Aunt Ruth

The other day my brother Bob called to tell me that our Aunt Ruth had passed away in her house. My dad and all his brothers and sisters are now gone. My Aunt Lil lives in Moose Lake, Mn. She was married to my dad's brother, Clayton, who passed away a few years ago. Ruth was always the quiet one with a very dry sense of humor. I still remember when she and my Aunt Blanch came to our wedding in Jackson, Michigan back in 1971. They stayed with Linda's folks for a couple of days. Linda's dad was trying to get them to crack a smile, which they did after a while. I don't have a lot of memories of Aunt Ruth, except going with my dad to visit her and her husband Arnie at their house in Rochester.
The picture is that of Dad's family. Grandma Distad is the one in the middle and Ruth is on the right with Blanch on the left side. Left to right in the back is Clayton, Dad and George. We miss them all.

Last week we held a VBS at Haugen Elementary School in Haugen, Wisconsin. Last year there were only about 4 or 5 kids total, because of Summer School and swimming lessons. This year we changed the dates to later in the summer, when Summer school, Swim lessons and the county fair were over and left the results with the Lord. We averaged 11 kids with 14 enrolled. That may not sound like a lot of kids, but it was a great week. One of the things we have been trying to do is to get to know the parents better and this year we were able to get better acquainted with many of them. A couple of them stayed and helped with the VBS program. The kids seemed excited about VBS and the lessons on Sunday School Charlie. One of the highlights for the kids was to play "Poop Deck" each day. Molly, our summer missionary, led in that game.

VBS in the Dark!

This week we are holding VBS at Lake Park Alliance in Shell Lake. It has been a good week with about 25 kids coming. Today was a little different, and yet a very good day. Sometime last night we had a storm and the lights went out. We woke about 3:00 am to a dark room. In the morning the pastor called and let us know that the electricity was out at the church and would not be on until at least 10:00 am. We wondered if that would affect kids coming to VBS - It didn't! The kids came and it turned out to be a VBS the kids will probably not forget for quite a while. We couldn't use the tape player to play back ground music to the songs they sang and the puppets were a little harder to see, but that was all right. Instead of going down stairs for class, the classes were held in the auditorium where there was more light. After hearing about the tornado that struck the boy scout camp in Iowa and where 3 of them were killed, we praise God for our little inconvenience. God is in control!!!

On June 6th, our grandson, Connor, graduated from Kindergarten. We really enjoyed watching them march in with their cap and cape. One of the highlights was when they sang a song about brushing their teeth. They also had a slide show of the kids during the year. They sure keep them busy. The great thing about the school he and Gabe goes to is that it is a Christian school where they are not afraid to share Christ with the kids. Where else can you begin and end a program with glorifying the Lord!
After graduation we went to a restaurant called Snuffies, where they serve old fashion 50's style hamburgers and milkshakes. I just wish the prices were the same as in the 50's. The only reason Connor likes this restaurant is that they have a candy machine that lets you keep playing until you win some candy. He likes his candy!!!!!
Yesterday we started our first week of Vacation Bible School in Shell Lake, Wisconsin with 17 kids attending. Today there were a few more. I have been teaching another Sunday School Charlie episode where Charlie and Red go to camp and encounter a bully named Muscle Mike. The theme is "Fishers of Men". Today the youth pastor had a long, long cane fishing pole with a lizard on the end of it that he dangled above the kids. (The lizard was in a plastic bag attached to the end of the pole.) Some also brought a turtle for the kids to see. maybe we should have counted the animals in our attendance?

Grand Parents Day

This past Friday was Grand Parents Day at our grand sons Christian school in Blaine, Minnesota. During the first hour we were in the school auditorium and each grade sang a Christian song. It was fun watching both our grandsons sing and do the motions to the songs. Connor is quite the ham, so when he came out on stage with the rest of the kids, he was waddling like a duck and just enjoying himself. Then we spent time in both Connor's kindergarten class and Gabe's First Grade class room. In Connor's classroom, each child introduced their grand parents (or special friend) and tried to tell a little about them and why they were special. In Gabe's class, Gabe showed us his room and read to us out of his library book. He does pretty good at reading. Later I went with Connor to the library where he picked out a couple of books to "look at". He just likes looking at the pictures.
We are very proud of our grand sons (and grand daughters). It is amazing to see them grow up and change every time we see them.

Spring Showers???

Everybody I talk to say that they are more than ready for spring, even though the first day of spring was more than 2 weeks ago. Two days ago the temperatures were in the 50's and I was working in the garage. Last night and today we have been experiencing spring showers - SNOW showers that is - wet, heavy slushy snow. So far we have had about 6 - 8 inches and more is coming tonight. The pictures are of our house this morning. It wouldn't be so bad, but I was talking with a friend from Texas where they were suppose to be over 100 degrees this week. I think I will take the snow over that. No matter how we look at it God is in control and we praise Him for the weather He sends.

Love and Grand Kids

Yesterday, Linda and I spent time with our grand kids in the Twin Cities. We baby sat with the 3 younger ones while Jennifer took Gabe to the eye doctor for a routine eye exam. The doctor told them that he does not need glasses. After they got back to the house, Linda and I took Gabe, Connor and Olivia to McDonalds for Happy Meals. This McDonalds had a play area with shoots, ladders and climbing tunnels that the kids really loved. Talk about noisy!!! Needless to say, the kids enjoyed all the climbing and running around. One of the things that really made our day was our 3 year old grand daughter, Olivia. She is all girl and loves to dress up, play house and look pretty. But what really tickled both Linda and myself is that she must have told each of us a half dozen times "I love you grandpa" and "I love you grandma". Then she would give us a hug and look up at us with those big beautiful eyes. It don't get any better than that!!!