Katey’s 11th Birthday!

_KRN9181It’s always tough keeping a birthday party a surprise, but we pulled this one off. Katie was taken back when she walked into the house to the loud screams of “SURPRISE” when her friends, Alison, Caroline, Maria, and Ruby, along with Lauren and cousin Tyler, jumped out from behind a wall. They immediately wrapped a grass skirt around her waist, donned her with a lei and puka shell necklace, and welcomed her to her end-of-summer/ birthday Luau.

The afternoon and evening was loads of fun. It started out with barbecued burgers, Hawaiian chips, and a fruit salad served in a hulled out watermelon. Miniature tiki torches adorned the tables and island music pumped throughout the house and backyard. The highlight of the night was the limbo contest, of which the twins won hands down. Their limberness surely paid off. We are still singing IZ’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” which we all agree is a beautiful rendition. The night ended with jumping and splashing in the pool and a new “wave” dance by dad. It still gets giggles to this day.

The festivities continued another night with pizza and games at Peter Piper Pizza followed by Rollerskating at Skateland in Mesa. Nothing brings back the groove of the 70’s and 80’s light rollerskating. Too bad Kory and I threw away our headbands and wristbands. We would have fit right in. It really was a fun night until the late night crowd started showing up, then it was time to head home. The evening culminated with black & white cupcakes from Sprinkle’s of Beverly Hills and a sleepover with six girls in the family room.

Katie, we hope you felt special on your 11th birthday, and that you know how special you are to us every day.

A Memorable Memorial…

_KRN8837-759256We have just returned from one of the best weekends ever! The girls and I joined Kerry and the Traasdahl family in the cool northern Arizona town of Greer over the Memorial Day weekend.
We left early on Friday to try and beat the weekend stampede and arrived at our cabin in the early evening. We were pleasantly surprised to see that it was perfect for all of us… Plenty of room for all nine of us to sleep, eat, and play games. It even had a jacuzzi on the deck!
On the drive up, Lauren began her journal of “things spotted” and by the time our trip was over, she had recorded several hundred things that most people would miss… Saturday morning, we decided to spend some time taking pictures in the meadow out back and watching the fish in the pond. Katie has proven herself to be quite the budding photographer and captured several very nice pictures over the course of our trip. At noon, we all went horseback riding and Lauren was able to ride the same horse (Turkey) that she had last year. The ride was beautiful and aside from Mike’s mule trying to kick the teeth out of my horse, all went well. Saturday night, we all went to Molly Butler’s for a great dinner followed by a game of “Apples to Apples”.
Later that night, we all decided to hit the jacuzzi and what started out as innocent “man talk” about jumping in the freezing cold stream quickly escalated to the point of finding Mike and myself running through the mud to jump in the stream! Near the brink of cardiac arrest, I reasoned that this act of bravery should merit the adoration of my girls. They would surely conclude that Dad is a warrior, capable of conquering things that make most tremble. Well, just as Mike and I were back in the jacuzzi and able to breath again, Katie, Hansen, Lauren, and Curt decided they would also jump in the stream. Hansen even spent a few minutes rolling around in the freezing cold snow melt! I will find other ways to garner heroic status.
Sunday morning, we worshipped together and talked about the peace of God. Katie provided the topic and it proved to be a great discussion. The rest of the day was spent playing soccer, taking pictures, and building forts out in the meadow. On a particular walk with the girls along a small stream, I decided that it would be fun to use the soccer ball to plug a pipe that the stream was running through to “temporarily” create a dam. It was great in theory but when the ball got sucked in to the pipe, the problems began. The upstream began to fill VERY quickly and would have surely tipped the balance of our global ecosystem were it not for some quick thinking!
Thanks to Katie and Hanson finding a nice looooonnnngg stick, and Mike’s help on the other end, we were able to force the ball through the pipe and restore order to the land. It sure sounded like a good idea! Sunday night we all played Pit and Katie taught me how to play Chinese Checkers – I lost miserably!
The drive home today was equally as memorable. We sang all sorts of songs from EFY to Brooks and Dunn and experienced pouring rain, hail, and brilliant sunshine. For me, it wasn’t necessarily the fun things we did or the spectacular creation that we observed that made this trip so special. It was the Spirit filled time we spent together that I will always remember.

A Time for Growing

_KRN8660-773967Our summer garden is really starting to take shape. Just 5 weeks after planting, we’re already starting to see the silks emerge from the towering corn stalks. We only recently learned that the tassels that bloom at the top of the stalk are actually the male part of the plant and in addition to producing pollen, they are critical in fertilizing the the ovaries which are aligned on a central cob. Among the silks is a single strand through which a single pollen grain must migrate to fertilize the ovary.

_KRN8825-704674I am amazed that some say there is no God… In addition to the sweet corn, we’re also growing watermelon, cucumbers, jalapeno’s, and chives. Here is a picture taken this morning and it shows just how much the corn has grown. Lauren is busy helping God by manually fertilizing the silk… I suspect that we’ll have a nice harvest in 3-4 weeks and look forward to some nice fat watermelon this year!

He is Risen!

_KRN8489-751863We awoke this Easter morning to a beautiful sunrise!  It had rained the night before and all of our plants still had droplets glistening in the morning sunlight.  Our day began with an Easter egg hunt and unlike in years past, I was not able to hide at least one that the girls couldn’t find.  After breakfast, we prepared for church and talked about why this day is special among all days as we drove.  This afternoon, we had friends and family over for Easter dinner followed by a walk to the park for some softball.  Aside from Pokey pooping on the pitchers mound and Tyler taking a pitch to the face, it was a great time and the weather was perfect.  This day was a very fitting day to remember our Lord and His resurrection from death.

2009 Mustang’s

_KRN7870-792092As this year’s regular season draws to an end, I have to say that I’ve never seen a better group of girls or a better group of coaches.  I have seen tremendous improvement in Katie’s skills and as evidenced by the smiles on her face, she has had a great time learning.  This has been a great season on hard-fought wins and a few tough losses but even losing by 10, I hear the sound of singing from the dugout…  Many thanks to all of the coaches for making the season so special.

Sedona Flight

Picture-1-798544On this beautiful Saturday, we decided to treat Katie’s friend Ruby to a cheeseburger in Sedona. The plan was to meet our friends Bill and Karen in Scottsdale, then fly to Sedona to eat. Karen was running late to meet us so the girls and I decided to take off and just meet them there. After landing in Sedona, we discovered that Bill and company had not even left Scottsdale so plan “B” was implemented. We would fly from Sedona to Falcon Field in Mesa to have dinner at Anzio’s Landing which has been a favorite for many years. On the way, Ruby was my co-pilot and did a masterful job of keeping us on course. Unfortunately, Katie suffered a little motion sickness as we were descending in to Mesa and decided to re-decorate the back seat… Bless her heart. Aside from the theatrics of an active hurler and another smell induced candidate (Ruby) all while on short final to land, it was a beautiful flight and a great dinner. Katie and Ruby decided to fly with Bill on the trip back to Scottsdale and in that time, created their own anthem in tribute to N5878J and Bill in honor of his ability to transport them vomit-free. It goes something like this…

“You may be partial to Romeo,
You may prefer a jet,
but as for me,
my heart is with Juliet.
November five-eight-seven-eight-juliet,
my heart is ever with thee.
Your curtains keep us shaded,
Our hearts are so elated… ”

You get the idea.