Drama, drama, drama....

Not really, but I made you start reading, didn't I?! Let's see, I know it's been forever since I blogged, and seriously, I'm not even going to look back to see when that was. I just think my life is so much more interesting with pictures and now we are COMPLETELY without a camera. That's right, Sam ruined his in the Boundary Waters. Now we are in the market for a new one. It's an expensive one, so we are waiting till the very last minute to see exactly how God is going to work that one out! By the way, it's a Digital Canon D40 - so for some reason, if there is someone out there with a camera or a lot of money that they are anxious to give away - there you go! Just to give you a little head's up - there is a second camera that we want for such trips as Sam's previous Boundary Waters one, and this is just a little one - it's an Olympus something. But it's nearly indestructible. I think the people who made this camera must have spent some time with Sam. It's digital and goes waterproof up to 33 ft, can withstand a 6.6 ft drop, and also can withstand up to 220 lbs. of pressure, making it "crushproof!" I think this type of camera would be just about perfect for us in our everyday life - but it is $379. The Canon D40 that Sam is looking to buy is for the business of art and photography, oh and, 5 times the amount of the Olympus! Hey, when we ask, we ask big!!! :)

So that has been the drama with the search for the camera. Thus, an empty and ugly post, once again. Well, the Lord helped us sell our Blazer. I know, just a year ago, I was writing about how the Lord provided a car - a blazer, Sam's "Dream car..." which I wasn't too excited about with the gas prices going higher and higher, but what are you going to tell a man who has his heart set on it?! Well, just wait and see what he learns. One year later, we sell our blazer for more than we bought it for and what a blessing that was! Sam decided he couldn't handle the gas guzzler! So as of Saturday afternoon, we are down to one vehicle. Which I don't mind too much. But poor Sam has to chauffeur me around, like I said, I don't mind! :) Now we are in the market for a new vehicle as well. When it rains, it poors! That's especially true of finances, isn't it?! But one of our pastors at church is selling his minivan, we love ours, and it's really nice. I think we might go ahead and get it since it's right in out budget! God is good! It's a nice van that has two sliding doors. And now, to most of you, you are probably thinking - those vans came out like a million years ago - what kinds of cars do you have?! Get in the century! Oh well. The van we have has been a God send. Only one sliding door and the handle is broken, I like to call it our anti-theft program! But the van was $300. That's right, I didn't miss any zero's. So there you go. And it's taken us EVERYWHERE, nearly from one end of the country to the other, not quite, but almost! We've camped in it, hauled up to 15 kids at a time in it, hauled the dog around in it, taken it hunting, taken it to all kinds of places. It's great. So that's what's going on in that department!

Let's see - our confirmation group is exploding! Sam just called and in the 7th grade alone, we've got 18 girls already! We've probably got nearly 80 kids in confirmation (7th-9th) alone! Which is great, but we just added on to our church, but there is definitely NOT enough room!!! It's a great problem to have but so frustrating when you don't have the tools that you need, you know? We are having trouble finding enough teachers, but we have an amazing group of adults this year and the Lord is really restructuring our ministry. I've stepped down from teaching confirmation to attend a Bible Study for myself, which I'm really excited about and I know we have a great group of adults taking over!

****News flash*****
OH man - God is AMAZING!!!! Just like 2 seconds ago, Sam called to tell me that he thinks he found a camera... Here's the quick run down. Sam found the camera he wanted in the Classifieds here in town. We met with the guy and he had this amazing deal - selling his Canon D40 and 4 lenses, including a 50-500mm, tripod, flash, 2-4 gig cards, filters, two camera bags, etc. etc. etc. He's only used this camera like 4 times in his life, just bought it in Feb. Anyway, he got a job cut and has to sell out - this whole package is worth $4000-$5000. But he was selling it for $2100. So we talked about it and got the necessary funding and talked to a great photographer friend of ours, he said it was a steal! We told the guy we'd take it! So that night after youth group, we went to give him the check and pick it up and he said that he got back and checked his computer and it turns out that it sold two days ago. That was that. Sam was in the depths of despair! It just seemed like this opportunity just went poof! But Sam just called and it turns out that things with Ebay didn't turn out so well for this seller and it was a nightmare! So Sam is meeting him today at 11:30am to pick up his new camera and all the goodies that go along with it! You all just witnessed God working in a amazing way, right in the middle of this blog! Now Lord, just a car and another camera - oh, and a few bills! Wink, wink! ;)

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled blog - I don't even know what I was writing, I'm so excited for Sam! Confirmation - yeah, anyway, so we are focusing a bit more on our leadership and allowing them to focus more on the kids. It's a great move in our ministry. Sam is starting his 5th year as a Youth Pastor and I can't believe how the time has flown! I know a lot of people don't even make it that long in Youth Ministry, which is so hard to believe when it only feels like we are starting to get a handle on things. Our church is so supportive and wonderful!

Let's see - I can't think of a whole lot more. We are just hanging out here this weekend, I think. At least I am! Then next week, we are heading to the Tetons, Yellowstone, and Jackson Hole for an art weekend. And now that Sam will have a new camera, I'm sure we'll be stalking all the animals we find. This is perfect timing for Sam to get sooo motivated to finish up the art he needs to have done for his show... He's plugging along on that. He's just working on this beautiful painting. I love it and think it should be done, but he says he's still got lots more to go on it - I'm sure it'll show up on his website here pretty soon.

Oh, that was another thing I was going to share with you. Sam ended up taking a kid out hunting for Elk this past weekend. Getting an elk tag in ND is a once in a lifetime opportunity and this senior from our youth group got drawn. Anyway, there was a bit of drama involved in that, but I just want to share with you another way that God showed Himself this past weekend! Anyway, Sam took Zac out last weekend scouting and didn't see any Elk and then this was the opener this past weekend, and they didn't see anything on Thursday night - opener was sunrise on Friday morning. Still didn't see anything, they hiked about 12 miles through extremely harsh terrain in the badlands and Sam was just praying the whole time. They took a dinner break around 5pm and talked to a Taxidermist who said that no one had been spotting them all day.... Everyone was a bit discouraged, then Sam and Zac decided to go for a drive and Sam asked Zac if he'd been praying and Zac said, "No, but you've been praying for us." And Sam was like, Man, you have got to pray, I've been praying because I want to see an Elk, if you want to see one, you need to pray too man. And so then he said that he could tell Zac prayed because it was a little quiet in the car. Then as they were racing along these gravel roads, all of a sudden, Sam flew by this field, where there was an Elk standing right there! Zac had a tag where he could shoot a cow or a bull, but he really wanted a monster bull! Sam thought this was a cow, so they turned around and then noticed it was a bull - a 5X5 - not very big for an elk, but still a bull, there is only a 50% chance that you can even see a bull, much less have the opportunity to shoot one! So Zac decided to take it. Here are all the amazing things about it - it was standing in a flat field right by the road. That meant, they could drive right in there and wouldn't have to drag it out - that is if Zac could drop it in one shot - normally you have to shoot an Elk 2-3 times and meanwhile they are running away... There was an oil rig about 100 yrds away, so the Elk couldn't even hear them. It was perfect. Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter, Zac shot and dropped the Elk with one shot - he was aiming for the heart and lung and got it in the jugular. If he had gotten the lungs or heart, he definitely would have shot a couple of times. The elk dropped and it was about 30 min. till dark, so it was cooling off - they had to wait for Zac's dad to come out from Bismarck with the truck - about 2 hours. And they started cleaning it. They were going to drag the elk, but Sam said the guts weighed about 250 lbs. alone! They tried dragging this Elk and made it about 5 ft before they were completely exhausted - Sam said it was like dragging a cow! So anyway, he got back by 2:30am on Sat. morning, in enough time to get up and go rummage saleing with me! :) God taught Zac a lesson about relying on Him this weekend and it was just perfect. If Zac had seen the size of bull that he really wanted to take, it would have cost him about $1200 to mount it and he wouldn't have been able to fit it in his room and as it is, he will European mount it, and it will cost him about $100 and he will be able to fit it in his room to be completely proud of! So that is just awesome! God is good!!!!

Well, this post is way too long, so I need to go! Later - until next time - maybe I'll have more amazing news on God's goodness! :)

OH... hey

I knew there was something I was suppose to do - I found this tab on my internet, I guess I was in the middle of posting a new note. Let's see, what's been going on for the last month? Well, Sam was gone for 9 days to Chicago with the Sr. Highers and then got back for 5 days, then left again for 7 days to the Boundary Waters with his brothers.

8-25-08 Seriously, it's been nearly a whole month. I'm sorry Beth! :) Let's see, what's been going on? Well, I definitely feel Fall in the air, I'm kind of trying to deny the fact that it gets to the 50's at night, even though it does make for great sleeping. The kids have already headed back to school and we are well on our way to the routine of school activities! I need a vacation. Gas prices are holding steady at $3.69/gal right now. I've been using Dead Sea soap in the shower, and I really like it. I made stuffed peppers for dinner the other night and they turned out surprisingly well. Sam and I went rummage sale-ing over the weekend, we bought a glider rocker for $5. Sam found a plein air easel for $1.50 and they normally retail for $80-$150... This weekend coming up is Labor Day. We'll be heading out to Medora - Sam is going to help a student do some Elk Scouting. Then we'll probably go to the Musical and head back home on Monday.

The next weekend is the Pow-wow weekend - which to the Native Americans means a gathering of all the tribes for a weekend of festivities at the local Native American College, but for the rest of us, it means 3 day marathon garage sales!! We plan our schedule around this weekend, that's how fun it is! :) Then, sometime, we might be heading out to the Tetons, just Sam and I. There are big art shows in Jackson Hole, WY on Sept. 20th. So we'll see if we make it to that. Then at the end of the month, we have our Fall Festival at Papa's Pumpkin Patch, which is always a good time! So we've got plenty coming up and I'm sure that I'll get a little better with my blog as winter arrives and that's about all I have to do! I want to take some pictures of my recent new craft and post that.

Speaking of crafts, I'm going to start a once a month craft night for the Sr. Highers, so I'll definitely keep you posted on that. Let's see...what else... Oh, I did decided to quit teaching confirmation this year. That was a great decision. I'm going to focus on the leadership instead of actually having a group myself. And this way, I get to join a Bible Study. It'll be my first one since moving here and I'm REALLY stoked about that! So we're kind of in in-between time right now, with not a lot going on. Thanks for your patience and loyalty.

By the way, if anyone happens to find a good deal on any SLR camera's, let me know. We're in the market for a new one - two actually. Thanks. Also, Sam is busy painting - he's got a lot to get done for his Fall show. Thanks!

Maybe next time...

I spent too much time changing my layout - got errands to run - maybe next time I'll find more pictures! :) Have a great weekend!

I'm baaaack....

Greetings everyone - here's my pictoral walk through my yard, I forgot to take pictures of our new floor in the house, so they'll be more, but let me post this and then I'll look through Sam's computer and see if I can find anything else! Hope you enjoy our yard as much as we do!
Ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff! (Translation: Someone pet me! Love me! Pet me!) Tonto says hi! I thought this was the cutest picture - I was just walking around the yard taking pictures and poor little T dog was following me just waiting for me to love on him, as usual. And he posed so perfectly. You'll notice how goofy he is because his tail is wagging like a mile a minute, that's why it's so blurry in this photo!

Amazing - these flowers came up out of no where this year! And in the garden of all places! You'll see below what we can actually grow in our garden (hint* nothing!). So we know this plant was placed right there from the Lord at the entrance of our garden as if to say - Don't give up on me! Look what I can do!

Well, here's a crooked shot of our patio - there isn't much blooming right now, peak is way over, but I thought I'd get some pictures on here - we have been delighted with the wave petunias this year. You can't see them all that well, but that would be what tha big pot of flowers by our door is. We have found the utmost solace this year in our yard. We have taken advantage of eating outside quite a bit this summer, we've had a couple friends over - it's way cooler outside as we were never home, so we never installed our window airconditioner. Sam was going to do that before he left for Chicago, but it's been good. It does get to the 90's during the day, but tonight's low is suppose to be 54! I think the summer is winding down! But it is so peaceful to come out in the morning and just sit and look at everything in the cool of the early morning - what a way to start the day!!!! Not quite ready for the Fall as of yet, but I love the cooler mornings/evenings.

Here's the steal of a deal for the summer so far! We were out rummage saleing last weekend when we came across this beautiful piller! Ok, so it may not be so beautiful right now, but I think someone tried to paint it and it didn't take so they threw it out - yep, that's right ladies and gentlemen - we found it in the garbarge for Free99! Then the pot on top we got for $5, so the whole get-up = a total of $5!!! I especially posted this for mom! (dad, don't hate me!)

Here is our first arbor that Sam built - it goes into our crazy garden where we can't grow anything but weeds, even our onions from last year came back and are BLOOMING! Oh well, we are in the process of turning it into an orchard. So far, we have an apricot tree, an apple tree, a plum tree, raspberries and strawberries - oh yeah, and A LOT of sunflowers and maybe some pumpkins and gords, we'll have to see about that. So yeah, you like this cute little arbor? Well, it blew over in a storm we had last night! It totally broke our fence and so we are going to have to be redoing it a bit, but anyway, it puts a nice facade on our otherwise unsightly garden!

This is the new arch that Sam made this year, we are still in the process of painting it. But it is at the top of our steps as you come up to the front of our house. Our driveway is in the back, so that the way we come most often, so this is the view we have most of the time!

This is the view we have of Tonto every time we come home. He's so faithful, just sitting there waiting for us!

The Lord is smiling on me!

Guess what - I finally had to go to Jury Duty today... It's kind of been a nightmare the whole time. You know this was my third time being called and tomorrow Sam and I leave for our Minneapolis mission trip and so for some reason, I thought I had to call TODAY for jury duty TOMORROW. Well, they called yesterday and said I was suppose to call for today's jury duty... Well, that was kind of annoying, but ok, so I had to be there at 8:45am today. So I rush down there and get in the building by 8:45am, then I was with this whole group of people - I'm such a doofus! Anyway, so I followed them up to the 2nd floor. And no one told me where I was suppose to go, but you remember those finely tuned deductive reasoning skills I once told you about... Well, don't always trust them! So I'm standing with the whole group of people and this guy says, come over here and I'll talk to you... I'd never been before. So I walk over and he starts whispering about an assault case, etc. and all these people (probably 8 or so) are all looking at me like I'm crazy. Then finally, I'm like - Is this Jury Duty?! And the lawyer was like, No, that would be the end of the hall on the left! Hello - I was mortified! I'm listening in on these poor people's case! Ha! So I run down the hallway, now knowing I'm LATE for jury duty... And they said I had to go to the 3rd floor. So I run back to the big group of people and wait for what seems like forever for the elevator - my only option was to pass that whole group of people I was listening in on to get to the stairs, at this point, I didn't know which was worse. So finally, the elevator came and there wasn't a soul in the hallway for Jury duty. So I didn't know where to go at all... Luckily at the far end of the hallway, this guy goes, Jury Duty? I said, Yes, please. He said, it's all the way down at the other end of the hallway! Great! So anyway, I'm halfway running, when the door opens up and this older lady pokes her head out and I said, Is this where I go for Jury Duty? And she said, Are you Sarah Coleman? I said yes, and she asked me a question and let me in and said I can sit with all the other Jury Prospectives. I was so embarrassed. Anyway, so then the Clerk of Court went over the whole list of people and how far they had to drive because you get reimbursed per mile. Some of these poor people had to drive 97 miles and 50 miles round trip to get there, and here I was late and I had to travel 1 mile round trip! Oh man, it figures something like that would happen to me! So then we just sit there and finally the judge comes in and goes over the whole Jury process. I got chosen in the first 14 and we were asked a bunch of questions, then we individually had to go through and say a little about ourselves, whether we were married, where we worked and what we did for our spare time. So then the attorney's asked questions and then they got the chance to kick 4 members a piece off the jury. They only needed to get back down to 6 people. Anyway, so I was "excused" after that process. I don't know what it was about me they didn't like, but I'm sure glad they sent me home! It was a DUI case and to tell you the truth, after the morning I'd been through - I got there, and I was like - seriously? Are you really telling me that this is a DUI case, and you've just interrupted like 15 people's personal lives for THIS?! Give the woman a ticket and let's go home!!! Anyway, that's what I was thinking, the defending attorney must have gotten that vibe from me, because for some reason, he didn't want me! He's my new best friend!

So my day is back on track, an hour later... Just thought I'd update you on that exciting news! Have a great weekend! We leave tomorrow and come back next Tuesday from Minneapolis. If you could, please pray. We never have trouble with chaperone's, but Sam and I are the only ones going with about 12 students. It should be fun, but we'll both have to drive the whole way and you never get all that much sleep on these trips. Thanks!

Birthday Surprises!

Thanks to my finely tuned deductive reasoning skills, I guessed right! Sam and I headed out around 2pm on Monday for Medora - Western North Dakota - the Badlands! We went through the park a little ways and then headed north through the National Grasslands - the nice thing about ND is that President Teddy Roosevelt made sure that 1 out of ever 4 acres is National Grasslands or National Park land. So in essence, that means, that you can roam all over it! Anywhere you want! They've struck oil in these them hills - so there are a lot of oil wells, but that's on private land and fenced off. And in the National Parks, you have to camp at the regular camping grounds with all the normal stuff - fire rings, side by side camping, etc. etc. etc. But in the National Grasslands - you are free to go wherever you want! And we really dig primitive camping if it means that there is no one else around! What's the point in camping if there are like 6 million people around you. Hello. I could sleep in my own bed. So we found a spot where the National Grasslands had the Little Missouri River running right through it so that we could go swimming! It was like 97 degrees on Monday!!! So we found the perfect spot, it was about 8pm and we got camp all set up - aka - our tent! Then we went swimming. Here's the kicker - the Badlands in July has killer Kamikaze Tsetse flies! I don't know what kind of flies they are but they are deadly - dive bombing us, even while we were in the water! So the whole time, we were trying to get away from them and finally decided the only way to do that was escape to the tent! It gets dark around 10 or 10:30 pm anyway, so it was going to get cold. They were calling for temps. to get into the 50's! So anyway, all that to say Bethers, thanks for the sentiments, there were bugs, but it was worth it to get away! Then we got up on Tuesday and just went on a drive around the Badlands, we were looking for Teddy Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch, but there were no roads leading to it. So we gave up and headed home! We had a nice afternoon of getting things done. It was just to nice of Sam to plan this little get-away. It's been so busy lately and my favorite thing in the world is spending time with him, so I really appreciate him taking this much time out of his extremely busy schedule to whisk me away! And then, if that wasn't enough, he did give me a gift certificate to a local spa for a pedicure - I don't know that I've ever had anything so fancy. I'm always looking for the cheapest one in town, which happens to be in the mall run by a bunch of Vietnamese, don't get me wrong - they do a great job! But I'm really looking forward to that. There is one minor problem with that. The other Sunday at the Wedding Brunch, I was taking out the trash and someone had put glass in the bag and I didn't know it. So it scraped my leg a little, but it was right on the shin and so it bled a lot. Anyway, I carefully chucked the bag into the trash bin and a big ole' piece of glass came popping out of the top and landed right on my third toe at the base. So it's basically right in the way of any flip flops I want to wear. Well, it cut pretty deep. I should have gone in for stitches, but that's no fun, so I've been babying it - not so well, I might add, with Neosporine and band aids.... For as much blood as came spurting out of it, you'd think I cut the thing off. Goodness gracious. But anyway, all that to say - I have to wait for that to heal before I can begin thinking about my relaxing pedicure! Well, that's about all I had to share! Oh, I was going to tell you this one other funny story! While we were camping the other night, I moved a little and my feet swished the tent in the corner and I don't know how much I've shared about Sam's crazy sleeping stories - oh that just spring boards into about a million more stories for you... But anyway, he woke up and started yelling, "There's something out there! There's something out there!" And I said, no, it was just me - and he said, no it wasn't, there is something out there - and he jumps up on all fours and is staring out the tent window, growling! I'm so serious! He's growling!!!! Then our poor dog Tonto - is scared to death. I think he thought something was going to get him, so he came running to our tent and started scratching the side for us to let him in! I just died laughing, I told Sam that it was only Tonto, to go back to sleep! Oh my goodness, I've been laughing about it ever since! Oh the stories could go on forever, but I only have about 30 more minutes before I need to leave work - so I should get some stuff done!!! :) Hope you enjoyed this post half as much as I did! See ya!

It's finally time....

We'll see how far this update goes before the Internet shuts down! Well, what have we been up to for the last month - month?!?! What? I can't believe it! Well, I won't even try to remember back that far. I wish I had pictures to post - it would be so much more fun! But oh well....

Let's see, we had a Girls Getaway weekend on June 22 - 24 for Katie, that was a lot of fun. Sadie's in laws have this beautiful lake cabin in Park Rapids, MN and they so graciously offered to open it up for us.... So we had about 8 girls all together, and we ate, boated, watched movies, wave ran, water skied, roller bladed, biked, did a great scavenger hunt and had a great time! It was a lot of fun! Thanks to Lauren for her Karaoke machine and lots of fingernail polish, it turned out to be the best girls weekend ever! So then we came back on Tuesday and then had a few days to get back into the groove of things, then all of Sam's brothers and sisters headed back out to Park Rapids for another quick weekend. This time, it was just a family send off for Katie and Mike since it was the last time we'd really have to spend with them before they head out to WA. The weather was pretty crappy this time, but we had a great time playing Tripoly and watching more movies! Then we took old time photos and that was tons of fun - imagine trying to get 9 of us all dressed in costumes and posed for a picture - it was a good time! So we got back late on Sunday night and the next day, let's see, what are we up to now? June 30th? My parents flew in!

We had a great time - a whirlwind trip of working, working, working! On Tuesday and Wednesday, we put Laminate flooring in our family room - it looks so good - I'm going to have post pictures one of these days! Then on Thursday and Friday, my poor parents spent all day arranging flowers for Katie's wedding. They turned out beautiful - but long days for the 'rents! Poor things. Then on Saturday, we had the big wedding and that was an all day affair for me - with pictures and other "bridesmaid" responsibilities! It was fun. We had the dance and didn't get home till 1am! Then Sunday, there was a family brunch and we stayed up late playing Double Pinochle! We all needed tons of sleep by the time they left on July 8th. In fact, my poor mom has been home sick with a summer cold since we wore her out so desperately... I hope she's feeling better...

Then it was non-stop going since then. Tuesday night, Sam was going to head out to Medora with his family, but then they decided not to go and so we went out to dinner instead. Wednesday, we had about 16 kids over playing cards at our house for Rock Solid - Wednesday night activities. The plan was to play v-ball, but we got rained out. Then on Thursday, we had a great family from our church come over for a picnic - then we did get a great game of v-ball in. On Friday, we had another baby sitting adventure at church. So we did some crafts, watched movies, played games and rocked babies to sleep! Let's see - Saturday - I was exhausted, I slept in late, ran one errand - actually this is really sad. There is a local flower shop here who hosts lots of Christmas decorating classes, other informational classes and they are retiring, so the shop is going out of business. It's really sad, but we ran over to see if we could find some bargains and they are already pretty picked over - it's only down to 30% off right now - you can see how much this shop is loved.... Sad.... So then we went home and it was soooo windy out that you really couldn't do anything. So Sam finally got the opportunity to do some painting and I took a nap! Imagine that?! Then around 4pm, we headed out for a 2.5 hour drive to Fargo to help Sadie and Nathan move, but about 30 miles out, Ruth's water pump broke. Everyone we knew in town was in the car with us at that moment, so we tracked down someone going back into Bismarck and hitched a ride with them. Poor thing - she said, I don't usually do this, let me call my husband and let him know that I picked up some strangers.... We totally understood. Anyway, it was really nice of her to bring us back. By this time it was nearly 7pm, so we decided not to turn around and head back to Fargo. Then Sunday, yesterday, we had a brunch to go to after church and headed home and ended up taking another nap - a long one! Then we went for a walk along the river, it was good for Tonto to get out. We had V-ball - which, we won all three games! Then we took Rootbeer Floats over to a friends house and didn't end up leaving there until 12:15! So this morning was kind of hard to wake up! But we woke up to a beautiful birthday morning for me! Sam's got plans for this afternoon. He asked me to take off work tomorrow and won't tell me what we are doing or where we are going. But as we were making the bed this morning, he told me we wouldn't be sleeping there tonight - so using my finely tuned deductive reasoning skills, I've decided we are going camping! We'll see. I guess I'll post on Wednesday if I am right or not! But that should bring you up to date for the moment. I'll go through Sam's computer and get some highlight pictures of the last couple of weeks and hopefully get something posted on here in the way of pictures! Still want to show you all the work done in our yard, even though we've had to pause for the last couple of weeks!

This weekend coming up is our Jr. High Mission trip to Minneapolis, then we get back next Tuesday and Sam leaves next Saturday for Chicago for a week. Then he gets back and has VBS in SD, then leaves the following Saturday for a Boy's trip to the Boundary Waters. So after this weekend coming up, my summer will slow down considerably, but alas, without Sam... Sad...

So that's how it is for me! Sorry for the long posts and infrequent updates, but I'm always saving up for pictures, I should just give up on pictures! I like pictures though! Ok, I must sign off! Later!

Seriously?....

Has it been since June 3rd since I wrote? Maybe because there isn't much going on here. The weather has finally gotten nice which means as much time as possible outside! My work is getting busier here, we're working on a big project, so I don't get as much time as I would like to scoot about the Internet!

Let's see that was about two weeks ago. I can't even remember what I wrote about last. This past weekend was Father's Day... We were the only ones in town and that was really nice. We got the garage cleaned out and projects done around the house - in honor of Dad! Gave my dad a call and visited with him a bit. I can't wait to see him in a week and a half. Mom and Dad will be flying out on June 30th and staying for a little over a week. I'm so excited to see them!!!

Oh, I just remembered what was going on last week - VBS!!! Ha, How could I forget!?! Sam taught the large group Bible time and I was a Crew Leader, a.k.a. Small group leader. I got there on Sunday night and pulled out a list of my kids and thought to myself - "What did I do to deserve this?!!!!" HA! Luckily, I recruited one of our 11th graders to help me and believe you me, I needed her! I only had 5 kids, but probably the most active of all the kids at church! Super cute and super smart... 2 4th graders, 3rd grader and 2 1st graders - I never had more than 4 kids on a given night - thankfully! It was fun, but a long week.

In the meantime, two friends came - Brian and Tabita Drinkall. They came from Chicago and are on their way to school in Canada. It was nice to have them for a couple days during the week. Unfortunately, it was raining the Wednesday they were here for the whole day. But they helped Sam with his Bible lesson that night at VBS and did a great job!

Well, our yard is coming right along. We're so happy with it. Yesterday Sam was building more fence line for our yard and I was a painting machine! Doing really well until our neighbor kids came over to help "paint"! For the rest of the day, I had white paint all over me! We took them roller blading/bike riding and then down to the River. It was a nice afternoon. Then, last night was the first of three Garden Tours and let me tell you what, we had some whoppers yesterday - beautiful gardens! I'm so proud of the work Sam has done with our yard, I want to put it in the Garden show, but Sam won't let me. He tells me there is lots more to do. And I agree to a point, but our yard is beautiful. I'll get some pictures on here, I promise! Things are going to start blooming pretty soon and then you'll hopefully see so many pictures, you'll get tired of it! The weather has been so cold up to this point, I'm praying the blooming will hold off a little longer so Mom and Dad get to see it at it's peak!

So that's about all that's been going on with me. This weekend, Saturday, we have our annual Fishing Tournament. I'm looking forward to that - always a good time! I went fishing with Sam a couple weeks ago on Saturday morning - it was so beautiful! Caught some nice size fish. Then Sam went again this past Saturday - he caught a big one. So the fishin' has been good! On Sunday, we head out to Park Rapids, MN for a girls weekend celebrating Katie's wedding. So we're looking forward to that. Sam is going to hang with his bro-in-law Nathan and help get the dock in the water and get boats up and running, cook and help take care of baby Ethan! So it should be a good time! That'll go through Tuesday and then on Wednesday and Thursday, we were going to do our annual Medora camping trip, but I think that's going to get cancelled. Then Mom and Dad head here the next Monday and will be here till Katie's wedding on Saturday and then head out on Tuesday after that. Other than that, things are plugging along!

Oh - I almost forgot! Guess what?! I got called up for Jury Duty!?!?! WHAT?! I've talked to people who have lived here for like a million years and they've never gotten called up for Jury Duty! So I have to show up bright and early on Friday morning to appear for my Call of Duty! #1 - I kind of don't want to be picked. #2 - I'm suppose to go out of town the following Monday and Tuesday, what about that? #3 - What the heck?!

So goes my life. Tomorrow, we have the Leadership Team coming to our house for a cookout. So everyday there is something - it's just one adventure after another!!!

But Sam and I are doing great! Tonto is doing great and we're having a terrific summer so far, even though it hasn't even felt like spring yet! Just now... Oh well.... My sympathies to my East Coast friends and family - and the heat you've had! It's 64 degrees right now and suppose to get all the way up to 75 today, maybe! ;)

Happy reading - Lori, hope this was a long enough update for you!

PS. Happy 30th to my good bud Bethers! She spent her b-day in California and I hope she had the best time ever - was thinking about you and praying for you!

Back into the swing of things....

Of course I don't have any pictures right now, but just wanted to give you a little update on our life as of the last two weeks. As you saw my earlier blog, my father in law, John Coleman passed away on May 16th. It was so amazing. We knew he was waiting for Katie's wedding, then after the wedding, he was heading downhill a little, then he found out that his brothers and sister was coming for a visit. That perked him back up a bit because he wanted to share the Lord with them one last time... They came on Mother's Day and he got to spend 20min or half an hour with them alone and shared with them about the Lord. And seriously, after they headed out, we figured he wouldn't make it through the night, but he did. But starting on Monday, he was heading downhill quickly. By Wednesday, he'd just about stopped walking on his own. Thursday, Hospice came and it was a big day - he was exhausted. Once they got the bed set up - he took a nap and started to become unresponsive, he wasn't talking anymore. He was unresponsive all day on Friday and passed away on Friday night around 9pm. He'd been praying that the Lord would take him home in his sleep and that's what we'd all been praying. It was an emotionally exhausting time - but we are so happy that he is healed forever with no more pain because without a doubt, he is running and jumping and fishing in Heaven!!! We sure do miss him though. The funeral was on Tuesday May 20th. And there was so much to prepare to get that done, but what an amazing testimony of God's goodness in his life - there were about 490 people at his funeral and we are still getting tons and tons of stories of how he impacted people! God is good and may I learn from his example. Well, family all left on Tuesday and we were down to the immediate family - we celebrated Judah's 17th birthday on Thursday night. We went to see Indiana Jones - a slight disappointment. But it was fun. Then over the weekend, Katie and Mike headed down to the Cities, Sadie and Nate headed back to Fargo for a graduation, Ruth, Judah and Charlie headed off to the East for a week, Johnny started a new job here in town and Sam and I took 12 4th-6th graders north to Lake Metigoshe for a camping trip! So we all had a great opportunity to get away a little. So while John is sorely missed, he will forever be in our hearts - life continues to stay busy and passes by!

So our camping trip went really well, except for the fact that it got down to 28 degrees the first night. And with my long johns, sweatpants, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt and wool socks that I wore to bed - I wasn't quite warm enough! So the next night, I wore long johns, sweatpants, hiking pants, tee-shirt, TWO hooded sweatshirts and a stocking cap, oh and wool socks, I was as snug as a bug in a rug! The days were beautiful though, no rain, no wind - just beautiful sunshine! Between the 16 of us that went, we caught about 75 Northern Pike - it was a ton of fun. Then one day, we portaged our canoes up to Canada and had a great little picnic lunch! We got back on Thursday and it was a great time. Then on Friday, we ran down to Rapid City, SD to visit with Wes and Cindy. They had been vacationing there for the week, so we went down and took them camping on their last night out. It was beautiful... We got to see tons of animals and spend some good quality time with them. Sam got lots of good photos and he's already started more paintings! Anyway, I'd better post this before I loose it due to the Internet shutting down on me. I will post some pictures, it's been great! Then we started on some house projects last night - Sam is always trying to get our yard just perfect, but the rain has started, so now we're inside working on some much needed projects - maybe I can rustle up some "before" and "after" pictures - we'll see! Have a great day! Thanks for the all the prayers and condolences - they are much needed!

A Celebration of Life!

John M. Coleman

9/1/52 - 5/16/08

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” – John 5: 24John M. Coleman, 55, of Bismarck died on May 16, 2008. Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 20, at Charity Lutheran Church in Bismarck with Bob Nordvall officiating. Burial will be at Fairview Cemetery in Bismarck.Visitations for the public will be held on Monday from 12:00 – 6:00 p.m. at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck. John was born on September 1, 1952, in Grand Forks, ND. While growing up, he enjoyed being with his family at the lake cabin, playing hockey, and his mother’s home-baked donuts. He went to college at UND where he met Ruth Dwyer and married her on August 2, 1975. He and Ruth have six children: Sam, an artist and youth pastor at Charity Lutheran Church, Sadie, a veterinarian in Grand Forks, Katie, a teacher at Horizon Middle School, Johnny, a student at Bismarck State College, Judah, a Sophomore in high school, and Charlie who is finishing up eighth grade. He worked as a Financial Planner for 30 years and loved working with his clients. He was certified as a Chartered Financial Consultant and a Chartered Life Underwriter. Between work, family, and friends, John loved to spend his time hunting, fishing (although he never caught very many for the hours spent doing it), camping, hiking, and wrestling with the kids, but the most important thing to John was his faith. He really wanted people to know that he loved the Lord and the love of Christ flowed through him to whomever he met. One way that he showed his love for Christ was in the way he treated people. He lived by the verse that says, “The greatest among you is the servant of all”, and he demonstrated this by his caring attitude and the acts of service he did for others. He loved his family more than anything and he was always there for them no matter what. He was the person to call when in trouble and he always responded by asking how you were doing first. During John’s 5-year battle with cancer, he showed tremendous courage and continued to serve and encourage others. He was also very selfless. Even when he was in pain, he never complained and always had a positive attitude. In every situation, he was always praising the Lord and finding the good in the bad times. His family and friends knew him as the most optimistic person they’d ever met. He is survived by his wife, Ruth; his six children, Sam (Sarah), Mandan, ND, Sadie (Nathan), Grand Forks, ND, Katie (Mike), Bismarck, ND, Johnny, Judah and Charlie, Bismarck, ND; his grandson, Ethan (Sadie and Nathan), Grand Forks, ND; his siblings, Jim (Kay), Detroit Lakes, MN, Joanne (John) Ader, Boulder Junction, WI, Trish Larson, St. Cloud, MN, Mike (Mary), Grand Forks, ND, and Tim (Marcia), Bozeman, MT; 10 brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law; and 46 nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, James and Alice Coleman, Grand Forks, ND. John, we love you and will miss you immensely. This is a tremendous loss for everyone, but we know you are in Heaven having a blast fishing and catching the big one and God is saying: “WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!”

We already miss him like crazy!

My mind is going....

Shoot - I forgot what I was going to write....

Katie's Wedding

Here is Katie and Mike with each set of their parents.












Here is the Coleman crew...













Mike and Katie with their "Honeymoon Survival Kit" - it's a tradition from the married people in the Coleman family to the new couple - Sadie and Nate did it for us and now we passed it on to Katie and Mike from Sam, Me, Sadie and Nathan...














Wishing Katie well!




















And finally, a sweet picture of Katie and her dad!

Vacation in Florida!

Here we are on our "international" vacation! Mexico was the first stop!












Japan was Stop #2 - well, in no specific order!














Can you guess where this is - hint* Paddington Bear and Robin Hood! and down below is the rain - isn't that crazy, for the whole day, it was beautiful and as soon as we show up in England, it starts raining! Typical!!!!

And here we are - the grand finale! Epcot!!! Yeah! We had such a great time visiting Wes and Cindy in Florida!

Updated pictures!

This is the infamous fishing trip where God was present and John caught his walleye! Also, here is the pile of us in the smallest boat possible. We didn't even have to fill the live well, we were sitting so low that it filled on it's own! It was a great day in North Dakota!

Trying to figure out how to work this new system, debating about switching over - so far seems to be a lot easier, but just working out the kinks... I like not have to reposition pictures and taking 20 minutes every time I need to upload something. That would definitely go a lot faster, but I mourn the loss of a year of blogging on wordpress.... I suppose to always link them together... But now would be a good time to switch since I don't have a lot of readers...