Wow, so I guess it's been a really long time since I updated this site. But, that's mostly because there hasn't been much going on in my life. Beginning in the end of May, this is everything that has happened to me this summer:

Last week of May - My dad, sister, brother, neighbor, sister's housemate, and I went and backpacked the Grand Canyon. We were gone for a week (2 travel days) and hiked a total of 38 miles, but it sure seemed like a lot more!!! By the time we reached our second campground, we were convinced that Grand Canyon miles are longer than regular miles. I might post some of the pictures I took later.

June 16 - one of the elders from our church got married. He's Ethiopian and it was the coolest wedding ever! When the wedding party came into the reception room, they just started dancing to the Lord. It was amazing! After the dinner, there was more worship dancing and the next night, at a traditional ceremony where the groom's family gives the bride a "new" name and the bride's family has to either approve or reject it, there was even more dancing. It was a really neat experience.

June 23 - After several months of planning, my good friend (also our neighbor's daughter) got married. The reception was held at our house and so the days before the wedding were spent doing as much decorating as we could before the actual day. The ceremony was beautiful, and thanks to the bride's cousin/moh, her veil did not catch fire when she was lighting the unity candle. When we told her afterwards how close she had come to being a candle herself, she couldn't believe it - she was totally oblivious. The ceremony was also gorgeous...but nothing compared to the beauty of the bride! Which is as it should be.

July - I finished Level One training with the local Pregnancy Resource Center and began volunteering as a receptionist. I have been volunteering 1 afternoon a week, but this week I am going to start volunteering more, at least until I find a job. The director has put me in charge of designing, editing, writing, and compiling the newsletter for the center. They haven't sent one out in a long time, so I'm starting from scratch. It is really fun! We are calling the newsletter "Life Witness," but that name is by no means carved in wood and I'd love to hear your ideas!

The first week of July, Dad and Abba visited Grandma in Colorado. Then, 1 day after they got back, Mom and all 3 boys went to Pennsylvania for bicycling nationals. The boys did well and were safe, which is the most important thing. In one of the junior races (none of my brothers were in that race, thank God - and I say that quite reverently and literally), there was a terrible crash. On a really steep descent, where the racers were going about 55MPH, a front group of about 20 guys crashed. Then, the next group of about 30 guys came upon the scene and also crashed. 2 of the racers had to be airlifted because of their serious injuries and the following race was delayed for 1.5 hours while they cleaned up from the crash.

July 22 - We had a surprise party for our mom who turned 50 on July 11. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Anyways, she didn't suspect a thing; we had a "fake" birthday party for her - except she didn't know it was fake - the Thursday before (she was in Pennsylvania before then) with our neighbors and some other friends who I knew wouldn't be able to make it to the surprise party. It was great fun and some of us played BANG! which was also great fun, since me and the sheriff won!!!

July 27 - I FINISHED my goal of riding 1,000 miles. So now I'll be getting my new bike pretty soon!!! I am very excited, but I can't decide on a name yet. I'll have to think of something. If you have any suggustions, feel free to leave a comment. Also, please feel free to leave a comment if you don't have any suggestions :).

Well, I guess that's it. As you can see, I've had a very slow summer and so I have no excuse for not updating this blog thing-y.

posting pictures soon (maybe),
Adri

PS I almost forgot - I also have gone kayaking down the river 2 times this summer and it was so enjoyable! I LOVE kayaking, and I've decided that IF I ever get a job, the first thing I'll save up for is a kayak!

These two are pictures I took with my mom's camera. Unfortunately, she had just gotten the camera and we didn't realize the date stamp was on :(.






Easter sunrise service.




"When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than we we first begun."




Having fun after the baptism service...what's crazy is that at least two of those guys were on the same team!