School

Well school started yesterday! The kids are doing well so far and seem to be enjoying being back at school again. Lydia does really good on her work. She is missing her family, but doing well in spite of it. Last night, I finally broke down and slept on the couch. I just can't sleep with a little one tossing, turning, laying on me, and sucking their thumb all night long!!! I got the best sleep I've had in a week :) I'm going to try it again tonight. Our couches are great for sleeping on! ;) So I went with Caleb for his tuxedo fitting today. We're busy getting our music and outifts ready for Brooke's wedding September 13th. Caleb, me, mom and Grandma and Grandpa Bridges will probably start our trip down on the Wednesday before the wedding and leave sometime Sunday afternoon to come back. It'll be good to see the family down there again, and to see Brooke and Chris before they leave for their veterinary school somewhere in South America. They're really excited! I'll put up pics from the wedding when I can. Here's a couple of Lydia in her office at school.

Lydia...

So we have another kid in the house for the next two weeks...some of you know the Trask family. Well, Bro Gene and Mrs Robin are on their way to Honduras for a survey trip as we speak and we are keeping Lydia! It's been very interesting. I think the most challenging part is bedtime...last night i woke up in the night and stretched my legs out and accidently kicked Lydia who was laying across the FOOT of the bed. LOL. So I just turned the other way too. My parents laughed when they brought Lydia the phone to talk to her parents right before they flew out.

One week left...

Until school starts! I hope the week doesn't go by too quickly! This is our staff work & training week. Dad and I are picking up Lydia Tuesday night, and we have CPR class Thursday night. Tomorrow night is picking night as usual! Caleb, Mitch and I always go eat dinner together, then go back to the church and pick for a few hours. It's one of my favorite nights of the week. :) I've been working on my fiddle for a couple weeks now. I hope to buy a new one soon that is acoustic electric. Caleb's getting good at the dobro! He is much more confident and is sounding much better. We really enjoy playing.

Susan, Trevor, Grandpa, and Grandma are in Montana, and heading for Yellowstone tomorrow. They went to Mt. Rushmore yesterday and said it was really cool. Susan took lots of pictures and they turned out really well! I miss them :(

Here's a pic of my new cousin Emily Grace :) She's beautiful!

Summer :)

It has been so long since I posted a blog! The summer was really busy! We had my family from Australia here until the beginning of July, then my uncle, aunt and 3 of my cousins flew back home to Hervey Bay, and Susan and Trevor (the oldest 2) stayed here. They are going back at the end of August. We had so much fun spending time with them! Caleb and I got to go to the Stamps Baxter school of music on July 13-24 with them and John. What an amazing experience. I will never forget it! We met so many wonderful people and learned a lot. I have tons of pictures up on Facebook if you want to check them out. :) Right now I'm watching the Olympics with Caleb. We just got home today from Indiana, where we spent a day with Gma and Gpa S and with Susan and Trevor at the Indiana State Fair. It was great to see them one last time before they have to head home. Next Tuesday, we will pick up 7 year old Lydia Trask who is going to stay with us for 2 weeks while her parents go on a missionary survey trip to Honduras, where they will be going as missionaries. It will be interesting having a little sister for 2 weeks. :) I will try to do better about my blogging. lol.

Bad Weather

I guess most of you have probably heard about the really bad weather here. We are ok, and our church building is ok too, praise the Lord! Dad and I were here with most of the students (some stayed home until the bad weather was over) and our monitor Mrs Sonya, and mom and Caleb were still at the house getting ready, and we were crouching in the hallway and praying and dad was looking out the door to the west keeping an eye on things. I had kind of been just wandering around and drinking my coffee until I looked out the window. There was a huge black cloud and the wind was blowing so hard that the rain was almost sideways. After that I went to the hallway and got down until it was over. The power went out for a little bit, but the kids were very calm and none of them panicked which was really a blessing. Then the phone began ringing, and I started getting texts from people making sure that we were safe. We got word that there had been a tornado touch down near the airport which is across the road from us. So we were thanking God for his protection. We also heard that there have been tornadoes popping up all over town so I will keep you posted on damage reports. I've heard that part of Lowe's is gone and also that there are many trees down. One of the main roads is closed off and the police aren't letting anyone down there, so who knows what all happened. Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that we are safe and sound!

This song means a lot to me right now, and I just wanted to share it.

"Even in the Valley

High upon this mountain - the sun is shining bright
My heart is filled with gladness here above the cares of life
But I've just come through the valley of trouble, fear and pain
It was there I came to know my God enough to stand and say:

Chorus:
Even in the valley - God is good
Even in the valley - He is faithful and true
He carries his children through - like He said he would
Even in the valley - God is good

The road of life has lead you to a valley of defeat
You wonder if the Father has heard your desperate plea
But there is hope in the rugged place where tears of sorrow dwell
Can't you hear Him gently whispering "I am here and all is well".

Super Sauvageots!

I was fooling around with my photo editing program and made these :) Enjoy!