Bandits Game!

     A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to spend an evening at the River Bandits baseball game with some friends.  They had won box seat tickets from something and we joined them!!

we were extremely close to home plate - we could see everything perfectly!

Joe watching a batter warm up

later on in the game (notice how food wrappers are piling up on the boys' table)

yum!

there were TONS of bugs around the lights

thanks for inviting us, guys!

I am one of those people who can be relaxing by the pool in hundred degree weather and barely break a sweat, but just the slightest breeze freezes them to death.  I actually think I get colder inside than outside.  My dad is very hard to convince to turn on the heat.  We will sometimes be in mid-November before he reluctantly gives in!  My hands have been very cold lately.  Anybody else?  All of my gloves are the kid size, which go halfway up my palm.  I didn't wear gloves much last year, so I am newly aware of my glove problem.  My feet never seem to warm up, either.  At school, the heat is  turned on already and I get rid of my jacket as soon as I walk in the door.  But at home, I race up the stairs, grab a sweatshirt (or two) and throw on my coziest sweatpants, plus a pair of lovely knee socks and slippers.  I just can't seem to warm up!  My dad looks at me like I'm crazy every time I ask him to turn the heat on.  He'll say "You're cold?!", and sarcastically say "It's only sixty-three degrees in here!!"  Which it is, by the way.  I just checked.  Am I the only one who can't warm up!!!  :)

Summer in a Nutshell Pt. 1

There will be several parts to this post, summer was pretty eventful-ish.  Let's start out with the painting at church.  Me, several of my friends from church and their moms, and my mom painted a Sunday School room to resemble a backyard.  We've certainly come a long way!!!

Painting over orange is NOT fun

Very bright and cheery, don't you think?

Cute little clouds!

These two girls were our "detail" painters... we couldn't have done it without them!

There were some memorable moments :)

Next is my trip to Camp Redcloud in Colorado.  One of the highlights of my entire summer, I must say!  Sadly, I only had disposable cameras to work with while I was there, so I only have "before" pictures....

Ignite Junior High youth group about to drive for 20 hours to Redcloud! (yay....) As many of you heard, we experienced some car troubles on the way there... which resulted in staying a night in a sketchy motel, food poisoning, a rather relaxing stay at a lake, waiting for 45 minutes on the side of the road, and waiting for 2 hours in a Walmart parking lot.  But it was a GREAT trip!!!! :)

Then there was the traditional few stops at Pine Lake.  The boys had a great time!  We also went camping a few times over the summer as well.

There was visits from cousins, birthdays, baseball, football, tree climbing, and tubing.

To be continued...

Catch-Up Post...

I know, I know.  It's been a while.  So much has happened in the months (wow...) that I haven't posted about.  So now I'm probably going to sit around and spend an entire Saturday catching up with about 20-something posts.... But I now have some pictures of Hazel!!!

Hazel out of her "cage"

Please excuse the litter box...

Feisty little thing!!  She would actually jump out of the bin and run around.

Sure, she's cute when she's asleep... but otherwise - look out!

Oops...

I have been informed by Hanna recently that the kitten was not Peanut Butter, but Hazel.

Whoops... :)

Kitten-Sitting

My good friend Hanna's grandparents live right next door to her.  They have a farm, and what comes with a farm package?  Cats!  Whenever her grandparents find a litter of kittens without a mama, they ship them over to Hanna's house for her care until they're ready to go roam the farm.  Hanna is currently taking care of a 6-week-old (guesstimate) kitten named Peanut Butter.  Hanna's out of town, so she asked me to take care of Peanut Butter until she gets back.  Of course, I said yes!!!  My mom just picked her up this morning.  BUT!  Don't be fooled by her adorable little body and cute eyes.  She attacks me!!!  When I first picked her up, she started scratching me and biting my hands and fingers.  She even used my neck as a clawing pole!  OUCH!  When I let her out in my room, as SOON as I put her down, she started attacking my feet!  You should see all of the scratches on my hands and feet, plus a band-aid on my ankle.  Grrrr........  Day 1 of life with Peanut Butter.

Camp Redcloud!!!!!

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  I just had one of the greatest experiences of a lifetime!  Yesterday I got back from Camp Redcloud in Colorado with my youth group.  It was SO incredible!  We did things like real mountain biking, high ropes, archery, and hiking.  And by hiking, I mean climbing a 14,000 ft. mountain.  Man, I wish I had pictures, but all I had for the week were three disposable cameras that are currently being developed.  

     The climb was steeeeeeeep.  I got so tired, as did the rest of the group.  About 15 minutes before we got to the top, a huge storm rolled in, so we all had to go back down.  Only the people close enough to the front got to see the top, including me!  It was the most breath-taking thing I had ever seen in my whole life.  At the top, you could see many, many more mountains and the gray streaks of rain coming down far away from the clouds.  I only got to stay up there for about a minute, though.  It was really slippery the rest of the way down!  The whole thing took about 6 hours, if I remember correctly.  Is that right, Sammie?

     There was a stream/river throughout the whole camp.  One day we were wading in it (it was COLD - it was literally melted ice!) and I lost my flip flop in the current :)  I brought the other one home; a counselor and I were thinking about making a little shrine in my room!  (Yes, Rob, it was Pac-man...) Whenever we went by a body of water, everybody would say "Look out for Janie's shoe!!!".

     As many of you have heard, we had quite a few car troubles during the 20 hours there and 20 hours back.  On the way there, the church that we were traveling with, Cornerstone, had their whole engine blow up!!!  We were all stranded at a little camp site with a nice lake and beach - it was actually pretty fun, besides the fact that we were there for about 4 hours.  We (Grandview) went on w/o them and they got there a day late in a rental van.  Also on the way there, our van blew a tire, so we had to wait on the side of the road for about 45 minutes!  On the way back, our van had to change 2 tires out, and we were stuck in a Walmart parking lot for about 1 1/2 hours!!!!  But there's one more thing.  Tony, the other church's youth pastor, was able to lead the mechanic working on their van to Christ!!!!!!!!  Hallelujah!  For those of you who went to my play, the Lord works in mysterious ways.  :)

     I had the greatest time of my life at Redcloud.  Can't wait to go back next year!!!