Vacation

Since its been a while since my last (and only.. shhh!) post, I'll do a few now of the happenings of late :)

I'm doing good, and enjoying summer! I love not having homework, tho I do miss seeing all my friends.. We've been doing a lot of swimming at the outdoor pool 2 minutes away, and the weather has finally turned warm and sunny and absolutely GORGEOUS! They say it'll stay into September so we'll see. I've also been working a lot.. Lydia and I label dutch foods at Hollshop Imports, owned by some of our friends. Another thing I'm busy with is helping out in Sunday School at church! I'm with the toddlers :)

Also I am very sorry to announce the death of Bob. He will be missed. haha.. I try to ignore all the "FISH KILLER!!!!!!" comments I'm getting. I blame it on natural causes... I figure its not my fault fish make water dirty and proceed to die in it...right? :) Yeah, mom, I know.. I should have cleaned it more often..

We just got back from Alberta on Monday, we were there for my cousin's wedding. The weather was perfect for the outdoor wedding but started hailing soon after! Made for some amazing pictures tho. It was great to see them all again and I'm so excited for my cousin Brenda who is due in September! We spent the day at the beach on Saturday where I got to see some friends I met at the Young Peoples Retreat I went to in Idaho at the beginning of August. 6 hours into our drive on the way there, our van began by sounding suspiciously like a semi truck (no joke!) and ended up in a car rental place late at night. Phoning the owner was our last hope before sleeping in the van for the night (no vacancies) and renting a car in the morning, which would mean arriving after the wedding ceremony! Soon we were quipped with a nice but super uncomfortable Dodge Grand Caravan for the weekend. On the way back we said goodbye to our dear OLD red van and now are excitedly waiting for the purchase of a new vehicle! Nothing like an accident to get the ball rolling in that area :)

The only picture I could find of Brenda and I :P

Clouds rolling in right after the ceremony on Friday

Lobby of the Hotel where the reception was held

Gorgeous orchid centerpieces

Corina, me, our cousins Maria Makkigna & Brenda Meinen, Lydia & I :)

Our table plus Brenda
Lydia, Rebekah Slump, Brenda, Me, and Lianne & Mariete VanIperen

I dont have many plans for the rest of summer except for work, but we're hoping to make it out to Harrison Hot Springs, our favorite beach, yet now that the weather has turned summery! Thats usually an all day trip. For those who wondered, Jesse and I aren't going to make it out to the Protestant Reformed Young Peoples Convention like we'd hoped, but I'm looking forward to next year's!

At the beginning of July, Jesse and I went to a small young peoples retreat in Idaho.. we drove down with some friends from the Lynden PRC who were going. It was a great week! I met a lot of new friends and we had a blast sleeping (or not :) in our cabins and having campfires at the Baptist camp along the Spokane River, and also did tons of volleyball, went on a hike and to the waterslides, and did the high ropes course and some canoeing at our camp. Some pictures:

Amazing weather on the drive out!

Some new friends!
Taylor Moore, Leah Marcus, Lanae Smit,and Mackenzie Scholfield

Water balloon volleyball!

Instructions before the high ropes course

Mackenzie, Alyssa Marcus and Alyssa Kleyn

I have no pictures of me on the course but here are a few of Jesse

Sarah Kleyn, Lisa Heysteck, and Sammi Stains

The view of Lake Coeur d'Alene on our hike up Mineral Ridge

Lake Coeur d'Alene

Group shot!

The 2 discussion groups and 2 speeches that we had focused on living in anticipation towards Christ's Return. Lots of thoughtful messages and points brought home with me, thats for sure! That we need to live watchful and ready for Christ's return was emphasized. This means not simply praying for and looking forward to it, but also living in a manner that shows that we live for Christ and wholeheartedly live with a view toward's Christ's coming. This includes our attitudes (do we want nothing more - no earthly things or pleasures - than to spend our future eternity with the Lord in heaven?) and how we live our lives (living ready for Christ's coming means to live now the same way I want to be living when Christ comes). I found this gave a whole new meaning to reciting "thy kingdom come" during my prayers and certainly called for an attitude adjustment. How easy it is to forget about why we are on this journey and become so focused on ourselves, our possessions and our future! Come Lord Jesus, come quickly!