Beach Bums

On our recent vacation to Ontonagon, Keith had us each write about our week. My installment can be read by clicking here. This is what Erica wrote:

Our family vacation was magical. That's because we were so ready to take a vacation that anything we did was fun. Even with a few minor fights along the way, we interacted positively and genuinely enjoyed each other’s presence. 

Such a relief after lifeguarding all summer to know this beach wasn't my responsibility.

An amazing gift was the weather. It was glorious to look outside each morning and see the sun. Every place we went was beautiful and awe-inspiring. It’s crazy that beautiful places like this exist a mere couple hours away from home, not in some foreign country.

My favorite sight was simply Lake Superior.  Every time I see it, it makes me happy. The horizon was absolutely stupendous!  

I'm trying to dunk Kiah

I'll always remember sitting by the lake one night and seeing huge black storm clouds and lightning dance across the horizon.

I also enjoyed the sound of the waves rolling onto the beach. I love how the lake changes personality. One day, it's super calm, almost without a ripple. 

The next day it has big waves breaking into white foam as they roll onto the beach.

 

I enjoyed our beach house. It was such a blessing to stay there and it was just what we needed. It’s inspired me to find my own house sooner or later (definitely later)

I’ve also enjoyed seeing Mom and Dad relax.

I was thankful to do all these activities with my family and to share these beautiful, wonderful things with them.

I’ll always remember our hike across the Porcupine Mountains. It was challenging and beautiful. Even though the hike was hard, we had fun and cooperated with each other. 

One of my favorite sights was the Lake of the Clouds. It took my breath away when I saw it for the first time. There were some great looking storm clouds that day as well.

I also liked walking around Houghton. It’s such a cute, quaint little town. We ate at a cool restaurant called, "The Library." We talked about old memories and shared inside jokes with each other.

Then there was Great Sandy Bay north of Houghton. What an amazing day! Even though the water was cold, we simply did not notice because we were having way too much fun! We body surfed for over an hour. (Even Mom)

Sure things weren’t always amazing. Ticket to Ride kicked my butt  bottom (oh the hardships of writing a blog post for a Mother who doesn't like the first word I used), Mom and the girls took forever at the surplus store and Amy felt a little left out at the beginning of the week, but they were very minor incidents in a majorly fun vacation.

I thank God for the great time He gave us and the beauty we experienced. 

A VCBC Summer by Erica

After over two months of being away from home, it's weird to go from reading this blog from afar, to writing a blog post from the comfort of my own home.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy my time away from home, matter of fact, I loved my many weeks at camp this summer. That's what this blog post is about after all!

To start off, a little explanation. I spent my summer at Village Creek Bible Camp (or just VCBC)  as head lifeguard. I had a great team of lifeguards to hang out with, including my dear little sister Anna.

The Summer Theme was Frontier, hence the wonderful old time pictures 

(Andrew, Andi, Chrissy and Jay - some of the lifeguards I worked with this summer)

The summer was full of great speakers, wonderful God moments, and more often than not, crazy fun activities. Much of my camp experience was centered around the lake and the dishroom! Being a lifeguard we had to report to the dishroom at 7:15 every morning for breakfast dishes.  Being the great dishwashers we are, we got through dishes pretty fast and had the rest of the morning for free time. Then after lunch we hiked up to the lake to well, lifeguard! All afternoon would be spent up at the lake.

 (Anna and Kim at the lakefront)

In between turns on the lifeguard stand we hung out in the Guard shack and did safe, mother-approved things like burning hand sanitizer and catching mice in ice cream containers. A favorite thing was the Guard Snacks we kept at the lake. We had an abundant supply of Freezees and Chocolate Animal Crackers all summer long. 

A great thing about camp is the unique opportunities one gets to enjoy. 

(Many fun camp people "raving")

For example the lifeguards hosted a Rave in the Guard shack. We used high powered black lights, a couple strobe lights and pumped some German techno. It was exhausting and totally fun. 

 (Erica, Anna, Kate and Elizabeth)

During a weekend day off, a hipster weekend was hosted. We hit up the local Goodwill, found some great outfits and had a great time. A bonus was that we accidentally went to a Nordic Fest! It was fun to rediscover some of my heritage. (25% Norwegian) 

 (Kate, Elizabeth, Aaron, Jonathan, Kaylee, Anna, Erica, Nathan and Ben)

During one of my last weekends we decided to get up and watch the sunrise. The main problem being that the sun rises at 5:53! But we dragged ourselves out of bed and up to the lake for a morning swim and a beautiful sunrise. 

(Ehh, Way to many to list!)

Somewhere along the line, someone had the crazy idea of a huge group date. We all got dressed up and went to Lacrosse for dinner at China Star (the guys paid :) and Riverfest. It was a fun evening and Jay (middle front) outdressed us all in a tux. 

My main reason for this blog post is to encourage you, go to camp or send your kids to camp! Growing up, camp played such a great, influential role in revitalizing and strengthening my faith. It was great to find a community of kids my age and of my same faith. Even if you think you're too old to go to camp, there's always a way! VCBC offers Family Camps, which are a fantastic opportunity for entire families to experience camp together. (Follow this link to check out Village Creek's great camps.  http://villagecreek.net )

Even better than attending camp (in my humble opinion) is working at a summer camp. Yes, I know, I'm a little biased but it really is a great experience. I've learned so much about work ethics, living in a community and developing healthy friendships at camp. I've been challenged and I've grown so close to God throughout my times at Camp. As a counselor and as a lifeguard I've been able to pour into campers and other staff and feel the happiness that comes from being a help to others. Camp has a way of changing people, and it's always for the better. 

So find a camp that works for you. I've worked at two different camps in my short lifetime and found them to be almost polar opposites, but equally amazing in their impact. Find a camp that caters to your style, one could be more outdoorsy, another could be much more of a suburban experience. Either way, find somewhere that allows you to explore your walk with God in a positive setting.

Leap of Faith

I (Erica) spent the last three months at two different Bible Camps, and the most asked question now that I'm home is, "How was your summer?"

To put it simply, it was amazing...in further detail, I met God, we became Friends, and now He TRULY lives in my heart. But sometimes a simple explanation doesn't do things justice.

To elaborate...

I met God.

Not my perception of God, or the weak flawed God made out by the World. No, the God I met was the unchangeable, unfathomable God found in the Bible and in the intricacy of the world's nature. It was startling, scary and uncomfortable. In some ways I wanted to serve God and keep living my life the way I wanted without giving Him control. But now that I have met the TRUE God, I have no other choice. There is no one else I would trust to guide my life.

We Became Friends.

As my view of God changed, my desire to meet God changed. Before I was reluctant to trust, not ready to give my life to a God I wasn't even sure existed. Now faith in The Alpha and Omega has led me to a point where I want God to shine into my life. Sometimes I find myself talking out loud, not so much praying, but filling God in on things that have happened in my day. If that makes me crazy then I'm so happy to be crazy.

Now He Truly lives in my Heart.

This is always the most difficult struggle for me in my faith. I can follow rules, I can obey authority (ok, most of the time!) but my trust and affection is hard to gain. I have trouble being attached to people which is only tripled when I try to love a God that I can't see, feel or hear.

But something beautiful happened this summer. I read the Bible, no I devoured the Bible. I began to feel this strange hunger for God, for the salvation of others, for a pure life that I've never felt before. It was...amazing, the questions that seemed so important, so faith-breaking before dimmed in importance.

Instead I pursued God with a longing that has truly changed my life. And the amazing euphoric feeling I have right now is beyond a doubt a peace that surpasses all understanding. I know things will be hard, I've devoted my life to Christ. I am seeking to become a true Christian, a disciple of Christ. And I am trusting God to lead me.

So how was my summer?

It was exhausting, day in day out taking care of energetic kids. Playing exhausting games, not getting enough sleep.

It was SO MUCH FUN! I'll forever have memories of the crazy spontaneous things we did - winning hoccer games, bungee trampolines, and mountain boarding.

It was soul satisfying, I thrive on deep conversations, and whether it was my best friends and I talking about life decisions or a random conversation with a complete stranger about political climate I was encouraged and satisfied with quality conversations.

But most of all

I met God.

We became Friends.

Now He truly lives in MY heart.

Why Your Mother Should Never Chaperone A Youth Event - By Erica

Because she worries over things like this...


And then goes down the hill herself, almost giving me a heart attack...


And she liked it so much she went down again!

Murder at the DQ - By Erica and Augusta

My friend Augusta and I enjoyed cheap fun by creating a murder mystery using condiments found at a local Dairy Queen.

Our story starts with a simple blind date...Mr. Pepper takes Ms. Salt to the DQ. It's love at first sight and they get married soon after...

A couple years down the road Mr. Pepper is a mid-thirties disillusioned cubicle drudge in the work-a-day office world. His wife sees him off to work.

Mrs. Pepper gets worried when Mr. Pepper isn't home to listen to his favorite band, Salt N Pepa...

She gets on the phone and calls her friend the private investigator and his trusty sidekick, Mustard.


The private investigator is barely on the case for two minutes before he gets a phone call from some innocent bystanders...

Mr. Pepper, unfortunately has bit the dust...

The private investigator and his trusty sidekick cordon off the crime scene with very official police tape...

The private investigator and his trusty sidekick talk to the widow and try to find who would want Mr. Pepper dead... (on a sidenote, the glasses case is a couch, not a coffin, we're not that morbid)

The private investigator and his trusty sidekick review the weapons found lying around the crime scene...but none match the crime.

Because unbeknownst to The Private Investigator, his trusty sidekick has gone over to the Dark Side. He killed Mr. Pepper in a fit of anger because Mr. Pepper called the Packers a bunch of pansies...

Desperate to call attention off himself, the not-so-trusty sidekick tries to frame an innocent ketchup...

And it almost worked except when The Private Investigator trimmed his hedges, he just happened to see his not-so-trusty sidekick bury the murder weapon!!

The not-so-trusty sidekick is brought under intense interrogation by the Private Investigator...but he won't break down...Until he is brought to the grieving widow who tells him Mr. Pepper was joking when he said the Packers were pansies (or WAS he??)

The not-so-trusty sidekick breaks down and confesses and is thrown into a maximum security prison for life.

A couple years down the road Mrs. Pepper becomes Mrs. Private Investigator and they live happily everafter.

The End

Four Things that make me Smile!! by Erica

An average person smiles anywhere from a hundred and thirty to a hundred and fifty times a day!! I'd like to share a couple things that make me smile.

Number One

Every morning I'm told (ahem..yelled at) by this wonderfully cute fifty-year-old to get my "tu-kus", as she calls it, out of bed. Once awake, I appreciate my mother enough to smile about it.

Number Two

All the crazy and wonderful people I have met and had a blast with.










Number Three

Creating morbid murder mysteries with my friend with condiments thoughtfully provided by Dairy Queen.





Number Four

And finally, the most adorable baby I know, (Shyanne Struckman) who not only knows who I am, calls me "Air-ka", and gives me a kiss every time I see her, but she loves to jump on the trampoline and say "bouncy, bouncy, bouncy!!"

Well I've smiled four times thus far, only a hundred and forty-five to go!

What makes you smile??

10 Signs Your Child Might Be a Teenager - By Erica

1. Every sentence begins, contains and ends with: umm, soooo, like, whatever, so yeah....

2. You can only enter their bedroom with a hazmat suit and God's blessing

3. You can have an entire conversation, and then realize they weren't listening to a thing you said.

4. They talk about weird things you've never heard about before, like SpaceBook, or even worse Mytwitface. Also cellphones become superglued to their hands and the only way to keep them from listening to their Ipod is to hide it and tell them the dog ate it.

5. Food doesn't last more than 22.78 minutes in the fridge.

6. They suddenly become willing to cooperate with you, but only until you drive them where they need to go, They alternate between declaring their independence and asking for help.

7. They develop an earnest, burning desire to pierce, dye, and tattoo.

8. They ask you for your opinion...and then do the exact opposite.

9. Along the same lines, they think your IQ falls somewhere in between Kermit the Frog and Elmo.

10. And finally, they begin to spend so much time in the bathroom they might as well live in it (Although girls are more prone to this than guys)

Disclaimer: Sometimes a rare kid won't openly display these symptoms. In that case check for fever and count your blessings.

When I grow up I want to be...Just like my siblings...

By Erica

The crazy thing about families is that you don't realize how much you're influenced in little ways by the people you grow up with. One thing I've realized this year is how much my older siblings have shaped my life.

I grew up resenting the teasing and the endless jokes played on me by my two older sisters and brother, but as much as I was fed up with their torment I was ridiculously jealous of the privileges they received and I couldn't wait to grow up to be one of the top dogs.

When I grew up I was going to be completely different then my older brother and sisters, I was going to be so much cooler than them, obviously! But as Christina, Andrew and Kiah all moved out and started their own lives I began to realize how funnily similar my habits were compared to my siblings.

Such as

We call Christina the Second Mother for a reason-- she is bossy! But as I looked past that ( hard as it is) I realized we're pretty similiar. We both stay up into the late hours of the night, we're both so stubborn it leads to many territorial battles, we both have a love for photography and I hear we're both slightly messy.

I've learned alot from Tina. She's an avid traveler, leaving us in a couple weeks to live in Spain for a year. I like seeing her drive after something and making things happen. Tina has shown me an example of seeing something and working hard for it.



Out of all my siblings Andrew has been my greatest influence. When I was younger he convinced me to leave Barbies behind and play endless games of football in the front yard. He also played everlasting games of Imagination with us. Imagination was a game where we drew sketches of huge castle-like houses and imagined living in them as orphans, rich cowboys and everything else you can imagine!

He also shaped my interests in music, anything Andrew listens to I'll listen to too. I've been drawn into soft rock, indie, alternative but I do draw the line at Country!

Another thing I've appreciated about Andrew is watching him in his relationship with his girlfriend and seeing the respect and love he has for her. Its given me a new resolve to wait till I find the right person who will treat me with respect and love me, even if it takes awhile.

Kiah is the little voice in my head whenever I go clothes shopping-Make sure it fits. Will you wear it in 6 months? Do you have anything that matches it?

Kiah and I have had a pretty Italian-like relationship, we love and hate each other! And again my mom says that we both might be a little messy. As far as personality traits go we are pretty much polar opposites (except for our love of Starbucks, although hers might be more of an obsession)

But Kiah is also a big influence in my life. I grew up wanting to be just like Kiah. I love how she works hard to keep things balanced in her life. I enjoy her talking to me and giving me advice. This summer at Camp it was fun to hang out and talk to her about Christianity,and to see her maternal side come out with the little campers. I really wish I could cook like her!

Siblings..you can't live with them (but you're forced too) and you sure can't live without them (but you have too).

Happy Monday

Mom asked me to post on her blog while she was gone last week so here goes.

Folks, I have alot of things to get off my chest.

Like first of all, I wouldn't dream of asking this poor little girl to kiss a toad just because I wanted a cute picture...(Sorry ladies, no prince) In my defense, she volunteered!

Whatever they may tell you, I DID NOT force my sisters to dress up, stand outside in freezing weather and smile. It was NOT cold and windy because we were told before we moved here that summers are nice in Northern Wisconsin.

But all in all I got some cute shots of my three little sisters. For instance:

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!!

Cold, Wet, and Windy...What a fun day!!

By Erica

I believe the saying is, while the cats away the mice will play...or the mices, or mouses or however that goes, Anyways, while the Mom's away the daughters will.....have a photoshoot!! (Don't try to tell me that wasn't the first thought that popped into your head!)

The temperature was fifty-five degrees (IN JUNE? WHAT IS THIS!) It was cold, wet, and windy, which you might have guessed by reading the title of this post.

But me and my brave little models defiantly put on shorts (WHY? Why not?) and tramped all around our corner of Lake Superior taking pictures and trying not to freeze our (a word Mom won't let us use because its not ladylike) off.

As you can see we aren't about to keel over from exposure or lose a limb to frostbite...in fact the pictures were oddly cute!!

Exhibit A:

I believe that is standard model pose number one.

Amy, on the other hand, was all business with standard model pose number two. (Hand on Hip, One leg Forward and a Cheesy Smile)

Anna quickly followed Amy's shining example. She mixed things up a bit by having the other leg forward.

And of course Lani had to get into this mix!!

All cheese aside, these guys were too cute not to get some adorable shots...

Lani's beautiful mugshot

Anna's figuring out the meaning of life pose.

Amy's perpetual smile

Anyways, all in all, in a couple years, we won't remember how cold it was, and we'll have some cute pictures to smile about. Pretty good huh?

So do you suppose Mom won't mind that we took pictures instead of cleaning our rooms?