Thursday, July 29, 2010

Summer Shuffle 2010

Keeping up with my crew requires the skills of an air traffic controller. Now carefully pay attention because there may be a quiz.

Christina graduated from Iowa State in May, moved home, works all the time, and because she works at a marina, is tanner than she's ever been in her whole life.

Andrew and Rachel are adjusting to married life and working at Village Creek Bible Camp - she as a wrangler and he with the summer camp programming. We hope to see them at the end of the summer.

Anna has worked at Village Creek ever since Andrew's wedding. She does a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Her adventures are about over as we pick her up this weekend.

Kiah is counseling at Camp Shetek. She'll fly to Colorado in August to visit a friend, then will move in with us and attend a local community college in the fall. (The cheerful looking fellow in the picture is a camper, not anyone we know)

Erica is wrapped up in her counseling job at Camp Shetek. She comes home Aug. 9.

The cahoots are home playing a lot, swimming alot, fighting alot, etc. etc.

Introducing my 14-year-old nephew who came home with us from Oregon. Poor kid, he rode 2,000 miles in a back seat with Amy and Lani. We have enjoyed having him be part of our family this summer.


Summer is going fast. Only 33 more days left.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Monday Mugs - Andrew's Wedding


Heather at Oswald Cuties hosts Monday Mugs every week and this week's theme is Purple. I drew a blank thinking of pictures with purple until I remembered Andrew's wedding last May. I never really posted wedding pictures because I was and still am waiting to see pictures the photographer took. These are taken by family and friends.

Keith was honored and blessed to perform the ceremony.

Two childhood friends, a roommate, and Rachel's brother

Wedding took place at Village Creek Bible Camp in Lansing, IA

Rachel's brother holding hands with the ring bearer




Andrew & Rachel Vik

Erica

Lani


He who finds a wife finds a good thing. -- Proverbs 18:22

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Birthday Cruise

Happy Birthday to You
You're a hundred and two


You look like a sailor
And you smell like one too.

After graduating from college this spring, our oldest daughter moved home. We love her dearly but she has historically been high strung and high maintenance. Remembering past arguments over her messes, music, and hamster hours, we entered into this arrangement with fear and trepidation.

We have been surprised and blessed by how well things are going. She has calmly entered our lives and we enjoy having her with us. She's works hard and we're proud of her. She's still messy so we keep her bedroom door shut.

She's become a Dave Ramsey devotee and in an attempt to reduce college debt works seven days a week. Her main job is at a marina in nearby Bayfield, Wisconsin. A positive experience all the way around.

One of the job perks is people give her boat rides. A nice couple offered to take her and 10 friends on a cruise for her birthday. Since she hasn't lived here long enough to have 10 friends, she invited her family and a couple people from church.

Oh my, did we have fun! Gorgeous weather, beautiful boat, nice lunch, and a Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake. I've been itching to get out to the Apostle Islands ever since we moved here. We rode for awhile, then anchored the boat to eat and swim.

Sitting on the front of the boat looking towards Madeline Island


The marvels of modern technology. Keith got cell phone reception but had a hard time hearing over the boat's motor.

Amy's beak is tweaked because I made her wear a life jacket.
Disclaimer: Tina is drinking Cream Soda.


The family with Raspberry Island in background


Christina and her Daddy



Amy in an unusually calm moment being nice to our friend instead of picking on him like she usually does.

The family gets such a kick out of this shot. The boat started going faster so we grabbed the food to keep it from sliding off the table. Others are holding food items but you can't see them. So all that's shown is me guarding the shrimp.


The funnest place to be on a boat is up front. There is a technical name for the front - something like bow or stern - but the names won't stick in my brain's data bank. Keith and I enjoyed a few moments to ourselves.

Christina said this was her best birthday ever.
Not sure how we'll top this next year.

Happy 25th Birthday, Christina. We love you!!!

Friday, July 23, 2010

A Handsome Fellow

If this isn't the cutest dog ever, then they don't make Cheese Curds in Wisconsin. (photo courtesy of Brook Peckham)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Over the River and Through the Woods

Yes, we've been back for three weeks. Yes, this is old news, but Kiah had so much fun writing about our road trip to Oregon that I wanted to share her perspective on our travels. This is her last journal entry. (For backstory click here. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3)

Day #4

Morning came early, but I was thankful to wake up, for the first time on our trip so far, without a headache. We met my aunt and uncle for breakfast in Thompson Falls (near Missoula) at 8 am. It’s been really weird to be a morning person this past week.


In usual Vik girl fashion we left the house when we should’ve been arriving. When we got there, they were all waiting for us. The cafĂ© was a super cute, one-of-a-kind restaurant and the food was really good! .

We said goodbye and piled into our trusty Impala again for the final leg of our Oregon trail. Their suggested “shortcut” to the interstate took us over a mountain pass.

We drove through some of the prettiest countryside that I’ve ever seen in my life! It was gorgeous, but twisty and windy! Trees everywhere, and we followed a really beautiful river for a long time. We rocked out to Onerepublic yet again. Their song “Good Life” is my favorite, and always seems to express the emotions of traveling perfectly.

Lani repeatedly complained that she was dying of thirst so right before Spokane we stopped in a small town for drinks. If I had realized how close we were to Spokane I wouldn’t have wasted my coffee fix, but would’ve rather held out for Starbucks. Mom was nice enough to stop at Starbucks to see if they had a Spokane city mug, but alas they didn’t!

Then Mom suggested we check out Moody Bible Institute in Spokane. Since my uncle had just been talking about Moody that morning at breakfast, I thought it would be nice to see if I it was something I would like.

We took a mini tour and I talked with a faculty member about my college goals. I was really encouraged that they are considering offering a specialized Medical Missionary program. I left feeling like I have another option for the next few years to keep in mind and pray about.

A few hours down the road Lani complained from the backseat, “Mom, I’m hungry.”

Mom replied in amazement, “Lani, how can you possibly be hungry!?”

Lani, “What do you mean how can I be hungry?”

Mom, “We pigged out for lunch yesterday, and then ate a huge supper last night.”

Lani, “Well I didn’t eat that much at supper last night.” (editor’s note – Lani is a picky eater)

Mom, “Well if you didn’t seize the opportunity to stuff your face last night that’s too bad, cuz’ we’re not stopping to eat now!”

A little later another interesting conversation surfaced. I really want to go to Seattle and Mom really doesn’t. I suggested we go to Portland by way of Seattle. For 10 miles I used all my persuasive charm to try and talk Mom into my bright idea.

She thought about it, but finally declined, figuring we would get into Seattle about rush hour. She promised, unless a tornado threatened to touch down, we could go home by way of Seattle. When I asked her to promise she hemmed and hawed, so jokingly I asked to get that in writing. We dropped the matter, with Mom satisfied by not going to Seattle today and me satisfied with the promise of going to Seattle on the way home.

So the note Amy handed to the front seat a half hour later completely took me by surprise. I read it to Mom and we laughed and laughed. The paper said:

(Original spelling intact)

I swear on the trip back to Wisconsin I will stop in Seattle for at least a few hours and I will enjoy it, and will not fuss or be grumby.

And if I don’t, Kiah has the right to think of a consequence’s for me.

Signature of Signature of

Kiah Vik Angie Vik

__________ ______________

This document has been agree buy

Amy Vik and Lani Vik

After I read it to Mom, Lani says indignantly from the backseat, “Hey! What did I sign!?”

Amy said, “Well you should have read it before you signed it!”

Lani, “But you told me not to read it!”

Amy, “I told you not to read it aloud, not don’t read it at all!”

I was more then game to sign it, and mom good naturedly signed it as well. So its official folks, we’re going to Seattle on the way home!!

Just east of Portland, we stopped at Multnomah Falls.

When Mom pulled into the parking lot, Lani looks out the window at the waterfall and asked, “Do I have to get out of the car? I can see it from right here.”

Mom let her know it was not an option to stay in the car. Multnomah Falls is a fun place and looks like something out of a fairy tale. We were all glad that we stopped.


We didn’t eat lunch so we could thoroughly enjoy a restaurant Mom recommended. She assured us that Marie Callenders was worth the wait. We had a great dinner and took a half hour to decide on a pie we all liked, since it was much cheaper to buy a whole pie than to buy individual slices.

At last we arrived at Grandpa and Grandma’s house, thankful for safe travels and to finally be at our destination.

Quote of the Day

We were bugging Mom about going the speed limit, thinking that maybe, just maybe, in less populated highway stretches, she could drive faster.

Mom refused to budge, saying, “Greater minds than ours have determined what a safe speed limit should be, so unless your wife is in labor, you should drive the speed limit.”

Lani, our resident smart-aleck, pipes up from the back seat. “But I won’t ever have a wife.”

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Beach Bums

We had a week of great weather, spending much of it in Lake Superior.

My nephew pointed out that he's yet to see me actually swim in Lake Superior. Well! ...you see...the water is...COLD and my body is not what it used to be so I really don't want to wear a swimsuit in public. But I sure enjoy watching my kids play.

Here are a few photos from a beach outing with friends last week.

My friend's grandson learns the hard way
why it's not a good idea to splash Christina.

Lani goofing around with a good friend.

Everything is funner with friends.
Mine are from left to right, #2, 4, 6, and 7.

The boys didn't do so well when
instructed to take a goofy picture.

Sun, sand, snacks, and sunburns. Life is good.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Then and Now

Happy Anniversary to us!

Seems just last month we celebrated our 25th. Now another year has rolled around. Christina blessed us with a gift certificate to Keith's favorite restaurant so we had a nice evening out. Anniversaries are fun except for the unavoidable fact that they mean we're getting older.

If you have any interest in viewing the archives, you can read what I wrote last year in honor of our 25th anniversary:

Peek Into the Past
First Date
Popping the Question
When Worlds Collide

July 1984


26 years later - July 2010