In the Midst of Chaos

Had a great time with my sister Betsy and her son Colby last week - they headed back home on Sunday afternoon after finishing off the week with a weekend of camping with the family. Jack and Noah had a great time with their little cousin - it's so fun to see them together. Here's a picture of them stripped down to their underwear in an attempt to cool off after a miserably hot evening a week ago at Festival in the Park in Spearfish. Are they cute or what?!? And going back a week ago to the Spearfish weekend, I had to post this picture of Jack and the tatoo HE picked out at the festival - you can't read it on here, but it's a heart with a banner across it that says "mom" - can you stand it? :) I loved it, obviously.
This week finds us in the midst of chaos - we move out of our house on Wednesday for our rally renters who arrive that day from Ohio. We have the same people as last year, so we aren't as nervous about it, and there's only 3 of them, so we're pretty fortunate! I'm scrambling trying to get the house ready and pull our stuff together - we'll be out at my mom and dad's in Spearfish for the week they have our house.

Never ones for boredom, we're also squishing in a camping trip this weekend with several friends from church - so I'm trying to get things ready for camping too. I think I've lost my mind. We get back into our house next Thursday and then leave the following day for a weeklong vacation on a lake in Minnesota with the Horak family. So, from now until August 20th, we will have a total of 3 nights at home. UNBELIEVABLE! What were we thinking? Going to think twice before we schedule ourselves in this tight again! :) The blessings are that staying at my mom and dad's is very relaxing and we are very much looking forward to the vacation afterwards.

Nine days after we return from Minnesota, the kids start school - which has given me a pit in my stomach that won't go away. I still have a month left and I'm already having anxiety issues about Kindergarten (keeping in mind it's all day, every day) - how am I going to survive September? It's just not possible that my 6 years at home with the kids are already gone . . . .

So, if you don't see an update on here for a while, that's why! I'll sign off with a picture I took last week at Bear Country (been there 5 times this summer now!) - this guy is my inspiration - I hope to someday soon be as relaxed as he is!!

We're Still Here!

I can't believe it's been over a week since I updated this - wow, how time flies!! Yes, we are still alive and well here in the Roisum household - we have been SO busy the past week it's just been a whirlwind. We had the Horak gathering out in Spearfish over the weekend - centered around the "Festival in the Park" - had a lot of fun shopping, eating "festival food" and just spending some fun time together, which we hadn't been able to do as a group since January. It was a great time. Monday the boys and I spent much of the day recovering and then on Tuesday, Betsy and Colby came in to Rapid to stay with us for the rest of the week. We spent yesterday afternoon relaxing by the pool - the only place to be when it's 105 degrees!! :) Last night we did a little shopping, this morning we hit Reptile Gardens (Jack and Noah know that place like the back of their hands now) and tomorrow we're headed to Storybook Island and Bear Country. A schedule very similar to when Mark's brother was here! But it's always fun to see these places with little ones who haven't been there yet. This weekend we'll take Betsy and Colby camping in the hills (haven't gone in a month!!) - and hopefully escape this HEAT!!

More next week . . . .

Makin' Memories

We have spent the last 3 days making LOTS of fun memories with Mark's brother, Todd and his family - wife Jessica and kids Isaac (5), Savannah (2) and Isabella (1). I think we packed as much into 3 days as is humanly possible! They arrived Friday afternoon - we spent Friday evening at Storybook Island, all of Saturday morning at Reptile Gardens, Saturday afternoon napping, Saturday evening at Bear Country and hot tubbing in the backyard. Sunday morning we hit Canyon Lake Park and Dinosaur Park; Sunday afternoon we spent 3 hours at the pool; and Sunday evening the adults got a babysitter and went out to eat for a nice, well-deserved peaceful meal. Then the Todd Roisum clan was on the road again this morning. Note to all 5 of you: it was SO wonderful to have you here - you have an amazing family and are an inspiration. We love you!

Now I'm dealing with two very depressed little boys - one a little more so than the other. Both were in tears after cousin Isaac left - it was heartbreaking as a mother!! This one I can't fix for them! Jack seemed to get over it as the day wore on, but Noah is still having a rough time - crying again at bedtime. He has such a soft heart.

In other news, Jack's 2nd loose tooth got even more loose tonight at supper so he had me try and pull it a couple times at bedtime, but I couldn't get it out. About 10 minutes after tucking him in, we hear shrieks coming from his bedroom - so we run in there and he's sitting there with blood around his mouth and in his hands (!) - he had wiggled the thing out himself. He said he wanted it to come out TONIGHT, and of course when Jack gets determined, it's as good as done. So he's very excited because now he "caught up to Noah" (everything being a competition, you know!).

We are going to spend the next couple days recouperating from our marathon weekend and then will get ready for my sister, Betsy, and her family to come. This weekend is the annual Horak get-together/Festival in the Park in Spearfish. We all get together at my mom and dad's and do lots of shopping and eating in the park - way fun!!!

Here are a bunch of pictures from the weekend (when I uploaded them from my camera, there were 235 (!!) - I deleted some and got down to 157, but here's just a sampling). :)

Saying goodbye . . . .

PRAISING GOD!!

"He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God" Psalm 40:3

Our friend Mike's surgery went well on Monday - the tumor was completely removed and as hard as it is to believe, he's on his way HOME tomorrow!!! Truly amazing. Today is the first day I feel like I've been able to see the sun from under the massive cloud I've been in since Saturday. We're breathing a little easier, and it feels good. We love Mike so much, this just really cut us off at the knees and the last few days were spent just holding ourselves together - and fielding an AMAZING amount of phone calls and emails. In spite of the circumstances, it has been fun to see how much that family is loved. Now my project is to create a meal schedule for them - I have a list of 15 ladies that want to bring them food over the next couple weeks- isn't that awesome? God is good!!!

Today I was able to start getting ready for Mark's brother's family to come - Todd, Jessica and the 3 kids are arriving on Friday for a long weekend - we are so excited to have them! Todd hasn't been here in four years, and Jessica was here about 3 years ago. We have all the fun "touristy" stuff planned so it will be a great time.

Thank you so much to all of you who have said you were praying for Mike and Tristan and family - please continue to pray for Mike's recovery and Tristan's ability to take care of both him and the kids.

The Fragility of Life

Today we will spend a lot of time praying for one of our best friends, Mike Rosson, and ask that you would join us. Mike had a seizure, completely without warning, on Saturday night - was taken to the ER where he had a CT scan and MRI done, which revealed an abnormal mass/swelling on his brain. Today he will undergo surgery at 2:00 to either remove the mass or have samples taken for biopsy, and to determine the extent of the growth/swelling. Mike is in his mid-thirties and has two small children - Kyle, age 6 and Lacy, age 3. His wife Tristan is like a sister to me.

As Mark was saying last night, it's just breathtaking how quickly your world can be turned upside down. Saturday night Mike was just arriving at a buddy's house to play poker, and 36 hours later he's being prepped for brain surgery. If that doesn't make you stop and think . . . . Just a week ago, we spent several hours sitting around the campfire with them, having the best time, not having any idea what would happen 7 days later. Oh, how each moment of each day is precious!!

Thankfully, Mike and Tristan are strong Christians and their faith will pull them through this. We also trust that God is holding Mike in His hands and that things will work out according to His perfect plan. Again, we ask for your prayers for this family and for Mike's surgeons. Thank you!

This is a picture of Mark and Mike and the kids last weekend in the campground pool . . . . .

4th of July Fun

Oh my, did we squeeze a lot in yesterday!! It was a GREAT holiday. We started out by hiking in Spearfish Canyon with my Dad - it's such a beautiful place. Then we took the kids fishing over by the Wyoming border at our "secret" place (not such a secret anymore, as it turns out!) - Jack and Noah were catching fish faster than we could get them off the hooks! Just little baby fish that we throw back, but all the kids care about is catching something. The water is crystal clear, so you don't even need a bobber, you can just watch the fish bite. Then my Dad took the kids 4-wheeling around their neighborhood. Next was supper at the Spearfish Chophouse which is a fun place, and finally we headed off to Lead to watch the most unbelievable fireworks display I have ever seen. Incredible!! We officially have a new tradition. Lead shoots them off over an enormous open pit by the mine, so the echos from each boom were amazing. It sounded like one giant, continuous thunderstorm. We were perched right on the edge of the pit, directly across from where they were launched - what a view, it was just spectacular. After all the excitement, Jack and Noah were sound asleep within minutes of leaving.

Here are some photos of their activities:

Noah and Grandpa on our hike . . . .
Jack and one of his many fish . . . (you can almost see it - on the right)
and on the 4-wheeler . . .

The day before the 4th, we were at Albertson's and the kids spotted an item they HAD to get Daddy! They talked and talked and begged and begged and mom finally gave in, only because they wanted to give it Dad. Here's a picture of it:

Yep, a cheeseburger cake - for anyone that knows Mark, you can understand why the kids wanted to get it for him. :)

Is it awesome, or what?

And since Daddy had a treat, Mommy got a treat too! :) Just a different kind, and I had to post a picture of it because anyone who knows ME will understand why I totally fell in love with this bag. I think I have a near-addiction to purses and bags - but it's better than some other things, right?! :) Here it is:

Yes, those are pink and white fur balls. It's just the coolest thing, it's an overnight bag, and immediately Mark was like "do you mean you are actually going to travel with that thing??!" and after "the look" from me, he quickly followed with "It's great and I love you just the way you are!" Smart man.

Happy Birthday Betsy!!

Happy Birthday to Betsy, my sister who turns 31 today! Hard to believe my little sister is over 30! I hope you have had a great day today and had fun this evening! We love you!!

We had a very relaxing weekend - camping yet again (THIRD weekend in a row!!). We were at one of our favorite campgrounds in the hills with our good friends, so it was great. Saturday we drove back to Rapid City for the boys LAST t-ball game - it was a fun game - Jack played the "pitcher" position (obviously he doesn't pitch, but gets a lot of infield action). It was hilarious - someone hit the ball right at him, it bounced once off the ground and just by chance landed square in his mitt, and he wasn't even paying attention. He looked down, saw the ball in his glove, and was SO EXCITED. It was so funny. Then a couple times Noah rounded 3rd and headed straight for the dugout, skipping home altogether (?). We can't believe the season is already over - a little bittersweet for us, of course, as we had a lot of fun watching them and next year it's on to coach-pitch. Good grief, you blink and these little milestones are gone! I'm putting in a couple action shots of both of them . . .

The rest of the weekend the kids put several miles on their bikes around the campground, had a fun time in the campground pool and roasted marshmallows. One night, getting ready for bed, Noah looked at me and said "you guys wear me out!!" HA - other way around, buddy!! Now we put the camper away until the end of July - this 4 week break will be good for me. Sunday night we hit one of the many fireworks displays in the area this week - this was Rapid City's big one, and we really enjoyed it. Hard to believe it's already July!!

I'm getting ready for a MOPS Steering Team Planning Retreat this weekend - I'm co-leading the group with a friend of mine this coming year, so we're in the midst of a "management shift" right now. I figured for my last year of MOPS I might as well jump into the hotseat! :) You know, go out with a bang . . . We're taking our 7 team leaders to Hot Springs on Friday night for a little getaway - some bonding time as well as planning our year. Looking forward to some all-girl time!! Hope you all enjoy some really good family time on Wednesday - Happy 4th!