A Hearty Thank-You to our Faithful Readers

      We would like to thank our faithful readers for reading our blog! It amazes me as dry and non-humorous as our blog is that there are still faithful readers! We just love our "fans"! (I will be sending autographs if you would like one! Just put your name and address in the comments section and I will send an autograph, which will be worth millions of dollars in a million years!)  To some a blog is "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH"! But hey, if it helps pass time then "whatever floats your boat floats your boat!"
       Enough with the rambling, Thank you for your faithful reading! It brings a tear to my eye! Its like roses in my noses! (WAIT, I'm rambling again!)
       A special "Thank-you" to Madison R., who reads our blog faithfully! She has told us numerous times that she is a fan of ours! You're the BEST Madison! We enjoy your happiness that flows from your innermost being! "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine..." (Prov. 17:22)  Thanks! Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Day!

'Tis the Season to Be Busy!

     Hello everyone!  Well, truly, 'Tis the Season to Be Busy and also Jolly'! In the Brock's household, it has been very busy! However, in all the hustle and bustle, God has remained good to us, just as He said He would! Since it has been a while since we updated you on the our lives, I would like to just let you know what has been happening these last few months!
     As many of you already know, at the beginning of October, Mary and I found out that we are going to have a baby! A BABY! Needless to say, my first reaction was shock and I pinched myself a few times to see if it was a dream or reality! (You know dreams can seem pretty real, at least until you wake up!) Then my mind began to flood with many questions, thoughts (both scary and good) and many prayers to God!
     Because we were in shock and disbelief, Mary went to have her blood tested to see if it was truly a reality! And the test came back positive, Mr. & Mrs. Tyler Brock are going to be parents! (I think the thing that scared us the most is the fact that a little Tyler or little Mary (more scary than Tyler) was going to be running around like a Comanche!) HAHA LOL!
     At 8 weeks, Mary had her first ultra sound to see our little one! It was so neat to see our little baby, even though the extremities were barely visible! We could at least see that it was a baby! Here is a picture from the ultra sound!

 It is a bit blurry! (L to R) It is the head, trace of left and right arms and then lower extremities! Cute!

After all the shock of a baby, in November, our church had the 32nd Anniversary! Pastor Whitecar was our main speaker at the Mission Conference! The conference was very good, especially being able to see Pastor Whitecar and his wife! The Lord also worked on Mary & I's heart about some things through the messages! 

       As of this week, Mary is 12 weeks along! In the last few weeks, Mary has been feeling very, very sick! To the point that we thought that there could be something wrong with the baby! So the doctor had another ultrasound done today! God is SO GOOD! There is nothing wrong with the baby! Today, Mary went to have the ultrasound and as you can see the baby (we say "he") is doing good and has not skipped a beat! 

 A side profile of the baby! (R to L) Head, hand by his face and rest of body!

 Another side profile! (R to L) Head, a little more detail on the hand and faintly, the lower extremities!

A little blurry! But same thing without the hand by the head! Very cute! (It is because of Mary! Oh yeah, brownie points for me!)

While the nurse was measuring the baby, he was so cute--he kept raising his hand and moving around! Praise God for a healthy baby!

      We had a great Thanksgiving with my parents and some of my mom's family! Of course, I ate a lot, but I was very good about eating before Thanksgiving and I went back to my good eating habits! 

       Surprising enough, Mary & I went "Black Friday" shopping! (Neither of us like to shop!) At Midnight on Thursday, we went to a couple of stores! They were not too crowded, but we did "Man shopping", which is go in, get WHAT YOU NEED (nothing else) and leave! We heard that Walmart and Best Buy were a zoo! Then Friday morning, we woke up about 8:00 and went to finish our shopping! FYI: If you are going to shop on Black Friday, after the rush is the BEST time! We still got everything that we needed! And almost all of our Christmas shopping is done! PTL! 

       The school is doing well! Right now we are working on our Christmas program! This weekend, Mary & I are going to get our Christmas Tree for our FIRST Christmas together! AWW! 

       Well, that wraps up our life these last few months! It is pretty normal with a few interesting, exciting days! During this Christmas season, DO NOT get all "wrapped" up with the hustle and bustle of the selfish world...Remember Christ is the Reason for the Season! Share a smile, show Christ love to others and God will bless your Christmas Season!

College

       Every morning on our way to school, Tyler and I drive by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology...most people just call it School of Mines.  We drive by between 7:15 and 7:30 and we always see one of two things, or both things.  Sometimes we see college students running to class so that they will not be late, and we also may see a college professor (easily distinguished from a college student) rushing to get to class so he is not late to teach.  Many mornings when we drive by I will say to Tyler, "I really miss college."  The first time I said that, he looked at me a little strange, but after a few minutes he said, "I guess I miss parts of college too".  As we said what we missed about it, it was different things...
       Tyler first of all missed the good times that he had in the dorm with the other guys.  He missed all the deep (and some not so deep) conversations that they had about different issues and on different topics.  Another thing he really misses is being able to sit under a teacher and be the one taught, rather than the one teaching.  We both wish we could go back and just learn more...you can never get to the point where you have learned "enough" or all that you need.
       I also miss the learning, but there are some things that I miss more than that.  I think two of the things that I miss the most about college are tests and projects, specifically reports.  To me, each test was a challenge to see how much I had really learned...the most challenging were those in my Biology class, which included: Botany, Zoology, Anatomy & Physiology, and Micro Biology.  A report was also a challenge to me of how much information I could gather through my own research, and how well I could put it into my own words.  Turning in a paper or a test that you have worked hard for gives such a great feeling of accomplishment.  I remember one night in which I finished a Zoology report on Killer Whales until about 3:00 AM, slept for an hour, and then got up and studied for my Zoology final until 5:30.  I was very worn out and sick from all the coffee I drank, but when I was able to turn everything in, it was very, very rewarding.  One last thing that I missed about college is student teaching.  I enjoyed every minute of it, and I learned SO MUCH myself.  One of my college teachers said that the test of a true teacher is whether that teacher can put into her students' heart the same love that she has for what she is teaching.  As I taught, I would think of that often.
       I know there is a much larger paragraph about what I miss about college than what Tyler misses, but he is not here with me, and I cannot remember everything that he said, but I know I have the basic details.
      I cannot believe that I am now a college graduate...it seems as if I was just in 7th grade, and finishing high school seemed far away.  Our lives go by so quickly, which is a reminder that whether we are in junior high, high school, college, or completely done, we need to be using every day for the Lord, because there is no way that we can take yesterday back.                                                                                           

Oh Deer!

       This past Saturday, our alarm went off at 4:45 a.m.  As it did, I was glad that it was not going off for me!  Tyler on the other hand was ready to jump out of bed.  All night he had been like a little boy trying to sleep on Christmas Eve...he could not wait to wake up so that he could go hunting.  I supported him by getting his breakfast and making sure he had warm clothes, hunting license, water, etc. 
      At about 9:00 Tyler told me that he had gotten his deer!!!  I was so excited for him!  Later he told me the story of how it had happened...He and his dad had been out waiting for a deer for a couple of hours and had seen nothing.  Finally, they decided that it was time to go home and come back another time.  As they got in the truck, and began to back up, they saw two deer off in the distance in a little valley.  Tyler got out of the truck, but he did not have a good shot at it.  He waited and waited, while his dad drove the truck, hoping to get the deer to move.  One deer finally began to run, and would not stop...so once again it could not be shot!  Finally it stopped, and Tyler aimed and fired.  He had gotten his deer!
      Later I finally got to see the deer...I made sure not to get too close!  I saw it from about 15 feet away as it hung in his parents' garage.  Thankfully the head was in a bucket, because that is where it was shot, and I am not sure if I would have been able to see that!  Tyler, my father-in-law, and mother-in-law spent about an hour processing the meat...I did not help here either!  I did give it a distant glance after all the fat and hair had been removed and it looked a little more normal. They are excited about the deer jerky, deer roast, deer shredded meat, and everything else they will get from it.  I am very excited for them as well, but am not quite sure how much of it I will eat!
      I am definitely in South Dakota now!  I know of two other people who shot a deer over the weekend.  I am just thankful that there is a Wal-Mart here with good cow meat!  It did put me into the Thanksgiving mood as I thought of the Pilgrims and Indians on the first Thanksgiving...everything they were eating they had killed themselves!

End of the First Quater

      Wow!  I cannot believe that the end of the first quarter is here.  Nine weeks of school are done...soon Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here.  I have enjoyed so much teaching, and time has just seemed to fly by...well, for the most part.  There are some days that I wonder if the day will ever end.  I have to say that I have already learned so much this school year.  I do not think a teacher ever stops learning.  I have learned that it takes a lot of reliance on the Lord to be an effective teacher.  I only have eight students, but in my classroom there is such a vast range of personalities, and each one needs a completely different approach.  I have the pouty ones, the stubborn ones, the soft-hearted, the fun-loving, the " I am almost a teenager" ones, etc.  I have learned to love each child for a different quality that I see in him/her.  Someone recently told me that the mark of a good teacher is one who can find the potential in every child and develop it in that child.  I know that I have not yet made that "good mark".  Just when I think I got one of them figured out, something happens to make me realize that there is much more in that little brain of theirs that I have not yet figured out.
       One student that I have really enjoyed this year is the one kindergartner in my class...his name is Zachary.  We of course all call him Zach.  I was a little worried for him at first.  He would be the only "new kid" in our class, and all the other kids knew each other.  I was worried that he would be a little afraid and apprehensive to come into a classroom where he really did not know the kids.  I was also worried because he has a bit of a speech problem...he substitutes the letters d and t for other letters.  My worries were gone almost as soon as school started.  As soon as he walked into the classroom, he seemed to get along perfectly with all the kids and he was not at all shy about talking to them.  As a bit of and "ice-breaker", before going into all of the school rules, I had each child tell me what his/her favorite thing was about the summer.  I was not sure what he would do when I got to him, but when his turn came he loudly said, "Twimmin'!"  He explained to me in his own way that him and his brother had a great time swimming during the summer.  The next day, we were all down in the lunch room for snack time when I heard him say, "Hey guys! Do you got a poon?  My momma 'got to gimme a poon!"  His mom had forgotten to pack him a spoon for his pudding!  There are many times now, that if I need a little cheering up, I just walk over to his desk and talk to him for a couple of minutes.  He is always working his hardest, whether he understands or not, and is really trying his best to work on his speech.  I was trying to teach him to say six, so I said, "Ok, Zach, say ssssssssssix". Wanting to do his best for "teacher" (that is what he calls me) he said, "Sssssssssssdix".  Still not quite there, but working on it.  He excitedly called out one day, "Teacher, I can say ffffour and ffffive, not dour and dive!!!!"  I have so many more stories to tell about him, but I will stop there for now. 
      This school year has definitely had its challenges, but I am thankful that this is the work that the Lord has put me in for now.  I know that there is still so much more that I need to learn, and I pray that my eyes, ears, and heart will be open so that I will learn it.

God is Love

      Recently I heard a young man say that because of the school that he had attended when he was younger, he did not know what love was, since they had shown no love to him.  As I heard that, I sat and puzzled, because I went to the same school that young man went to, and I sat in classes with him.  It was at that school that I myself learned what true love really is.  How could two people in the same school come away with two completely opposite views? 
      In the Bible, in I John 4:8 it says, "...God is love."  My conclusion from that verse is that if you do not know love, it is because you do not know God.  I attended Fairhaven Baptist Academy from 5th through 12th grades, and during my time there I learned what love was, because I learned about God and how His love can shine through those who know Him and allow Him to work through them.  At our recent Family Camp, I heard our guest speaker, Pastor Don Strange say that there were two kinds of love: Reel love, and Real love.  "Reel" love is the Hollywood kind of love that only loves to get something in return and stops loving if nothing is giving in return.  Real love is the kind of love that loves unconditionally, no matter what is received in return.  During my time in school, I saw and learned about real love.  The first real love I learned about was that of the Savior who died for me, expecting nothing in return and knowing that through my life I would many times hurt and disappoint Him.  I am so thankful that I know God and that because of that I have experienced His love.  Another place where I saw this love was in my teachers and in the staff at my school.  You see, they also knew God and showed His love to me.  They gave of their time and attention to me when I needed it, not expecting me to give them anything in return.  They prayed for me when I struggled, and rejoiced with me when God blessed me.  They never gave up on me, even when I did foolish things, and they were always willing to help me stand up when I fell and encourage me to move forward.  Today I myself am a teacher at a Baptist school, and many days I pray and hope that I can show the love to my students that my teachers showed to me every day.
       I feel sorry for those who cannot see the love of God around them because they choose not to see it.  I wish that they could know God as I have learned to know Him so that they could also know real love.

School Time!

         I cannot believe that in just four days from today school will be starting.  It seems like just yesterday that it was the end of May and we were excited to have the whole summer before us.  Every day it seems that I am telling Tyler, "We were going to do_______ before school started, and now we don't have time".  I think every summer must be like that for students and teachers alike.  There is just not enough time for it.
          I was thinking back to being in school myself and the mixed emotions that I had when school started.  I was a little sad that the enjoyment of summer was over, yet I was excited to be starting a new school year in a new grade that made me feel older.  I remember how big I felt when I started seventh grade.  Now I look back and think about how little I actually knew and how much I still needed to learn.  Ninth grade was another exciting year, because I was finally entering high school.  Although I remember being excited about that year, I do not remember much else, so there must not have been too much going on.  My senior year was definitely a very memorable one.  I remember starting the year thinking about the fact that we were the oldest students in the school.  I remembered being in 7th grade, looking up at the seniors so much, and thinking that they must be nearly perfect.  Now I was in that position, and I knew that I was far from nearly perfect, yet there were 7th graders, 8th graders, etc. looking up to me.  It made me want to be a good example for them.  The time finally came for college, and I was very nervous.  I knew things would be very different from high school.  With each new year of college I enjoyed more and more what I was learning, realizing that in a very short time I might be a teacher, since that was what I was preparing for.  When I finally graduated from college, I could not believe how quickly time had gone.  It seemed as if I was just entering 7th grade not too long before, but there I was at 22 years old, married, and a college graduate.
        I am so excited to be putting into use what I learned.  I have already gotten somewhat of a chance helping my mother-in-law in her classroom from February through May.  Now that same classroom will be my own.  I realize what a GREAT responsibility it is to have those young lives in my care.  I am looking forward to the first day of school.  Our classroom has been painted and decorated and has a fresh, new look that I hope the kids will be excited about.  PACEs are ready to go, along with star charts, goal cards, etc.  I wonder what this new year will bring.

Supervisors' Training Week

         Last week we spent four days being trained in how to be a good ACE supervisor.  Not growing up in an ACE school, I was very nervous to go to this training, since I do not know that much about the "system".  Tyler, who grew up with ACE from K-5 through 12th grade, was not a bit nervous, of course.  We were both looking forward to it, in a way, because we were going to be able to get away from home for a week, and stay in a hotel, eat out, etc.  I think we both enjoyed it more than we thought we would, and it turned out to be a great week for us.
         Part of what made the week was the pastor whom was in charge of our training.  His name is Pastor David Gerhardt, and the training was held at his church & school, Calvary Baptist.  He has an interesting story.  His parents were missionaries on the Reservations in South Dakota.  When it came time for him to go to college, he chose to study medicine.  He had gone to med school for 7 years, and was close to being done with his schooling to begin his medical practice as a surgeon.  Because of what his major was, he needed one more course in language, and decided to go to a Theological Seminary to take a class in New Testament Greek.  While he was there, he was called to preach, and he left all of those years of study behind and became a preacher instead of a doctor.  Tyler and I got to spend some time with him, and enjoyed so much being able to talk to him and hear the MANY stories that he had.  After the Lord called him to preach, he returned to South Dakota and worked in the ministry there with the Native Americans as well as in other areas.  During our week of training, as he would have break-off sessions with us about different areas, it was easy to see his heart for the Lord and for what he was doing.  We could tell that he was not just spouting off a wealth of information that he knew he was supposed to give us, but he was trying to show us what he had learned through the experiences that the Lord has put him through.  He also had some very practical information for us, such as "Spend a lot of money to get a GOOD pair of shoes, because shoes can make or break you in the classroom."  He then went on to show us the pair of shoes that he was wearing that he had owned for 3 years and still looked almost new.  We both learned so much from him that week, as I am sure the other students did.
           One interesting thing about our week, was that most of the training was done by us being in a school setting and doing PACEs ourselves, just like our students would.  We had to sit in our desk, and put up our flags when we had a question or needed something signed by our supervisor.  We could also get demerits if we did something wrong, or gain merits for doing the things we were supposed to.  We also had homework and reports to write.  Tyler and I had a good time working on our homework together, and we worked so far ahead that we were able to be done a day early with our work.  That was fun, because I got to help grade tests, keep records, pass out merits, etc.
          We learned about many different things in our PACEs:  Organization, Wisdom, dealing with Parents, The Five Laws of Learning, and how to use the ACE program to teach reading.  I think the one that I learned the most from was the Organization PACE.  The one thing that really stood out to me from that lesson was that someone who takes on too much responsibility just to please others is as bad as someone who is constantly passing on responsibility to others and not taking any on themselves.  There has to be a balance between being a hard worker and knowing how to delegate so that you are not left with a desk piled high with projects that soon have your stress level at a maximum.
            Another thing we really enjoyed about the week was the other people who were in the class training with us.  There were only 9 students total, which made it easy for us to all get to know each other.  Everyone had such a great attitude, and it seemed that every person had at least one idea that they had brought from their school that was helpful to the rest of us.
            I think that what we learned from the most was from having to be in our "students' shoes" for one week.  We were once again elementary or high school students, having to sit at our desks.  Tyler kept a notebook with him and was constantly writing down things that came to his mind during the week about ways to make our school better and more effective in many different areas.  I think most of his ideas came from having to be a student himself.
          We were able to do some enjoyable things while we where at training.  It took place in Cambridge, Minnesota, which is about 45 minutes to an hour from Minneapolis.  On Thursday evening, we went with Pastor Gerhardt, his wife, son-in-law, son-in-law's brother, and grandkids to the Mall of America.  Tyler and I sat in the back seat beside his two year old grandson named Jackson.  Jackson had already fallen asleep and finally woke up about 30 or 40 minutes into our trip.  He did not know me, so when I was the first thing that he saw when he woke up, he started to SCREAM.  No matter what I did, he would not calm down.  His grandma finally got him to be quite, but for the rest of the trip he WOULD NOT LOOK AT ME.  No matter what anyone said or did, he would not turn his head anywhere near the direction where I was.  We did eventually get to be friends, and they said that when Tyler and I got out of the car that night he said "Bye Mawy" for the next ten minutes. 
           At the mall, we went to eat at Famous Dave's where our huge meal was served on a trash can lid.  We all ate as many ribs, fried chicken, french fries, coleslaw, and baked beans as we could and there was still quite a bit left-over.  We walked around a little and Tyler made sure to buy me some chocolate from Godiva's.  It was very good.  On Friday afternoon, just Tyler and I went back to the mall to ride some of the rides they have in the center of the mall.  Right before we bought our tickets, I ate 8 VERY HOT boneless buffalo wings.  After the first roller coaster ride I was feeling very sick, and I thought that I would never eat something that spicy before going on a roller coaster.  After leaving the mall, we went over to Pastor Gerhardt's house where we were able to spend an enjoyable evening with his family and hear more stories that kept us laughing at one moment and in amazement at the other.
           Well...I think I have rambled quite enough already.  Tyler and I did have a wonderful week, and are thankful for all that we learned from everyone involved.
         

Vacation Bible School

This is Evangelist Tom Rickard who conducted our Vacation Bible School.  It was so great to work with him and his family.  They all had so much energy.  He liked to call Mt. Dew his "orange juice", and in this picture his wife had made him drink real orange juice, and he was making a face at the taste of it.

This was "Crazy Tie Day".  Many of the kids participated, and it was funny to see some of the things they came up with.

The missionary story for the week was on John & Betty Stam to China.  Every day a different part of the story was acted out.  Bro. Tom played the part of John, and his wife was Betty.  In this scene, they are meeting for the first time, and John thinks Betty is the greatest thing.

Here John Stam has just gotten off the boat in China and is waiting for someone to come pick him up.

Unknown to John, Betty had to travel to the city where he was because she needed to go to the hospital.  He is very excited to see her, and proposes right there on the spot.  (All the boys said "Ewwwww" to this part)

Here is a line of girls getting ready to play the "snakey game".  This little girl is named Alexandra, and she is my flute student.

As soon as I moved here, the Lord blessed me with a friend who, scary to say, is just like me.  Her name is Rachel.  We had so much fun working together in VBS.

Some of the little boys that we pick up on the vans.

This is Braden, very excited to play the next game.  There was MUCH energy flowing from all of the kids that week.

This was my favorite poster made on "Crazy Poster Day".  She won first place.

We are now back in China, where bandits held up a bus that Betty Stam was riding on.

This is "Dress-up Day".  The kids could either dress up as if they were in the army, or in China.

This little soldier was all set to go, thumb and all.

Back in China, where the Chinese army captured John, Betty, and their baby Priscilla, and are taking them on a trip through the mountains.

At the end of the week, John and Betty gave their lives as martyrs for the cause of Christ.  At the end of the story, I think every lady worker in the auditorium was crying.

This sign was put out on our church lawn a couple of days before VBS and stayed up the entire week.

One of our teen boys, acting like the blind evangelist that led John Stam to the Lord. (sorry my pictures are a little out of order for the story line)

Bro. Tom and one of our guys doing a "secret handshake".

Auditorium full of kids

Each day during break time, we had different races.  The 5 yr. old girls were the most fun to watch.

This is Bro. Tom's son, who the kids called Mr. Nate.  He is telling part of the story of "David & Goliath".

Family Visit

Vacation Bible School is now finished, and I finally had time to take some pictures from our camera, and put them onto our computer!  Being the non-camera people that Tyler and I are, we kept on forgetting to take our camera with us while my family was here for vacation.  We remembered on the last day, and so any and all pictures that I post from my family's visit are all on the same day...I know-not very interesting!  I am sorry, but maybe you can find a couple that you do like.  Since it was the only day we had a camera, we ended up taking 87 pictures that day.  I will not put them all on, but did have such a hard time deciding which ones to use.  No one in our family is a professional photographer, or even striving to be one, so you will be able to tell that when you look at the pictures.  We did see some beautiful things, both in the Badlands and in Spearfish Canyon at the amazing waterfalls.  I miss my family very much, but am so thankful for the pictures that I have to look back at!

This is a snapshot of a very small portion of the beautiful Badlands.  It is so neat to see something that was carved out in this way by the Flood.

Of course I have to have a picture of my wonderful husband and I!!

This is the whole group: Lorelynn, Lorena, Mary, Tyler, Dad, Mom, and Grandma.

While we were hiking around a little (as much as we were allowed to) we saw a couple of different places where there were mountain goats.

You really have to look to see these mountain goats-they blend in with the scenery.

Lorelynn was able to receive a call from David, who is in Afghanistan, even in the middle of the Badlands!

When I see Lorena, I still cannot believe that she is 18 years old and only has a year of high school left.  Sometimes I think she should still be my little 5 year old sister that we all had so much fun playing with!  It was great to have her out here, and several people in my church said they want her to move out here!!!!

After being in the VERY hot Badlands, we drove to Spearfish Canyon, which was a complete opposite of the desert place we had just been in.  There were beautiful waterfalls, and everything was so alive and green!

This is called "Bridal Veil Fall".  I have only ever seen it from the road, but this time we decided to hike a little and get closer to eat.  We had to wade through some VERY cold water and do a little climbing, but is was worth the work when we got there.

Another picture of Tyler and I.  This is quite an accomplishment, since we are not picture people!!

Dad and Lorena

We had to make our way through this creek to get to the waterfall. 

When we got done with all of our fun, and had gotten back to the main road, we saw this sign a little ways down from where we had started our little excursion!  

This is a picture of the BEST mother in the world!  She is standing in front of another waterfall that we went to, called "Roughlock Fall".  

Grandma and three of her granddaughters

This is where we took our engagement pictures, so it was fun to go back and take pictures after we were married.  I am not sure if the sun was shining weird on my hair, or if it really was that frizzy by the end of the day!

A picture of Roughlock Fall

Teenagers & Family: Our last two weeks

It has been about two weeks since we last posted, and those two weeks have left us tired, but happy.  At about 8:00 a.m. on June 27th, we left the parking lot of Liberty Baptist Tabernacle in two vans loaded with 18 teenagers and juniors (4th-6th grade) and all of their luggage, which for some was hardly anything and for others was far more than desired!!  We drove about 6 hours and ended in Aberdeen, SD at Richmond Lake Bible Camp where we spent the next week.  We had a great and wonderful time, although I felt very tired by Tuesday afternoon!  I would love to post some pictures, but being the bright people that we are, Tyler and I left our camera at camp!  We will hopefully be receiving it shortly.  We had the normal bug bites, sunburns, headaches, and accidents.  I got a very painful sunburn on Wednesday, which I had to keep on covering in soothing aloe vera.  We had one teenage girl with 104 mosquito bites by the time we left for home.  One young lady got knocked pretty badly in the face while we were playing with a big ball.  Her biggest concern was that she could not feel half of her face for the rest of the day!  Another of my girls had back spasms...and the list could go on and on.  The preaching, which was the whole purpose we took the kids to camp, was great.  We heard from Bro. Torrey Jaspers and his father Dr. Glenn Jaspers.  The main theme of the week was that "Direction Determines Destination".  We were all challenged with the fact that decisions we make now will affect our future. Several of our young people made good decisions that we pray will stick with them through the rest of their lives.  I was delighted when Dr. Glenn Jaspers asked me if I knew the LaBates!  Of course I know them...they are from the church I grew up in!  He told me that Mrs. LaBate grew up under his ministry!!  There is so much more I could tell of our week at camp, but I will save it for the time when I can hopefully show some pictures.

We arrived home on Saturday, July 2nd, which was the same day that my family arrived from Indiana.  I was so thankful that my dear husband had taken the time to make our apartment as spotless as possible before we left for camp!  The week spent with my family was delightful!!  On July 4th they attended the "God & Country Rally" that our church holds every year.  They enjoyed immensely the music that was performed.  The rest of the day we spent with people whom Tyler and I call "Grandpa & Grandma Wells".  They are not really either of our grandparents, but we love them very much.  We did the normal things you do on the Fourth-eat and play games outside!  In the evening we watched fireworks in town--they were beautiful.  The night ended with Jennifer and Sabrina Damron, as well as my sister and sister-in-law spending the night at our house.  I was surprised that both a full and queen size mattress fit on our living room floor!!  Tuesday we went up to Hill City, where we rode an old train, called the 1880 train, through the Black Hills.  I was reminded again of what a beautiful place we live in!  Once we got of the train, we spent the rest of the afternoon walking through Keystone and looking at all of the little shops.  We finished the day by having supper with another set of grandparents that I have acquired at the church, the Maullers.  I ate buffalo meat, and it was delicious!  Wednesday was our day for Mt. Rushmore.  It was very, very busy when we got there, but we were thankful that the weather had cleared up from the rain that had been around in the morning.  Our last day together was Thursday, and I think it was the best day we had.  We spent our morning in the Badlands, which were amazing.  We could not stop taking pictures!  The afternoon was spent in Spearfish Canyon, where we hiked a little and saw two beautiful waterfalls.( I promise to post pictures of this later when I have more time)  We ended the day by having dinner at Pastor and Mrs. Furse's log home way up high on a hill.  While we were eating we saw turkeys, deer and a coyote out the big window. We had to say our goodbyes on Friday morning as we ate breakfast together...we miss them all already, and hope they will be out again soon!!

This morning started Vacation Bible School here at Liberty Baptist Tabernacle.  I am the 2nd grade teacher, and Tyler is the 6th grade teacher.  We will also be helping with "Teen Time" in the evenings.  I thought I would let everyone know, so that you will not expect any more updates during the week (not that we post that much anyway!)  We will try to also have some pictures of that to show everyone at the end of the week!  We may just have to have a post of all pictures!!!!!!  GOODBYE FOR NOW!!

Family

While Tyler and I were in Indiana for graduation, we enjoyed so much the time we spent with family.  I thought I would share a couple pictures of our time together.  My sister and her kids (pictured with us above) came from Wisconsin, and we had some crazy times together.  David, who is five years old is getting to be fun to talk to.  On the night of graduation, as we were all getting frantically ready, he saw Tyler and then came to find me.  He said, "Mary, Tyler looks very handsome!"  I thought that was just so funny--he really liked Tyler's suit.  I had to agree with him that my husband looked handsome!!  Tyler took the two boys to the park in the afternoon, and because of that I think they will forever love him!

On Friday, after Stephanie and the kids went home, the rest of us went along with my dad on a few of his appraisals for work, went to see the Tippecanoe battlefield, and ate at Olive Garden!  I went online and found the history and details of the battle, and began to read it to my family when we got to the battlefield, thoroughly enjoying all that I was learning.  They did not appreciate my love of history too much, and soon let me know that they had learned everything they wanted to about the battle for one afternoon!!  We enjoyed walking around the battlefield, as well as a pretty little river that ran along side.

Lorena, Mary, and Lorelynn near the river.

Mom and Dad

Tyler and I enjoying the river

In front of the battlefield

My little sister and I (who is not so little anymore)

We are standing in front of a monument erected to the men who fought.

These two pictures are proof of what being in a car all day, traveling through farm country, will do to you!!