Delicious Ambiguity: Adventures at Jay Cooke State Park

Welcome to the Scharrer family's real life story! Most of our story is written for, and about, our four kids and the spice they add to our lives. It's our story of happiness, craziness, and sometimes ridiculousness. We've journaled through childbirth, the terrible two's, private school (and our public school experience), an autism diagnosis, medical school, residency, and long-term mission work in Africa.

Now we're following a new adventure, which involves a 45 foot motorcoach, homeschool, and as many ski slopes as we can go down in one year.

Our Family Verses

“As the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.’ But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed? And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the Scripture says, ‘How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news!’”

Romans 10:13-15

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.”

Romans 12:9-13

03 November 2008

Adventures at Jay Cooke State Park

On Saturday we headed to Jay Cooke State Park with the Dickinsons. Soon after arriving, Erik tripped on a rock while carrying Maida in the backpack and Maida came flying out of the backpack, over Erik's shoulder. She was headed face-first,with high velocity, for a rock. Erik was actually (and miraculously) able to catch her enough to break her fall, but at the same time he went sliding down the incline that he had been walking on and went right into the water. He was able to hold Maida out of the water, but had to try to balance on a really slimy rock under the water until the rest of us heard him calling for help. Ryan was able to pull Maida up, but by this time Erik was getting numb from the cold water (there was a thin layer of ice in places) and he couldn't get any leverage on the slimy rock he was balancing on to pull himself out. After a few tries, Ryan was able to help pull Erik out too. Thank goodness Ryan was there to help because there is no way I would have been able to balance with my big belly on the incline to pull Maida or Erik out of the water. I'm also thankful that Andrea was there to help me carry Maida back to the car.

Erik stripped down to his underwear after we got back to the car and we headed to the Sunnarborg's, who live close to Jay Cooke, to get Erik some dry clothes. While we were there, we got to see all of their animals! Maida had a blast petting and feeding the elk, bunnies, ducks, geese, turkeys, chickens, and dogs.

Here's a video of Erik eventually getting out of the water. Avery was crying in the background because she wanted to get in the water too! Haha, how cute! She didn't understand that it was VERY cold!

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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.

Simba Zino

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!