Holy Toledo!

I’ve been away for so long that they up and changed my whole blogging site!!! Well, pictures to come, we’re on vacation. FL was awesome! It was great to be able to spend some time with Wes and Cindy – to see Cindy in the middle of her creation room! She even showed me how to make a piece of jewelry – hopefully pictures of that soon to come as well! Now we are in Chicago – Sam headed off to his conference – he just let me know today his schedule – I think there was method to his madness – he left at 8am today and not to return until 5 or 7pm this evening…. Then tomorrow, he heads off at 8am and doesn’t come back until 11pm! So that’s so much for us getting to spend some good quality time together here!!! Oh well, but it’s been really fun! So I’ve straightened our room, right now, the cleaning lady is in, so I decided to go and visit the workout room here – I do have the car here, so I might make a little trip to the mall, but I’ll probably wait until tomorrow to do that, I could always organize our vehicle though…so many things to do….I have books, magazine and then there is always the dreaded taxes…. Count down….ugh…. Don’t remind me! But anyway, oh by the way! Congrats to Steve and Amber Ermish – had a little guy on April 7 – Noah William Ermish – 8 lbs. or so and as long as I’ve heard, everyone is doing great! So I just wanted to send a little update your way! Hopefully you’ll hear from me soon! I have no cell phone with me, but access to email and facebook, so feel free to drop me a message to remind me I’m not totally all alone in Chicago! 🙂

Now…how do you suppose I post this tricky little thingy!?!?!?!

Go ME!

I’ve conquered technology!!! Read the blog before you watch the video though!! Have a great weekend! Maybe I can find more pictures on this disk to post, let’s see!

This would be all of us at Big Sky – you can tell that visibility was pretty low.

This would be my Confirmation Group – 8th grade girls minus 1. We decorated t-shirts a couple of weeks ago – it was a lot of fun! PS. We’re in the Youth room at our church.

This is just a great picture of the big T!

And this is just a picture of some of the Coleman boys. We went on a great walk the other night! (Johnny is missing!)

So that’s a little pictoral update on my life!

Florida bound!

Well, we didn’t find a completely exotic location to vacation, but we found some decent tickets down to Orlando to visit with my brother and sister-in-law! I’m really excited to see them and spend some time with them in their home! Plus, it will be my brother’s birthday while we are there! How many exclamation marks can I use in one blog?!!!! 🙂 Sam found an amazing deal to Costa Rica – flight, hotel for 6 nights, SUV with unlimited miles and gas all for one low price of $569 per person! Unfortunately, we don’t have 6 nights for this particular vacation and we wouldn’t want to waste it! But maybe next year!!!!! HA! So Wes, if you are reading this, I will have Sam email you our itinerary – hopefully it works for you!

So this is our plan – Sam has to preach April 2nd. Then we have Small Groups and Rock Solid afterwards. Maybe we can get someone to take over. Then we head out, hopefully by 9pm and head straight to Chicago, because we have a meeting at 10am on Thursday, April 3rd. (It’s a 12-13 hour drive) We are taking our Sr. Highers to Chicago this summer on the missions trip and we have to do a Pre-trip. So this works out perfectly. We’ll meet with the Mission Organization and then catch our flight out to FL that afternoon, then we come back to Chicago on April 8th. And Sam’s Youth Conference starts on April 9, 10, and 11. Then we’ll take our time getting back home. So that’s the plan for that! Pretty exciting, huh?!

Last nigth, we had an interesting discussion in our Small Group. I’m not sure if I’ve updated you on that for a while. I started teaching 7th grade girls last year for Confirmation Small Groups. I had 6 girls. I kept the same group, so this year, they are 8th graders, and I have 12 of them. They kept coming, one or two at a time, now there are tons of them. And to tell you the truth, I had a rough year, up till a couple weeks ago and the Lord really worked on my heart. So it’s been fun, even though my group is way too large! But I have this great college student, Emily, who comes and helps me – I couldn’t do it without her, that’s for sure! God has totally blessed me with her! So anyway, last night, we were talking about sacrifices. And even more specifically, we were talking about the kinds of sacrifices parents make for their kids and they had to write thank you letters to their parents. So they were talking about how unreasonable their parents were and how they get away with lying to them. We talked about how parents might not catch you at the time, but they find out things, you’d never believe! It was great! Then we talked about how maybe their parents would never find out, but they knew they lied and God knew too and in the end it would catch up with them. I’m pretty sure they were so freaked out to ever lie to their parents! HA! Probably not, but still…it was funny! I don’t know how good of a small group leader I am trying to scare kids into submission, but it sure is fun!

Let’s see, what else is going on – this is the weekend of Sam’s big Art show – www.accartshow.com. He’s still painting! We took the main show pieces over yesterday, but today he’s got to finish the live auction pieces. Tomorrow night, he’ll be painting during a big Community wide praise service. Our Music Director is leading this service that involves about 10 different churches, it should be pretty good. But then Saturday night, Sam is painting for the Quick Draw event also. So I’m pretty sure, he’ll be ready for a little break after this weekend.  Pray for him. Thanks.

Next weekend, I think everyone is coming home for Easter, not sure, but if so, that means 13 people. That is including Johnny’s girlfriend, Siri. Charlie ordered a murder mystery dinner. So he wants me to help him put that on. But I’m not exactly sure how all that is going to work out. I’ll let you know. Especially since the game is set up for 8 people and we don’t really have room for 12 people + 1 baby at our house for dinner.  Anyway, we’ll figure something out. It should be interesting!

 Well, that’s my life in a nutshell right now. Have a great weekend! Happy Spring – soon, hopefully!

The Last Ski trip of 2008!

Well, I still have no pictures for you – oh, but I wish I did! Well, we headed out on Friday, February 29th – Happy Birthday to Sadie, Sam’s sister, on her 28th/7th birthday! We got into Bozeman around 11pm, which was far ahead of schedule. Our coach dropped us off at the end of the driveway where we proceeded to transfer all of our belongings to the back of a pick up truck! Then all 29 of us jumped into a short bus that is suppose to hold 20 people max and we headed 3 miles up the mountain to our lodge! We couldn’t see anything at that time of night, but were we in for a suprise the next morning! Our lodge looks over the Bridger Mountain Range – absolutely breath-taking! We had a couple from church head up to Bozeman and take care of all of our food for the entire weekend. So they had breakfast ready for us and all the lunch makings out so that we could make our own lunch at the ski hill! Then when we got back at night, dinner was all ready for us. It was great. Home cooked meals the whole weekend long! Well, Saturday morning, we got up early and headed out to the mountain. It took about a hour to get over there, but it was a beautiful drive! We drove right by the Gallatin River, it was a trickling spring under piles and piles of snow! We got to the base of the mountain and everyone got their rentals and we headed up! As soon as we got situated and found our spot, we all headed out to the mountain. Almost immediately, it started snowing – it was perfect! It ended up snowing all day – nearly 8 inches in one day on top of a nearly 300 inch base anyway! It was straight powder and not too cold! It was just so beautiful. It was a bit cloudy and a little windy, but perfect on the back side of the mountain. The tram to the top was closed because of the wind, so we all hung out and it was great fun! A couple runs down the front of the mountain where it was blizzarding and couldn’t see a dang-blasted thing. We had to go across this one catwalk, and I just knew I was going to fall off of it, because I couldn’t even see the edge – everything was white! Snow was blowing up, that’s how windy it was! Luckily Sam was wearing a bright yellow and black coat and so we could see him a little! But after a couple runs down Mr. K, I was done! I checked out a couple of the hotels close to the resort and found out what I had really been missing out on! Right next door was this hotel with a beautiful elk chandelier, big ole fireplace and the most comfy leather couches! What have I been doing? Wasting my time on the mountain, when I could be snuggled down right here and reading a good book!? Well, I won’t be making that mistake again! 🙂 Ha. Just kidding! Well, the day was over and we were all pooped. We headed back on our long 1 hour drive, it was perfect timing for wind down. Plus, I had a little nap! 🙂 Perfect. We got back to Chicken Parmasean for dinner – does this day get any better?! Well, we had a game time and devotional time, it was really good. We played more games after that and headed off to bed by 11:30pm. Only to get up at 7 am to get ready for Day #2. When we got to the mountain on Sunday, it was beautiful – not much more snow, but pure powder from the day before and the sun and clouds took turns showing themselves! After lunch, we all headed up to one run and took a group picture – on the way down, one of the students biffed it and bruised his knee. Luckily, I was done for the day and took him down to the Medics office to get checked out and did a little more exploring myself. We headed back, this time to return out skis – we saw a moose, a bunch of deer, and lots of elk along the way! We got back to a delicious dinner of lasagna and chocolate cake! Yummy! This night was a great night for the small groups. Students had tons of questions and sat around asking them forever! Monday morning dawned bright and clear as we headed out of Montana for our long 10 hour drive home! It was a great trip – the Lord totally blessed us and protected us! Thanks for your prayers! Now….I’m ready for spring. We did get home to see our driveway most of the way melted, which hasn’t happened since before Christmas – and Tonto was so excited to see us. I know everytime we leave, he probably thinks we’re never coming back! But he’s a happy dog! I am completely ready for Spring now that ski season is over, but it was 7 this morning and we’re hoping to get up to 27 today! Right now at 10:58am, it’s 14. Ugh. Well, I really need to get back to work! Talk to you soon. By the way, we still haven’t found a vacation destination. You could pray that we could find somewhere…. Thanks.

Ugh.

I’m bored to death of my blog – but nothing too funny or interesting has happened and my camera doesn’t work. So….sorry. By the way, still haven’t figured out where we’re going on vacation, but on a happy note, it only took 3 weeks for my passport to come in. So that’s great! We head out at 2pm today for Big Sky. Keep us in your prayers, we don’t want any broken bones! Thanks! And Adios!

Results on the ski trip!

Bottineau was BEAUTIFUL this weekend! It had to of been about 35 degrees on Saturday, everyone was skiing in their sweatshirts – it was incredible! It was pretty fun too! We had a HUGE group – 65 people! Not a whole lot to say. We head out on Friday for our last ski trip of the season.  It’s so hard because it was 45 degrees yesterday – absolutely beautiful, we went on a walk, let Tonto out to run and just enjoyed the day – then we woke up today to ….. SNOW. Again. I don’t know what the accumulation will be, but it was 19 this morning on the way to work!!! I’m so ready for SPRING – I know I’ve been saying that since Christmas, but it’s true! We still haven’t found a destination for April and wondering if we should do anything and maybe save some $$ in the process. But this winter has been so hard on me. I told Sam this morning that I was just sick of putting on a coat! Sam’s Uncle does have a condo in Mazatlan that we may be able to use, but I guess it would just depend on what kind of airfare we could get down there…. Ho hum. I hate $. Anyway, on a brighter note – the mittens that Sam got me for V-day were so nice! They kept me way warmer than I needed to be! 🙂 But I loved them. Anxious to try them out in Big Sky! Well, I haven’t gotten my camera working again yet, but hopefully for Big Sky…. I have a friend that puts pictures on everything when she blogs and I just LOVE that! Thanks Rhonda – I love reading your blogs! So until next time – Adios!

Ski Trip #2

Well, we’ve finally reached ski trip #2. This year Sam scheduled one in January and the other two side by side in Feb. So while we are used to having them all stretched out, we’re going to Bottineau, which is a little hill – probably smaller than anything in VA. Then next weekend, we head out to Big Sky, MT. So I’ll keep you posted on how this weekend goes. We’ve got 45 4th – 6th graders. And for many of them, this is their first trip skiing, so it’s always pretty interesting! Then we have another 20 adults and siblings. So we’ve got a packed trip. We even have to bring 2 cars besides our bus! So that ought to be interesting! But for an update, Sam and I are doing so much better, even though, I know there is a lot of sickness going around. I hope everyone else starts feeling better and we have Spring soon!!!! I did hear birds chirping yesterday as I got to work, very excited about that! Not sure what the temps are today, but hoping for a mild day tomorrow. Bottineau is on the Canada/ND border, so it’s way colder up there.  Last year, it was so cold, our eye lashes froze together, even when you were wearing goggles and a facemask. You could see where everyone was breathing because there was a white frozen circle on their neck warmer where it was in front of their mouth – we are talking COOOOOld!!!!

Just to catch you up….

	View Full-Size Image Baby Boy Birthdate 01/18/2008 Birthtime 09:51 AM Weight (lbs,oz) 8lbs Length (in) 20 1/4 Parents Sadie and Nathan Physician’s Name Lachance

Well, here is a picture of little Ethan. We haven’t had a chance to go up and visit yet. We just got back from Red Lodge and that was a good trip – I tried to take pictures, but it was too cold. Saturday wasn’t too bad, but Sunday – I think I only did 4 runs with 2 breaks in between because it was so cold. You couldn’t get down the bunny hill without your goggles foggin’ up and so it was really hard to see. Then if you took them off, you eyelashes would freeze together…. It makes for very difficuly visibility! But we had a good time. So I only got one picture – of Landon on the lift….

As you can see, it was magically beautiful up there. They had gotten about a foot of snow on Friday night so there was powder everywhere on Saturday – I’ve never seen that much powder when skiing… It was beautiful! So other than that, it was cold but we had a great time!

Have a great week!

Alberta Clipper….

Well, just so you know – the snow was almost gone – we’ve been enjoying near 40 degree weather for the last week! Anyway, it just started getting cold again and since our snow was gone, we were ready for some more…. Well, we are not to be disappointed today! When I came to work, nothing, just cold – we’re talking 17 degrees. One hour after being here, this is what it looks like –

And that was 10  minutes ago – now we have even more! God is good. This is just the view from the front door of my office – that’s why it’s so boring! But from my desk, I can see right out the door and watch the beautiful flakes come flurrying down! Now, I know most of you are thinking – what the heck does she do at work all day that she can take pictures and post them to her blog, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! Well, I have plenty to do, is the answer. But I know my public needs me, so I’ve got my priorities straight! Don’t blame me – it’s the masses who demand me! 🙂 Just kidding! I have the greatest job ever!

Not too much going on here. The River rose a little more, so we went skating again last night, it was perfect ice yet again. Then we went to help a family in our church paint the interior of their home. It’s pretty incredible. They picked this house up and moved it like 3 miles down the road. It was a super old farm house and they are completely redoing it themselves. We went out to help roof once and now paint. We’ve hardly helped at all, but it’s amazing how quickly they are getting it done. So congrats to the Allens!

Other than that, Sunday School and Wednesday night has started back up again. I really enjoyed my break – but I’m excited about the rest of the semester. Is this kind of crazy, but on one hand I love the snow, and am so excited to see it – but I really can’t wait for Spring! I can’t wait to see what kinds of treasures are going to make it through the winter and pop their little heads out in the Spring! I can’t wait to see our yard!!!! Well, we need to make it through the next 3 ski trips, one Jr. High girls weekend, and 1 Youth Conference in Chicago. The youth conference will be really nice – just Sam and I, and we’re trying to make a vacation out of it. So we’re looking for good deals to wherever it’s warm! It’ll be cheaper to fly out of Chicago, so that will help save $$! Anyway, that’s about how it goes for us!

Oh, I just remembered – I’ll have to post next week, but another family in our church has invited us over to their home to turn all our deer meat into sausage! Usually you just take all that to the Butcher and pay however much a lb. and they give it back to you as sausage. But this family makes their own. So we’re going to go over tonight and tomorrow and they are getting a lot of pork and we’re going to make our own. I know this sounds kind of hick or something, but I’m so excited. I’ve never done this before and I’m always up for a new adventure – I’ll try to get pictures!

Let’s see…anything else – Oh, I don’t know if you ever check, but Sam has been updating his website – www.samcoleman.org Let us know what you think – feedback is necessary! He’s crazy painting for this ACC show coming up in March. Just didn’t know what to paint and now, it’s come to him! He’s doing this great picture of a little girl holding a candlestick in the dark, with her face illuminated – “This Little Light of Mine” I can’t wait to see it! And if he can get it done in time, a second one with her little brother holding an old fashioned lantern – “Thy Word is a Lamp Unto my Feet” So we’ll be sure to post them when he’s done!

Last but certainly not least – John is in Colorado for some intense, alternative treatments. So he’s out of town for the next 3 weeks at least – if you can pray for him, it’d be really great. And pray that things run smoothly back here in town while he’s away with work and home and family. Thanks!

So I’ll post again on Monday – hopefully with pictures of Sausage Making! 🙂

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

I suppose we are definitely done with Fall and ready to move on to Christmas. To tell you the truth, I have had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I don’t know why. Perhaps, we lost all our leaves early and so it looked like Christmas outside, then we headed down to VA where the leaves were nearly close to their peak and so we reverted somehow. I don’t know. But on Saturday night, we went to Lorie Line in concert! Have you ever heard of her? She’s great! She’s this amazing pianist and she puts together a Christmas show every year and takes it on the road. PS. Wes! She’s coming to Orlando on February 29th. You should look into it and take Cindy! I know you would love it! Anyway, last year, her show had a little to do with the birth of Christ – but she had such a great response that she made Jesus’ birth her whole theme this year! It was really great. That sure helped get in the mood for Christmas and then to top it all off – it snowed about 3 inches on Saturday also! Since we got back to ND from VA – we never had temp’s above 20. But yesterday and today, it’s beautiful! But now, I am in the mood for a little more snow! I know that in a month or so, I’ll be so ready for the snow to go away, but as long as Christmas is on it’s way – let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Well, another reason I started getting in the mood for Christmas – we had our annual Advent Family Fun night on Sunday night! We had a cookie exchange and silent auction. There were all kinds of crafts downstairs for the kids and most of the population here is German and Norweigen, so they make lefse (an ethnic dessert).  It was great fun. Then we have supper and Sam was in charge of doing the entertainment, where we had the kids do a bunch of talent. Well, first of all, the kids kept dropping out and we didn’t think we’d have any talent, then the kids we had left kept doing multiple songs and so we ended up with a bit too much talent! But the church folks are great to sit through all of that! I think we are going to skip the talent next year! 🙂

Anyway, we are wrapping up all our gifts and making sure that we have everything we need for everyone. Maybe once I start wrapping presents, it will be more festive too! Oh! I almost forgot! We got our tree – it’s the biggest and prettiest tree we’ve ever had! In fact, we had gotten some new furniture last Valentine’s Day, so a tree wouldn’t fit in our normal placeso we put it upstairs this year in our front living room! We’ve got the front door there that we never use, so we put it right in front of the door. The craziest part is that we got it for $20 – pretty cheap for a Christmas tree. We looked through all these trees and they were all kind of sketchy but we found one that looked pretty good! So we bought it. Then took it home and set it up and the branches started spreading a little and the tree we noticed, was getting bigger. Then we put the lights on it and went to bed, the next morning we got up and the branches had lowered even more and so it’s the fasest growing cut tree I’ve ever seen! After the ornaments got on there, our tree sticks out a foot on either side of the door! It’s huge – but it smells so good and it’s so pretty! We are slowly but surely getting the rest of the house decorated too! We missed out on getting the outside done, now we have to wait for a warmer day! Oh well, we are ok with the idea that it may never get warm enough for us to decorate outside. But now, it’s already 22 degrees outside, so it’s getting warmer! But Sam is desperately working on a painting commission that will hopefully be done by Christmas. It’s beautiful!

 Well, I suppose, I should get back to work! Happy Tuesday! and Merry Christmas!