Do You Remember These Camp Songs?

I came across this fun quiz and it brought back memories.. I got 9/10 right.
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz1692611362220.html

I was a big camp girl through my church when I was growing up. I went to Pioneer Girls Camp, Winter Camp, Summer Camp, Hume Lake over and over, Forest Home, and others that I can't even remember the name of. My Mom would sometimes make me go to "work day" that our church offered to earn some of the money to go. I've pulled my share of weeds and painted fences, etc. My friends would always go and we would always all get together in the same cabin and we had so much fun.

Besides the great memories of the long bus trips where we would take over the whole back seat of the big blue church bus, sitting on top of a whole row of sleeping bags the whole way looking out the back window (so dangerous and I would never want my kids to do that, but it was so fun for us and our seat each camping outing!), eating a box of cereal on the way, memories of the bus breaking down leaving us stranded on the side of the road waiting for help, our fun counselors, the drama that always happened with someone getting mad at someone for spending too much time with someone else, or the drama with boys and the tears that followed being mad at each other with our counselor in the middle trying to fix it, the campfire the Friday before you leave where everyone would just sit and cry because you are so touched, or just funny things we did, my favorite part was always the music. I LOVE camp songs. I LOVE church music.

I like the worship music that we have now in church but it's different than the music I grew up with. I love the old Baptist hymnals we had at church. I love the classic hymns. I think I can say I "collect" hymn Cd's because I have so many and I can't get enough of them. When I'm in a Christian Bookstore I go right for that kind of music to see what I don't have. I also love the song books to go with them. Just As I am, Rock Of Ages, Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, Softly and Tenderly, What a Friend We Have In Jesus, I love them. As a child sitting in the "big church" I can't remember many sermons but I can remember many many songs we sang. I can remember standing in the middle of my Mom and my Grandma and I can still hear them singing "The Old Rugged Cross" next to me. It's comforting music to me.

We also sang great songs in my youth department that some of my friends and I have been trying to remember the names of lately. I went to the same church from 6-weeks-old through having my first child and still have some of the same friends from then so I have great memories from that church.

Thinking About My Sister On Her Birthday

Today my sister would have turned 50-years-old. It would be very easy to write a long emotional post about how much I miss her, what we would have been doing for her 50th birthday if she were still here, and how things were normal on her last birthday, because thinking about her at all brings automatic tears, but in her memory I wanted to just post some of my favorite pictures that Lauren recently put on my computer and concentrate on how awesome it must be for her to be in heaven right now!

Lauren and Laurie.


Nichole and Laurie at the Dodger game.


The whole family at the Dodger game. I love this picture of all of them.


I think this was her birthday last year.....


I love these pictures of us scrapbooking because we had so much fun that night. This was taken last year. We talked and talked about stuff and laughed so hard at things that we were crying. We couldn't stop laughing or be serious. Lauren took a lot of pictures of us that night and I'm so glad. I love this picture where she puts her hand up to Lauren so she can get composure before the picture.


This picture makes me laugh because we both have the same expression on our face biting our bottom lip as we are trying to be serious and not laugh. So fake. :)

Where's George?

My friend gave me a dollar that he got in change with a stamp on it that said "Where's George?". It gave a website to enter the information from that dollar, the serial number, where you got it, what shape it's in, etc. and you enter your E-mail and put the dollar back in circulation and then they send you E-mail updates if people register it when they get it and you can track where it's been. The initial entry was from Amarillo, Texas in March 2005. I did this in July 2006 from Lakewood and in September 2006 it was in Santa Cruz, California and then I forgot all about it but the other day I got a new E-mail and it's now in Fowlerville, MI. Check Out Where My Dollar Has Traveled Here. It would be cool if every person registered it all along the way and told where they got it. It was pretty worn when I got it. The things people think of...I think this is interesting though. That was the first time I had ever seen this stamp and have never seen it since.

My Dad

Dad


My Dad and Lupe

Here are a few pictures of my Dad. Lupe, his caretaker, brought him over the other day. He's so cute. I really can't tell if he knows who I am. Some days I think he does but other days I think he acts the same to anyone talking to him and I'm sure he has no clue who I am. I'd like to think he does. Who knows what he is really thinking but he sure tries to talk and tell a story, you just usually can't make out what he's saying. He usually laughs at the end of his story and I love it when he does that. It breaks my heart to see him living like this but I was watching him try to tell me something the other day and I was thinking how happy I am to be able to hear his voice still, even if I can't understand anything he says. I'd give anything to be able to hear Laurie talk or my Mom. I was watching him and thinking how alot of his mannerisms are the same from when I was little. I was looking in his eyes when he spoke. It's such a debilitating disease and takes so much of them so to see some familiar things from him made me feel all kinds of emotions. I also get emotional with him because of Laurie and all we went through together with him and his sickness. It's hard to explain. I've been having emotional "missing my sister" days lately anyway.

So onto our caretaker, she's so awesome. She's the same caretaker we had when he was still living at home but when we had to put him in the home he's in now we still pay her to check-in on him four times a week for a few hours a day. She makes sure he's eating and takes him out to McDonald's or pushes him around the neighborhood in his wheelchair. I'm so thankful for her. I hate the thought of him being in a home but it helps knowing that he gets out and she's making sure he's getting a shower each day and that they are taking good care of him. He's still so strong and it's hard to move him around by yourself. I can't do it alone for sure. He doesn't help at all and you're basically holding him up or pulling him up entirely on your own. She amazes me what she does.

A funny story about my Dad, that has happened more than once.... so he basically cannot even say one word that you can understand anymore. Once in a while he will say bye if I say it enough to him but pretty much even if you ask him to say something he really tries but can't get it out then he laughs. He has an agitation time in the evening (part of the disease) and Lupe told me that when he gets agitated and annoyed with people in the home who are trying to help him he has a few curse words for them and the words come out so perfect. It's not funny but I laugh that he can remember those choice words with no problem but can't say my name! LOL.

I have really great memories of my Dad when I was growing up and my whole life really. I was always so worried when I was growing up about him not being a Christian but I'm so happy he became a Christian a week before he started getting bad. The timing was truly God and I know God has him in his care and he will be in heaven with us all.

Fun Day

Me and Freddy

Emily and Maddy

Me and Em and Abby, Maddy and Freddy

Julie putting her kids in the car

Yesterday Em and I met my friend Julie and her kids at the park. I haven't seen her in a very long time. She has twins, Freddy and Maddy, and an almost 3-year-old Abby. It was a fun day visiting. I really wanted to meet her kids and also hold those babies. Em and I were just saying a few days ago that we really wanted to hold a baby so it was perfect timing for us and there was one for each of us and we didn't have to fight over holding them. LOL. I think my blood pressure dropped major points just cuddling with them. They are really sweet and I could have held them even longer than I did. I got to feed them their bottle too!!. They have the sweetest faces and when they smile it just lights up. I love Maddy's red hair! There's something so relaxing about a baby and the way they smell and smile. So sweet! It took Abby a little bit to warm up to us but she eventually did. She had fun with all the friends she was making in the playground. She reminds me of Emily when she was her age. She's very girly. It was great seeing Julie and catching up on life. It was a really fun day and great to laugh and forget about everything for an afternoon. Thanks for driving down here to see us Julie!