Niagara Cave...

We ventured to Harmony, MN today to tour Niagara Cave. It was discovered in 1912 when three pigs fell into the cave. This is a picture of the 60 foot waterfall.
The temperature was 48 degrees and we were about 200 feet underground.
There's a mini wedding chapel. Karis said that she didn't want to get married there because she wants to get married in a "real" church. It was very narrow at some parts... quite an adventure!

Sesame Street Live!

Sesame Street Live kicked off their new tour,"Elmo's Green Thumb," in La Crosse last night. We had a great time... and so did Karis. Ben was excited to see his favorite, Ernie.
The storyline was about Elmo trying to find a place to plant his flower. Big Bird had a nice garden and the whole gang was trying to pick the perfect spot.
Abby Cadabby, my favorite, worked a little magic to make the flower grow, but it backfired and made everyone small instead. It was kind like "Honey, I shrunk the kids."
At the end, the perfect spot was found, and Abby managed to work her magic to get everyone back to their regular size.
This is Karis watching the show... she never looked away!

Lawns and Lemonade

Our church is doing a three day program in the local housing project. We are mowing lawns, and handing out lemonade and coookies. As you can see, Karis, Katie and some of the children that live there are playing with sidewalk chalk. There was quite a language barrier, but the kids and adults had fun anyway. Anybody speak Hmong?
Ben and Eric did a lot of mowing last night.

You can see that they were working out a strategy in this picture.

One last picture that I forgot to put on the blog from this weekend... Ben and Karis slept in the tent in our backyard! Both had a good time, but I don't think they slept well.

SOCIAL SUNDAY!!!

This was a fun day! Eric, Linda, and Mya came over for lunch and then the girls played in the sprinkler.
They also posed for a picture when they were dry.
John Brown, one of Ben's friends from Penn State, stopped in for a surprise visit. He drove to Minnesota from New Jersey for a wedding and thought he'd try to find us on his way home. We had a great time showing him around and catching up on life. We've decided that we haven't seen him since 1994. John is staying with us for the night and will start the long drive back east in the morning.

Weekend activities...

We're having a beautiful weekend with temps in the mid 80's and low humidity. Friday night we decided to check out "Sand On The Riverfront," a festival/fundraiser.
This sand sculpture is of a pig taking a bath.

There were about 12 different sculptures, but Ben and I liked this one the best.
The next stop... Rudy's Drive-In.

My aunt, Mary Ann, said that she saw this place on the food network.

We decided to try out the ice cream!

Satudray afternoon... out comes the slip and slide. Karis is still a little nervous to go on her belly!

Ben enjoys the slide as much as Karis. I enjoy being the photographer!

A Cornerstone picnic...

Today was the big Cornerstone picnic... right on the Mississippi. Eight people were baptized. Ben, the fish that he is, had to jump in the river before the service began.
As you can see in this next picture, Ben and Eric did a "double dip" with a married couple.
The next picture is of the whole gang. It's amazing how much attention you get when something like this takes place at a public beach.
After the service, Ben and Karis went for a swim. This was their first plunge in the Mississippi River. I volunteered to take the pictures. The water wasn't bad, but I can say it's not very clean.


Our friend, Tim, was having fun as he played with two of his daughters.

Bible School...

Karis attended Bible School this week at a church down the street. The theme for the week was "Power Lab... Discovering Jesus' Miraculous Power." She didn't want us to see her, so I hid in the back while our friend, Tim, took these pictures for me.

I'm blown away by Karis's energy this week! She went from daycare to Bible School with no complaints. This last picture makes me smile. She worked hard and had fun while she did the hand motions. Karis is really growing up!

Grandma Newman's visit...

We had lots of fun when Grandma Newman stayed with us for another week. On Saturday morning, we went to a local playground. Karis was quite bold as she tried out the mini zip-line. We played mini golf Saturday evening. As seen in the picture, Karis got some help from Grandma.

I couldn't resist this picture of our little model posing during a sunset!

RELAY FOR LIFE!!!!!

I had the honor to be a part of the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life August 1-2. It was a 15 hour event and I shared the experience with my co-workers from the hospital. Our team is called the "Franciscan Skemp Freedom Fighters." The first lap around the track is done by cancer survivors, as you can see above.


You could purchase luminaries in honor of someone who has survived cancer, or to honor someone who died from cancer. I bought an honor luminary for Ben's Grandpa Les, and a memorial light for Ben's Grandpa Harry, Dad, and my Uncle Marvin.


Ben, Karis and Ben's mom joined us for a few hours. Karis wanted to run with me at my "all night walking party to fight cancer." There was lots of entertainment, including cloggers, a big band, and belly dancers. There were theme walking hours, such as "Dude Looks Like a Lady," where guys dressed like girls.


Later in the evening, they read off all of the names during the luminary ceremony. This is picture of just part of the track. It was a very serene experience. The lights were around the inside and outside of the track.

Here are a few of my co-workers... Sue the dietician (we share an office), Marlene, and Kathy, who are both nurses. Sue and Kathy put a lot of work into this event for our team. What a wonderful night.