Sunriver So Far

We arrived here in Sunriver in the late afternoon on Sunday after attending my grandma's service on Saturday, driving nearly 300 miles round trip in one day to do so.  After the 180 miles to get to the cabin, I was so very ready for some rest.  I spent all day Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday ignoring my laptop and catching up on sleep.  Did I mention that in the three days preceding my Grandma's service I averaged five hours of sleep per night?  That's just not enough for this seven to eight hour a night girl.  Needless to say, it has been great to fall off the grid and relax.

Enough about me, let me update you on what the family has enjoyed most so far during this trip.  This week is rather monumental for these Bangsunds because it is the first time we have come to the cabin for an entire week.  I have ALWAYS been too chicken to try it in the past.  The thing that changed my mind was the sweet community church five minutes from the cabin that hosts a Vacation Bible School during the last full week of July every year.  My friend Holly had a friend who brought her kids all the way from Black Butte for this VBS.  I figured it was worth checking out.  I was so right.  ;-)

With over 180 kids in attendance and a literal army of volunteers, this thing runs like a well-oiled machine.  The kids are all given t-shirts, placing them on their "teams" (in their classes) for the week.  Luke is with the 3rd and 4th graders on the red team. Paul is with the 1st and 2nd graders on the green team.  Despite the fact that each team is comprised of at least thirty kids, there are SO many adults and teens present that I think the student/teacher ratio is around five to one.  The kids arrive and line up with their teams to head into the sanctuary where there is a giant mat on the floor color coded by team.  Yep.  They sit in their spots and the music starts.  And this is the true measure, folks, at least in my book.  The music is excellent.  They have a guy up front who can sing and dance at the same time.  He's wearing a cordless mic, ala Madonna, and he rocks.  They sing to a track, but the tunes are fresh and lively, so it doesn't feel canned at all.  A hip video plays on the screen with the words.  There are live puppets on the stage also to help the younger people connect while the bigger kids can dig on the video.  Seriously.  We got a free CD of these songs and I don't hate them.  At all.

Then there are the crafts.  They are AMAZING.  There hasn't been one yet that I've thought was destined for the landfill.  The boys made these fun fleece neck pillows that are actually useful in the car.  Then they made these beautiful fridge magnet boards that have inspired me to clean off the fridge at home.  Today they brought home stunning wall hangings.  Luke's is a painting he did highlighting the fruits of the Spirit.  Paul's is like a stained glass window.

Finally, there is the teaching.  The boys are memorizing great Scripture every night and last night held something particularly special for Paul.  After receiving a sweet little book that walks through all the basics of the Gospel, Paul shared with us that he had prayed to ask Jesus to forgive him, accepting His death on the cross to pay for his sins.  Listening to my littlest boy recount the truths of the Gospel to me was the best thing ever.  I remember that feeling, wanting to tell everyone, anyone, even just myself.  Listen to this...it's the coolest thing I've ever heard...we've all sinned separating us from God, but God made a way to bring us back to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ...His death paid the price for our sin.  And it's a free gift.  I remember repeating these truths to myself over and over again shortly after I became a follower of Christ.  I simply could not believe how amazing it was.  I saw this amazement in my six-year olds face last night as he hugged me and told me that he is now a child of God.  Best vacation ever.

Here are some pics, along with a few more stories.

 We've eaten on the deck here a number of times.  Luke looks old to me in this picture.

 We've only been to the river once so far, but I predict a second trip this evening.

 This guy loves the mud.

 This was hilarious.  These ladies arrived to fish and all action on our shores halted.  They became statues for about two minutes.  That is an eternity in their world, people.  Then they became loud and crazy again, talking about how much they wanted to see them catch a fish.  As they splashed through the shallows shouting about seeing a fish be caught, the irony of the situation did not escape this fisherman's daughter.  Poor fools.

 Tuesday was Hat Day at VBS.  Thanks, Grandpa, for having plenty to choose from here at the cabin.  No hats were harmed on Hat Day.  All have been returned in good condition.

 Today was Silly Sock Day at VBS, and I was SO glad that I had brought these warm fuzzy socks for the cold mornings here.  Yes.  I own these socks and wear them often.  Each boy wore one today, and they TOTALLY did the trick.

Here are the crafts so far:

 Cute fridge organization.

 Paul's stained glass

 Luke's painting already matted.

Last, but most definitely not least, today is Erik's birthday.  When the boys arrived home from VBS, Erik set up the "sleigh" (see below) and introduced the boys to Lego Batman as his gift to himself.  They are going to spend the afternoon gaming together.  After being to the SHARC (awesome amazing water park like complex) or the river every afternoon, I think it's just fine for the boys to sit and watch Daddy play his game for one day of our vacation.  Happy Birthday, Daddy Man.  We love you.

Cousins

I wrote this post once already, had it published, but then the technology failed me and it was deleted.  I hate that.  Let me try again.

My grandmother's memorial service was this past Saturday, and it was such a beautiful bittersweet time.  Many aspects of the service were an encouragement to me, but my favorite by far, and the one I think would make Grandma smile, was the time the cousins spent reconnecting with each other.  I'm not sure what it is about cousins, but there certainly can be a bond that goes deeper than most.  Perhaps it is the shared family experiences.  Perhaps it is the shared DNA.  Who knows.  I just know that when I spent time with my cousin Angie especially my heart is filled and my face hurts from smiling and laughing so much.

The original post had memories of my time spent with Angie.  Although it feels trite to me to type them again, I will because I want to re-read them in my 90th year and remember.

Angie and I spent sweet days together while we were growing up.  We would meet each other on the walk between our houses and then proceed to Liz's Pantry, a tiny mom and pop store that still sold nickel and dime candy in the early 1980's.  We would walk in with one quarter each, buy the exact same candy and then eat it at the exact same time as we walked back to her house.  We spent hours playing monopoly on the floor of her bedroom, roller skating in Grandma's one-car garage, and dancing to the soundtracks of Greece and American Graffiti on her soft, brown, ultra plush living room carpet.  Later, when we were past our dancing phase and no longer ate nickel candy, our time was spent talking about boys and making plans for the future.  Oh, the stories I could tell.  Out of respect for both of our fabulous husbands, I will refrain from giving any further details from our boy-crazed, teenage days.  ;-)

Time passes and life moves so fast.  Angie and I don't get to see each other nearly as often as we once did.  But it is my joy and delight to always discover that our bond is still there whenever we do spend time together.  Some things never change.  And that's a good thing.

Craig, Clarey, Nicole, Erik, Amy, Angie, Bobby

I love this woman.

My Friend

My friend Julie came for a visit yesterday.  This is special for many reasons.  Julie and I have known each other for awhile now, since our sophomore year in high school.  But more than the length of time we have known each other, it is the depth of our journey that makes our friendship important to me.  Julie was my carpool buddy during the two years when I surrendered my license because of my seizures.  We taught in the same crazy junior high and drove back and forth together every day.  That's a lot of "Let's see what the kids are listening to," people.

Let me explain that reference.  Julie taught choir.  I taught English. We shared a lot of the same students.  At the end of many days, we would fall into her Ford Taurus, mildly exhausted, and she would say, "Let's see what the kids are listening to."  That was our cue to turn on the Top 40 station or the rap station and pretend like we were fourteen year olds driving down the road in something that wasn't a sedan.  It was a brilliant way to let off steam.

When Julie and her husband Brice started a Young Life club at our junior high, it was almost effortless for Erik and I to jump on board.  And that was a whole other brand of crazy.  Dairy club where kids bobbed for cheetos in milk.  Turkey bowling.  Many other odd and hilarious things.  Such awesome memories.

When Julie moved to Ellensburg, it was a pretty hard thing for me.  We had been nigh inseparable for two years, at least from September to June.  But the Lord knew what He was doing.  She and Brice continued in ministry.  Erik and I carried on with the Young Life team at Stahl, bringing on another couple to learn the ropes.  And it turned out, we were going to need a connection in E-burg.

Toward the end of my teaching career, we invested highly in a young man in recovery from a very serious drug addiction.  Over Spring Break, he relapsed and was sent to an inpatient facility about 40 minutes from Julie and Brice's house.  We visited every weekend we could, and the Johnsons allowed us to crash at their place.  It was so great to have that house, with those people, to greet us after visiting hours were over.  Heartbreak isn't nearly as hard when you are surrounded by folks who love you and love the Lord.

Julie and Brice live in Germany now.  They do ministry with an organization called Youth Compass.  We love them, but obviously don't get to see much of them.  Their visit yesterday was filled with talk of babies and ministry and Germany and lots of other things.  But mostly, it was just balm for my heart to spend time with my friend.  We laughed a lot.  And I even was able to kidnap her for a quick trip to Starbucks.  Did I mention that she has an adorable 4-month old daughter?  New baby land is so hard.  I wish we lived closer.  I would do that WAY more often.

Sidenote:  Her oldest and my youngest were born the same day within hours of each other.  And now he speaks fluent German.  Um.  That's awesome.  It has totally motivated my boys to begin their German lessons this Fall.  Yep.  That's going to be sweet.

Do I want to go to Germany to visit my friend?  More than I want to do most things that are on my plate right now.  Will it happen?  I have no idea.  But I will confess googling airfare prices to Frankfurt way more often than usual. ;-)

Here are the pics to prove it happened.  I have to tell you that we were facing intensely bright sunlight, hence the fact that we are both squinting like moles.  And in the second shot, I can't really explain the look on Brice's face except to say that it is pretty quintessential Brice.

 I love my friend.

Six Years Ago Today

This happened:

Remember Baby Paul?

 He's six years old now.

Paul had a fabulous birthday today, starting with the creation of his birthday train.  Each of these animals is supposed to hold a perilously balanced candle, but I just don't roll that way.  Paul picked his animals, put them in order, stuck in the six, and we called it good.  WAY less chance of catching anything on fire before breakfast.

Then came a present from Mommy and Daddy.  It was LEGO.  It was Ninjago.  It was a big hit.

These guys spent the next few hours putting this together and then playing with it.  They did beautifully sharing.  I was such a pleased mom.

Around 10am, the party arrived.  Let me explain.  We are combining the boys for their kid party this year.  That business happens on August 3rd.  BUT Dave's cousin Ellen was in town today with her husband Ed.  They really wanted to drop by and see us.  So, I told the Grandparental Units to jump on board that train, and it became a party.  Grandma brought the donuts and I made the raspberry iced tea.  Bam. Party.  (I was SO blessed to have an insta-party appear - this week is NUTS.  I did NOT have it in me to pull this out of my hat.)

Most of the party involved the boys playing in the basement, completely unaware of the adults enjoying conversation in the living room.  I love this house.  Then when the boys finally did appear, the presents were ready to go!  Check out the fun.

 It's the gold dragon from Ninjago.  It's pre-owned.  Paul is delighted with it.  I love having low-maintenance kids.  If you can't buy them something new, don't!  They do not care!

 Paul was particularly delighted by his card from Grandma and Grandpa.  It just has a cute little poem about being six.  He loves it.  And I just realized we need to get out the Now We Are Six book again!  Love.  It.

 Paul finishes the poem and Luke hams it up for the camera.

It was such a delightful insta-party.  I cannot thank Ellen, Ed, Grandma, Grandpa, and Oma enough for making it happen.  HUGE SUCCESS!  :-)

After the party, I looked at Paul and asked him what he wanted to do for lunch.  I said we could do whatever he wanted.  He picked Elmer's!

 In the booth at Elmer's

Reasons why I love Elmers:  1.  No TVs.  2. Free birthday sundae with candle and singing wait staff.  3.  Adorable old people who come wish your child a happy birthday and even present him with a plastic Hawaiian lei.  Yes, huh!

It was a delightful lunch, and we arrived home with well-fed stomachs and happy hearts.  Paul tried on his awesomely awesome new bike shirt, courtesy Grandma and Grandpa.  He announced that he feels aerodynamic.  

After dinner, we did birthday cake.  Oh, people.  Let me tell you a story of victory and triumph over the forces of evil.  I have been buying cake mixes all my life.  When Luke went dairy-free about three years ago, I started buying revoltingly expensive cake mixes.  Yesterday, I decided, NO MORE!  This is just foolishness.  I remembered the joking of a good friend who worked as a chef for awhile, announcing that he will never understand why people buy a cake mix.  So I googled "making chocolate cake from scratch."  Wait for it.

This cake recipe was so stinking easy, and making it dairy-free was even easier.  I already had all the stuff necessary.  WHAT?!?  I took my awesomeness one step further and froze the cakes yesterday after they cooled.  When I pulled them out this afternoon, they were easy to stack and easy to frost.  EASY!  It's my new favorite thing.

The results:

 I know it's not fancy.  It doesn't say his name.  It isn't shaped like a ninja.  It did not matter.  The boys were SO impressed with Mommy for making this from scratch.

This was the best cake any of us had ever tasted.  Paul said, "Anytime there needs to be cake, make this, Mom."  Luke told me I am the bomb dot com.  Mommy makes good cake.  FROM SCRATCH!!  :-)

Long Time No Blog

On the evening of Tuesday, June 25th, my grandma passed away.  Erik was out of town in Chicago for the entire week.  My mom was up with my grandma.  Dave and Lynne, my wonderful in-laws were in Europe.  I went into Survival Mode for a few days.  Blogging doesn't happen in Survival Mode.  Dishes and laundry don't either, and most meals consist of cereal or fast food.  Grief is weird, isn't it?

Then Erik came home, and I figured I would be able to pull myself together.  It's been more difficult than that.  I've wanted to blog about my Grandma, but I haven't been able to do that yet.  That post will require time and tears.  I don't have either right now, so I will post about our lives.  Grandma's service is July 20th.  I am confident that it will help me process and hopefully produce a post that honors the memory of her.

Until then, our little lives have continued.  I think I'll get the pictures up here and narrate through them.

 We had a playdate at our new neighbors' house.  This costume might have been Paul's favorite part.  He's certainly a hero in my book.

 Later that same day, we had dinner with good friends.  Luke put together this ensemble.  It made me smile.

 Raspberry picking also happened.

A friend of mine owns the raspberry farm.  I was SO blessed to turn my boys loose and spend time being loved and encouraged by this woman of God.  This trip was at the end of Erik's week in Chicago.  The Lord provides for us in ways we might not expect.  A raspberry farm with a trampoline were His provision this day.

 Library Time with the Daddy-Man on the day after he arrived home.  All three of these peeps love to read!

 This is where I spent my 38th birthday.  I was given a manicure, a pedicure, and time alone to read God's Word.  My children were not far off.  I could hear their laughter all day long.  It was just what my soul needed.

I have no pictures of it, but my birthday dinner was also delightful and soul-nourishing.  There are four couples who share a unique bond.  All four of the wives are part of the Vancouver Evening Women's BSF class and all four of the husbands are part of the Portland Evening Men's BSF class.  We knew at the end of the BSF year that we wanted to get together over the summer to pray for the classes and each other.  My birthday was our first time together doing that.

We enjoyed dinner together on Bill and Jana's deck with a view that included Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helen's and Mt. Adams.  Did I mention that this is a really fun and hilarious group of people?  We laughed hard.  I love laughing.  

After dinner, we were blessed to pray together on our knees for each other, for our families, and for God's will in our cities.  And then they gave me presents.  I couldn't believe it.  I received a sweet little mug, yummy soap, scripture cards, and a hard-won lava lamp.  Visit our basement to enjoy that brand of awesome.  It was an amazing birthday, perhaps my favorite so far.  

Summer reading has continued, but my original plan has fallen by the wayside.  I had hoped to document all the boys' titles with pictures and little book reviews.  Paul does NOT want his picture taken with his books.  And I have been too preoccupied to keep up with Luke's numerous titles.  I was, however, able to snap this pic and get another review from Luke.  Here it is:

"The Billy and Blaze books by C.W. Anderson are cool.  I remember at one point Billy jumps in pairs in a horse show.  I felt really excited about that.  I liked these books a lot."

There is a small piece of the former English teacher in me that wanted him to revise this, removing the word "cool" and adding more specific adjectives.  Not this summer, folks.  It is what it is.

Then the 4th of July happened.  I'm so thankful we already had awesome stuff planned because otherwise we would have blown that whole thing off.  No pun intended.

 Luke and his buddy are ready to ride in the parade!

 Paul and his buddy are ready, too!

 The Moms!

(BTW - This is the owner of the chair/yard/place where I spent my birthday.  I love this woman.)

 Our spot.

 This picture has a great story.  The truck pulled up.  The kids immediately began to investigate the grill of this amazing machine.  I wanted a picture of them in front of the truck.  They wouldn't turn around until this awesome fire fighter jumped in the picture and made it fun.  I like him.

 Luke spraying the hose with happy Paul behind.

 He's so thrilled.

After the awesome fire truck parade/potluck, we continued our celebration with the All Awesome Roots Community 4th of July party.  Some churches have All Church Picnics.  We have All Awesome Parties.  Here are a few pics of that goodness.

 Two pools, a play structure, volleyball, and TONS of food.  All.  Awesome.  Party.

 Shaded areas to sit and chat were up above.  It was such a relaxing time.  The boys enjoyed the big pool.  The parents enjoyed the adult conversation.  Happy Independence Day, Everybody!

And now for something completely different.  We grew garlic two years ago.  Last year we thought it all was pulled by a well-meaning yard worker. In a rather unexpected turn of events, garlic appeared this year again.  So we harvested it!  There is something very pleasing about growing things in the ground and seeing it be ready for consumption.  Well, these aren't quite ready, but after some drying, they'll be ready.  Good stuff.

This has been a crazy long post.  And now we come to the thing that pulled me out of my blog avoidance syndrome.  Toward the end of last week, I realized the boys needed something to do, somewhere to be, ANYWHERE but home.  Okay.  I needed time off.  I homeschool, people.  But I'm not Wonder Woman.  The summer lack of schedule, the loss of my grandmother, and the normal summer doldrums combined to produce a very crabby mommy.  I googled "VBS Portland July 8" praying I would know one of the churches and feel comfortable dropping my people off for a few hours each morning.

God knew what I needed.  Mt. Scott Church of God was the first hit.  This is the church that hosts Erik and Luke's BSF class.  Luke is familiar with the building and we know some folks who attend there.  I registered the boys immediately and began to sell the idea to them.

It was a raging success.  The boys had a blast.  They played games, made crafts, sang songs, memorized scripture, and learned more about Jesus Christ.  Win?  I think so.

Last night was the VBS program.  You will not believe that Luke got up on stage, sang songs and danced in front of people.  I took video.  He's the back and rather hard to see, but I'm posting it anyway.  This is amazing growth, people.  He did awesome.  Paul also got up on stage and sang and danced.  He was also awesome, but it's not been an area he needed to work on.  Paul likes the stage.  A lot.  Here is the picture of the two of them at the end for the final song with all the kids.  I'll also try to post the videos below later.

The Bangsund Brothers on stage!