the long winter

when i left Grace, some friends gave me the laura ingalls wilder book 'the long winter'. let me tell ya, it's here! not that i mind winter - i like it. it's blizzarding up here today, and we've been snowed in for the past couple days. not that i mind that either - yesterday, the power went out which meant no heat. so the three of us snuggled back in bed and watched a movie on the computer! the power returned for the big game (phew!). we were supposed to leave this morning for a curriculum re-write at another bible camp, but with the 50mph wind gusts and blowing snow, we haven't left yet. my ambitious and optimistic husby wants to leave tonight, so we'll see :) the ND DOT road map is entirely red-lined, meaning 'no travel advised'. so again, we'll see how far we get!

in other news... there isn't any :) hope everyone's staying warm! we're sending big bear hugs and loves to you all!
anna, jared & nysse

leave a comment!

i think i fixed them now so that anyone can leave a comment! give it a try please, so i can see if it works? thanks!

in other news:

• nysse was so excited to see us last night! she freaked out and then (and now) all she wants to do is snuggle and be cozy. which works great for me :)
• jared's at meetings today in bismarck, so i'm working upstairs and catching up on emails and dvr'd shows :)
• our laundry hasn't worked in a month. there's a broken pipe or something, so if we try to run the washer water leaks everywhere. bleh. however, it's kind of nice to be able to say, "Oh, guess i can't do laundry today- it's broken. Oh well..." =) so the unpacking and laundry will wait for another day.
• nysse is on twitter! haha. follow her at @nyssethedog =)
• there was a lovely frost today at camp. oh, i love frosted trees!

a few prayer requests:

• haiti. the international justice mission reports that children are more easily trafficked and exploited while there's chaos. so please, please pray.
• discipline. to stick with certain goals and resolutions. to continue growing in God's love with each other. to keep in touch with family and friends.
• guidance. to lead us to new ways to reach out and enter into the community God has placed us in.

love you all.
anna, jared & nysse

... and we're home.

phew! 4 flights, 10+hrs in the car, a rehearsal, a wedding, a 3 year old, a pair of 80 year old grandparents, and other misc family excitement later - we are home.

 

a few highlights from the weekend:

• the wedding dance- we boogied the night away!
• singing at the wedding w/my jared

• our 3yo nephew walking around w/a blanket over his head, saying "oooooo, i'm a scary ghost!"
• swimming w/aforementioned nephew
• walking to starbucks w/husby and reading the NY Times!

• talking laaaaate into the night w/family we rarely get to talk to in person
• coming home to the joyous excitement of our poochie
• also arriving home to a big box from Gooseberry Patch - wheee!! so fun to open!

what a whirlwind! and now, getting ready to go to bed. night friends!
anna, jared & nysse

Team Rendell goes to the big city!

this weekend we're flying out to New York! jared's brother is getting married in albany, so we're all going! he's a groomsman, and we are playing and singing during the ceremony. the whole rendell clan will be there, and we are REALLY excited!

camp life is going well. we had a marvelous Christmas getaway where we visited family and friends in MN and ND, got snowed in a little bit, and ate way too much :) the weather here has been gorgeous - it was over 40 today!! all the snow is melting. we have lots of groups coming to camp, and in a few weeks jared and i will hit the road to go recruiting. i'm really excited about that - we'll visit 10 college campuses and participate in their "camp fairs" to talk with potential summer staff. should be really fun! we're also going to travel to another bible camp in a week to tweak the summer curriculum. we do buy the ELCA curriculum, but as with any pre-packaged item we'll have to work it a little to really make it ours. so we will travel to this other camp and tweak together with many other program directors! i'm excited to keep meeting more camp people from around ND.

nysse is doing well! she still loves playing with her best friend carly, and at 75 pounds now outweighs her. she loves to be outside and run around camp. yesterday though, she proved that she does know where home is. she and carly were chasing camps' site manager (who was on a snowmobile), and they were getting pretty far from camp. nysse decided she'd had enough, turned around and came home to me! it was pretty sweet. she is so smart :)

tonight was a nice night - we had grilled steaks indoors (thanks grandpa, for the indoor grill!), ate fresh green beans, then went to the Malt Shoppe in town for some ice cream! this whole wednesday nights free thing is awesome! :) hope everyone else had a great night too. miss and love you all!
anna <><
(and jared & nysse)