Hi everyone! Well Canada was a lot of fun & I can’t believe it’s over already. It ended up only being 7 of us that went up but we still had a lot of fun! We left Friday night & got there soon after noon on Saturday. Since they had a lot of visitors there that weekend they played hockey that night so we went & watched that. On Sunday afternoon we played games & then went tubing down this awesome hill that ends up going out on the lake! After that we had a snowball fight. That was awesome!!! Then that evening we went over to camp & had snacks and played games. It was fun. On Monday morning we got up & hauled wood. That was a lot of fun for us all but by noon we were definitely getting pretty weak. At least us girls anyway! It was fun though. That afternoon the guys hauled some more wood & us girls worked in the office folding letters & various stuff. That evening the staff from headquarters & us went out for supper then to Wal-Mart & Tim Horton’s. That was a fun evening. On Tuesday us girls cleaned at the guest house & the guys painted over at the church. In the evening we got to play the awesome game of broomball! I’m sure we looked pretty funny on the ice considering the ones up there but it was a lot of fun! Too bad we don’t have more ice in Indiana. On Wednesday we all went to Sioux Lookout, which was like an hour or so away and watched some hockey games. That was really cool! For lunch we met David’s cousin which is up there right now & ate at his place. Then went & watched a couple more games. That evening we got to go snowmobiling for a little bit & that was fun. We stayed up pretty late that night & then got up really early to leave Thursday morning. We stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch & hung out for an hour or so. That was a nice break from driving. Then that afternoon we went to Mall of America. That was really neat! We didn’t have near enough time though. I had the most fun in the amusement rides part! Tabitha, Marsha, & I got to ride a couple & that was awesome! Then that evening we stopped at Maranatha Bible School and surprised Christa really good! It was so funny! She was so shocked. Anyway we got home around 6 Friday morning & had an awesome time!

I have been keeping busy since I’ve been home but can't remember what all. Tuesday of last week a bunch of us went out to eat for Marsha’s 18th birthday. Then we came back to her house for cake & ice cream. Was a lot of fun! Youth Rally was last weekend and it turned out really great! There were a lot of youth & the speaker was really good! I’ll have pix of that later.

~ Last blue basketball game ~

Michael & Mark painted their faces ~ Jonathan, Jess, Michael, Marsha, Mark, Me, & Alicia.

We got some odd looks in Wal-Mart.  It was fun though.

~ Canada ~

David put this on our window  ~ Tj & Starla

Marsha scraping off the window so she can see the sunrise.  - Playing scum at 5 in the morning.

Drew helping me - Jess went & got us some crazy things so we had fun while driving the really boring stretch through Canada. 

Kurtis & Mark

The guys playing hockey ~ Hanging out at Camp the one evening.

The awesome tubing hill!!!

Us girls getting ready to go down - Snowball fight!

Talking & laughing til past midnight! - Loading wood.

Marsha & Mark  Starla & David

Tj, Me, & Kurtis - All of us

Working in the office. Tj & Starla - Me & Marsha

Shelah & Janel ~ Brian & Mark seeing what all they can catch with their mouths.

Cleaning - Marsha & Tj

Shelah our awesome cook! - Starla & Marsha 

Cleaning the cupboard on top of the fridge ~ Marsha & Tj  

All of us making supper one night - Tj, Starla, & Me

David & Mark

Playing the awesome game of broomball! - Heather, Me, & Janelle

Kurtis, Brian, Mark, & David - Marsha, Me, Starla, & Tj at the hockey games.

All of us

Playing the best game of dutch blitz! - Me & Karen

Looking at pix the night before we left - Mark at Pizza Hut

The awesome mall!

They had a big lego thing which was neat. - Tj, Marsha, & i on this one cool kid ride!

Traveling home - At the Bible School with Christa.

I was trying to take a pic of Kurtis sleeping & Mark thought he needed one too! It was an awesome trip & we made a lot of great memories! God has blessed me with great friends!

Sunday evening party! Chad, Michael, Jared, & Mark - Me & Marsha

Tj & Kurtis

Ok wow that was a lot of pix! Anyway i hope you guys have a great rest of the week!  ~ Jodi

Hi...how's everyone? Well i thought i would quick up-date before we leave for Canada. A couple Friday nights ago my dad's school had a basketball game against another Christian school around the area. The other team won but it was a fun game. The cheering was so loud that i had a headache after the game. They really get into their cheering! Afterwards some of us went to Applebees & hung out for awhile. It was fun. Last week we had revival meetings by Clair Long from PA. He did a really good job & is an amazing preacher! His messages were very inspiring. I learned a lot & also realized how much i need to work on. We got another puppy!!!  It was my favorite one from Grandma's and we talked Dad & Mom into letting us get it! It's really really cute! This week 8 of us are heading up to Canada to visit a friend. I've never traveled with friends before for 15 hours so it should be fun & interesting!  Here's some pix from the other Friday night...

Stephanie & Jess ~ Brianna, me, Michelle, Erika, & Steph

Jess, Jonathan, Steph, & Erika ~ Eugene, Michelle, Brianna, & Me.

David & Shane. Cody & Lyndon also went but didn't want their picture taken. ~ Erika, Brianna, Me, Michelle.

Our cute puppy Buddy!!!

Anyway you all have a great week & weekend! (Don't get too jealous Melanie & Jess!  Can't wait to hear what you do Sunday afternoon! ) ~ Jodi

~ Pictures of what i've been up to ~

Jess, Tj, Me ~ Jess & Marsha

The one evening some of us went to Ponderosa for Supper. It was a lot of fun! Jess, Starla, Me, & Marsha ~ Kurtis & David

We sat & talked in the Subway at Wal-Mart for over an hour! Trying to get some teddy bears out of those machines. It's almost impossible!

Mark at Ponderosa ~ The youth had a Valentines Daffy Supper. It was a lot of fun & the committee did an awesome job! Marsha....she was the only one that got wet when we played this one game with water.

Kurtis ~ Me, Mark, & Lori

Mark  ~ Kara & her knife that she ate with!

All of us ~ Michael

Marsha, Erika, & Me ~ Washing our own dishes after supper...that got interesting!

Playing human dutch blitz & some for water game.

On Valentines evening the youth baby-sat for the kids at church that was the parents could go out. We had fun doing that. 

Kaitlynn & Madison ~ Me & Benjamin

Playing Chinese Wall & Upset the Fruit Basket 

Making cards...Tj & Madison ~ Taylor

Some making cards & some playing dutch blitz. 

Marsha, Benjamin, & Jeremiah ~ Eating a snack

Jeremiah  ~ Branson, Marsha, Tyrell, & Me. 

My Grandma's dog had 5 puppies on Christmas Day & they are being sold now so we were enjoying them one last day. Me with 3 of them & Jessie with one.

This is my favorite one...I'm trying to talk mom & dad into letting us keep it.  Tonight we had a box social. It was lots of fun & there were some very creative boxes. This is a tool box.

On of the horse things at stores you can ride ~ A toilet

The inside of Cold Stone Creamery ~ Starbucks mug

Mountain Dew can & Mustard & Ketchup ~ Some of the boxes on the tables.

Lavon was our great auctioneer! Michael holding things up for him. ~ Playing some volleyball later.

Well that's basically what i've been up to besides work & school. Have a great week! ~ Jodi

Hey everyone!  My mom found this on the internet somewhere & i thought it was very good.

A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later. As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. Mom taught me to love the Word of God. Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spellbound for hours each evening. He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, Bill and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars. The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind, but sometimes Mom would quietly get up - while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places - and go to her room read her Bible and pray. I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house - not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four-letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted. My dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home - not even for cooking. But the stranger felt he needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (too much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of the man/woman relationship were influenced by the stranger. As I look back, I believe it was the grace of God that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents. Yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. But if I were to walk into my parents' den today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. His name? We always just called him. . . TV.

(Author unknown)

I can’t think of everything i have been up to this last month but i will up-date a couple pix.

Melanie & Kurtis ~ We went to the coffee shop after church one evening & played scum. They were these awesome cards! You could see through them but yet couldn't see the number!

Marsha & Me ~ Deb & Tabitha at Justin & Abbie's wedding.

Justin & Abbie ~ Marsha & Me

Playing games one night after church at Davids.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! ~ Jo