Christmas 2007

It’s been a busy year. One thing I’ve realized is that I haven’t written much. Not many posts here since last Christmas. I guess that will be my New Year’s resolution…

Last summer we took off for four weeks and rode our bicycles from Centralia, Washington to San Francisco, CA. The trip was a lot of fun. We initially looked into continuing the Lewis and Clark Trail ride that Keith and I had started two years ago, but the logistics didn’t work out so we opted for the Pacific Coast instead. You can read about this summers’ trip on our journal that we posted on crazyguyonabike.com. We have made another 20×30 memory poster that is currently being framed. Click the picture for a larger view.

Our family has been here at UCA for almost a year and a half now, and we are still very glad we made the move. This is a great place to be.

Last year I was a Junior Class Sponsor so I, with 2 other sponsors, helped the class plan their events and setup for graduation. The junior each year do all the decorating and setup for graduation and throw a Jr/Sr class party just before graduation, after the Freshman and Sophomores have left. This year I’ve stayed with the same class, so I am now a senior class sponsor. One of the exiting things we do for the senior’s each year is Senior Survival. We take the seniors out into the woods for 6 days and run them through a program that teaches them survival skills as well as interpersonal “low ropes” challenges and spiritual lessons. It was a lot of fun, but I was a lot of fun to watch the seniors grow and develop.

With various staff changes over the summer the school lost several bus drivers and they asked my to get my license. Since I’ve had a license in the past, I decided to do my part and get it again. So, now I’m driving the bus for the school as well. I’ve done several home leave trips as well as a couple local town trips for various events. The school has two Prevost Coaches that they purchased last year, so they are nice to drive. Once you get used to the size, it’s kind of like driving a car. This Spring I’m scheduled for several tours including one in April down to California and Nevada with the Band and Choraliers.

For Thanksgiving I drove the home leave bus to Portland. The run is long enough that usually they park the bus there and fly the driver home. This time, Lois and Keith came with me and we rented a car in Portland and drove from there up to the Seattle area to spend Thanksgiving with the Yeagleys. We had a delightful time and on Thanksgiving day we drove up to Sunset Lake Camp and had Thanksgiving Dinner with the Bergmanns and Bakers. We all had worked together in Michigan and had since moved to Washington. Friday we drove up near Mt Ranier and played in the snow. Then we drove back down to Portland, stopping by Mt Saint Helens and going over to the coast to watch the sunset on the beach.

Lois is getting the UCA library in order so book are where they should be. In addition she has taken over the Janitorial supervision for the Ad Building. She has students working for her cleaning the hallways and bathrooms. They are looking better than they have in a long time.

Keith has been taking voice and guitar lessons this last year and getting pretty good at both. He is hoping to make the Choraliers next year. He has been enjoying robotics and his team placed very well at the North Pacific Regional ARL Challenge in April. He’s looking forward to doing even better with the team this spring.

This coming spring break Keith and I will be going on a mission trip to Borneo with the school. This will be a new type of adventure as it will be Keith’s first trip overseas or out of the country since we brought him home from Guam when he was 6 or 7 month’s old. Although technically he was never out of the country since Guam is a US territory.

We are again grateful for God’s blessing and leading in our lives over the last year and look forward to continuing to trust him in the future. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”