last three years we have stayed at the Kalahari Resort. This year we stayed in the Kondos. They were fabulous. We had 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, family room, pool table, and home theater with 6 recliners. It was pretty much perfect! Here are a few pictures...


Each time we get together we have some sort of family night. We play games (Do you love your neighbor? is a favorite), share testimonies, sing songs, and share talents. This year we were blessed to have a Skype visit with our Mitchell at BYU. It was so wonderful to be together and feel of the love and support that our family offers one another.

"Talents" shared: H, E, and C interpretive dance to Voice Male's Once There Was a Snowman; Josh juggled with glow in the dark balls; C wrestled me to the floor; Mindy shared poetry; Spencer and his amazing tongue!

H brought music for a sing along, including her own pre-recorded accompaniment. We sang "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need", a song from EFY, In Christ Alone. Also, on a musical note there were a few moments when we had to break out with praise and worship just to get the blood flowing. God is good and it is a blast to lift Him up in song.

We also shared testimony and scriptures that have been written on our hearts. Later, in the pool we girls had a minute to discuss more scriptures we are memorizing. It is a miracle for all of us to be memorizing God's word together. We are really tapping in to the Spirit in a new way. Hallelujah! I feel so blessed to have a family that began with two people committed enough to work things out on a day to day basis.

As we were walking to the waterpark we saw this little sign, "A Kalahari Moment". We had to take a picture.

I just can't believe that we have been able to figure out ways for all of us to be together. When we first start trying to figure it out it can seem difficult, expensive, and overwhelming, but when we all are together it is magical. There is no other way to describe it...wait, yes there is - ETERNAL. After the festivities are over and everyone is settled back into their day to day lives I think back on the memories of our time and seems like a perfect dream. I guess that is what we have to look forward to in heaven - every day is a perfect dream. Won't that be a blast!

Scratchin' the Record

For some more "mature" people the idea of scratching a record is probably horrifying. I remember learning how to avoid scratching a record and protecting the turntable from harm. It will become obvious to all that I am not talking about gouging an LP beyond playability, when I say "I love scratchin' the record".

Let me explain. Some time ago I was talking with a wise sister about trying to erase images that I have burned in my brain and continue to haunt my conscious and subconscious. She explained that we cannot erase an image, but we can forever alter an image just like scratching a record.

I will illustrate the concept. C came downstairs last night describing an image of a mummy that was troubling him and keeping him from sleep. He was clearly troubled by this pesky mummy so I asked him to describe some details to me. We decided that rather than a menacing face on the mummy, he now had googly eyes and a silly grin. His eyes were so googly that he became very dizzy. He fell down and hooked some of his bandages on a nail. He was trying to get back up when he began to roll and unroll down a hill. As he unrolled we could see that the mummy was nothing more than bandages wrapped around thousands of bouncy balls. So many bouncy balls, all different sizes, all different colors, and all for C to gather up and play with. In fact, some of the balls were so large that C could ride on them and bounce up to the sky. We were able to change THIS











TO THIS! And a little boy went to bed with a smile. Little boys going to bed can put a big smile on a Momma's face too.

I had this scratchin' method work for me on several occasions. The first time it REALLY saved my life was after a very "bad mommy" moment. I thought I was being a Good Mommy by taking my children to the free "children's movie" a couple of summers ago. I figured since the movie was for children that I didn't need to read all the reviews and background prior to taking my children to see the movie. I WAS WRONG! About 10 minutes into the movie, my two youngest children had curled up on my lap and were ready to leave. For heaven sakes, I was scared too. B insisted she wanted to stay so I took the other kiddos and wandered around Target until the movie was over and the rest of our group was ready to go.

That very night, while trying to go to sleep, all three of my children had visions running through their heads and they weren't sugar plums. This is what they had printed on their brains:
I had to take this creature and "scratch" it into a sweet dream...




So, I glitterized this fella and all of his friends in these:




and in my new story the trolls were not trying to kill the three children home alone. Rather, they were thrilled and so very anxious to prance over to the fabulous and oh-so-important...







TEA PARTY! Oh, the cookies were going to be marvelous! The little cucumber sandwiches were world famous and delicious. Every troll for miles around was dressed in their festive tutus and tiaras and headed straight to the tea party hosted by the three children!

Huzzah! What a glorious party they had and there was plenty to eat for everyone.

This Spiderwick scratch taught me a lot. The more vivid and profound the bad image is, the more vivid and profound the scratch must be. We invented this new story for the hideous trolls in about 40 minutes. We really had to put in a lot of details to properly squash the darkness out of those images. But even now, I can't look at those trolls without picturing them in their tutus, tiaras and glitter wands, prancing to the best tea party ever invented for a sweet dream.

Note to self. Avoid garbage images at all costs. Clearing out the trash requires more imagination than this old brain can handle and I am not sure I have enough glitter to go around.

Highs and Lows!

I have had a few fabulous mornings in a row. I have been able to exercise and spend time in my personal worship. My previous post expressed some of the HIGHness I have had, but when I have felt so great I have a long distance to "fall". Day one, I left the house ready to take on the world. After arriving at work, I succumbed to a bad attitude infection that several educators suffer from (eye rolling, sarcasm, etc.). Day two, tried again to keep my high while at work, again I "fell" to the educator's frustrationitis. On day two, I finally realized that I was being affected by my surroundings and not standing on my sure and happy foundation from the morning. Day three, today I was trying to resist again and I did a little better at school, but I JUST YELLED AT MY KIDS!

Come on Lorie! I am so prideful and yet completely unable to stand on my own. The other day I had a fabulous experience with a 5th grade class and their teacher. I felt so blessed to witness God's love in a simple act at school. I started feeling really good about myself. I had come up with this great idea and I was forming good relationships. I even impacted a teacher that has lost a bit of "vision" in his calling as an educator. Wow! I was impressed with myself. Then I realized that I was taking the glory for the miracle.

"Don't be prideful Lorie. This was God's work."

Whew! For a second I thought I was really heading toward a "fall". I felt so relieved that I had let go of the glory and left it at God's throne...but, then I was feeling so good about myself that I had heard the spirit and followed it. Good for me! I am in tune! I am SO in touch with the spirit that I can make miracles happen.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

What is wrong with me? I am so glad that I have a better understanding of Grace than I did years ago. I know my Lord and SAVIOR is right beside me helping me along despite my stupidity and prideful heart. If I didn't have this knowledge I would truly be depressed. Since I do know my God, I am just thankful for His sense of humor and patience with me. Hallelujah!

P.S. God, if you need me for any more miracles just get a hold of my people and I will try and work it out.

High on the MOST HIGH!

I have had a couple days in a row where I have had time to worship in the morning before I leave the house. I love my scripture memorization, my new marking scripture system, and my music. I am flying high and with the sunny skies there is literally NOTHING that could get me down. We chose a new scripture for our family this week. We will be working on

Psalms 118:24
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

This scripture was one of Grandpa Omer's favorite scriptures. He quoted it often and every card we got from him had this passage. He truly was a man of God and looked for God's hand in all things. Dave was explaining all of this to us and he shared with us a song he sang as a child to learn this scripture. My man of God, Dave, taught the song to his family and bore testimony of this passage. How can I NOT count myself richly blessed.

My personal scripture to memorize this week is

D&C 84:88
I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

Wherever you are in your life make sure to look around every day. You will see the hand of God and angels bearing you up. Settle in for the ride and count your blessings, there are always some laying around. Look out world, this woman is on fire for God and I am about to leave my house!

Gorgeous Day!

Here in Minnesota we have been held in the icy grip of winter for weeks. Last week we had three days in a row where the kids were unable to be outside due to frostbite warnings. Our current warm up began on Friday and has continued through the weekend. We have little streams running down roads in search of buried storm drains, cleared sidewalks, and our parking lots are slowly gaining more spots.

When I first moved here from Utah I was thrilled to see that there were occasional bright and sunny days during our frigid winters. It didn't take me long to realize that sun and winter in Minnesota usually mean that your nose freezes shut if you inhale through it. Not so today! We had sun, melting snow, very little wind, and we had a great view of our nesting eagle pair on the way to church. We are lucky enough to drive along the Zumbro river on our way to church each week and we have a nesting pair close enough to the road that we can see them feeding their eaglets. I would love to tell you that this picture is "our" nesting pair and that I took it with my camera, but I cannot tell a lie.
I don't believe that any one can appreciate a day like today unless you have lived in winter like we do. Everything seems lighter, all things seem possible, and Spring seems just around the corner. I truly relish days like these because I know that a gray day will come again soon, Spring is definitely NOT around the corner (this is MN after all), but ALL things ARE possible no matter what the weather is because of Jesus Christ and that makes me smile EVERY day. Have a great day wherever you are and live it to the fullest. "This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be GLAD in it".

5:00 a.m.?!

I think you all know me well enough to realize that I don't get up at 5:00 a.m. for anything except a flight to somewhere fabulous. Not so today! The Lord woke me at 5:00 a.m. and I surrendered to Him about 8 minutes later.

Dave leaves by 6:15 and he has been waking me each morning. I usually lay in my bed with one eye open, check my email, daily news, facebook, etc. It takes me a good hour to get up on most days. I have really been struggling to get up and see my Bean leave for school. She is up by 6:00 and leaves at 6:47. I have managed to get up, hug her, pray over her, and wish her well just before she leaves on most days. Actually, I need to do that now...I'm back.

I have been praying to have an easier time to get up and the Lord has been helping me. I actually have had alert times around 6:00 a.m. on most days, but I usually ignore them and go back to sleep. So why do I ask for help if I really don't want it? I will have to ruminate on that for a while...asking for something righteous (early study, family, exercise) and not REALLY wanting it. Sleep is a stronghold for me I guess. I need to have God explain this all to me.

Anyway, I did get up today and went right to get my scriptures, that's how awake I was. Miraculous. I did a little highlighting and realized I need to redo some of my indexing. Here are the topics I am working with right now. I have really just started on this aspect of my studies. I have about 20 scriptures marked, my scriptures are still a bit too pristine.

1 Agency/Choose/Will

2 Apostasy/Pride/Apathy

3 Atonement/Repentance

4 Born Again/ New/Baptism

5 Character of God/Names

6 Doubt/Fear

7 Faith/Courage/Action

8 Humility

9 Joy/Cheer/Happiness

10 Love/Charity/Service

11

12 Mercy/Grace/Rescue

13 Miracles

14 Peace/Comfort/Hope

15 Praise/Gratitude

16 Prayer/Cry Out to God

17

18 Sacrament/Sabbath

19 Revelation/His Word to Me

20 Rock/Foundation

21 Suffering/Adversity/Trial

22

23 Speak/Tongue/Mouth

24

25 Talents/Gifts of Spirit

26 Teaching/Testimony

27 Temples/Covenants

28 Trusting God/Patience

I have loved memorizing scripture. The selection I am working on now is pretty difficult for me, but I will persevere. Our family scripture goal has changed for this year and so far we are seeing great blessings. Our previous goals have consisted of trying to read a chapter a day or something similar. We have had mixed success, but little understanding of the word was found in our children. As I prayed about making the scriptures "live" in me I was led to memorization. Why not use the same process for my family? As a family, we have begun memorizing a scripture a week. Once we choose a scripture, we write it on our bathroom mirrors and we discuss it all week. It has given us opportunity to dig into the meatier scriptures and write God's word on our hearts. I also discuss with the family other scriptures I am studying or memorizing. It's just been a short time, but I feel very blessed and guided.
It is almost 7:00 p.m. and I have survived the whole day. I am amazed. My day has been blessed and I attribute it to our scripture study. In my home, I have found greater peace and my children are being drawn to know God better. It is my greatest hope to think that my children will learn to love God and seek Him each and every day.

#11 Our First Summer of Baseball

We had our first experience with summer baseball. C was on a Kindergarten T-ball team called the Steel Birds. He was #11 and really enjoyed playing his games. Two days a week we would head to a park where the team would practice for a half hour and then they would play a one hour game. It was so much fun to cheer for the boys. They didn't really keep score and everybody felt like they were winners.

We were really pleased with his coach, Jim. We focused on fundamentals and FUN. C had a few of his kindergarten classmates on his team and then he was able to make new friends as well. I must admit the first couple of games were comical in their entirety, but then they started playing baseball. This venture into baseball also got C excited about collecting cards. Each week his coach would give the boys a baseball card. He has now branched out to basketball, as well as Pokemon and YuGiOh. As fun as baseball was, C has notified us that his "real talents" are in basketball. We'll see about that.

My most grateful moment of the baseball season came at the after season party at the coach's house. C and a couple of his teammates were playing baseball with the parents. Two of his teammates began fighting over who was next "at bat". It ended up with punching and rolling around on the ground. C just sat down at first base and looked bored. I asked him about it later and he said, that the fighting was so dumb and it ruined the game. I was pleased that he didn't get involved and saw the fighting as a waste of time.

Choir Hat

For the last several years I have been honored to be a part of the Rochester Area Girls Choir. This is a group of K-10 girls. We always start the year with a choir camp. We start at 8:30 a.m. and spend the day together until our evening concert at 6:00 or so. We sing, sing, sing, do some crafts, eat some food, and sing, sing, sing, some more. By the end of the day I am ready to be silent and relax, but it is a great way to jump start friendships and a sense of sisterhood between the girls.

These pictures are from the concert we perform for the parents as they come to retrieve their children. It is amazing how much the girls can learn in one day. Miraculous is probably a better word.
















At the end of the year we participate in a weekend tour to some exotic locale like Stillwater, MN, Marshfield, WI, or New Ulm, MN. We share our music everywhere we stop including McDonald's, Pizza Hut, a Pancake House, and anywhere else we can. We stay in a hotel over night so the girls and I can swim. The moms have traveled with us every year, but we will need to see if everyone can fit on the bus this time. We have about 50 girls this year. The most we have ever had while I have been at the wheel.


Our tour last spring allowed us to visit Diane Toogood's (founder/accompanist) mother in Wisconsin. We also were able to stop at Nelson's for ice cream and Lark Toys for a ride on the carousel. Even Diane took a ride. It was great fun!

Halloween 2010

Halloween fell on a Sunday in 2010. We participated in a church trunk or treat on the freezing Saturday before the holiday. The kids made the rounds and were ready to head home. On Sunday, we went to the Charter House to visit our adopted Oma and Opa. I don't have a picture of them here which is weird, but we have attended their Halloween celebration for the last few years. They are a marvelous couple who have become part of our family and we love them dearly. At the Charter House the kids parade past the residents and line up to get their picture taken with the Queen of the Pumpkin Patch. After the picture, they are given a bag of treats, donuts, popcorn, punch and it is a lot of fun to see all the smiles from the residents. After the Charter House we came home and the kids answered the door for trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. I think we played Pinochle with Mom and Dad. That is getting to be a tradition too.M was thrilled to participate this year. She was very ill last year so she is grinning from ear to ear for good reason. She is a princess/wizardess/something pretty and not scary. The day before at the trunk or treat she was a Twister game, but she picked her costume from last year for the visit to Oma and Opa's.C is a ninja and this is the scariest costume I have tolerated thus far. I don't love the creepy, scary, elements of Halloween. He knew the names of his different swords and knives. He eventually got sick of the mask, but he was still pretty tough looking.

B was Dorothy this year. When I bought the costume (last year) her hair was long and I thought it would look so cute in braids. We cut it in shorter layers during the summer so we settle on these cute piggy tails. I think she is darling, but she must be eating her candy already based on that look on her face.

Corn Maze 2010

Fall is my favorite season. I love the sounds, the smells, the cooling temperatures after a hot and sticky summer. I love to attend the local apple orchards, ride hay wagons, pick pumpkins and gourds and maneuver a corn maze. I didn't have this experience growing up. I did pick apples but that was either at the neighbor's house or at a welfare farm as a service project.

For some reason I was really eager to do a corn maze this year. Maybe it was because all the kids are old enough and big enough that we could ALL enjoy the experience. So we set aside a day for our trip to the apple orchard and maze. Unfortunately, it was 85 degrees! Are you kidding me? I think is was the 3rd weekend of October and we were melting! Ugh! Many people will not understand my frustration, but we don't like being hot.We completed the maze in record time for us because it was so HOT, and we were able to spread out to find the checkpoints. It was an awesome example of how awesome we can be when we work together. We would reach a crossroad and everyone would run a different direction for a distance. We would listen for one of us to call out that they had found a marker or we would meet back at the point of our divergence.

Everyone was able to find markers and we made a great team. By the time we finished we were all sweaty and in desperate need of air conditioning. Did I mention it was too hot to be considered an Autumn day? Hot, people!

Once we conquered the maze we bypassed the wagon ride, apples, pumpkins and gourds because we were HOT. We went directly to A&W for ice cream. We had a great day together, but it was not a typical trip to the apple orchard. The funny thing about the weather in MN is that it is unique in the extremes. One of the fall weekends before or after our day trip would have numbed our hands and been a miserable day at the orchard as well. In MN if you don't like the weather, wait a minute and it will change.

OUT OF ORDER

My posts will always be out of order. I just enter things as I think of them so I must apologize for "stream of consciousness" blogging. That's how I roll. I have been home ill for a couple days and I am feeling totally brain dead. I thought that maybe I would feel a bit more alive if I blogged.

In October of last year, 2010, Dave and I went over to Essex to go for a walk. Our fall weather was frustratingly HOT, but this was a beautiful fall day. We seized it and had a lovely quiet walk through the woods and prairie grasses. I love pictures of winding roads, paths, stairways. I love the idea of a journey and not knowing what lies around the bend. Sometimes a new experience is obviously good, other times our new journeys seem too difficult to endure. Be confident that God is ALWAYS LOVING us. He is always about OUR LEARNING and GROWING CLOSER to HIM. I don't care what path I must travel to increase my intimacy with God, it will be worth it.
"For when I wait upon the LORD shall renew my strength, I shall mount up with wings as eagles, I shall run and not be weary, I shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31. So here I wait...

I am so blessed to have these as my family names.

Made with My Cool Signs.Net

Made with My Cool Signs.Net

MinneSNOWta!

Living in Minnesota is not for everyone. As a matter of fact, sometimes I don't think it is for me.

After calling MN home for 20 years, I know that the positives FAR outweigh the negatives that we can experience in the Great White North. This winter has been great for snow and not too bad for below freezing temps. The worst cold I can recall was when the temperature didn't reach 0 for more than 3 weeks. That was years ago. We have certainly had some cold, but after several days it breaks and gives us a balmy day in the teens or low 20s. It is all perspective people.

Following one of our good snowstorms I was able to get some pictures of my MN family. I think church was cancelled for this storm. That almost never happens. Dave is blowing out the neighbors. I think this particular storm had him blowing snow for a total of 6 hours. Happy, but sore boy!