A Touching Anniversary Story.....

Happy 52nd Anniversary,Dad & Mom, and Happy 24th Anniversary to my husband Kevin!

We celebrated the special day yesterday out at the lake with a cake. Now, there is a special story behind the cake that Grandma shared with us while we were enjoying it.

She and Papa stopped by the local DQ to get an ice cream cake. After she picked it out, she asked the counter girl to write "Happy Anniversary" on it. While Grandma was waiting, she watched another customer kidding around with the other employees to find the most chocolatey blizzard they could muster. He then turned to Grandma, apologized, and motioned that it was her turn to order. Grandma said, "Oh no, that is OK, I have already ordered and am waiting for our cake to be inscribed."

The man asked if it was a special event and Grandma replied, "Yes, it's our anniversary, and my daughter's and her husband's too." "We really don't need a cake, but the little ones do." He asked Grandma how many years they have been married and she told him 52 years. He exclaimed, "52 YEARS! That is just wonderful! And I bet he still doesn't learn? Ha Ha" Grandma laughed and said, "Yes, you are right. For 52 years his underwear have been in the same drawer and he still asks me where they are!"

While Grandma was visiting and joking around with the man, she noticed that he was wearing a shirt with "FEMA" embroidered on the front, so she told him how much our community appreciates what they have done to help our flooded little city.

At this time, the cake was ready....and before Grandma could lift her purse up to open it, this gentleman quickly handed the cashier the money to pay for the anniversary cake. Even the DQ workers were crying......

Grandma didn't get his name, but she was so blessed by his little act of generosity. And it helped restore a little of her faith in mankind.

Thank you FEMA man, whoever you are. You made our special day one to remember.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary.... Mom & Dad! We love you and hope to make it to 52 years one day too!

A Touching Anniversary Story.....

Happy 52nd Anniversary,Dad & Mom, and Happy 24th Anniversary to my husband Kevin!

We celebrated the special day yesterday out at the lake with a cake. Now, there is a special story behind the cake that Grandma shared with us while we were enjoying it.

She and Papa stopped by the local DQ to get an ice cream cake. After she picked it out, she asked the counter girl to write "Happy Anniversary" on it. While Grandma was waiting, she watched another customer kidding around with the other employees to find the most chocolatey blizzard they could muster. He then turned to Grandma, apologized, and motioned that it was her turn to order. Grandma said, "Oh no, that is OK, I have already ordered and am waiting for our cake to be inscribed."

The man asked if it was a special event and Grandma replied, "Yes, it's our anniversary, and my daughter's and her husband's too." "We really don't need a cake, but the little ones do." He asked Grandma how many years they have been married and she told him 52 years. He exclaimed, "52 YEARS! That is just wonderful! And I bet he still doesn't learn? Ha Ha" Grandma laughed and said, "Yes, you are right. For 52 years his underwear have been in the same drawer and he still asks me where they are!"

While Grandma was visiting and joking around with the man, she noticed that he was wearing a shirt with "FEMA" embroidered on the front, so she told him how much our community appreciates what they have done to help our flooded little city.

At this time, the cake was ready....and before Grandma could lift her purse up to open it, this gentleman quickly handed the cashier the money to pay for the anniversary cake. Even the DQ workers were crying......

Grandma didn't get his name, but she was so blessed by his little act of generosity. And it helped restore a little of her faith in mankind.

Thank you FEMA man, whoever you are. You made our special day one to remember.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary.... Mom & Dad! We love you and hope to make it to 52 years one day too!

One Month Ago.....

Wow, cannot believe my last blog post was one month ago. So much has happened in our little community since the historic flooding of the Mouse River...it is just devastating! Over 12,000 people displace, over 4,000 homes inundated--and of those homes over 800 condemned & over 2,000 severely damaged. However, the mind-boggling thing is that only a couple hundred people ended up in the shelters. Isn't that amazing? The rest of the community took in over 11,800 people into their homes. That just speaks volumes about the hearts of our people!

The devastation is beyond heart wrenching! But, the rebuilding has begun with all of those homes being gutted to the studs. The piles of peoples' belongings are stacked high on the boulevards--sometimes higher than the houses. Oh, and the smell....beyond words.

We decided as a family that we would like to share our home with a family who has a child with a disability, preferably one that uses a wheelchair, as our home is on one level. So, we offered our home to a family who was separated in two towns and has a beautiful little girl with a disability. We then moved out to our trailer (cavin, as Grace calls it) at Rice Lake. We have been so blessed to have two places that survived flooding, so we felt called to share one of them with a family in need.

For us, it has been a sweet time of making family memories. The main reason I haven't posted is that we just got internet yesterday. Until then we were in a dead zone out in the country--no phone, internet, or cable. Now, that we got internet....we will feel a bit more connected. But, we have done so much more as a family without everyone being "plugged" in to their electronics!

I will be posting a few catch-up posts next week because tomorrow we head out for our annual Milwaukee trip. We weren't going to go this year, but getting a break from our cabin sounds mighty appealing right now. :)

Thank you for your prayers! Minot will need them for many months to come...We all know it is devastating, but the community will bounce back and be stronger for it; it's just going to be a long haul.

Blessings, Paula

One Month Ago.....

Wow, cannot believe my last blog post was one month ago. So much has happened in our little community since the historic flooding of the Mouse River...it is just devastating! Over 12,000 people displace, over 4,000 homes inundated--and of those homes over 800 condemned & over 2,000 severely damaged. However, the mind-boggling thing is that only a couple hundred people ended up in the shelters. Isn't that amazing? The rest of the community took in over 11,800 people into their homes. That just speaks volumes about the hearts of our people!

The devastation is beyond heart wrenching! But, the rebuilding has begun with all of those homes being gutted to the studs. The piles of peoples' belongings are stacked high on the boulevards--sometimes higher than the houses. Oh, and the smell....beyond words.

We decided as a family that we would like to share our home with a family who has a child with a disability, preferably one that uses a wheelchair, as our home is on one level. So, we offered our home to a family who was separated in two towns and has a beautiful little girl with a disability. We then moved out to our trailer (cavin, as Grace calls it) at Rice Lake. We have been so blessed to have two places that survived flooding, so we felt called to share one of them with a family in need.

For us, it has been a sweet time of making family memories. The main reason I haven't posted is that we just got internet yesterday. Until then we were in a dead zone out in the country--no phone, internet, or cable. Now, that we got internet....we will feel a bit more connected. But, we have done so much more as a family without everyone being "plugged" in to their electronics!

I will be posting a few catch-up posts next week because tomorrow we head out for our annual Milwaukee trip. We weren't going to go this year, but getting a break from our cabin sounds mighty appealing right now. :)

Thank you for your prayers! Minot will need them for many months to come...We all know it is devastating, but the community will bounce back and be stronger for it; it's just going to be a long haul.

Blessings, Paula

Please Pray for our City.....

Would you please pray for our community? We live in Minot, North Dakota, and are facing a catastrophic flood. The Souris River, aka Mouse River, is projected to flood the whole river valley & beyond by Thursday evening or Friday morning. This flood will be about 9 feet higher than the flood in 1969, if any of you remember that.

Our local news station is doing an AWESOME job reporting 24/7. If you'd like to keep up with the flood coverage, you can go to their FB page and watch live coverage, a river webcam, and even look at the wall to see how the community has come together in amazing ways to help one another:

http://www.facebook.com/kxnewsminot?ref=ts

Although our house is not directly affected, many of our friends and family are having to evacuate their homes. And, a catastrophe such as this will affect our community for years to come. As our Mayor said yesterday during a press conference, "It is a sad day in Minot."

My prayer for us is from Romans 15:13...."May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Love, Paula

Please Pray for our City.....

Would you please pray for our community? We live in Minot, North Dakota, and are facing a catastrophic flood. The Souris River, aka Mouse River, is projected to flood the whole river valley & beyond by Thursday evening or Friday morning. This flood will be about 9 feet higher than the flood in 1969, if any of you remember that.

Our local news station is doing an AWESOME job reporting 24/7. If you'd like to keep up with the flood coverage, you can go to their FB page and watch live coverage, a river webcam, and even look at the wall to see how the community has come together in amazing ways to help one another:

http://www.facebook.com/kxnewsminot?ref=ts

Although our house is not directly affected, many of our friends and family are having to evacuate their homes. And, a catastrophe such as this will affect our community for years to come. As our Mayor said yesterday during a press conference, "It is a sad day in Minot."

My prayer for us is from Romans 15:13...."May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Love, Paula

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Daddy and Grandpa! Both exemplify what it means to be a great Dad!

To celebrate, we all spent the day out at the Cabin.

We had a cookout and yummy DQ cake...
Nole' loved his ice cream....

AND, he LOVED his first "boat" ride....

Happy Father's Day, Daddy & Grandpa....We love you!