A few more pictures from Family camp weekend

Pictured above is the main building of our Bible camp. This building is called Lakeview Lodge and houses the dining hall, gift shop, main auditorium room for meetings, a lounge and about 10 sleeping rooms. There are a number of lovely buildings all spread around the campus; a gym, an arts and crafts building, more dormitory/sleeping facilities, etc. Also, a climbing wall and other cool things; plus the lake and water activities. It was a cool weekend so the swimming was only for the hardy. And there were some of those.

Here is a view from the second floor balcony of Lakeview towards the lake. Of course, the playground was a big draw for our young grandchildren.

Here we are standing in two lines awaiting the delicious meals that were prepared for us.
And they were delicious, too!

Tobias seems to think so.

Hannah looked the part of a little Diva in these sunglasses.

She is a real little girly girl. I love that!

And this fella is ALL BOY!

Don't let that long hair fool ya!

Here comes Tobias, showing off his walking skills -

he is so close to letting go but so used to holding on...

And some really were hardy with water sports.

Daniel spent around 2 hours out in the cool water trying to learn the fine art

of this sailboard.

It was pretty hard and I was tired (and cold) just watching him!

What a guy.

What determination.

I remember that he showed that determination as a little boy and

though it was not always so welcomed,

I knew that it was a good characteristic to have in the long run.

I think I was right.

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

Happy Birthday today to my "baby" brother Jeffrey!

Here you are preparing a fine Thanksgiving feast for all of us!

I remember well the day you came into our home - wow, did things change fast!

I was 16 and I won't say how old mother was...

but how many babies became Uncles when they were 2 months old?

(For those who don't know, my oldest sibling was married

and had a baby 2 months after my mother had my baby brother.)

Isn't this sweet? Jeffrey and Ann-Margret as the host and hostess

last Thanksgiving.

Have a Happy Birthday bro!

Family camp

What a wonderful weekend we enjoyed at our church camp. It was a weekend designed for families and we hope to make this an annual weekend together.

Our three fine sons attended... and they each have a family of their own..

John and Sara have Tobias.

Adam and Andrea have Timothy, Luke, Hannah and Josiah.

Daniel and Meghan have Brooklyn, Preston and Sean Patrick.

So we made a cheerful attempt at a family photo.

They are now learning that it is far better to cooperate and get.it.over.with ... then complain!

But one of the great features of family camp is that it is not just our family alone!

Meghan's mom and dad and sister enjoyed camp as well.

They have been campers for many years..

We missed her brothers.. maybe next year, you guys...

And not only our entire Berge family enjoyed being together, but it was an added special bonus that the entire Levang family, who have been our friends for years were at family camp also.

It is so much fun to now enjoy our grown children and their children - and to have our families together to continue to make memories!
You'all might want to come too next year!

Happy Birthday Justin

Happy 18th Birthday on Friday, July 31

to my GREAT nephew, Justin.

The eagle scout, the graduate, the soon-to-be college student..

the brother, son, grandson, nephew ...
We wish you a wonderful birthday!

(and you're getting this post a day early since we are going away for the weekend)

This was from our day in New York City .....


and this is from your facebook!
I thought it'd be fun to have Jackie on here too.

(plus, I thought it was a pretty cute picture)

Seriously, what can I say?

You meet all kinds on the streets of Manhattan..

Speaking about all kinds.....

This is just perfect because isn't the mascot of your college

the raiders? You look like one here!

Happy Birthday and get packing now for college!!

It once was lost... but now it's...

My faithful printer usually looks like this - the paper tray is in place with the paper ...

Rarely do I ever close the paper tray ... and rarely do I ever....

look behind the printer!!!

Look what was there!

For SEVEN months...

.

and... I think I was the one to put it there too!

Mea culpa

Macho Nachos!

Today we had another lovely warm and sunny Sunday! We decided to take the boat to Zorbaz - and pull up at the dock and order some delicious food!

So that's exactly what we did.
Daniel and Meghan and the children joined us.

And here's what I was wanting!

Macho nachos!

What a tasty pile of nachos and sundry items.

yum yum!

We also ordered a pizza as well.

We weren't taking any chances on going hungry.

I wanted to get a good picture of everyone smiling.

Well, almost everyone cooperated....

So I tried again.

Thank you Daniel.

Then we found a little private sandy beach area and beached the pontoon so that the children could play in the water and sand.

They loved it and most especially loved collecting shells, snails, clams..

whatever they could find was such a treasure!

If we could only all see the little things of life as treasures just like children...

Exploring.

Brooklyn

Preston

Sean Patrick!

Let's hope that next weekend,

when we are all at family camp at Inspiration Point Bible Camp,

the weather is also wonderful!

Pontoon fun

It was beautiful this past Sunday, sunny, fresh air, warm but not humid - and a perfect day for putting the pontoon into a lake.

So we headed for the public access of one of our favorite lakes.

In Minnesota, we have LOTS of lakes from which to choose!

This one was close to home.

Soon to join us were two of our sons and 5 of our grandchildren.

(Our oldest two grandchildren, Timothy & Brooklyn,

were sleeping overnight at Bible Camp for the first time!)
All the children had their life jackets on and could move around freely on the pontoon boat.

Of course, this grandma was a bit of a worrier, but hey, someone had to worry so I did it well.

We brought along a sweet little grill and some supper.

Wally grilled some good brats - as in bratwursts - not as in naughty children.

There were no naughty children on this boat.

The moms enjoyed the sun.

Then some of the grandsons got to steer the boat.
Josiah took it seriously.

So did Luke.

Preston is very observant... what does he see here?

Ah! A Pelican...

but the name of this lake was....

Swan Lake!

Indoor fun at Grandma's

Because of the weather, it was necessary to keep little ones busy inside.

We decided to try some play-dough and it went fairly well.

The two littlest ones were confined in the high chairs and, as long as they weren't eating the play-dough, they seemed to enjoy mushing it around.

Then we got out orange juice ice pops - grandma style.

Do you remember these tupperware things for making your own

frozen treat?

Luke likes it.

Hannah likes it.


Josiah likes it.

Preston likes it.

Sean Patrick likes it!

Here's a picture of the playhouse that Wally built years ago for our sons. We think it's time to spiff it up for our grandchildren. We started by re-staining it and I painted a dark red trim to add some "punch."

We have to clean out the interior and make a few repairs to the railings before we feel it is safe and sound.

There is a little deck on the side of the playhouse that you cannot see. The playhouse hangs over an embankment and the river is way out there - some of the "white" area of the picture is actually the river.

Hopefully we'll have it finished soon....