Sabbatical is over!

On Saturday we had to say goodbye to Rob, as his six month sabbatical is over (we drowned our sorrows in Krispy Kreme donuts!). It is hard to believe, but he is now back at HoneyRock teaching a grad class and then beginning to assimilate back into his role as Director. Fortunately, he will be able to return to SC next Friday and stay for two weeks. Then he will go back to Wisconsin for two weeks and return to Columbia for a week followed by moving the family back home! We are thankful for the friends we have made here who are making our time without Rob a little more bearable!!

Spring Break 2010

I have waited to write about our spring break trip hoping that each person in our family would document his/her favorite part of the adventure. But let's be honest...if it's going to be entered before we leave SC, then I guess I'll go ahead and give my version and any entries by other people will be a bonus!

The Monday following Easter, we packed up the trusty old Suburban and headed to Washington D.C. Being only an 8 hr drive from Columbia, it seemed to be the perfect Spring Break destination...and it was! The expected 8 hour trip took more like 10-11 hours because of BAD traffic along 95, especially an hour or so outside of D.C. We arrived at the Bader's home (HoneyRock camper parents, Wheaton grads AND Cynthia and I attended girls camp together in the U.P. of Michigan in the late 70's early 80's) which is just inside the Beltline, and made that our homebase for three days. They graciously hosted us and gave us all the ins and outs of the D.C. tourist thing.

Highlights included, riding the Metro subway, Capital building tour, National Archives, Museum of American History, Lincoln Memorial and snow cones! The most favorite spot was the Holocast Museum in which we spent 3 sombering hours. The weather was perfect and our feet were very sore by the end of each day. We certainly learned a lot about our country and left feeling proud to be Americans (mostly!).

We were able to share a few meals with Bader's and also past HR Counselor Daniel Ball who teaches in D.C. Many fun times around the table. Lawson and Cynthia were generous and fabulous hosts, inspiring me to be a better hostess to our future guests!

We ended our trip with a visit to Wilmington, NC to the new home of friends John & Lauren Welsh and their son Cohen. A brief trip to the beach and just catching up with friends was great! What fun and memorable trip!

Grace's Baptisam

On Esater Sunday Grace got baptized at Church of the Aposles. Now I can take camunion. I got a bible with a pretty dimond dizine on it. (mom takes over typing while Grace dictates!) My mom and dad came up to the front with me. I had to stand on the stage when I got baptized. There were two babies getting baptized too. Mr. Edgar baptized me. He also took oil and made a cross on my forehead. My sponsors are my brother Jacob and Mrs. Pulver. They promise to pray for me as I grow.

Fundraising Success!

Raising $5000 for Jacob and I to go to Rwanda in May has proven to be a big task. However, knowing we serve a BIG God, we were up for the challenge! Though we have received many generous donations from friends and family, we still pondered a way to raise money using our "marketable" skills. The problem was, I couldn't think of anything I could do that was really marketable AND doable here in SC. I finally decided to try out my newly acquired cake decorating skills. With the help of a few friends, we baked 150 sugar cookies on a stick. I then spent 8 total hrs decorating them. What resulted were 30 "cookie pots" and two dozen individually wrapped cookies which went on sale to the congregation of Church of the Apostles. Every single pot of cookies sold, as did all but six individual cookies, netting a whopping $900 toward our trip! I can't thank Church of the Apostles enough for their generosity, and especially Beth Edgar, Gaye Sunshine, Nancy Lamberson, Rob, Jacob, Ben, Eli, and Grace for their help and encouragement.