These girls didn't stop singing and dancing all night. They danced their way into bed. The next morning, they woke up and started dancing again. Once these kids are in the Choir, their education is paid for through post-secondary. These kids have basically won the African lottery. We really loved having these girls in our house, and it really made us even more passionate about the Invisible Children movement. If you have any questions or want to know more, PLEASE ask. Much of the world doesn't know or doesn't care that this is going on, so we need to do our part to educate.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Invisible Children
When we were at the FusionConference, one of the breakout sessions was entitled "Invisible Children" and it was touted as something every American must see. Intrigued, we went to the session and sat down to watch a video. I had no idea how much my heart would be changed. The documentary is about the children of Northern Uganda, and their everyday plight. These children are kidnapped at night and forced to be in the rebel army. They watch as their friends and siblings are brutally killed for disobedience or trying to escape, and are scared into killing for the army. As a result, the kids are herded into buildings at night in an attempt to protect them. You really NEED to see this video. There are trailers and other videos on the website. The best trailer is on their myspace. I think we really need to be educated about what is going on and then do all we can to educate others, write our representatives, etc. Just do what you can. The most amazing thing about these kids is that despite all the murder and fear around them, they have a joy that I have rarely seen before. We got to experience this recently, as our church hosted the African Childrens Choir. Our tour group, oddly, was from Uganda. Kyle and I immediately signed up to have some of the kids stay with us during their trip. We had three little girls: Esther, Victoria, and Arabella-
These girls didn't stop singing and dancing all night. They danced their way into bed. The next morning, they woke up and started dancing again. Once these kids are in the Choir, their education is paid for through post-secondary. These kids have basically won the African lottery. We really loved having these girls in our house, and it really made us even more passionate about the Invisible Children movement. If you have any questions or want to know more, PLEASE ask. Much of the world doesn't know or doesn't care that this is going on, so we need to do our part to educate.
These girls didn't stop singing and dancing all night. They danced their way into bed. The next morning, they woke up and started dancing again. Once these kids are in the Choir, their education is paid for through post-secondary. These kids have basically won the African lottery. We really loved having these girls in our house, and it really made us even more passionate about the Invisible Children movement. If you have any questions or want to know more, PLEASE ask. Much of the world doesn't know or doesn't care that this is going on, so we need to do our part to educate.
Friday, June 16, 2006
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!
Today's is Kyle's 23rd birthday. He's getting so old. Still hasn't caught up to me, though!! :)
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Poor Kyle....
Kyle had sinus surgery yesterday. He's not doing too bad today, but is definitely feeling like he's been punched in the nose. He had to sleep in the recliner last night, so we've been camped in the basement. It's kind of fun, I don't make it down here too often. I took yesterday off to take him to surgery (in Rapid City) and I took today off to take care of him. He's doing surprisingly good, so I went and got breakfast this morning at Java Jae's (Jae's last day owning it :( Hopefully the new girl will be just as good). Tasha brought us some really yummy soup for lunch and birthday cake for Kyle - tomorrow is his birthday. We've been hanging out at home, watching movies and watching soccer. Kyle's been playing his xbox all afternoon, so this is what I've been looking at the last couple of hours:
I got him to take a picture also:
Doesn't he look sad? His nose is a little swollen and keeps getting stuffy/bloody. But, he's being a trooper and doing really good. I'm trying to get him to go get some ice cream - just to get him out of the house. Ok, not really - I want some. Most of you probably saw through that last comment before you were done reading it. Oh, on a fun note - my birthday present from Kyle came today. He had somehow hacked into my wish list at Alloy.com and ordered me EVERYTHING on it. I got like... 10 new shirts and a necklace. AWESOME! I'll let you know if any of the shirts end up in any pictures. it was so fun! How'd I end up with such a great guy?!!! It was the BEST surprise EVER! EVER! Thanks, babe!
I got him to take a picture also:
Doesn't he look sad? His nose is a little swollen and keeps getting stuffy/bloody. But, he's being a trooper and doing really good. I'm trying to get him to go get some ice cream - just to get him out of the house. Ok, not really - I want some. Most of you probably saw through that last comment before you were done reading it. Oh, on a fun note - my birthday present from Kyle came today. He had somehow hacked into my wish list at Alloy.com and ordered me EVERYTHING on it. I got like... 10 new shirts and a necklace. AWESOME! I'll let you know if any of the shirts end up in any pictures. it was so fun! How'd I end up with such a great guy?!!! It was the BEST surprise EVER! EVER! Thanks, babe!
Wedding Weekend
My Dad got married a couple of weeks ago (June 4th). We had a great weekend "camping" in Custer, SD. I really love being around my family and really enjoy spending time with my sisters. Kyle and I got in late Friday night, and woke up and had breakfast with my older brother, Chet. We needed nourishment for our adventure. We were going mountain biking. We headed up the Mickelson Trail at about 11:30 or 12:00. The trail was awesome. Small gravel, nicely maintained, benches for resting. It was overcast and I was sure we were going to ride into a storm, but Kyle assured me that we wouldn't. After 5 miles of uphill (at a small grade, it used to be a railroad track), we made it to Crazy Horse.
It's pretty cool to ride your bike past this. We didn't actually take the camera (I forgot it) biking, but we drove by Crazy Horse again, so you get this pic instead. After 10 miles of downhill and reaching speeds of 26 mph, we made it to Hill City, one of the cutest towns in SD. We stopped and had ice cream and then headed back. It was sunny now. 10 miles of uphill, which was hard, but felt good. I've been taking spinning classes for a few months, so it was really good to see that it was paying off. We then got our 5 miles of downhill and we were back. Total ride time was about 3 hours - 34 miles. But our trip actually took more like 4 hours. It was a fun ride. We headed back to the camp, hung out by the pool for a little bit and then got ready for a BBQ. We were actually crashing Sandy's family's reunion, but I don't think they cared too much. The kids (Tera, Mike, Macy, Katie, & Ryan) showed up a few hours later and we started having fun! Sunday, Tera, Katie & I got up early and went running. My little brother gave me the best b-day present - he remembered it was my birthday first (even before I did). Tera had gotten me a "It's My Birthday" crown from Toys R Us. Of course, I wore that down to breakfast. Later in the day, Dad got married:
The Bride & Groom
It was a perfect ceremony, even visited by a cute little butterfly fluttering through the ceremony. I have a few more pics:
Me & Grandma
My sisters
Me & My Boy
It's pretty cool to ride your bike past this. We didn't actually take the camera (I forgot it) biking, but we drove by Crazy Horse again, so you get this pic instead. After 10 miles of downhill and reaching speeds of 26 mph, we made it to Hill City, one of the cutest towns in SD. We stopped and had ice cream and then headed back. It was sunny now. 10 miles of uphill, which was hard, but felt good. I've been taking spinning classes for a few months, so it was really good to see that it was paying off. We then got our 5 miles of downhill and we were back. Total ride time was about 3 hours - 34 miles. But our trip actually took more like 4 hours. It was a fun ride. We headed back to the camp, hung out by the pool for a little bit and then got ready for a BBQ. We were actually crashing Sandy's family's reunion, but I don't think they cared too much. The kids (Tera, Mike, Macy, Katie, & Ryan) showed up a few hours later and we started having fun! Sunday, Tera, Katie & I got up early and went running. My little brother gave me the best b-day present - he remembered it was my birthday first (even before I did). Tera had gotten me a "It's My Birthday" crown from Toys R Us. Of course, I wore that down to breakfast. Later in the day, Dad got married:
The Bride & Groom
Me & Grandma
My sisters
Me & My BoyKyle was the official photographer, but used Dad's camera, so we don't have any other pics. It was a great weekend, made me want to move closer to the fam!
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Fusion Conference
If you get the chance, go to a Fusion Conference. It is a conference put on by RightNow.org, a group committed to getting 20 and 30-somethings more active in the church. It was really a kick in the butt to both Kyle and I and a result we are looking at ways to get more involved in our church and community. We went with a two other couples and our youth pastor and had a great time. Eric (the youth pastor) had just bought some new air soft guns "for the youth group", so the guys had to try them out. Here are some pics:
Tough Guy
Kyle & Me
Tough Guy
Kyle & Me
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)