Monday, August 23, 2010

Surprise!

I was able to go home one last time before summer is over! I surprised most of my family! It was great seeing their faces! My trip home was short but so wonderful! I was busy every second of every day! I was able to spend quality time with family and see some dear friends. Of course there are so many I wished I could have seen there just weren't enough hours in the day!
After surprising my parents we headed to the Hentges. They are so funny so I had to take a few pictures of things that made me laugh!
Eden=100% cool :)

Peace Baby!

We did not plan this! Just a perfect photo opp.

I was able to stop at the Gaalswyks and spend (not enough) time with Melissa and Jackson! Jackson is so stinking sweet and adorable! I even got to see Mark as I was heading out! We miss them so much!

Then Megan and I got to have our "usual" night together!! We went shopping and ate pizza and ice cream. Oh the good ol' days! :) It was so great spending the night at the Thorps!

Then it was a beautiful day at the pool with all the kids! I had found a yummy ice cream treat I wanted to make for them, so Gabby and Lauren helped put popsicle sticks in little snickers bars, which were the center of the delicious treats!




Out to eat at the usual Bonfire! Notice ALL the food...we were waiting for dad and Trisha. It was not all for us! :)

Dad spraying Gabby with his "new" powerwasher!

Saturday was another busy day going to my cousins wedding! I had so much fun seeing family and catching up with Rachel! One of the highlights was meeting her sweet little Alice!




I got to shortly go to a friends wedding later that night! It was so much fun seeing a lot of old friends, some I hadn't seen in years! I was able to spend (again, not enough) time with my dear friends Meghann and Kristi. I miss them so much!
Meghann, Kristi and I!

Our weekend ended on a high note! We were able to watch the Vikings and Twins! Woohoo!! Go MN!!!
As usual, we love you and miss you all so much!
“When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Psalm 94:18-19

Monday, August 16, 2010

Wonderful Weekend!

This weekend Ben and I had such a great weekend together! This was our first weekend this summer that we didn't have any big plans. Friday night we just stayed in and had a relaxing evening watching a movie.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Bellingham for Ben's training. His marathon is a little over a month away and he has become such a strong runner. He had his 18 miler on Sat. morning. We started at Lake Padden which has a great shaded path. I ran his first 8 miles with him on the path and then he was on his own in 90 degree weather. I met up with him at about mile 15 for a gatorade break:)He finished by our old house and we relaxed by some water fountains for a little while after his run. Sorry, those details are boring for all of you, but I want Ben and I to remember them! :)

Then we came home and Ben thought it was a great idea to wax the Jeep, which sounded fun...until the wax dried unbelievably fast in the heat and we were scrubbing with every muscle we had to get it all off. My shoulder is still sore...no joke! :) But one cool thing is that there was an air show going on while we were waxing so I took a few breaks to watch. The pictures don't do it justice, it was so cool!



That night we went out to celebrate Ben's long run and me getting Baptized on Sunday. Ben took me to the most amazing steak house in a small town by the foothills called Everson! It was unbelievable with the most delicious food ever! We had goulash, garlic bread, potatoes, zuchini and steak...and all of it was amazing!

Sunday was another beautiful day! I was really excited for Sunday because I was getting baptized. I was baptized as a baby, but I was so ready to make my declaration as a Christ follower now as an adult! Our pastor had done a sermon about baptism at church and over 170 people felt called to be baptized after his sermon. We were at Lake Samish with over 300 people. It was so amazing to see all of those people being made new in Christ! I was blessed to be baptized by Scott Moon, the Middle School pastor, whom I know the best! Ben was such a wonderful, supportive, prayerful husband through all of it!






"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
Romans 6:4

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Whitefish Again!

Another great weekend in Whitefish, MT! But this time we celebrated Brett and Katie getting married! It was such a beautiful wedding since it was all outside at her parent's home. One of the best parts of the weekend was spending it with Annie, Kirby and of course Miss Kendall Grace, she is such a sweetie!
We left Thursday and met up with Rich (roommate of the guys), then we picked up the Carrs in Spokane and drove the last, long 5 hours. Kendall slept the entire way....awesome!
Friday morning the guys went rafting and us, the ladies, went shopping in Whitefish. The rehearsal and dinner was that night.






Saturday the boys shot clay pigeons at the house we were staying. Ben was really good, as usual. I had never seen him do anything like that before. He seems to excel at everything he does! Somehow they even talked Annie and I into shooting a few. I had never even touched a gun before so I was definitely nervous and my legs were literally shaking the whole time. I ended up really liking it!



Then we headed to a local beach and hung out for a little while before the boys had to get ready for the wedding. Annie and I had so much fun together doing our own things throughout the weekend.



The wedding was absolutely gorgeous with perfect weather.








The Carrs and Wetzells even found themselves a spot on the dance floor which never seems to happen for us at weddings!

We had such a wonderful weekend! It was especially a good and deserving getaway for Ben. It was really hard to leave the Carrs and Bollwegs. But we enjoyed every minute together with our friends!
We love you and miss you all so much!
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Victoria, British Columbia

I was fortunate enough to spend another week with my parents in Canada. Victoria is absolutely beautiful, with amazing views and flowers and a lot of history. Starting from the first day I got there we walked...and walked...and walked (and learned the bus system very quickly). We truly walked miles and miles while we were there!:) Which was fun, yet exhausting. In between all the walking we managed to see some spectacular things.

The first day we went to Butchart Gardens, which is the #1 thing to do there. It is just acres upon acres of gardens. It was unbelievable! Sorry I put so many pictures up, I had a hard time deciding...imagine that, me being indecisive. :) GRANDPA WETZELL, I think you would LOVE the Butchart Gardens!!!















We stayed at a beautiful hotel in downtown Victoria. There was a really neat rooftop garden and a great patio that mom and I enjoyed every afternoon!
The downtown had some beautiful buildings.
This is the parliament building.

The Empress, which is now a hotel.


We also went to a Sidney, which is right on the ocean. It was a cute city which I would love to go back to. The best part of the day was seeing sea lions while we were on the pier!



It was really hard to say bye on Sunday when we dropped them off at the airport. We were definitely sad to see them go, when we got home we couldn't believe how quiet our house was. We felt so blessed to be able to spend that much time with my mom and dad. Thank you to them for taking that much time out of their summer to be with us!

We love you and miss you all so much!
"When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." 1 Peter 2:23