Of Blownup Computers and the Blue Screen of Death

Our PC has been limping along for quite some time, like a four - cylinder car chugging along on only three.

Last night, she blew up.

Who knows if she'll ever come back to us. It was the infamous "blue screen of death." We'll try to get her fixed, but who's to say if the repair guy won't take her out back behind the shop to the burial grounds where old pc's go . . . .

This will add complications to our family staying in touch with people. We were just getting ready to set up our skype account again and post new pictures online.

We are thinking one of those Mac minis ($600) is lookin' mighty nice right now, but we'll have to wait.

So. . . . be patient . . . . once again!

Transformation Day

The entire site just got a massive over-haul . . . .

Its about time.

I know many of you have been wondering what's up with us. Just life. Living out of suitcases and working new jobs and having two little children and trying to complete Master's theses all take a toll. Thanks for your patience.

This site will reflect my personal mission from now on. The mission was arrived at during a 34-year journey that began on April 15th 1973 when I entered this world.

Who ever has anything figured out? Not me. . . . That's not an excuse to stand where you're at and be faithful, available, vulnerable when the everything says do the opposite. So . .. some of us write little mission statements, words that barely scratch the surface of what's REALLY going on. So long as you're with me on that truth, we'll be fine!

Attention: I have a big Outdoor Education season starting tomorrow and continuing until Summer Camp starts. This is our "harvest" season when we work from sunup to sundown. I will be out of touch, mostly.

Peace!

Little Girls and Easter

STA60185, originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

Beautiful little girls counting their easter eggs. . .

Easter Reunion . . .

STA60201, originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

What the picture doesn't say is . . .

How long it's been since this little group has been together: two years.

What has happened in the interim: almost losing Adeline to HLH and watching her fight through and get a bone marrow transplant and then fight through all the complications. Others in the family have suffered depression, loneliness, identity crisis, poverty, and that grey visitor to all our doors . . . Hard Times.

This was the first time -- EVER -- that Lily and Zoe really got to play with their cousin. They still have to be careful . . . we all wash hands a zillion times . . . and use "Germex" . . . but everyone got hugs and (some of us) kisses from Addie! Zoe lost her first tooth this weekend. Lily rode her bike around the block five times.

Above Dad you can see the African marriage heads facing one another under the "Gye Nyame" symbol. In Ghana, that means, "Except God" -- i.e. except for God, nothing will happen. Thank you, Abba-Dad for being the creator of families, the bringer-together of loose ends, the author of happy endings, the arranger of these drooping flowers into a bouquet . . . on Easter.

Easter Accessorizing!

STA60084, originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

Lil' and Zo' were Easter ready this Sunday!

The Site is A-Changin'

You'll notice the colour change on this site!

We're slowly but surely making important changes.

Keep checking back . . . there's much more to come besides a colour change from moss green to sky blue!

Good Friday Canoe Trip

STA60076, originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

Dad and Mom worked the morning and early afternoon and then we all went on our first canoeing adventure (until today the water and weather's been too cold).

Lutherhaven sits on a big arm of Lake Coeur d'Alene called Mica Bay and we paddled down to the end of the bay. We picnicked at a lovely, deserted campground -- replete with swings, tables, grills, campsites, and fishing docks. Then, we continued to where the creek drains into Mica Bay at its very end, a beautiful little wetland of reeds and pools.

We saw Canada geese, mallards, buffleheads --almost ran over a turtle, but she wisely dove deep! I'm sure we would have seen many more animals at dawn or dusk, but this was the middle of the day. . . .

The highlight was the massive blue heron in the shallows who paid us no attention at all.

Its been a while since we've had the chance to get out as a fam. This one will be a lasting memory!

Gardening

STA60083, originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

You won't believe how amazing it has been to go out the door, dig in the earth and work on "our" garden area . . . . after 2 full years of being rootless, floating in God's great ocean of purpose, we've been brought to the shore.

And wonder of wonders: there are crocuses blooming today!

Lily and Zoe are wearing straw hats from Ghana, packed away all these years.

Sisters on a Trek Above Camp

STA60308, originally uploaded by dustkunkel.

The girls went on a trek to the "homestead" area above camp last week. There's an old cabin up there and a smithy with real horseshoes, anvil, and coal for the fire! They had a blast, and on the way back, found stumps full of bugs and fir cones chewed up by squirrels. The birds are back now. . . and today Zoe found a Red-breasted Nuthatch (after a massive family fight over pronounciation, we googled and found out -- much to Daddy and Zoe's sadness -- that the PROPER way to say it is nut-hatch, not nuth-atch). Whatever we call them, the birds are back and making a massive ruckus all over camp as they pair up and find places to lay eggses.

A curious thing about the red-breasted nuthatch -- it can creep upside down the trunk of a tree looking for insects. That's how Zoe (budding naturalist) found it. She also found the hole where it was making a nest!