Kindness Bandit Fun

Like I posted yesterday, I was able to join Maria on one of her Kindness Bandit Projects.  If you want to know more about the Kindness Bandit check out THIS or THIS or maybe THIS.  You may get some new ideas of your own to do as random acts of kindness.

Nearly three years ago, when Maria had Cordelia, we learned that in our community there are a lot of people who arrive to deliver and have very little to provide for their little ones.  We looked at all the little outfits and such for Cordelia and got the idea of sharing the joy.  Maria remembered it as my idea but I'm pretty sure it was her's.  At any rate, all we did was buy up some baby stuff, package it and take it to the nurses in the OB Dept. to distribute at will.

We thought it would not only be a nice surprise for the parents but that the nurses would enjoy being the bearers of gifts.  I don't know if you realize this but often nurses are the bearers of yucky things, such as needles and enemas.  This would be a nice change, trust me.

So, now that Elise is safely here, we wanted to do the same.  We actually started buying up things when Maria was pregnant.  We just watched for clearance items.  We found some amazing buys!  For example, we purchased a bunch of snowsuits, originally about $20, for just $3!  Additionally, Maria crocheted up a bunch of sweet little baby hats.  I sure have a sweet daughter, don't I?

We divided it up into gift bags, encouraging Cordelia to join in the fun.  Maria took some photos which you can view HERE.

She seemed pretty concerned at first.  She really needed a lot of reassurance that we still had lots of baby clothes for Elise.  We liked that she was watching out for her little sister.  I think she did understand we were trying to do something nice, but I think it was hard for her to understand about people in need.

So, we loaded up the gifts...

...loaded up the sisters (notice Cordelia's fashion statement in bracelets) ...

...and made our delivery.  It just took a few minutes but it was fun for us and hopefully helped Cordelia learn about helping others.

Not long after our trip to drop off our gifts at the hospital, I had to stop at the store for some things.  What do you know?  They had more baby items on clearance and I have no self-control!  I guess we're going to have to do this again!

For the record, I also purchased two matching sister dresses for Cordelia and Elise that may fit them in a year or so.  I love clearance racks!

An Intersting Day in Our Town

Yesterday was an interesting day!  The weather was weird all day.  It seemed like it might rain but really I think the overcast feeling was mostly smoke from some distance fire.   We had periods of sunshine as well, so it was plenty warm.

Maria and I and the grandbabies went out and about on errands.  I got to be involved with one of her Kindness Bandit runs.  Maria has been doing Kindness Bandit Projects for years now.  She is very creative thinking up ways to improve someone else's life in some little way.  I will be telling you more about what we did yesterday but for now, click HERE to read about one of her previous Kindness Bandit Projects.

One our return trip from our little adventure, driving through town, we saw these beauties.

Don't they look sweet?  We didn't bother them much.  They are so used to people they felt very comfortable in our presence.  In fact, I couldn't use all the photos I took because they felt comfortable enough to poop and potty while I was snapping their photos.

I love that we live in a place where deer and antelope play...

or at least munch peacefully on a lawn, as long as it isn't mine.

Not long after leaving this peaceful scene we learned that there was a hostage situation occurring near our homes.  This is not a big city so something like that is pretty surprising.  The situation was at a nearby Super 8.  Click HERE if you want to read about that.  The photos below were taken for the Casper Star Tribune by Alan Rogers.

We have lots of company coming to town, beginning today, and we have reservations there for some of our relatives.  I'm really glad they weren't there yet!  Thankfully, it sounds like the situation was well-handled by our local protectors.  I don't know much about it all but I believe all the hostages survived.

It was also voting day in Wyoming.  Mike and I did our good citizen thing and looked through a bunch of voting propaganda information.  My favorite thing about voting is coming home and finally throwing away all those mailings!  OK, my favorite thing is really simply that I have the right to vote.  I do love throwing out that stuff, though!

So, that was my Tuesday.

What did you do?

Don't Bug Me!

Do you know what you are looking at in this photo?

It's bugs!  Mostly little flying gnat type bugs!

When we were in Minnesota last week we encountered a few swarms of bugs one night.  We had just returned to our hotel and the first entrance we went to was so covered with bugs we rerouted to the front entrance.  The lights were higher up so the bugs were not quite so in our face but there were so many still!  I'd never seen anything like it so of course I had to run in to get my camera.

I was shooting away, impressing myself with how cool they looked in the photos.

At some point I became aware that they were coming down toward me.  

When I returned inside, Mike was trying to pick them out of my hair!

We mentioned it to the lady at the front desk who didn't seem too concerned, probably 

thinking we were over reacting.  She did, however, go toward the door to look.

I was so creeped out I hurried to our room and showered but as we were leaving the lobby we heard the front desk lady making horrified exclamations about what she saw.

That made me smile.

Is that mean?

I'm not sure you quite have the feel of how horrible 

it really was so let me leave you

with some close up photos.

Cool and yucky all at the same time, huh?

I think I have to go shower again!

Sunday Evening in Snapshots

Bless the Lord, O My Soul!

Ten Thousand Reasons (Bless the Lord)

(sung by Matt Redman)

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me

Let me be singing when the evening comes

You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger

Your name is great, and Your heart is kind

For all Your goodness I will keep on singing

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

And on that day when my strength is failing

The end draws near and my time has come

Still my soul will sing Your praise unending

Ten thousand years and then forevermore

Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name

Lord, I'll worship Your holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name

I'll worship Your holy name

(Click on Song Title to hear the music.  If you enjoy this song, please consider purchasing it through any of the usual outlets such as iTunes, Amazon, etc.)

All is Well in Candyland!

Maria and Eric have started teaching Cordelia to play several games, including Candyland.

She's loving it!

She follows the rules.... for awhile.

She takes it quite seriously!

Then, she makes some new rules of her own.

And in the end, the little guys play with each other... 

...and then, 

like many of Cordelia's toys, crayons, playdough containers, etc.  

they line up in perfect order

and

All is well in Candyland!

Moustache Monday

On Monday, when we were in Minneapolis, I had to stop a group of strangers as they were passing by us along the street.  They agreed to let me photograph them.  I guess I didn't tell them the photograph was for a blog but I'm thinking they would be ok with the attention.  Take a look!

They told us they were celebrating MOUSTACHE MONDAY.  I asked them if that was a real day on a calendar.  You know what I mean?  There seems to be a day for everything.  They told me it was Moustache Monday to THEM, so I guess it was just their own thing.  I was impressed.

Just after seeing that interesting family, we glanced up to one of the nearby 

apartments to see this LIP COUCH.

Minnesotans are full of quirky little surprises, aren't they?

Minnesota Tourists

On Monday we became full-on tourists for a day.  I love, love, love being a tourist!  

The main stop for our day was to visit some Minneapolis ruins.  What?  You didn't know there were ruins to tour in Minneapolis?  Well, it wasn't like the Mayan ruins we'd toured in Mexico, or Greek or Roman ruins overseas, but it was quite interesting.

What we were touring was Mill City Museum, known as "the Most Explosive Museum in the World". It is a museum built right into the burned out shell of an old flour mill.  The flour mill had experienced two disasters in it's past, a fire and a huge explosion caused by flour dust.  It turns out that flour dust is more explosive than gunpowder!  I bet you didn't know that!

The mill was right along the Mississippi River.  The area now is a mix of old, deserted mills as well as trendy restaurants and upscale condos, some built right into the old, old buildings.  The tour included a ride up to an observation deck where we could look out over the river, the city and down into the ruins.

After our tour of the mill, we crossed the Mississippi on the Stone Arch Bridge, open only to pedestrians and bicyclists.  We enjoyed a nice lunch, just happy to be together.  

I hope you enjoy the photos of our day as Minnesota Tourists...

The outside of the flour mill.  The observation deck is the top floor of that section above the ruins.

The sign was still mounted on top.

 Looking down from the observation deck.

 Our brother-in-law, Joe, looking very, very interested in the view.

 My very beautiful sister-in-law, Sue, reluctantly letting me take her photograph for my blog.

 Another mill across the river.  Parts of it are being made into upscale apartments and lofts.

 The Stone Arch Bridge across the Mississippi was quite charming.

 The weather was absolutely perfect for our lunch outdoors.

A Beautiful Evening for Croquet

As long as we were already in Minnesota for our nephew's wedding Saturday, we ran up to the Twin Cities to visit with Mike's sister and her family after we attended church on Sunday.  We really had just a day and a half  together so we made the most of our time!

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law have a really beautiful yard, making the perfect place to play croquet.  As it turns out, I'm not so good at croquet.  No matter... I enjoyed taking photographs!

I don't mean to frustrate you if you were wanting to see people's faces, it's just that again I didn't ask permission.  Sorry.

I couldn't remember when I last played croquet.  Do you play croquet?  Nothing says summer leisure quite like croquet, don't you agree?

We didn't leave their place until late Monday but I have SOOOOO many cool photos from Monday, I guess I'd better carry them over to tomorrow's post.  I'll say this, though, Monday was a lovely day! 

Sturgis Bike Rally

Mike and I just went to the Sturgis Bike Rally because we are that adventuresome.  Or, maybe Mike and I just made the mistake of driving across South Dakota as the Sturgis Bike Rally was happening.  Yes, that is the truth.  This is what it looked like for an entire day's drive across South Dakota!

Although this is usually an interstate that is a bit lonely, sometimes traffic was at a standstill.

We saw probably thousands of motorcycles as well as campers and trucks hauling motorcycles.

This is me and Mike (or not).

A Practical Bride

My nephew was married this past week-end.  Mike and I were lucky enough to be able to attend.  I enjoyed seeing my  nephew, his sisters and their families.  I took a lot of photos but since I didn't ask everyone how they felt about being on a blog, I won't post faces here.  However,  I don't think the Bride would mind if I showed your her shoes.  She told me she didn't do well in heels.

She had them special ordered.  Her new last name is printed on the heels.

I like her style!

You're Worthy of My Praise

One thing I've been thinking about lately is how much we (humans) try to make faith to be something about us.  I don't know if all cultures do this, but I know it occurs in the USA a lot.  Too often we choose a worship experience according to what it does for us, how it makes us feel.  Do we like the music?  Do we fit in with others in the congregation?  Do our children have enough activities available to them?  Are the sermons short enough so we don't get squirmy?  Is the service at a convenient time for me?

Perhaps all of those considerations are valid, maybe even important.  However, they should not be the ultimate consideration.  Worship, by definition, is about paying reverent honor.  We are to worship GOD.  Nothing is more important.  We are to show adoration and respect to God, creator of all that is.  We are to WANT to worship God just for being God!

Worship is not about us.  Worship is about God.  Worship turns our thoughts away from ourselves and toward the one who gives us strength, love, comfort and protection. When I heard this song on KLOVE, sung by Jeremy Camp, it reminded me that we worship God because he is the one worthy of our praise.

He IS worthy of our praise!  Worship is all about HIM.

You're Worthy of My Praise
(click on title to hear song)

I will give you all my worship

I will give you all my praise

You alone I long to worship

You alone are worthy of my praise

I will worship with all of my heart

I will praise you with all of my strength

I will seek you all of my days

I will follow all of your ways

I will give you all my worship

I will give you all my praise

You alone I long to worship

You alone are worthy of my praise

You are worthy of my praise

I will bow down and I'll hail you as king

I will serve you, I will give you everything

I will lift up my eyes to your throne

I will trust you, I will trust you alone

I will give you all my worship

I will give you all my praise

You alone I long to worship

You alone are worthy of my praise

I will give you all my worship

I will give you all my praise

You alone I long to worship

You alone are worthy of my praise

You are worthy, You are worthy

You are worthy of my praise

Oh, I will give you all my worship

I will give you all my praise

You alone I long, I long to worship

Well, you alone are worthy of my praise

You are worthy of my praise