Before dropping Erik off at the airport on Sunday, we had a great last weekend together... Erik was at drill on Wednesday and Thursday, but on Thursday night (after Erik attended a student council meeting in Minneapolis) Maida and I met up with him at our friend Jon's house. Jon was out of town for the weekend, so he let us use his house! We got a good night's sleep on Thursday night and headed out on Friday morning for south eastern Minnesota. There we got a campsite at Mystery Cave State Park. Friday night was Kristin and Clark's wedding, which was just beautiful! We really enjoyed seeing (and meeting) other students from St. Olaf. We stayed until midnight, when we had to pry Maida off the dance floor, kicking and screaming. She's quite the dancer! Friday night we camped, Saturday we toured the Mystery Cave. This was our second cave to go in since being married, and we loved both of them! Caves are so beautiful and mysterious - even Maida likes them! After going through the cave, we traveled on up to Rochester, MN where we met up with my friend Allison, from Oklahoma Christian, and met her husband Grady and daughter Caitlin. It was fun to see their new house and talk to them about what they've been up to. The girls played well together and had fun learning new things from each other. I had fun catching up with Allison and hope that we get to see her again soon!
Saturday afternoon was a lot of shopping and last minute things before packing Erik up and sending him on the plane on Sunday. However, just once we thought we had everything together, Saturday night we all three got sick. We think we got food poisoning from a Mongolian/Chinese grill that we ate at for dinner on Saturday night. It was horrible! I threw up all night and morning, and after dropping Erik off at the airport on Sunday, Maida and I headed for the Super 8, where we spent last night recuperating. We slept most of the day yesterday and today we're feeling much better, so will head home after checking out this afternoon.
I haven't heard anything from Erik, but according to the internet, both of his planes landed safely (and ahead of schedule) and he should be in Beijing right now (I've been watching for him to appear on the Today Show - that's just something he'd do!)! Here are some pictures from the weekend...
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Our Blessings
Erik & Kara
Even though we met as babies and grew up as family friends, we didn't date each other until the end of college. Nine short months after "becoming official" we got married on August 28, 2004. We had a beautiful barefoot wedding on the beach in northern Minnesota, with lots of our friends and family in attendance. Now, after moving almost every year since we got married, we have officially decided that it's not time to settle, yet. After returning from six months of medical mission work in Zimbabwe, at Nhowe Mission, we are living as ski bums in our 45 foot RV motorcoach!
Maida Raine
Our princess was born on May 3, 2007 by an emergency c-section and has been the center of our universe ever since! She weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce, was 21 inches long, and has somehow, over night, turned into a very intelligent ten-year-old. After a life-threatening appendicitis last year, Maida has made a full recovery and we're thankful for God's provision through it all. Her bubbly personality and confidence follows her everywhere and she truly makes every thing better with her presence. Maida enjoys dance, acting, and has already written several books (one that's well on its way to publication)! She has a passion for animals, learning, and song writing, as well.
Skogen Roux
Even though a VBAC was the original plan, our BIG boy Skogie-Bear was born two weeks early on January 14, 2009 by C-section. He weighed a whopping 9 pounds 5.6 ounces and was 20 inches long. Skogen is a sweet, loving boy with a great amount of confidence. Nothing holds him back from having a good time. Skogen spends most of his time dreaming of skiing and when there is snow on the ground, he expects to be skiing 100% of the time! In the meantime, he plays soccer, tennis, t-ball, basketball, and gymnastics. Skogen has a huge heart for Africa and loved his time in Zimbabwe!
Klaasen Burke
Klaasen was born on July 27, 2010 by scheduled c-section after plans of a VBAC were changed when his due date was reached and he was still nice and cozy inside! He outweighed his brother's birth weight at 9 pounds 6.6 ounces and was 21 ½ inches long. One of Klaasen’s earliest achievements in life was being one of the largest babies anyone had ever seen with a weight of 20 pounds at two months and 30 pounds at six months! But as seven years have now passed, he has slimmed down and is now quite average in weight and height for his age. Klaasen was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder a year ago. This was expected and a shock all at the same time. We make sure to tell him every day that autism is his super power and there is nothing he can't do. We're fairly new to navigating this world of having a "special needs" child, but we're enjoying the successes as Klaasen continually amazes us along the way. Klaasen is creative, inventive, and always keeping us laughing. Klaasen enjoyed his time in Zimbabwe, making more friends than he's ever dreamed of having. He would like to go back as soon as he can.
Torsten S
Torsten was born in 2012, on the only day in August Kara didn’t want him to come – our anniversary! A planned fourth c-section was scheduled on August 31st, but God had other plans, and a spontaneous labor on August 28th fulfilled Kara’s dreams of being able to labor one more time. After an afternoon of laboring at home and a successful c-section, more prayers were answered as Kara was able to hold Torsten skin-to-skin and even breastfeed while still in the operating room minutes after birth (two things that she never got to experience with any of the other births). Torsten was our smallest boy, weighing 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 ¼ inches long. At five years old now, Torsten is a very feisty little guy, never slowing down for a second! He keeps up with his older siblings quite well and perhaps will eventually be a better skier than them all, as he has been keeping up with the family on skis since he was 18 months old! Torsten loves playing with cars, playdough, enjoys Bible class, and prefers skiing black diamonds more than anything else in the world.
Barkley!
Barkley! joined our family in September of 2005. We never found out what kind of dog he was, but when someone asked, we just simply replied, "He's a rottweiler-pitbull-boxer-lab,"(unless it was a rental application, then he was a "lab mix"). He was everything we could have wished for in a dog. We lost him to cancer in 2016. Our hearts broke as we let him go and we are convinced that we'll never completely fill his role in our family again. He was a playmate, protector, the third parent, and confidant. We will always wish that we had more time with him.
Camber Cameille
We rescued Camber shortly after Barkley passed away. Not knowing what kind of dog she was or what size to expect, we excitedly welcomed her into our home. She took a six month vacation to Nanna's house in Oklahoma while we were in Zimbabwe and it's been fun to have her home. Now fully grown, she is a dainty little lady, the happiest when she's with the kids.
Simba Zino
Among all of our gifts we brought back from Zimbabwe, Simba is probably our favorite. Simba Zino means "strong and powerful fang" in Shona, which will be very appropriate for him since he will eventually weigh around 200 pounds. Simba's breed is a South African Boerboel, which we don't have in the United States, and they are known in Africa for protecting the farms there from cheetahs, lions, and hyenas! Even though he's already very large, he's a gentle giant. He's an amazing companion and we're excited to watch him grow, grow, grow!
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