BBQ before Spring Break

This last week was my Spring Break, but before I tell about that....

the Thursday before Break started, some of the girls wanted to have a cookout at the local park and then play games and such. I volunteered to grill, cause I love to (and I learned from the best, my dad!)

grilling burgers

everyone waiting for the burgers :)

I made large moose/beef burgers and we headed to the park early so I could get the grill going.... 

uh, so there's no grills at the park like we thought. We were told later that they had removed them because of the burn ban earlier in the year. So, frantic call to Michael - "hey, bring my grill from school, please!"

Ok, so now we have the grill... but its only so big, we started it later than planned and I was almost out of lighter fluid, so it didn't get going very well. By the time I got done with the burgers everyone was hungry which is probably why they said they liked them so much. But we still had lots of fun. 

smores!

And some even roasted marshmallows over the fire for smores. 

Later we played Ultimate Frisbee, Ninga and another... uh, interesting game. Zip, Zip, Bong (to you Caleb!)

Oh and someone decided to try to throw the Frisbee over the roof of the pavilion.... uh yeah, not a good idea. So, Michael was our monkey and climbed the tree to rescue it. We were concerned that he'd fall and we'd have to "rescue" him. Thankfully it was all well. 

Michael the Monkey

Pictures soon of Spring break.... (Tanna)

Weekend in Oklahoma

This past weekend, I headed up to Tornado Country in Oklahoma. I really wanted to see a tornado, since I've never seen one before. Everyone told me I was crazy, but hey, life has to be exciting somehow!! :) But I didn't get to see one... maybe next time! 

Friday night I stayed at the Burnett's house again. Always a blast there. I brought them some Alaska Salmon... not sure if they were more excited to see me or the salmon. ;) But we had an awesome dinner with the salmon, asparagus from their garden, garlic mashed potatoes and rolls. 

preparing the salmon

yummy!!

After dinner, we sat around and talked... and talked.... and talked.... until we finally decided to play a game. Which produced lots of laughter as always.... 

But the highlight of my stay with them, was Saturday morning, 6 of us got up early (for a Saturday) and went out to do some target practice. :D I had my trusty firearm and Caleb had a couple handguns. I've been wanting to go shooting all winter, but its never worked out, so I was thrilled! We went thru about 250 rounds in an hour. I shot first and by the end of my clip, I was crying.... lol actually there was a cold wind, so while I was trying to aim, my eyes kept watering and I couldn't focus on the target. It happened to everyone else too, so we were all "emotional." 

Was a great time! and then we went back to the house for delicious breakfast! 

I've decided that the Burnetts are now my "Oklahoma family." I miss the interaction in a big family, so I love being with them. Though they probably think I'm crazy.... but who doesn't!?

Saturday I headed up to Oklahoma City to see some friends at Heartland Baptist College. A few of them I hadn't seen in two years or so and one I hadn't see in 8 years! Most didn't know I was coming, so I got to surprise two girls. They were pretty thrilled I was there. :) Had a great time catching up with them and meeting new people. Then that night headed back to TX. Sleep depraved weekend, but oh SO worth it!!! 

Friends are definitely worth losing sleep over! 

Pizza Night with the MKs

Monday night my housemate, Nicole, and I has some of the mks (missionary kids) over for a pizza night. We let them make whatever kind of pizza they wanted. Twas yummy! at least mine was. They only had themselves to blame if they didn't like it. :) We had a blast with them. 

After dinner, the younger ones and I played with one of those big bouncy exercise balls. Yep. lots of fun.... and dangerous too. After we hit the lamp and then the ceiling and split a cup of water, we decided that was enough. So we moved on to playing cards. I thought them a couple games. 

We laughed a lot.... but can't share all the stories since some might get embarrassed. lol

with Nathanael

Joel with his monkey ears (coconut)

playing cards

Southern Gospel!

Yesterday I went with some new friends to a Southern Gospel concert. I know some of you don't like Southern Gospel, but its one of my favorite genres. Greater Vision and the Mark Trammell Quartet were both there and it was 3+ hours of awesome music! I even got my picture with Gerald Wolfe and Mark Trammell, both of who previously sang with the Cathedrals, pretty much the best group ever in Southern Gospel! Trammell's group sang a lot of old Cathedral songs and they did a great job! 

I had a great time! course, I wore my 'Alaska Grown' shirt. Always got to represent in Texas. :) 

with Gerald Wolfe and Mark Trammell