wePod: Spring Explosion '07

So I spent the weekend up at Trout Creek Bible Camp with about 150 mid-highers at Spring Explosion '07, the theme: wePod. It was great that the focus was creating a community together. The jr high band that I work with at Lake Grove Presbyterian, Gsus & The Holy Ninjas, led worship for the conference. They were great! Friday night, during the 2nd song, Dancing Generation, I found out that I apparently do not belong to that generation, as I fell and severely sprained my ankle. That made getting around the camp interesting for the next couple of days! Jeremy Ito was the speaker for the weekend, with his many stories about vomit and diahrea enthralling the kids. I also noticed that he said "um" 440 times Sunday morning during his talk. hmmm... really, besides the ankle, it was a great weekend.

Cat Shows

TV... No wonder the cats are so fat! Here's Lucy watching her favorite TV show, America's Funniest Videos. She doesn't do this to other shows, just this and the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet.

Lincoln City...

Diane and I drove down to Lincoln City for a Marriage Conference (Built To Last, by the NW Marriage Institute) and complimentary night's stay! Much fun, and we got to hang at the beach. The conference was good too, with pointers on staying together, such as communication, love, faithfulness, etc. We had a great time. On the way back we stopped by the Pelican Pub & Brewery at Pacific City. Mmmm... and finally found a beer that Diane likes (Riptide Red)!

Easter In California

Easter Pinata

Even in Cali, He Is Risen! We had flown and drove down to Modesto for Easter with Diane's family, and the celebration started Saturday night as we went to her sister-in-law's mom's place for a BBQ and Easter egg hunt. Those folks went so far as to give Hannah her own little basket! Then a pinata for the kids to wack at. Much love there, I tell you! Sunday we drove out to a Park for the Gitmed family food-a-thon. It was great to see all of those folks, although Hannah and I had a hard time remembering most of them. Still, the love and family was great! There was an Easter egg hunt by the grandkids, and Hannah found an egg with $10 in it! She was overjoyed. I was just full. Have I mentioned how much food there was? After this was over, we went to Michaela's dad's, Mike's, place for what turned out to be an impromptu street-football game. Michaela's team won due to injuries to her dad, step-mom, and step-uncle. hmmm... remember that next time you play football with Michaela! More Easter baskets for Hannah & Michaela got a new purse/bag filled with loot. Really, a wonderful time! I say, the family down there really is; Family, as much as they can be, even to those of us not directly related or recently married into the fam'. Thanks y'all!

Modesto Trip

So we flew down to Modesto, CA for an extended Easter weekend. We actually drove from Sacramento, and stopped by the Hershey Factory! Woo Hoo! Diane's family is kinda centered around there, so it was good to see them all. Her brother, Joe, and his family has adjoining rooms with us, so we got to see alot of Winter & Joe Jr. Phyllis, Diane's sister, couldn't make it, but her daughters Melissa and Alison stopped by on their way home from college, so that was really nice. We got to stop by Aunt Margie & Uncle Frank's place a couple of times with all of the younger cousins (grandkids) and eat! Always good food at Margie's. Michaela's dad, Mike, lives down there, and the girls got to stay the night and play with Michaela's other sister and brother. Friday night found us at Spirits to watch Mike's band DAM play and I got to meet some of the people that Diane always talks about...ok, just one that I haven't before, but Sean was in both bands playing that night. After Easter, we traveled down to Santa Cruz, first stopping at Casa de Frut for Garlic almonds and other such neccessities. Then on to the beach for some fun in the sun! There was much eating in Santa Cruz. As Michaela put it, I had three lunches! We also rested at 99 Bottles of Beer On The Wall for Santa Cruz beer and candied apples.