Memory Bank #2 - Overwhelmed With God's Blessings

Although I still wrestle with not worrying about our financial situation and not having jobs, God has been soo good (of course!) and I know that He will be faithful to provide, because He has been faithful in the past. I have been overwhelmed this summer with an overflow of God's blessing, and I don't ever want to forget that! Plus I want to proclaim God's goodness.

We saw God provide in incredible ways this summer. At the beginning of August we had car trouble with both Jason's Honda and my Ford. Using local, trusted mechanics that my family had gone to for years, we got both taken care of and God provided all the money to cover the $700 of repairs. Then only a week before we moved to Vegas my car was having more issues - it was leaking antifreeze. Our local family mechanics were unavailable, but a family friend in the auto-shop repair business referred me to Dave at Reynold's Radiator. Come to find out, Dave was an old family friend on Jason's side of the family and I received several more very positive referrals to him after my car was already there. He went above and beyond to get the repair taken care of for a very affordable price. He even changed the oil (although they do not normally do that) and while my car was there noticed another problem with the AC but was able to refer that to a mechanic to fix that too. My car was well taken care of by a web of trustworthy mechanics God put in our life and God provided extra money to cover the repairs again.

I love getting an iced americano or iced coffee drink. Since we were trying to spend as little as possible this summer I tried to limit my indulging in coffee drinks. But I had awesome friends like Kylie who would make me a latte after morning Oula workouts and like Mel  and Heidi (also my sister) who would surprise me with coffee at work or take me on a coffee date! They have no clue how much that blessed me! Plus I was able to get several free drinks through coupons, etc.

Our familes, both Cross & Moseley,always go above and beyond to bless us with encouragement, financial assistance, love, and support. They are the best!

Through the generous blessings of our support team, the amount of our rent is covered in monthly donations!

We got the exact apartment we were hoping for at an affordable rate! Our apartment is such a blessing!

The Florence Carlton Community Church blessed Jason with an internship opportunity and really opened their arms to welcome us in to their church. They people of that church are so giving! And Jason's internship was a valuable learning experience.

I was blessed by working for my dad again at Missoula Vet Clinic all summer. Jason was able to get a lot of odd jobs and caddy at the Stockfarm plus be paid for his internship. God really provided opportunities for us to get money.

Once we moved to Las Vegas God kept blowing us away with blessings! Upon move in the Reichert family and Dan was here to help unload and Bethanie and Daryl came with snacks and drinks to unpack. The Reicherts and Thompsons also gave us small, handy things that were very necessary for starting up such as toilet paper, paper towels, dishwasher detergent, hand soap, a frozen casserole, banana bread, water bottles, etc. We felt so blessed by their thoughtfulness!

God is so good and He is so faithful. We are eagerly waiting to see Him continue to provide financially and with jobs!

A Forever Kinda Love

"Marriage is a taste of heaven on earth"

Eric & Leslie Ludy

Being married to Jason is the best! God has blessed me and us so much. I can't believe I married such a handsome and wonderful, godly man. We have all the furniture we need, all the appliances and dishes and decorations. We have groceries. I have a job. Jason has a job. We have a great job and a forever love. We are so blessed!

Our wedding day was absolutely perfect! I loved every minute of it! And the whole week was definitely the second best week of my life, like I hoped! I will post pictures of it all soon, but I can't get on the internet much and my laptop won't get on at all, I'm using Jason's. Plus I don't have our wedding pictures yet, although I can offer you a sneak peak!

This is a summary of our wedding week and all the days since, when you haven't heard from me:

Monday, July 25: My best friend Monica arrived to town, so she did errands with me and we got to talk and hang out.

Wednesday, July 27: Spa night with my bridesmaids and friends. This night was a blast! Mel, one of my close college friends, and Kate, my college roommates, arrived for the party. I got to be with Hannah, Monica, and Heidi too! My good friend from work, Britten, who is a rockstar at painting nails came to do the bridesmaids and Mel's nails. Another lady I work with, Brandi, did a MaryKay spa treatment on our feet! Kate, Mel, Josie and I spent the night in my room, which was a lot of fun!

Thursday, July 28: My grandmom hosted a beautiful bridal breakfast at the Ranch Club for us! The food was soo delicious, the view was spectacular, and the fellowship will be cherished! This was also the first day we could be at Butler Creek Lodge, our wedding site. So we moved a bunch of stuff up there, started setting up rentals and other stuff. Thursday night the girls spoiled me with a lovely Bachelorette Party! Meaghan and Kate Gillett were there too, it was so good to all be together!

Friday, July 29: This was more setting up at Butler Creek! Jason and I were able to steal away for quiet moments at the creek or walking down the road. The rehearsal and dinner was a good time. Most of our family arrived in time for dinner and we got to spend time with them. My college friends Courtney, Amy, and Jen arrived after dinner and we spent the evening as a big group of girls hanging out in the loft of the Lodge! I love all my friends so much! Heidi, Josie and I slept in a queen bed together. I didn't get much sleep, but it was worth it to spend the night with my sisters!

Saturday, July 30: Was THE BIG DAY! The girls and I went to get our hair done in town at Burtons. We got there super early so I bought us all coffee at Florence Coffee Co and we went to Ft Missoula for a bit. Burtons did a marvelous job on our hair! We all looked soo pretty! Once we got back we all got ready with our dresses and make-up. Then there were pictures and lots of hanging out and laughing. Our bridal party was the absolute best! Our ceremony started a little after 3. From here on out you will have to wait until I post the pictures with the details of everything else that happened! =) For our wedding night we went to a secret location that held special memories for us.

Monday, August 1: We arrived back in Missoula and opened gifts. We also just hung out with my family and went to Mackenzie River pizza. We stayed the night at Red Lion on Broadway, because in the morning we were flying to....MAUI!!

Monday, August 8: At midnight my mom picked us back up from the airport and we spent the night in a TWIN bed at my house!

The rest of the week was spent with our families, playing baseball with Josie, and shopping and packing for WYOMING! Heidi got back from Germany on Friday, so we spent some time with her too.

Saturday, August 13: Jason in his Honda led my mom in her Yukon plus trailer and me in my Ford on the 13 hour drive to La Grange, Wyoming! We did stop at Goodwill in Billings, that's why it took a couple extra hours.

My mom stayed till Tuesday morning and we all worked hard to clean, unpack, and set up our new apartment! We have a cute apartment on campus, an 8-plex with 7 other married couples/families (Yes, half of them have kids/babies!) as neighbors. Our apartment has two bedrooms, a kitchen/laundry room, a dining/living room, and one and a half bathrooms. It's perfect too! All our furniture is from Jason's mom...either her old stuff, her mom's stuff, or garage sale stuff. The only thing Jason and I paid for is our desk, which was like $15 at an auction! We are soo blessed!

Jason started classes and work at a ranch yesterday. I started work yesterday as a veterinary assistant at a vet clinic that is about 47 miles away in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Yes, the drive is long, but the job is a blessing. I will work 40 hours in 4 days, then get three days off, although I will work every other weekend.

We are loving married life and aiming to keep Christ the center so that our love will be the forever kind.

I will post more about each event mentioned above, including adding pictures, as I can. It's a bit tricky with working so much and with our internet being sketchy, but I will get it done eventually!

Old Friends & Good Friends

This weekend my family drove to Salem, Oregon, to attend my cousin Ben's wedding! It was so much fun to see my old friend, Salem, and my good friends, Courtney, Amy & Jen. It was also a pleasure to attend my cousin's wedding!

While with my old friend & good friends I...

...ate at the Old Spaghetti Warehouse! I highly recommend this restaurant. Their meals range from $8-$12, and this includes a good sized entree, salad, bread, and dessert!!! It was so yummy!

...walked to Dutch Bros with Heidi and Nathan to re-live the taste of an iced kicker!

...ran with Amy (for a bit) and my dad through Bush Park AND Minto Brown Park!

...soaked up the sights of my old favorite spots.

...enjoyed my cousin's sweet and simple wedding!

And then we spent an extra 2 hours on the way home, taking the "scenic byway"!

But it was worth it!

"I Go to College with Lauren"

At the beginning of March I got an email from my mom with this picture:

Josie had packed up her toys and clothes in these bags and went at sat in the suburban, because she was going to college with Lauren! My mom wrote in the email, "She's waiting out in the car now. I'm not sure what to do with her! But it's cute!" Fortunately, I got to go home a few weeks later for spring break!

And just this weekend, Josie, Heidi, and my dad made a visit out to see me (and for Heidi to look at Corban). So Josie did get to go to college with Lauren. But she was disappointed she didn't get to take me home! It was so good to see them! 3 1/2 more weeks!

My Grandpa.

On Thursday, January 6th, my grandpa (my mom's dad), passed away. This is the eulogy she had the honor of writing and reading at his Catholic funeral service. It brought tears to my eyes. Pray for her mom and six brothers. Besides dealing with this loss, they need to know Jesus personally.

Eulogy for Harry Berning

December 5, 1923 – January 6, 2011

A Tribute to Our Dad

Being the only daughter in a family of seven children has some privileges. One such tremendous privilege is this opportunity which I have been given, to pay tribute to the life of our father.

Harry Anton Berning was born 87 years ago in the living room of the Henry & Helena Berning home. Together with his three sisters, Dad was raised in a farm family, and thus began the shaping of this man of integrity, whom we have loved and held dear, all the days of his life.

Dad learned and worked side by side with his father, Henry. He was a dairy herdsman, raised hogs and produced crops. However there was so much more in a day’s work. He managed cows, he knew of seasons and weather, when to work in the fields, (when to market hogs or lock in a corn price,) when to mend fences and when to repair machinery. I thought that our Dad could fix anything! Being a mechanic was born of necessity, for Dad pressed on for the progress to move Grandpa Henry from the use of work horse teams to the farm’s first tractor. Dad was innovative in design and Dad was progressive. He built cattle sheds, milking pipelines, hog confinement floors, milking parlors, machine shops and many other improvements. The young farmer eventually emerged as owner of the farm which Henry & Helena had homesteaded. In business, Dad was principled and honest – a hand shake was the man’s word of oath – our Dad lived by this and he passed this quality forward.  Dad had a moral code – you know it, it was called the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. (Evidentially this didn’t apply to playing cards?) On the personal side there was a passion and devotion Dad possessed, which never left him and remains with us still. That passion was to his family, his children and being the provider for them.

That devotion was to the love of his life, Joan. In his days of strength and youth, Dad prayerfully and carefully recorded in the back of his prayer booklet, his proposal to Mom. In the code of his heart language, it read: “Asked H.T.M.M”  which translated means “Asked her to marry me.” Dad continued in the practice of prayer and the keeping of notes. In the dignity of his declining years, many pages of his notebook had this written in his own handwriting: “Call Joan cell phone, 815-281-0707”. Harry and Joan exchanged wedding vows in 1950. Dad lived to fulfill those vows with a visible dedication. Mom and Dad have been a living example of loyalty. Their marriage partnership weathered 60 years of exciting and also challenging times. For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, we witnessed lasting strength and a rich devotion that began with an exciting young love that brought about a large family!

There is no doubt that Dad was a proud man being your father – Steve, Jim, Bob, Joe, Ron, (Mary) and Dan. The boys followed in their father’s footsteps, learning the ways of farming, the good life of making a living from the land, knowing physical hard work and the satisfaction of a job well done, done right. Dad worked hard. He gave his all. And he expected much. I recall thinking that there was no one who could out-work my father. And yet in the Sunday hours between morning milking, going to church and the evening chores there was time for hamburgers at Dolter’s drive inn, or picnics to Beardsly’s lake, Governor Dodge & Strawberry Point, or fishing for crappies and bluegill till your bucket was full, Sunday drives, visits to other family farms, big family Christmases with grandma & grandpa at the Busch or Heim farm or trips to Manlius to torment the 5 girl cousins. Always back home in time to milk cows in the evening, Dad didn’t miss 1 milking in 20 years. Then they began their annual trips, touring the country and a once in a lifetime trip to Germany in 1974. There were some exciting farm events caught by Mom on the old super 8 film – Dad pulling wheelies using a tractor to move a building or to compete in the tractor pulls, or taking you boys to the 4-H and dairy cows shows. There were days of work in the fields from before sunrise until long after dark. I recall being sent out to the field with the lunch box and a candy bar for Dad and the workers. We knew where Mom hid Dad’s Hershey candy bars. There were evenings of exhaustion where Dad would sit in his yellow recliner have one of us pull off his work boots and rub his feet. Some evenings Dad & Mom were nowhere to be found, until we soon came upon them, stole quietly away to the front porch swing, relaxing at dusk, trying to find some peace and privacy. Dad enjoyed swinging with his sweetheart! Then Dad would surrender as “caught”, taking us to the Dairy Dream for an ice cream cone. Nothing has changed much in the last 35 years – as I spoke with Dad on Skype on the computer just last Friday, New Year’s Eve, he told me that his favorite food was “Ice Cream” – indeed it was! Always a man faith in God, Dad was able to balance work and pleasure -more work than pleasure, and Dad was influential to lead our family in prayer and to church every Sunday. Can’t you just envision that whole row of boys filling the pew, between Mom & Dad? There was Steve, then Jim, then Bob, Joe, Ron, THEN THERE WAS A ROSE, and Dan. Each of us may be able to recall Dad kneeling around the kitchen table to lead our family in saying the Rosary and the prayers of giving thanks before and after our meals. Dad had a way of making those things stick. No matter what vocation each of you men choose to follow, you take with you the model that was set before you of honest integrity – Dad’s provision and influence was a gift to each of our lives. I am thankful for that gift. Dad’s life as a farmer was like this:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in God.
He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

Dad gave from that same wealth of work ethic to each of the grandchildren. They also knew Dad as having a quick wit and funny. He was willing to try the pogo stick! They enjoyed many family times together. Dad impacted our lives into the 3^rd generation, lovingly interacting with his great grandchildren. These are Dad’s legacy, the fruit of his years with Mom.

Mom, I can’t say enough about how much Dad adored you. Love, passion, provision, faith, dedication and adoration: He made his life to revolve around you. Each one of us has been impacted by your wonderful example of being completely loyal and so dedicated. It wasn’t always easy, but great and lasting is your reward. These things are a treasure, a crown to cherish.

To Harry’s sisters: Well, your brother has led the way. Dad has been escorted into eternity with the Lord and reunited with your loved ones. You see, death rescues us from an existence of endlessness; it is the means by which those who love God are finally brought to Him, for a person cannot live eternally in a body meant for decay. Dad has a new address in heaven.

It was bitter and sweet to meet with the limitations of these last few years for Dad. And though Dad forgot many things, he never lost his reverence, awe and wonder of his (Catholic) faith. On Thursday I was reminded of Psalm 34:6 “Look up at the Lord with gladness and smile, your face will never be ashamed.” Dad clung gladly to his faith. We received a glimpse of that peace. Losing his son, Jim, and his grandson, Doug, broke Dad’s heart. It affected him. He was still the same man to us, Father, Patriarch, and we loved and admired Dad completely. At times he experienced frustration in the aging process; it took every bit of courage and effort to continue to live life bravely; still Dad demonstrated thankfulness and appreciation for the simple things. It was joy for us to have a visit, a conversation, a meal with Dad or to simply hear Dad speak our name. It was Dad who left us with this reminder of encouragement each and every time we finished a visit – Dad demonstrate his love for us by saying the words: “I love you too” and “Keep a song in your heart.”

Dad was well the last couple of weeks although many times when Dad would get sick everything seemed so touch and go. And though we knew it entirely possible, it was still a shock that Dad would enter into eternity so quickly, it was as if the Lord Jesus said, Come: “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Though none of us may choose it, The Lord knows our days – all of the days ordained for Dad were written in God’s book before one of them even came to be (Psalm 139.16) – we cannot add one minute to our life. How precious are the moments that we shared with Dad, the lifetime that we had! To God, His viewpoint is to see the tapestry from above. Psalm 116:15 says “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” We love you Dad, we already miss you deeply – heaven is celebrating to have you joined together with your Lord and your loved ones!

In closing I want to read this poem that was given to Mom from George Michaels:

And God Said

I said, “God, I hurt,”

And God said, “I know.”

I said, “God, I cry a lot.”

And God said, “That is why I gave you tears.”

I said, “God, life is so hard.”

And God said, “That is why I gave you loved ones.”

I said, “God, my loved one died.”

And God said. “So did mine.”

I said, “God, it’s such a loss.”

And God said, “I saw mine nailed to a cross.”

I said, “God, but your loved one lives.”

And God said, “So does yours.”

I said, “God, where are they now?”

And God said, “Mine is on my right and yours is in the light.”

God said, “Even though you cannot understand my works, trust I know best.”

I said, “God, it hurts.”

And God said, “I know.”

“Remember- in Jesus Christ he rests.”

Cross-Country Skiing

 On Thursday and Friday we went cross-country skiing up Pattee Canyon! It was so much fun! It was Jason's first time but he loved it! We want to invest in our own cross-country skiis someday...

Isn't this boy handsome?! I'm crazy in love with him!!

On Thursday my dad, sister, her friend Coty, and Jason and I went skiing! On Friday we traded Heidi and Coty for Nathan because they had basketball practice.

Daddy and his girls! 

Frosty the snowman!

Year In Review

What a blessed year! It's so great to see God's hand at work! 


Highlights of the year: Getting engaged to Jason Paul Koemans!! Watching Josie grow up! Seeing Heidi play basketball as a senior! My brother and his nerdiness. Running with my dad! Wedding planning with my mom. Bonding with my roommate Kate!


Resolutions for the new year: Live with no regrets! Love Jesus more! Run more. Cook more. Love selflessly!

Snapshots of Christmas

Almost everything Josie got for Christmas was something that had to do with Toy Story. She'd been begging my mom for a Buzz and a Rex. When she opened Buzz she exclaimed, "Buzz is the best present ever!" Notice the pajamas and Evil Mr. Pork-Chop as well.

Christmas Eve with the Kellers

Umm... Jason wearing my mom's coat... Ya. Just for laughs!

Traditions.

I love our Christmas traditions! In fact, they are one of the things I enjoy most about Christmas, because they are all centered on Jesus and family! I want to carry them into my future Koemans family!


Tradition #1:
Christmas tree hunting and decorating. As I posted before, we pretty much always go into the woods and cut our own tree. No store parking lot, no tree farm, just the natural woods untouched by commercialism. During this hunting time we usually take sleds and sometimes snacks and hot chocolate. Then, for the decorating part, we have lots of fun, holiday snacks, we play Christmas music, and we try to all decorate as a family! Our tree's "theme" is family. There's no color scheme, nothing orderly. It's special ornaments given to us each year, hand-painted ones by my both of my grandmas, and hand-made ones by us kids. I love it. I'd take our tree, decorated this way, over any perfectly themed and matched tree any day.

Tradition #2:
Ornaments. Every year, sometime between December 1 and December 25, my mom gives each one of us kids an ornament. The purpose is so that when we get move out of the house we can take our own box of ornaments to begin decorating our tree with.


Tradition #3:
Shopping for stockings. Our family plus Jason puts out names in a cup. Everyone draws a name and gets $15. We all go to one store at the same time (this year was Target) and shop for the name we picked. It's all supposed to be secret! This is how our stockings get filled! It's a great and fun way to do it! Heidi had my stocking this year and gave me several pairs of bright/fun socks, purple nail polish, a mug, latte mix, chapstick, and snowflake and snowman gel window clings.


Tradition #4:
Christmas Eve. We go to a Christmas Eve service and then get together with the Kellers to have soup and hang out. Sometimes we watch White Christmas. Once we get back home we open our stockings! Then the kids sleep under the Christmas tree!

Tradition #5:
Christmas morning. We wake up (this year my dad had to wake us up at 9am!!) and eat breakfast, then read the Christmas story, then open presents. Sometimes we even have to do kennels at the clinic!


Tradition #6:
Opening presents. We all take turns, one at a time, from youngest to oldest. And you have to say thank you.


Tradition #7:
No Santa. Period. Unless it's a joke. Santa's not real and I don't believe in lying to my kids.


Tradition #8:
Bless a family. We like to include someone(s) in our Christmas that need some extra blessing in their life. Sometimes that means bringing presents and stockings stuffers and Christmas treats to a family who is bankrupt and who's dad tried to commit suicide. Sometimes that means having an employee of my dad's over. Christmas is also about giving and fellowship. I like to emphasis that.

Christmas Time Is Here

Today we went hunting for our Christmas tree. That is our family tradition, one that I love and plan on carrying into my future Koemans family. We always* go up in the woods somewhere and cut our own tree and do some sledding! It's a blast and lots of fun! Josie is fun to watch as she experiences Christmas and the holiday traditions. Once we get back, we decorate it, although not always on the same day. Here the tradition continues with Christmas music and yummy/special snacks. Each of us kids has our own box of ornaments, because each year my mom gives us a new one! Next year I'll get to take my box for mine and Jason's tree! Josie loved decorating. She would hang all her ornaments on the same couple branches on the back of the tree. Then Nathan would distract her while I'd go and move them to more spread-out locations.

*last year we didn't get a tree because my family didn't want to get one without me, and by the time I was home it was after Christmas so we felt silly getting one!

Thankful.

There are so many things I am thankful for. To start off with, I'm thankful to be home finally! After two days of traveling on snowy roads, a trip that should only take one day (11 hours), Jason and I made it safely home from La Grange WY. (I had flown there on Monday afternoon so that I could see his campus and our house! And also drive home Tuesday together...which turned into driving to Billings on Tuesday, staying the night there, and getting to Missoula today!)

I'm thankful for this handsome man that I'm going to marry
 and spend the rest of my life serving God with.
He has such an incredible heart for God and for me.
 I am so blessed. We're crazy in love!

I am thankful for our housing opportunity for next school year in La Grange, Wyoming.
IT'S FREE! Yes, it's not much to look at, but I am so willing to make it work.
It'll save money. It'll be our own place. All we have to pay is utilities.
Disclaimer: it's not set in stone yet, but a very likely possibility!

I'm thankful for my awesome family. I have parents that walk in righteousness and lead our family to do the same. They provide everything they can for our family. I have a great sister Heidi who is such a close, sweet, friend. She is a talented athlete. I have a very tall brother Nathan who is...very smart. He always helps me with my computer problems. Ya he's a nerd, but it's great! And I have a precious sister Josie who smothers me with hugs and kisses and says she's misses me everyday. She also steals my bed and sends boxes of her toys to college with me.

I'm thankful for my great, lifelong friends, Monz and Meaghan. I'm thankful for Corban and learning through a Christian world-view. I'm thankful for my cross-country team at Corban. I'm thankful for my roommate Kate!  God has blessed me in so many ways. So so so many. I could go on for a while.


Our God is so good and so faithful. He has redeemed me and saved me from His all consuming wrath, which I don't thank Him enough for!

This Is What I Miss...

We Are Family

Best Marathon Runner Overall

My dad ran the Missoula Marathon, sadly without me, on July 11th. Monz, Lauren Morey, Heidi and I woke up at 4am to drive him to the shuttle station downtown and then drove out to mile 3 and set up camp to watch the runners. At 6am they were off. We sat on the hood of our car and cheered for them, some would talk and wave back too! A lady even ran up to us and said, "I'm gonna be gross and pee behind your car." We were glad to be there for her! After my dad ran by we drove to mile 8 so we could give him his chomps. After a quick stop for our own energy fuel-- coffee (it's hard work cheering!!) -- we met him again just across the bridge where my mom and brother and Josie were too and we traded the car for bikes. It was fun to bike along the rest of the way and cheer him and everyone on!! I'm so proud of him!! He did so great!! We thought it would be a lofty goal to make it in 4 hours. He finished in 3 hours and 48 minutes!! And he seemed just as strong and healthy after! He's made for this! Next year I plan on running with him!

My dad just texted me that he and Josie were talking about their trip to see me, and she said, "can we go again tomorrow?!"

What a Weekend!!

On Thursday morning our JV basketball team left for Walla Walla Washington to play in a tournament at Walla Walla University. We played Walla Walla that night and won. We played Salish Kootnai College (yes, from Montana! There was even a girl I played against in high school on their team!) on Friday and lost by 6. That game was my best career college game - I went 4 for 5 from the 3-point line! And my defense was solid as well =) I ended up being the second leading scorer, and I came off the bench and played the least amount of minutes on the team (17). On Saturday our game wasn't until 6:15 (because Walla Walla U is Seventh-Day Adventist, so we couldn't play till sunset...) We had to check out of our hotel at 3, so we went to a Starbucks downtown to study. I had been suspicious that someone from my family was coming out because of several reasons:
- earlier this month my dad was really curious about the dates for my tourney
- Heidi kept telling me every day of the tourney that the family was all coming except for her
- on Saturday when I asked my mom what she was up to, she was team penning, so that kinda bummed me out (cause obviously she wasn't on her way to see me). I told her that Heidi had been telling me they were coming and she said not to get too sad about it but to keep my chin up. So then I began to hope they were still trying to surprise me!
- Heidi had a district basketball consolation game on Saturday, and my dad (unless he was coming to see me) would be at the game. So I asked him to text me updates. For being "at the game" his updates took a suspiciously long time to get to me.
- Therefore, when my dad asked what I was doing that (Saturday) afternoon, I told him I was downtown at Starbucks, just in case =)
Well, I was sitting there studying when this little person ran up beside me and hugged me! It was Josie!! She and my dad came out just to spend a few hours with me and watch my game! It was so special and so much fun! I miss my family a lot and can't wait for spring break!
Anyway, in Saturday's game we played North West Indian College, and we won that game as well. I was very happy with how I played, especially because it could be my last game ever at this level (I still don't know what next year will look like). I had 2 3-pointers, 2 blocks, 3 steals, no fouls. I definitely made a statement with my defense. It was so awesome to play that hard as an act of worship for God! He definitely blessed my performance! And our team took second in the tournament! It was so great to play with those girls! We had a lot of fun! I actually miss it already!

Sneak Peak!

I'm home in Montana now! I just wanted to give you a sneak peak from Christmas! I'll write more and post more pictures later =) It was absolutley wonderful! And it's also so great to be home! I'll be seeing some of you around!!