More cookies

When I said this was the year of the Christmas cookie, I wasn't joking. Marlyse and I whipped up some "Mom Bars" (remember those, college roomates??) and some of her mom's famous pumpkin cookies. They were delicious! And we had a great time baking.those are the pumpkin cookies...mmmmmmm

cookie award of the evening

I wanted to give a shout out to the cookie of the evening from our cookie-baking night. Candace's cookie wins, although it was a tough competition. And to be fair, no one knew it was a competition! Hers was a chocolate cookie with a Rolo inside and drizzled with white chocolate. Amazing . Nice work, girl.

Circling the drain

In a lost season, the Broncos put forth another shameful display of inept football. As a lifelong Broncos fan, I have been spoiled by teams that win much more than they lose. I am also spoiled by Shanahan’s record against the Raiders at 20-6. Even in lean years I could count on the Orange Crush to take it to the Raiders. This season, for no good reason, the Broncos are stinking up the place. Each time I give up on the season, which has been several times now, they win and give me hope, but soon after they dash it. I will watch a couple more games before they end the season with a 7-9 record and a high draft pick. Maybe they will hit the jackpot in the draft and have some good players for the future. Yes, there is always next year.

It is time to give a shout out to the Alma Mater. Bethel University had a great showing this fall in both Cross Country and Football. My love for CC at BU runs deep since I was a member of the team for three years. I was excited to see high finishes for both the Men and Women’s programs at the conference and regional meets. Even more, BU had a total of four All-Americans, two men and two women. That’s awesome. BU football, a more high profile sport, has been incredible. They are playing the perennial powerhouse, Mount Union, in the NCAA DIII tournament final four on Saturday. BU’s coach, Steve, is a great guy and I am glad for him and his boys. I hope they win on Saturday, but even if they do not, it has been an amazing season.

Winter has finally come to Minnesota. We got about six inches of snow on Saturday and the high temperatures are in the teens. This morning when I went out for my run, it was about 3 degrees. As we say in Minnesota, there is no poor weather, just a poor choice of clothes. We will be choosing our clothes wisely for the next couple months.

Heidi looks cute even in the many layers she wears this time of year.

Cookies 2007!

I have decided that this year is the year of the Christmas cookie. I am pumped about cookies this year. I have already made 10 different kinds and participated in 2 cookie swaps. Yum!I made some great little treats with Roni and Jake was helpful in taste-testing everything.

The girls made a bunch of delicious little tasties, but Candace's Rollo-filled chocolate cookie was the winner. I mean, a cookie with a Rollo in it, bring it on.

Fun times.

That is the special cookie that I made for my sweetie out of leftover bits from Linsey's cookies.

I think he liked it!

So go and make some cookies, after all, it's the year of the Christmas cookie!

Tim's winning weekend

I had Thursday and Friday off of work last week, so I was able to play a rare weekday game of Disc Golf at Acorn Park with Dan. On Thursday morning we had an epic game. Dan started off horribly and I played pretty well through the first nine. My game started to unravel on the back nine while he made up ground. On Hole 17 I made a long putt to keep a one stroke lead. My drive on the last hole was awful and I botched my approach shot which gave Dan the opening to tie the score. Finally, on the third playoff hole I made a long putt around a tree for the win. It was my fourth ever win playing Dan and needed him to have his worst game in a long time to pull it off.

On Saturday there was an event for the young adult life group at our church, hosted by JG. When Heidi and I arrived, the group was playing football. So, joining late, I started playing quarterback. On our opening drive, I threw up a jump ball for Josh, the tallest guy on our team. Fortunately he came down with it for the touchdown. A few series later, with the score tied, JG called out “next score wins”. The pressure was on. We ended up on fourth and goal with a long ways to go for the score. I was QB, but Josh took the handoff on an end around. When the other team went after him, I took off, uncovered, into the open. He put the pass in my arms and I ran untouched for the score.

Last night was Monday Night Football. The Broncos were hosting the Titans and I invited people to Sensors to watch the game. Nine of us were there (including one brave woman, Ruth) and it was a blast. The Broncos won a tense game (closer than the score would indicate) on some exciting, big plays against one of the better teams in the league. As an added bonus, I had three Broncos players on my Fantasy Football team and they scored enough points for me to beat Dan by less than 2 points. (It was a bad weekend for Dan vs me.)

It feels nice to win every once in a while.

The Miniature Earth

Check out this video from YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvTFKpIaQhM

Prayer request

After prayer and talking with people that we trust, Heidi and I decided to wait on signing up for the Missionary Training Institute until we sell our house. We are anxious to get to MTI, as it is our first step to Senegal, but need to make sure we are following God’s timing, not our own. Once our house sells, I will be able to quit my job and we will go on support and go to MTI as soon as possible.

You, our faithful blog readers, can help. We have a second showing tomorrow, which is promising, and we need you to pray that an offer is made. Thanks so much.

If football games were chick flicks

Heidi loves chick flicks and I do not. I love football and Heidi does not. After the painful Monday Night loss to the Packers a couple weeks ago, I tried to explain to Heidi what it felt like. So, here is what the last two Broncos games would be like if they were chick flicks.

The Broncos vs Packers game on Monday night a couple weeks ago was fantastic until the Broncos blew a perfect last second touchdown opportunity and lost on the first play of overtime. At home. If that game was a chick flick, it would consist of many scenes where the man and woman flirt, break up, and finally, at the end, appear set to walk off into the sunset together, happy as can be. The audience is ecstatic for these likeable characters and they are clearly in love. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the man is beat to death by a gang and the woman cries her eyes out while the credits roll.

Last Sunday’s game was a beat down at the hands of the Detroit Lions where the Broncos were incompetent in all aspects of the game. If that game were a chick flick, it would contain the same woman from the last movie. She finally finds a new love, a man who cares for her deeply and helps her heal her wounded heart. After fifteen minutes of happiness, however, he is killed by a drunk driver right in front of the horrified woman. She promptly marries the drunk driver and he abuses her for the rest of the movie. The credits roll as she again sobs in grief of her ruined life.

Now you can understand how it feels to be a Broncos fan this year. Consider yourself lucky if you cheer for the Packers, Colts, or Patriots. Their endings look to be much happier.

Halloween

I pretty much hate Halloween as a holiday, but I do like the
candy that goes along with it. Although this year I didn't eat
any. And I just found out that Halloween started as a Catholic
holiday. Interesting. This year we spend the evening with our
friends Gus and Jenny and we scored free Chipotle burritos....
twice!! We went for dinner and then again on the way home for
lunch the following day. Gotta love free burritos! If you put some
tin foil on your head, they give you a free one. And, the best part
of the whole night: I got to ride to and from Chipotle on the
Harley with Gus. So freakin' sweet! I am totally buying a Harley
for Tim one day. :) He's happy about that.

baby monkey

Nolan Sheck showing off his Halloween costume, too cute.
I found this little wagon at a rumage sale for like 50 cents.
A mini wagon for a mini monkey, how cute is he?!
I love mini things :)

Amanda, Roni (and baby) and me.
Amanda left for DC this morning :(
I had to say goodbye for three years, so sad.

Weekend in Duluth

Tim keeps saying that it's been so long since I've posted, so I've been trying to catch up this week. This past weekend, I was up in Duluth with some girlfriends and it was great. We didn't do a whole lot, but that was much needed I think. Played a lot of Bohnanza, but I don't think I won any games. We did decided to have a Bohnanza Extrazaganza before we leave though :) Great fun!! Well, the weather was nice, company was great, food was tasty and warm and we stopped at Tobies for donuts.....twice! Yum, yum, a great weekend. Thanks ladies.

Camping once last time

We wanted to go camping once last time before we leave and
we were priviledged to go with our friends from Columbus
Avenue! And Marmar of course :) So we picked a weekend in late
Sept. and headed for Frontenac State Park, one of our fave spots.
Even though it rained for 5 hours on Sat, we enjoyed a few
rousing games of Bohnanza, the greatest game ever.
We had a yummy lunch in Red Wing and did some sweet
hiking. The food was great and the company was better.
It was a terrific way to end our camping season!

Yup. It was Tim and 5 ladies. I don't think he was TOO
tramatized...maybe just a little :P

more New York

i thought this was so funny! safety first!

we went to this place called the Cloisters, which was
a museum, but much of it was brought over from
different monasteries throughout Europe. very cool.

ok, now we have finally posted all the New York photos. whew.

Football and other stuff

I (Tim) guess I am spoiled when it comes to football. The Broncos have had one losing season in the last twelve. They make the playoffs more often than not and enjoy one of the best home field advantages in the league. Just two seasons back the Broncos were just one game short of the Super Bowl. I am certainly not used to seeing my favorite team destroyed in Denver while looking inept in every phase of the game. If they lose on Sunday night to the Pittsburgh Steelers then their season is pretty much over. I was hoping for better in the last season I will experience before moving to Africa. Maybe that means they will win the Super Bowl while I am over there. That wouldn’t be so bad.

Our support has been coming in faster lately. Not including our church’s support, we are at 50%. We are excited for the momentum but also thinking about how much we have left to do. Busy days are ahead. We feel so blessed and are not worried.

I bought the Transformers on DVD, but have not had time to watch it yet. There was a bonus DVD called Beginnings that was included. Heidi and I did watch that one. It is only 19 minutes long and super lame. I am pumped to watch the best movie of 2007 again. Mmmm. Large robots destroying each other. Mmmm.

Heidi sure did look cute when I left for work this morning.

Running Renaissance

Since we moved across the river, Heidi and I have had to find new places to go running. We no longer have the Greenway and all the colorful characters we used to see every morning. The first morning that we ran together we found a small park that includes a lake with a path around it. Imagine a miniature Lake Calhoun, without the crowds, runners dressed to kill, and ugly dogs. The path around the lake is only about two thirds of a mile, but still nice. We have taken to running to the park together then I will run around it three times while Heidi runs around it twice, and we will run home together. It takes about 30 minutes, so it works out great. When I run alone, I have been checking out a section of the Gateway Trail that runs nearby.

With the cooler weather coming on and a change of scenery, I have been enjoying running more lately than I have in a long time. I hate running in the heat and welcome the colder weather. That is a sure sign that I am becoming a Minnesotan. This morning it was about 44 degrees, so I ran in shorts, a long sleeve shirt over my t-shirt, and thin gloves. It was perfect and I felt great. Running before work was never attractive to me before, but I like it a whole lot now. In fact, I prefer it. Soon though, I will have to drag myself out of bed when it is still dark out and below zero. We’ll see how much I like it then.

Heidi has been doing well with running lately. Be sure to encourage her to keep it up!

Tim's summer movie review

If you read this blog, you know that I like movies. I like to review movies because I like to state my opinion, but I also want people to enjoy things that I enjoy and I want to warn people about soul-destroying films that become moments in life you cannot have back. After a summer of movies, I thought I would give you my opinion of what I saw. As a bonus I will include DVDs I watched, too. My only evaluation of a film is how much it entertained me.

The Great:
Transformers was easily the most entertaining movie of the summer. Nothing else comes close.
The Bourne Ultimatum was great. The action gripped me the entire film.
3:10 to Yuma is a Western. I love westerns and this was well made.
Blades of Glory was dumb, but really, really funny.
The Prestige was fantastic. I did not figure out the ending beforehand, but everyone I have talked with about the movie did.

The Okay:
Spider Man 3 was nothing compared to parts 1 and 2, but still decent.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was a solid film, but not as good as the previous installments.
The Pursuit of Happyness was interesting, but nothing special.
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 was okay, but too long and nowhere close to being as good as the first 2 movies.
Wild Hogs was better than I expected, but I did not expect much.
The Last King of Scotland was interesting, but it could have been more. I am bothered that an African story is not told from an African’s point of view.
Blood Diamond is an African story that follows an African and featured some great acting.

The Bad:
Because I Said So is a clichéd and poorly made movie.
The Transporter is old, but I watched this summer. It’s really dumb.
Disturbia wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t good, either.
Casino Royale did not entertain me much. That surprised me a little since I heard it was good, but found it kind of boring.

I probably left some off. Please post your comments on the best and worst movies of the summer.

Tim thinks out loud

Here is a link to an interesting article about Jon Kitna’s (Detroit Lions QB) Christian faith: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3036235 Makes is hard to root against the Lions.

Last night we enjoyed a banquet for Mission: Moving Mountains. It was a fundraiser banquet, but also got people up to speed on the merger with the Navigators. Our pastor and some other friends from church came and we able to get a little better taste of what we will be doing. We are more excited than ever about going to Africa.

If you have not yet heard, we are living in our friends’ basement now. Our house has been rented to some missionaries from our church that came home unexpectedly and needed a place to stay. So far it has worked out fine for everyone. We do need our house to sell soon, so we appreciate your prayers in that regard.

This could be another bad football weekend. The Broncos match up poorly with the Colts, especially in Indy, and this could be a painful game. The poor Vikings look like they will get run over by the Brett Favre bandwagon in the Dome. All I can hope is that my injury depleted Fantasy Football team manages enough points to break Dan’s heart.

The perfect storm of football badness

There have already been 3 games in the NFL and I have not blogged about football. It is time. This weekend was the perfect storm of football badness. The Broncos, after winning two close games, were playing at home against a mediocre team and got beat. They stunk it up on offense, defense, and special teams, leaving the Broncos nation smelling like a wet dog. Every time something good would happen, like a Brandon Marshall touchdown, soon after something bad would follow, like a Dominic Hixon fumble on a kickoff return. I fear that the Broncos are shaping up to be a 9-7, just missing the playoffs, kind of team. Compounding the football misery, the Vikings lost and the Raiders, Chiefs, and Packers all won. Also, in my Fantasy Football league, I got pounded by Robbie. I had Kevin Kurtis on the bench and he was worth 50 points, while all three of my starting wide receivers combined did not score 50 points. (I just noticed that every single player on my starting roster lost their game yesterday.) It could be a long season. At least Heidi still loves me.

more pictures of nueva york

Other than our honeymoon, this trip was our first vacation together.
I love to vaca with my sweetie, but I am definitely more of a
lay-on-the-beach-vacationer. New York was very fun, but tiring.
This is a flag that was a part of a 9/11 tribute. There were hundreds
of them on display in Battery Park. This is the second time I have
been to NYC on the anniversary of 9/11 and it was pretty powerful. It was
good to remember. The words on the flag: "Flag of Honor, This flag
contains the names of those killed in the terrorist attacks of 9.11.
Now and forever it will represent their immortality.
We shall never forget them."

This is us taking a photo of ourselves in the mirror. Cheesey.

Time Square is so great at night.

Gloria and I met during my DTS with YWAM in 2001 in West Africa.
She is a Dr. now and works in the Northern most part of Manhattan.
Here we are enjoying the classic New York treat, black and white cookie.

Timmy on the Brooklyn Bridge heading back into Manhattan.

The Big Apple

Our first day we wandered around the city most of the day checking things out. In the afternoon, we were sitting in Central Park, and suddenly Tim says, "hey, is that Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher over there?" Well, yes it was. 50 feet away, they were filming a scene for their new movie! It was fun to watch and we almost got to be extras. The darn papparazzi ruined it for everyone and when they wouldn't behave, they made everyone leave.Cameron and Ashton

We also saw Nikki Hilton earlier that day, but that was it for movie stars. All three on the first day. Well, 2 1/4 stars at least, who's Nikki Hilton anyway?

These are some of the friends we stayed with, Joe and Julia. They were terrific hosts!

Us and lady Liberty.

weekend in Duluth

A couple weeks ago, we spent the weekend with my folks up in Duluth. It was wonderful and they spoiled us! We are trying to squeeze in the family memories before we go :) We had a great time seeing the sights and hiking around Jay Cook Park - so beautiful. The weather was great and we ran into a few people at Canal park, which was a fun surprise.

Labor Day Weekend Update

After flying high from beating Dan in Disc Golf last week, we decided to play again. Since we had not played the course by Maplewood Mall in a while, Jer and I met Dan there for 18 holes yesterday. Dan beat me like a rug. However, a bad round of Disc Golf on a beautiful day is better than no Disc Golf.

On Friday night my sister, Sally, came to the cities to see her husband’s cousin, Justin Roth, play a concert at the Lake Harriet bandshell. Heidi and I rode our bikes and met her there. Justin puts on a good show, but the mosquitoes were so bad that we finally had to leave. We did get some ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s before we parted ways, so that was a bonus. It was one of those evenings where things did not quite go as planned, but we still had fun.

On Saturday and Sunday we were in Duluth with Heidi’s parents. After stopping for doughnuts (Mmmm. Doughnuts. Mmmm.) at Toby’s we visited Canal Park. We took in some sights, ate some ice cream, and walked around. Twice we ran into friends that we did not know were going to be there. That night we watched the Bourne Ultimatum and liked it a lot. On Sunday morning we hiked at Jay Cooke State Park. Wow. That place is amazing. We tooled around again at Canal Park before eating pizza at the Green Mill and heading home. Having cool in-laws is a good thing.

The game of my life and Baby's Daddies

On Saturday morning at Acorn Park, I (Tim) beat Dan Lundberg in Disc Golf for only the third time ever. Dan is the Tiger Woods of Disc Golf, only more dominant. Nobody in our group of semi-regular players has ever beaten him. Except me. Granted, I have only won three times in 11 years of playing, but I still consider it a major victory. Going into hole #18, we were tied. My first shot hit a branch on the way out of the trees and landed on the path. My second shot was too low and landed ten feet behind Dan’s first shot. My third shot was almost perfect, putting me a long putt from the hole, while Dan’s shot went into the trees. My long putt, from about 25 feet away landed perfectly in the basket, while Dan’s shot hit the side. I finished at +7 while Dan finished at +8. Victory was sweet, even when I have to have the game of my life and Dan has to play terribly for me to win.

Heidi once overheard a woman say, “that’s just my baby’s Daddy” in reference to a man who was nearby. That sentence is a sad commentary on our times. Travis Henry, the new starting running back for the Denver Broncos, just set a new record for “baby’s Daddies”. He has nine children with nine women in four states. The previous record holders for professional athletes, Shawn Kemp and Evander Holyfield, at least had a couple children with the same woman. (Holyfield draws my ire for claiming to be an Evangelical Christian, but is also alleged to have nine children out of wedlock with at least four women.) As much as I love Broncos football, I will have a hard time cheering for Henry. For another take on Henry, follow this link: http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10319804/1

State Fair take 2

Thanks for all the comments on your fave foods at the Fair, we are headed out there again today. We're volunteering for a few hours and then hitting the great MN get together again. On Friday night Tim enjoyed the corn, pronto pup, ice cream, milk, and scotch egg. I had some mini-doughnuts, deep fried pickles and milk. We also split some garlic fries, cheese curds, Martha's cookies and malts with friends throughout the night. Strangely, we weren't even stuffed when we left!!!! Small amounts of everything is a good thing!

Tonight I am getting my deep friend candy bar, but then I will leave my options open. It feels like we have had a 5 day weekend of sorts. With some friends and family in town, 2 trips to the Fair and a lovely 20 mile bike ride last night with a picnic supper thrown in, the weekend has been quite fun. Tim still had to work normal hours, and I haven't been feeling too well, but we have had some positive distractions. This has been nice considering our house going on the market today. It's good to have something else to think about. Please pray that our duplex will sell quickly at a price we can afford to accept. Thanks!!

The Fair, the Fair, What to Eat at the Fair

Tim and I will be gracing the MN State Fair grounds twice this year. Once with friends on Friday night and again on Monday evening. We are volunteering at a booth for Tim's job on Monday and b/c of that we get in free. So my big question is...what should we eat?? Already on my list are some obvious choices:

deep friend candy bar
deep friend pickles (delicious!!)
mini-doughnuts

Other than those, I may have to choose spontaneously. So tell me, what do you usually eat at the Fair??

Tim's thought's for free!

Last Sunday I played an epic disc golf game with Zach “the Hurricane” Thompson at the course in Edina. With five holes to go I led by one stroke. On that hole I took a bogie while Zach birdied it. He ended up finishing at -1 while I finished with at even. It was the best round either of us had ever played at that course. Too bad he lives in the Deep South and we don’t get to play often.

I saw Transformers for the third time. Chris Heng joined me for this viewing. It was awesome again. In fact, the third viewing was the best. What a great movie. I love giant, battling robots.

The new Project 86 album is good. Dang good.

The NFL preseason is here. I hate the preseason. It has games that don’t matter while my favorite players get hurt. What a dumb idea. They should go straight from training camp into the regular 16 game season.

Fantasy Football season is almost here. This year I will have to limit myself to 2 leagues. The last two years I was in 4 leagues and that was too much.

I did some great shopping at Kohl’s on Wednesday night with Heidi and her mom, Lyn. I scored 5 shirts and some jeans for about $50. While I already dislike shopping, it is harder when I can only buy things that will work in Africa. Everything I got should work out fine. I also bought two pairs of Umbro shorts from Dick’s Sporting Goods for $10 each. Good deals are my friend.

I sure do love Heidi.

Weekend Update

This weekend we attended a wedding and an ordination. The brother of a good friend of Heidi's got married on Friday night. (We actually sort of invited ourselves to this wedding!) It was great to be a part of their special day :) Congratulations TJ and Anisha!The mother and sisters of the groom. Hot mamas! The one on the right is single fellas.

Heidi and Tammy

Tim's best friend Chris got ordained on Saturday by the Twin Cities Hmong Baptist Church. He's actually Chinese, but I guess they don't mind. His wife Zong is Hmong though. It was great to see friends, be there to see the ceremony and eat some delicious Hmong food. Not quite as good as if Zong had made it all herself, but it was still fantastic!
Congratulations Chris! He is now the Sr. Pastor!

We're OK

Well, most of you have probably heard about what happened last night on 35W, around 6pm the bridge crossing the Mississippi fell into the river. Tim and I are both ok. We both drove that bridge twice yesturday, Tim missed the fall by about 45 minutes. We haven't heard of any friends who were personally affected by this. And we pray that we won't hear any of that news in the coming days. We did bike down there last night since we live so close. I don't know what it is, but we wanted to see for ourselves what really happened. It was horrific. And there aren't words to describe it, but here are some pictures we took. We are praying for the families of those were killed. Right now there are 4 confirmed deaths, but many are still unaccounted for and rescue efforts continue to find more bodies. There are many people who need a miracle right now. Knowing who our God is, let's join them in praying for their miracles.

More pictures

We love camping!

We camped this weekend with the young adults group from church at St. Croix State park and it was glorious. Very hot and sweaty, but still very fun. We were at the group sites, which were nice...once you found them! Hopefully it was a good time had by all. We didn't take any pictures, but the mental memories should keep us warm at night. Thanks for coming everyone and don't forget: the Chases are always up for a camping trip!!!

Harry Potter (don't worry, no spoilers)

I (Tim) got up on Saturday morning and cruised to Target to get my very own copy of the new Harry Potter book. Whenever I had a chance I read, trying to finish before someone ruined the end for me. Last night, at 12:30 a.m., I finished the book without hearing the ending first. Without giving anything away, I have to say that I loved it. Anyone who has finished it can now call me to discuss the book. (I will say this much: Mrs. Weasley rules!)

My main task today will be staying awake. I finished the book late, and then I got up at 6 a.m. to play Ultimate Frisbee. Caffeine is my friend.

Tim's thoughts for all to see

Heidi and I have been getting up and running on the Midtown Greenway in the morning before I head to work. It has been nice to run before the heat of the day kicks in. We also like getting it out of the way so that when I get home in the afternoon we can do other stuff. Since we run at different speeds, we usually start out together on an out and back route, and then I go on ahead but turn around and catch up to her at the end. We have only been doing this for a week, but already we both feel pretty good.

Tomorrow I will purchase the final Harry Potter book. (I know I am a bad Evangelical. That will have to be the subject of another post.) If anyone hears how it ends, please do not tell me. Two years ago a Junior High kid told me the end of book six when I was only halfway through it, so I am trying to avoid the same fate. There are always going to be haters who love to ruin a mystery for people and I am going to try hard to avoid them. My other dilemma is figuring out how to read the book while keeping my wife happy and getting everything done. Not sure how that will work out. I’ll keep everyone posted.

Yesterday I finally found a t-shirt with an Autobot symbol on it. I have been on the lookout for years for one of those and finally found one at Target for $10. Heidi thinks I am a big dork. I still love her, though. Sometimes I ponder if people wonder what a cute girl like Heidi is doing with a dork wearing a Transformers t-shirt. You can come to your own conclusion.

THANK YOU!!!

A huge, amazing, and wonderful THANK YOU to everyone who helped
out at our work day on Saturday. We are so thankful to you! We got a
ton done in the yard and everything looks great. A special thanks to
Mom and Brenda who helped me sweep the nasty cobwebs from the
basement ceiling. We may all be suffering from the black lung now,
but hey, it was worth it!! (A nasty, nasty job.)

Candace, Stan and Matt rockin' and rollin' painting the steps.

Brenda showing off her muscles. I know, I can't see them either.
(That sweet truck is for sale BYW, talk to Eric Unger.)

Tim and Eric (our mulch master) working with the
manure-soaked wood chips.

There were more people helping us than what is represented in these photos but by the time I decided to take pics, Candace had just painted the steps so I had to wait a while and by then a few folks had to go. We are humbled and blessed by your sacrifice of a Saturday and praise God for such great friends. Thanks!!

Visit to Colorado

While we were in Colorado this past week visiting Tim's family we were thrilled to spend a night camping in the mountains in Golden Gate Canyon State park. Absolutely beautiful! Tim has always promised me, for about 4 years now, that he would take me camping in the mountains and he finally did! Here's some of the fam at dinner.
Ok, how cute is my nephew. I was wearing this hat and as I came out of the tent, he asked me if he could wear my helmet. Too stinkin' cute!
Us with out other nephew.

Family fun at Minnehaha

A few weekends ago, we had a lovely picnic with the fam at Minnehaha. good times.

Movie review: Transformers

Not since the last Lord of the Rings film have I (Tim) been as excited about a movie as I was about Transformers. I was nervous that Michael Bay would ruin my childhood memories like he ruined history with Pearl Harbor. Instead, Transformers was totally awesome. I saw it with some of my buddies in a packed theater at the first show in the Twin Cities. The crowd cheered during certain scenes and laughed at the inside jokes. (The crowd went nuts during the chase scene with Bumblebee and Barricade and laughed at the “more than meets the eye" comment.) It was a great experience.

Aside from sweet robot carnage, there is a ton of humor in this film. The pace moves briskly and the characters are just interesting enough to care about them. Best of all, there is no skimping on Transformers screen time. Unlike the Hulk, where they did everything in their power to keep the Hulk off the screen and instead turned it into a family drama, Transformers realizes that the audience paid for action, not drama. There are lots of robots and explosions. The special effects in Transformers are incredible. The robots look real, especially when interacting with the human actors, which is difficult. The way the robots move and fight was spectacular. The final fight was great. Be sure to stay during the credits for some funny bonus scenes.

Great scenes: The chase/fight between Bumblebee and Barricade.
Blackout’s arrival and attack at the military base.
Optimus vs. Bonecrusher on the freeway.

Great line: Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: So...
Maggie Madsen: What are you here for?
Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot.
Glen: [whispered] Wow...!
Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: Who knew?

Turd in the punchbowl: The scene at Sam’s house when the Autobots are hiding outside was too long and relied too much on low-brow humor.