Father Daughter Trip

Last weekend Kynzi and I went to Bremerton, WA where I was performing Scott Erickson's ordination service. It was my first one, so that was pretty cool. We got into our hotel pretty late as I stopped in Wilsonville to do some pre-marital counseling on our way up. Kynzi wanted to sing "Going to the Chapel" for the couple because she has been learning it at school. It was way cute!

We get into our hotel at about 11:30 and the lady at the counter asked Kynzi if she planned on going swimming with her dad. Kynzi said yes! I suddenly realized that there was no way that was going to happen in the morning. I asked the hours and she said it was closed, but she would let us in if we wanted to. I looked at Kynzi and she smiled with eyes wide open and we went and changed for our little swim.

It was fun. The pool was warm and I swam with her on my back the whole time because she didn't want to get her hair wet before bed. (my brilliant child)

We got to bed, drove to church and it was a great service. They did an AWEsome job of honoring Scott. We had lunch at the church with everyone else and then headed home.

Both on the way up and back we chatted a lot. I love my daughter. My kids are so fun to travel with. She took a nap the last hour before we hit Portland and then I woke her up when we stopped by for the requested visit to the Rose Festival.



We got to tour a Coast Guard ship and got clown noses from some clowns, saw some cool floats from the parade and ate elephant ears! Yummm! It was a great trip!

Bonehead moments of the week!

This weekend was filled with a few embarrassing moments for me. I don't get embarrassed easily, but I did this weekend. On Friday I went with Jeanne-Ann to take the kids to school. As we were walking out of the school I heard someone crying in the school (surely someone who didn't want their mom to leave). I didn't pay it much mind and i went to grab Jeanne-Ann's hand as we walked out. She kind of pulled her hand away. I tried three times and she did the same thing and I was getting a little irritated as Jeanne-Ann says, "Erik, what are you doing?" I then looked to my left and realized that Jeanne-Ann had stopped to see if the crying child was OK and that another mother was walking next to me!!! She said, "I wondered what you were doing, besides, I'm married." We had a good laugh.



Then came Sunday. There was a "ministry fair" at church (all the different ministries have booths set up and you can go hear all about them). I went over to see my friend Patrick at the college booth. We chatted for a while and I asked Karston if he wanted to go give Maria (Patrick's wife) a hug. I had seen her out of the corner of my eye standing near Patrick as we were talking. I was looking at Karston as I went around the table with my arm out ready to give her a hug and looked up as she pulled back a bit...it wasn't Maria!!! It was a college student that had dark curly hair like Maria and was about the same size as her.

Seriously! What is my deal?! Oh well. My bonehead moments continue to give others great joy so I thought I would pass this along to you.
Few days ago i tried tc held Jas hand 3 times and it wasn't her.
Sunday aM at the College booth i went to hug Maria. not her.

Crazy Airflight

This was last week when I was in Orlando.

I'm sitting on a plane as I write this. Crazy! We were just told that because of severe weather in Houston we have to stay in a holding pattern 150 miles east of New Orleans. We are going around and around in circles as we wait for the storm to clear.
I have waited on a plane on the ground for a storm to clear, but never in the air that long. Actually I waited in Houston on the way out here for a storm. Hmmm...Houston, we have a problem.

Flipside Generosity...

Our high school youth ministry is called Flipside. This is mainly for those who are a part of it, but feel free to take a sneek peek inside. You can also respond as well.

Those of you who attend Flipside know that Brian has been taking us through matters of the heart. The DTL - define the line - having conversations about how we plan to live our lives in purity and most recently about generosity.
We have the opportunity to make an impact on the world. An impact both here we we live and far away. Imagine if we were a youth ministry known for its generosity. Imagine if we were a youth ministry known for its sacrificial giving! That would be AWEsome!

As you have also heard: Kynzi, Grace, Kaylee and Karston are all on a mission of making an impact in a village in Burkina Faso west Africa! They are raising money to build a well for a village there. 1 out of every 3 people in Africa die before the age of 10 because they have to drink dirty water. This will physically change the lives of the people in this village. Yes, there are other things that could cause death, like anywhere else, but this is something they are doing. IT WILL MAKE A LIFE CHANGING IMPACT on many people!

That inspires me...

Does it you?

You can give money to help build this well and take care of filters for families. I understand it to be around $1200 to build this and then $60 a home for the filters. Today we brought in over $350!!! The kids have already brought in over $500 and have at least another $200 on the way. We are almost there! It's not too late to give. We will have an offering "bucket" at the front of the room for several weeks.

Let's make an impact together.

You also heard that you could support Project 132. You can check out more info on this at www.life2007.org/project132. Copy and paste that into your url above. Then check out the videos and the info sheet with all the stuff you can donate to this great cause. You will also be able to get more info on this at flipsideyouth.org this week!

If you are not able to be there (perhaps you live far away) you can drop me a not and let me know that you want to give and you can send a check or put money into my paypal account. Let me know and I will give you the info you need!

Youtube Contest for Youth Quake 07

Every summer we do a middle school service project camp called Youth Quake. I absolutely LOVE this camp! It's truly amazing to see middle school students "get it." When they suddenly realize that God can actually use them, it's amazing! So I am putting together a competition for middle schooler to make some money towards their registration. (NiNETY BUCKS!!!) This is the website you need to go to if you want to enter into the competition. All the rules and what you need to do are posted here: http://www.youtube.com/group/youthquake

Amazing Race Charla and Mirna's Accents!

Did you watch the Amazing Race? Congrats Eric and Danielle. Did it drive anyone else CRAZY listening to Charla and Mirna use the same EXACT accent in EVERY country? I captured this moment on here. Thought you might enjoy. Uhhhhgggggg! It drove me nuts!

I think I saw Hulk Hogan

Today we went to go Letterboxing with our friends and their kids. Do you know what that is? It's like geocaching (hunting for "treasures" using a gps unit). So letterboxing is where you go online to a place like www.letterboxing.org. Then you get a clue as to where to look and you begin the hunt. Some have stories to go along with it and others make you find a spot and then take steps and use a compass, etc. There are really easy ones and harder ones.

So we went letterboxing. The problem is the 2 that we went searching for were not there. When you find it they are usually in a plastic bag or a box. In them there is a stamp that you stamp your book and then you sign your name. When you get home you get online and report your findings. Sometimes there are little trinkets and you trade in another little trinket.

For us...we came up empty. Both sites offered nothing for us. What a bummer. But we had a fun afternoon anyhow.

Back up a few hours...before we went we were at church and then we headed to Costco for a yummy, delicious, nutritious lunch. Polish sausage...mmmm. While I was sitting there talking to Steve I think I may have seen Hulk Hogan. Steve is in the forground of this pic and then you can see Hulk. You make the call.