Fishing, Family, and 9 Days!

We spent this past weekend at Ryan's parents house. It was graduation weekend in Henning and he had a graduation party he wanted to go to so we spent the weekend in Henning. Friday we actually stayed here in Alex and watched the awake the lakes festival fireworks. Saturday we drove to Henning and Ryan and Kim showed me how to "golf" in the back yard. (I put the quotation marks because I just don't know that what Ryan was doing was actually called golfing. Dad, we've got some work to do!) We then went fishing with Ryan's grandpa and his uncle. Ryan and I had a bet on the deal about who would catch the first fish and while he won the dollar and my fish was bigger, Grandpa put us all to shame! We went out fishing on Sunday night and while I had a lot of fun I decided that God made me good at a lot of things and fishing is just not one! I like to go out there but I refuse to touch the fish and don't even ask me about cleaning them (I sit inside with Ryan's grandma and eat chocolate chip cookies :). You can see in the picture, Ryan's grandpa is holding my fish (it is the bigger one).

Keep praying for baby Reese, she is doing better but there are a lot of uncertainties with her conditions and as you can imagine, her parents are nervous and it is hard to be patient when all of this concerns your 6 day old baby. Pray for peace and trust for Allie and Brian. God has a plan and he always provides.

9 Days! Report cards, class lists, reading graphs, packing and much more to do but it will get done... Here's to hoping the teacher can contain her excitement as the students get more and more antsy!

God Is Good!

God is SO GOOD! Baby Reese had Surgery today and they determined that it is not Spina Bifida but it is a benign tumor on her spine. They took most of the tumor off and she is doing well. Pray for Allie, Reese's mom, she has not had a chance to rest and recuperate and is in a lot of pain. She is now with her baby but is not able to hold her until tomorrow. GOD WORKS MIRACLES!

Lots of Things!

Lots of updates today! Before I say anything else I am asking for your prayers for my sister's friend (and my friend too) whose baby was born yesterday with spina bifida. Baby Reese was born yesterday and it was discovered after she was born and she had surgery today. Pray for healing angels to surround Reese and for God's grace, mercy, and comfort to surround her parents Allie and Brian.

We had our engagement pictures taken this weekend and they are FABULOUS!!!! Check them out at http://www.chelsiekrafka.com/blog/ We LOVE them and are so excited for Chelsie to take our wedding pictures!

Yesterday was also Ryan's birthday. We both took the day off to relax and accomplish some things that we never get to do because we are only together on weekends. We ran a whole bunch of errands and then came back here for dinner and cake. Here is Ryan with his cake and all 24 of his candles although I think my mom is the only one of all of us that sang him the true Happy Birthday song. . . (I sang my shortened, condensed version which requires very little singing which is a good thing) Ryan helped me seal up invitations last night too so those are all done! I feel like I am accomplishing so much but I know there is still so much to do! 12 days of school and then I am free! May you have a great week with whatever the Lord throws your way.

So Blessed!

I have just really been realizing lately how blessed I am! Every day I see kids whose basic needs are not met and crave attention and will do ANYTHING to get it. I almost feel selfish thinking about how blessed I am when I know that some of the kids I work with are not cared for in the way that they deserve to be. Here is a list of just a few reasons why I am so blessed:

1. I know the Lord and realize that he has a plan for my life that is bigger than my own plan.

2. I have an awesome fiance who would do anything in the world for me!

3. I have a wonderful family.

4. I have a roof over my head, clothes on my body, and food in my stomach.

5. I have wonderful friends who are so supportive.

6. I have a job that I enjoy and provides for my needs.

7. I am healthy and able to be active.

8. I have had opportunities to travel and see the world.

9. I have people in my life who believe in me no matter what.

10. I am happy and can make the best of most situations.

I just wanted to share my thoughts today as my friends at school had a shower for me this morning and I am not usually one to be the center of attention. They made me feel so special which is even more amazing as this is only my second year here! I also thought I would include this cool picture of a wine bottle light thing my friend Beth made. The picture does not really do it justice but it is waaaaaaay cool!

Easter

Ryan and I spent Easter 2009 with my family and he was initiated into the White family Polish traditions of Sweinconka, dying eggs, Easter services at Wooddale, and hunting for baskets. We also enjoyed the beautiful weather, cleaned his car, and even played a rousing game of boxers and briefs (don't knock it till you play it, it is a blast!) As hard as it was for him to be away from his family I enjoyed showing him my family's traditions. Aimee and I drove down Thursday night and went to pre-school with my mom on Friday where we were conveniently asked if we wanted to have a play date after school and one kid told us that he has lots of gas and uses it to run really fast. We knew what he meant but our immaturity showed as we giggled at the way he phrased it. It was so nice to have a break and be home, my mom takes such good care of us! 7 weeks of school left, not that I'm counting!

Home Opener

Thanks to my wonderful parents (my dad was thrilled to not be able to go. . . ) Ryan and I were able to go to the Twins home opener, the final one in the Dome, on Monday night. He was like a kid in a candy store, all revved up and could not wait to get to the game. I worked all day and he worked part of the day and then we headed to the Dome. Although the Twins did not win we had a blast! I had my dome dog and he had his popcorn and we can't wait to go to more games! Oh and by the way our wedding is exactly four months from today!!! Wedding project of the week: Invitations!

I know!

My dad will love the title of this one if he ever reads it. . . think of me as an 8th grade basketball player who needed no coaching :) What I mean with the title though is that I know that Ryan and I are not married yet but all of my sisters blog and I thought it might be a fun way for me to share some of the happenings of our wedding planning with you and also after we get married you can check up on us every once in a while. As of right now Ryan is still in Moorhead (safe from the river for now) and I am 100 miles away in Alexandria buried under a foot of snow. We have tons of things done for our wedding including most of our slideshow and I am currently working on the big box of invitations I have sitting here. So fun, I will leave you with two of my favorite pics from the slideshow :)