Mens Outing

Late Fall brought our first annual Men's Outing.  Nate, Paul, Ray, and Jim packed up what little they needed and headed down to Indiana for a visit to the Bass Pro Shop.  The trip down went well except for all the semis who kept driving right next to the van.  Our hotel was literally a block away from the store.  We checked in, then headed over to the Pro Shop to do a little scouting and shopping.  It was truly an amazing place, filled with hunting, fishing, outdoor, and boating gear.  We wandered awhile, stopping in front of the giant fish tank and checking out all the stuffed animals on the ledges above.

After a little shopping planning we drove back to the hotel.  We had dinner right next door in the Quaker State Cafe, a place filled with racing paraphernalia.  The atmosphere was great but the food was a little greasy.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel.  The pool had adults only from 10-11, so we got our suits on and did some swimming and hot tubbing.  After wearing ourselves out we went to bed.  The question was who would snore the loudest, and the jury is still out.

The following morning we drove back to the Pro Shop but they didn't open until 9.  With a half-hour to kill we drove around, finding the Yogi Bear park that can be seen from the highway. 

By the time we got back to the Pro Shop they were open and we buckled down for some serious shopping.  Some of us had some gear we had to pick up for Christmas presents, others were gearing up for a summer of fishing next year.  Jim and Ray had to rescue Nate from buying a new power boat.

We still had time once we were done shopping (even with having to page Nate to the front again) so we drove a little further down and stopped at the new Cabella store just inside the Indiana border.  It was nice, with even more stuffed animals, but it was also very crowded with rude Chicago shoppers.  After a little wandering and all of us saving Nate from buying a new $150 winter suit we called it a day and headed back to Michigan.

All in all a good trip and one we hope to repeat again this Spring.  We might even let the girls comewith this time.

Klackel's Orchard 2007

Fishing Day

Thought we would take a little time on Memorial Day weekend to wet our lines and haul in the fish at Millenium Park.  It was warm and windy and the fish went home well fed, but we did manage to snag a few.  A good way to relax on a Sunday afternoon, and a good place to do it, too.  We'll be spending some more time here this summer.  Just ignore that whole thing about feeding seagulls by hand.  None of my attempts were successful.  Fortunately none of them left me a present, either.  That stuff is tough to get off.

Growing and Green

We continue to grow as a group.  God has been so good to us.  We have been suplementing our Nooma material with some material called Green.  It's a video curriculum from Steelroots that brings together people from extreme sports like skateboarding and snowboarding to talk about faith issues.  Although the material is definitely aimed at high school kids some of our better discussions have come out of this material.

We welcome back J.R Roman from a tour of duty with the Marines in Iraq.  That's him in the picture with our buddy (his son) Elijah.  If you look closely you can see a wonderful curl of Andrea's hair on the right side.

We also welcome Jessica and Caleb Pabon.  Jessica went on the Texas service project(check out the Texas journal at journals.aol.com/jmdyk49548/texas-2007) and has since joined our group.  We are happy to have both her and her son join us each week.

We spent some time planning for the future, asking each member what they want out of the group and where we want to be in the Fall.  This planning time involved everyone including Emily and Jordyn.  We also talked about plans for the Summer, both for service projects and times of fellowship.  We agreed to meet twice each month in June, July, and August, one time working on a study and the other in fellowship events. 

We finished the night with an ice cream treat at the Dairy Den.  Somehow we always pick the cold nights to enjoy our treats.

Our service project in May is working with the church on a clean-up day.on Saturday, May 12th at 8:00 a.m.

Birthday Trip

So what do you do when you are a small group and someone you love lives in Wisconsin and has a birthday?  Road Trip!  A good time was had by all as we celebrated Becky's birthday.  The trip over was a bit of an adventure, what with white-out conditions and icy roads, but once we got out of Indiana it was smooth sailing.  After a good nights sleep it was time to go shopping at the JC Penney Outlet Mall.  Then back to the house for a wonderful dinner.  Becky opened some presents, including her Nala puppy (thanks, Tab and Paul).  Some went out looking for karakoe, others played cards, and some of us hit the sack.  We filled two benches on Sunday morning.  Finally it was time for a tearful goodbye and the ride home.

Christmas Party

Our first Annual Christmas party was a laid-back affair.  We all brought treats and just sat around talking.  Sometimes it's neat not to have too much planned.  It gave us a chance to joke around and to get back in touch with what was going on in our lives.  We had talked about buying small gifts for each other but instead decided to donate the money we would have spent to purchase gifts from CRWRC.  We ended up buying a calf for Bangladesh and a goat for Tanzania.    The calf can be fattened up and sold for profit, or can be kept and raised to full maturity.  The first off-spring of that calf is then donated to another family, providing both food and income.  For families in Tanzania, having a goat is like having a bank account; in times of need goats can be sold to cover unexpected expenses.  Goats are bred and once again the first offspring is doanted to another family.   What a great way to celebrate the gift that never ends, Jesus.

Swanson's Roof

     For quite a few months we have been planning to re-roof Kim Swanson's trailer.  We had some funds left over from Texas and raised additional funds.  Julie VanVoorst, the Diaconal Coordinator, worked with churches in GR South to raise additional funding.  Finally we had enough money.  Now shingles.  Rev. Randy Ledeboer put us in touch with a roofing supply company (Eikenhout Inc.), and they provided quality shingles at half price.  Julie arranged for a dumpster from Bob's Disposal, and now we were ready.  It was Thanksgiving weekend, the weather was fine, and we were ready to work.  Except I didn't coordinate delivery of the shingles in time.

     We put the project on hold, but when additional funds came in early in December, we pushed forward.  It was a cold day, and the crew was smaller than we had planned.  We stripped and cleaned one side on a Saturday, then a crew stripped the other side on Sunday.  Those of us who aren't as agile on a roof stayed below and cleaned up.  We had to rely on the old tarp-it-and-dump-it technique, but it worked.

     One lesson we learned: don't roof when it's cold.  The shingles were too cold and wouldn't lay flat.  We were able to dry-in the roof and ended up having to tarp the skylights and wait on the weather.  Our roofer kept telling us we needed 40-degree days, and I kept wondering how many of them we would have in December.  Apparently a bunch.

     It's approaching the end of the year and it looks like we'll get the project done.  If we can't complete the shingling we'll tarp what's left and finish in March of 2007.  But I believe we will get it done yet this year.  Prayer is powerful.

     Another lesson we learned; more of us need to learn how to shingle.  I'm thinking of letting people practice when we re-roof our garage this spring.  It would be helpful to have more people who can shingle when we go to Texas next year.