Pine Haven Christian Assembly

Saturday my friend Nancy and I drove up to northern Minnesota to see her cabin in the woods. On the way, we stopped by Pine Haven Christian Assembly to take a look. This is the church camp I attended each summer after 5th grade through the summer after my junior year in high school. My dear friends Judy and John Otto met us there and took us around the camp grounds and we had so much fun reminiscing the old times. Currently they have a cabin a little ways from the camp and in summer, Judy works in the camp office. Here are some of the photos:

L to R: yours truly, Tay (camp manager), John, and Judy

The entrance to the camp

Judy Kooy Otto with the Lodge in the background

Judy and I in the Naomi cabin. She and I stayed in this cabin as campers.

John and Nancy outside cabin Naomi

The Chapel

Inside the chapel, at my request, John sang "How Great Thou Art."  He has a beautiful voice.

The canteen is located inside this beautiful log cabin.

It was great to see the camp in such a beautiful state. Many people over the years have donated many wonderful things and hours and hours of labor. I sure enjoyed seeing it again.

She Winked at Me

I wasn't shopping for a new car because I loved my car. It is a Final Edition of the New Beetle. It has "Final Edition" plaques on either side of the car. 1500 of these beautiful blue, hardtop versions were made and 924/1500 is engraved on the steering wheel.

This photo is from May 2010. I'm standing between my red 1998 New Beetle (first edition) and my new, 2010 Final Edition, on the left. My boss bought the red car from me and still drives it.

Saying "good-bye" to my blue 2010 VW

Friday I was at the Volkswagen dealership to check on a warning light that had flickered the night before while driving on the highway. While they were looking at my car, I meandered into the sales room. That was a mistake. There I saw a beautiful new Beetle. It was a "limited edition" — a white convertible with a blue denim roof. The seats were covered in blue denim with white piping and the backs of the seat pockets were stitched like the back pockets of Levi jeans—double red stitching.

I'll cut to the chase. I ended up driving one of the "Limited Editions" and was impressed with the handling and the new safety features. It got me thinking: at my age, it would be good to have these features. As I was getting out of the car, I realized a convertible was not practical for me, but then "she" winked at me. She was parked two cars away and her beautiful tornado red took me in.

I walked over to her and looked in her window. The dashboard was exceptional! I said to the salesperson, "I'd like to have a look inside." Once in, I was sold. So I put the car on "hold" for 24 hours so I could think it over, pray about it, and discuss it with my brother and dear friend, Lil. Saturday I called back to say I wanted to purchase it. The rest is history.

Here I am sitting in my new car.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

Boy, have we had a lot of rain this month! Last Wednesday, we got dumped on. A person who lives close to me said he got 4 inches in his rain gauge. That came in a very short amount of time. This afternoon it began pouring and the news station reported our area got 4 inches in 25 minutes time! We had small hail mixed in with it at times. I worked a bit later than I usually do to leave during one of the intermissions. We are definitely not having a drought this year!

Another Year Older

Yours truly standing at my office with the fabulous decorations

My office birthday party

Homemade cards from Leo, Felix and Aurelia and roses from Sarah and Peder

Yes, I turned another year older this past week. I had a lovely day which included talking to, or seeing, all of the members of my immediate family. My co-workers decorated my office and the two departments in which I work gave me a wonderful birthday party, complete with cake and ice cream, and lots of candles!

It's interesting that the older I get, the more I enjoy my birthdays and am thankful for each new day. I've reached the stage where I am no longer "gathering" things, but have begun to purge. Yesterday I went to Red Wing with some friends, and didn't buy one thing for myself. This is a good feeling. The weird (and perhaps, foolish) thing, is that we spend so many years and so much money buying things that will make us happy, make our homes beautiful, and maybe make us more attractive. At my current age, most of those things are not important to me. I still want to look good and therefore I my hair colored on a regular basis and have begun having my nails done. I've even had a make-up lesson at a cosmetic counter in a large department store.  It's the "things" that take up real estate in my home and garage that I am trying to eliminate.

So, if God gives me more days/years, I hope to continue parting with the things I no longer need. It's a good project!

Marshall's trip to the Midwest

Last Saturday Heidi accompanied Marshall on a trip to the Midwest to see his grandparents and cousins. It was a whirlwind trip for Heidi, but I hope it was as much fun for her as it was for me. After picking them up at the airport, we went to Broadway Pizza for supper. Yum! I love their pizza, and Marshall enjoys their toy train that travels on a track close to the ceiling.

While staying with me, we went swimming, looked at animals in a pet store, he played at Shoots and Ladders – a wonderful amusement park for kids near my home, had a picnic supper with Peder's family and his Grandpa Steve and then played in a near by park with them, played my piano, watched a hummingbird at the feeder, played with Nels, swam some more, had lunch at Redstone—a family tradition for Heidi and me, took Heidi to the airport, went to Como Park, and took in the Crayola Experience at the Mall of America, as well as rode the rides in the amusement park there, and swam with the cousins in my pool. All of this was in the course of about 72 hours. We were BUSY!

I'll let my pictures tell more of my time with him and Aurelia, Felix and Leo.

Marshall on the Merry-Go-Round at Como Park

Marshall near Dred Scott Field

Marshall admiring the lily pads at Como Park

Marshall (center) on ride at the Mall of America 

Marshall scanning his drawing at the Crayola Experience in the Mall of America

Marshall at Shoots and Ladders

Leo, Marshall and Aurelia with their spin art

Aurelia, Marshall, Leo and Felix