Yes - We Passed our Tests!

Sweet relief. . .let the summer games begin! Randy took the MOS PowerPoint test this morning at New Horizons and passed! And I took the last of the 3 IC-3 (Internet & Computer Competency Certification) tests yesterday and passed with my highest score on the 3 tests. So today is errands and appointments day and change the oil for Randy, while I clean house and update my photo album once Randy gets my picture order home that I sent online an hour ago to Sams. Then we're going out on the boat with Jaclyn later this afternoon. Maybe we'll enjoy the sunset out there. Monday (Randy's birthday) we leave for Michigan where we'll be with his family till Friday, and then we're going to the Halvorsen Reunion near Gobles. We'll be home again Monday evening, the 10th.

Nosoca Pines Ranch visit with Fords

From Ocean City we drove on down to Raleigh, NC to Fords' Thursday afternoon, June 22. We hadn't been there in a few years, and since then Renee has really done a lot of gorgeous decorating.

She and Stephanie did some sponge painting in the living room . . .

and their bedroom - isn't it neat! I need you, Renee and Stephanie, to come help me out.

Here we are just before we left for Nosoca Friday morning to visit our kids. Randy had to get just a couple more pictures (sorry I didn't post the one of the 4 of us, but we covered most of the front of your lovely home).

We met Ryan, Stephanie, Carrie and Jaclyn at a Mexican restaurant in Camden for lunch Friday. Good eatin! (Thanks for the picture, Jaclyn)

Then we went out on the boat and enjoyed seeing Ryan demonstrate how to surf behind a boat! It's a new trick he has learned this summer. He's only about 6 feet away from the back of the boat, riding that huge wave. Two of the ballasts in the boat were filled up, and there were 5 of us sitting on the left side of the boat to help make that wave.

Jaclyn took her turn too in Wateree Lake, that wasn't at all refreshing. The water is way warmer than Harrison Bay's. We felt both extremes on this trip.

Friday night Ryan played the part of the priest (like the bucket/hat?) in the pageant and bellered out his lines well, loudly enough for people to hear back in the lodge, just as he was told to do! Just after he said his lines, a loud clap of thunder rolled through the camp. Impressive! Glad we had our umbrellas along, cause we used them heading back up to the lodge.

Sabbath afternoon we went canoeing with Ryan and Carrie. And once again, we didn't have the camera along to document that, for obvious reasons. . . But I did grab it while we sat around and visited afterwards with the Fords. You've heard of sitting on the fence???

Ryan gets to swim out to the boats to free them from where they tie them up in the inlet every day before driving. He drives them up to shallow water where kids can step onto the back platform to get into the boat. He finds it odd that they don't have them under cover and tied up to a dock, like Alamisco and Indian Creek did. But the boats are just one year old, and perform very well. He's enjoying his camp "job" driving boats, once again. After this summer, such a job will be only a memory. . . and he's storing up lots of good ones this summer.

It was great fun being at the camp with the Fords - having time to visit with them, while we enjoyed our kids and Carrie too. The lodge we stayed in was very nice - like motel accommodations. Fabers invited us to breakfast Sabbath morning at their house along with the Ad Staff who they always treat Sabbath mornings. The other campers and staff have breakfast delivered to their cabins by the Ad Staff before they go to breakfast at Fabers.

This is the cabin Ryan stayed in with several other staff guys the first 2 weeks of camp. This week he's in room to himself in another cabin - he likes not being awakened by the 5 a.m. alarms of other guys in the room. This week his day starts at the lake at 6:15 every morning. It's specialty camps this week, so the ski camp kids start early getting pulled behind the boats. They're even getting most of their meals down at the lake, cooked on a grill.

Ocean City/Assateague Memories

We journeyed on south about 3 hours to Ocean City, Maryland after we had lunch at Subway with Amy on Monday, June 19. Mom's cousin, Betty Jane, let us stay in her lovely apartment/lighthouse gallery just a couple blocks from the beach.

This picture was taken at a lighthouse in Delaware, just a few minutes north of Ocean City. The lighthouse is not my favorite, but the guy in the picture sure is!

She has more lighthouses than I do. I loved the seascapes and white wicker furniture too - what a decorator she is!

We had picture perfect weather for our short stay there - warm, but not hot days, with blue sky and sunshine, except our first morning with a few clouds and showers.

Randy didn't mind having an excuse for a slow start and sleeping in that morning since he was recovering from the late night before at ER after his unfortunate encounter with an agressive dog. The CT scan of his head (that hit the pavement hard and knocked him out) and x-rays of his back (that is still hurting) and 2 fingers (still discolored and a bit swollen) revealed no broken bones fortunately.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday evening we rode the Boardwalk train to the end where the inlet is from the Bay, and then we walked the 2 1/2 miles back to the 27th Street end where we'd parked, poking in and out of shops along the way and watching the action on the beach. It's a great place to observe people, and there was no shortage on the Boardwalk.

The sand sculptures are amazing. Terri Cox told us she read in a church paper that it's an Adventist man who does them.

Several folks told us to be sure to have some Fishers popcorn and Thrashers french fries on the boardwalk - it's a part of the Ocean City experience. (The caramel corn wasn't as good as we got there in Chicago, Ruthie. Wasn't that Fisher's also?) We put just a little vinegar on the fries, since we weren't sure how well we'd like that combination. It wasn't too bad, but we prefer ketchup, which they don't offer you.

Betty Jane also told us breakfast was good at Howard Johnsons, so we took her advice and enjoyed a breakfast buffet on the boardwalk Wednesday morning. In addition to the good food, we enjoyed watching the parasailers and vacationers enjoying the beach from the restaurant.

We went to Assateague and Chincoteague National Parks to see the wild ponies Wednesday.

As soon as we drove into the park, we saw them. They were like the WalMart greeters there to welcome us!

Then on the beach at Chincoteague further south we saw a few more ponies.

They say the herd is getting too big, so they're giving them shots with dart guns to slow down their reproduction. They still have the annual pony swim the last Wed. and Thurs. in July to auction them off, sponsored by the fire department.

It was fun watching surfers while we picnicked at Chincoteague. I took this surfer picture for you, Ryan, since you've gotten so keen on surfing after trying it out in FL this spring, and at camp behind the boat. You woulda' loved it. We missed you and Amy on our vacation - last time we were there you were with us.

After our picnic, the gulls gathered when Randy tossed them our cucumber peelings - which they promptly dropped to the sand. But he had fun anyway. They liked the plum pits so much they fought over them. No trip to the beach is complete without feeding the gulls - or at least trying to feed them. Apologies for the meager offerings, gulls.

One big disappointment at Chincoteague was I didn't get to take the hike out to the famous red and white striped lighthouse. The trail was closed and when I asked at the Visitor's Center about it, I learned that a metal piece had fallen off it the Saturday before, and so until they get it repaired, you can't walk out to tour it. So I zoomed in on it from a long distance to get this picture. It's in need of attention so maybe a distant shot is better.

Our Weekend with Amy in Maryland

After Jennifer's funeral, we enjoyed spending the weekend with Amy up in North East, Maryland. She is living with Jeremy's Grandma Blakely in Havre de Grace, about a half hour from where Jeremy lives. They live on a farm in a lovely country setting.

Here's Grandma Blakely's house as seen from the road.


This shows the nice addition to the back of the house. The spacious kitchen and deck were added after the house was built.

This was taken behind the house Sabbath morning. They have cows and barns out beyond the pond. Notice the basketball backboard Randy is wearing on his head - they even have those in the country, Ryan! Maybe you could survive there :)


Mom and Coleman came to campmeeting too so we visited with them awhile Sabbath afternoon. Too bad we didn't get the camera out and shoot some pictures. This is taken inside the Blue Mtn. Academy gym where we went to Sabbath School and church - thought you'd enjoy this picture, Ryan.

This is one of the dorms in the background. I have lots of fun memories of playing in the dorm as a little girl when Mom and Grandpa Halvorsen were putting in the cabinets. We set off an alarm when we ran through the door between the guys and girls wings - a no no!

Sunday morning we went out on the boat with Amy and Jeremy.

Amy took the first turn in the water riding the tube and posing! We anchored at a sand bar awhile and relaxed in the water - once we warmed up to it! It's a "tad bit" cooler than Harrison Bay.

I enjoyed a tube ride too. It was too rough for skiing or kneeboarding with all the boaters out and the breeze.

Amy took us out to eat for lunch at Pat's (pizza and salad), and then all 6 of us went kayaking Sun. evening. It was the first time kayaking for Randy and me and we enjoyed it, except for the very sore arm and shoulder muscles that screamed at me the rest of the week. Amy and Jeremy used the 2-man kayak, so I told her she wasn't sore cause she didn't have to paddle as much as I did! We didn't take our camera along on that adventure, for obvious reasons.

Amy and Jeremy are taking Anatomy and Physiology in the evenings at a junior college in North East, where she will attend full time this coming school year. She's working as a receptionist in a doctor's office from 8 to 3 about 3 days a week. She and Jeremy volunteer in a physical therapy clinic at University of Delaware on Friday mornings. They both are pursuing degrees to become DPT's eventually.

Family Together at Jennifer's Funeral

My cousin, Jennifer Roosenberg, lost her 6 1/2-month battle with leukemia (AML) on June 13.

Jennifer and Matthew (picture from Matthew's blog)

Her 21 years of living for Jesus were remembered at the funeral at the Hagerstown church Friday, June 16. What a blessing to know that we will see her again, and soon, and that she will be whole. If you want to see her blog, go to http://www.xanga.com/jajaroo. Matthew wrote the last entry in it just two days after her funeral and it's very moving. He certainly needs our prayers, after losing his dad in February and now his fiancee.

Three of her friends from Southwestern put together this collage and gave it to her in the hospital in Houston about a week before she died.

Jennifer's fiance, Matthew, is talking with Tim. A couple of her closest friends from Southwestern are behind them talking with Karen.

It was good to be together with so many of our family, some who I hadn't seen in years. Tom caught a ride from Arkansas and called to say hi when he got to Collegedale, not really expecting we'd be home. We invited him to stay overnight and then he traveled with us to Hagerstown. Randy and I really enjoyed the chance to visit with him. Here's a picture of Auntie Ruby's family, including the newest member of the family, John DePaula, Heidi's husband (back row, far left). They were married in December. Only one of Tim's brothers wasn't there. Caleb is just 5, and Michael just completed 8th grade (front row, far left), Jennifer's two adopted brothers.

Karen shared the motel room with us so that gave us time to catch up. Here's a picture of the 6 of us cousins after the funeral when Karen was about to head back to Baltimore to catch her flight.

Coleman has been suffering with a herniated disc. So it was an answer to prayer that he was well enough to be able to travel with Mom to Hagerstown for the funeral.

Boating this Morning with CA Friends

The forecast was great for today - all sunshine and in the upper 80's, so last night I called 6 of my student workers to see if they could join us this morning on the boat.

Three of them could (we missed you Esther, Molly and Meghan D.) so we left here about 9:30 under very cloudy skies, and mid 60's for our typical summer of '06 temps.

Ethan, Megan and Jessica had a blast tubing the whole time, and I had fun taking pictures and video and just watching their antics out on the tubes.

How talented they were - swapping tubes while riding them. . .

and even standing up on them briefly.

That's what boating is all about, sharing the fun with friends. Thanks for coming along, guys! It's lots more fun than going out with just the 2 of us.

Maybe another time we'll plan to go when the forecast isn't so good and see what happens. :)