Welcome....Here's a glimpse of our happenings!

The verses that have REALLY spoken to me (Sarah) lately....



"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." Matthew 7:24-25



Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. I Peter 5:8-9



From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Acts 17:26-28



May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14



So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. Deuteronomy 5:32-33



God, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It's up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation. Deuteronomy 29:29 (The Message)

About the Friesen's....

We are Marc, Sarah, Luke, and Kate Friesen. We were married June 5, 2004. We have one son, born July 21, 2008, named Luke Andrew -- now 4 years old. We also have a daughter named Kate Christine -- born June 6, 2012. Marc is working at Cessna as a Senior Accountant, and Sarah stays home full-time with Luke. Sarah also gets to work very part-time at home for Graber Backhoe -- an excavation company AND VERY part-time at our church. We LOVE being a part of Grace Community Church here in Newton, KS. We lead a Community Life Group of other wonderful couples. Marc thoroughly enjoys long-distance running and Taekwondo. Sarah thoroughly enjoys walking -- especially when the weather is nice to take Luke and/or out in the stroller. Thanks for reading our blog!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Our Vacation -- Day 1....

If you read my previous post, you'll know that we just returned from a vacation to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota. We met our friends, Tammy & Reynold, and their two boys up there. They had driven down from Winnipeg, Manitboba, to meet us there.

We left on Wednesday, the 18th, after Marc got home from work. That first evening, we just drove from home to Kansas City....we wanted to break up the drive a bit from here to Minnesota since we were traveling with a 2 year-old...Though Luke, overall, did VERY WELL in the car, we're glad we split the drive up.

I spent most of the day doing final packing and such....Luke quickly learned how to pull luggage....A task we definitely want him to learn (though right now, he's not quite ready to do it all on his own)....



**And, just to give you fair warning -- the first two days were NOT the exciting part of our vacation, but I feel like they should be documented -- at least for us.

Soooooo, we headed out. Since supper time was quickly approaching, we didn't get far before we stopped along the highway (at a designated little "park" area) to eat. I had packed supper to take along. All was fine and dandy except we quickly had the first tears of the trip (it didn't take long, of course) after Luke had fallen between a picnic table and a park shelter post. Yes, he was fine...But, some much needed "Mommy Time" did make it all better.



From that point on, we didn't stop again before reaching Kansas City. I had packed some "new" things for Luke for this trip.

Pipe cleaners....





Honestly, the pipe cleaners didn't entertain Luke very long. But, I'll save the remainder because someday, he might just be interested.

I then pulled out something Luke didn't realize we had brought along -- a borrowed DVD player for the car. S.C.O.R.E.!!!

I realize there are MANY varying degrees of opinion regarding DVD players in the car. I don't necessarily want this post to be a sounding board for those opinions, but for us, the borrowed DVD player worked out well. Somebody once told me, "Well, they're sitting in the car anyways (as opposed to running around), they might as well be watching something fun and/or educational.

(And thanks, Seth and Sarah, for letting us borrow your DVD player(s))....

Anyways, Luke really enjoyed watching Elmo in Grouchland as well as I Love Big Trains all the way up and all the way back from Minnesota (with a few small breaks from the DVD player).





Thanks to my pickiness and insistence (is that a word?), we stayed in a "suite" instead of a regular hotel room. That way, we were not sleeping in the same room as Luke. That was the BEST THING we could have done. Luke moves around a lot in his sleep (therefore -- he is loud). For me at least, it's hard to sleep in the same room as him. Also, he could go to bed and we could be up with the TV on, etc....Plus, if you do a little research, you can find a suite for the same price as a moderately-priced hotel.

So, for the first night in Kansas City, we stayed in an Embassy Suites.

Luke enjoyed the new "exploring territory."







And again....Our "bedroom"



SEPARATE from Luke's Pack 'n Play....



And, that was our "exciting" first day (I promise -- it gets better)....I am happy to report that Luke slept very well....No getting up in the middle of the night for these two happy parents :)

Stay tuned for the more exciting parts of our vacation....

8 comments:

Rich and Carolyn Dewey said...

A suite is certainly THE way to go. We even do it frequently for just the two of us. Looking forward to hearing the rest of your trip. Minneapolis is a city we haven't seen much of.

Candice said...

That looked like a NICE room! I would do the DVD for sure. Lucky you to have a friend loan it to you!

More than just okay said...

Hey, if they're stuck in car seats for long drives, I'm all for DVD players! The trip and all it's new experiences more than makes up for it.

Looks like you had a fun trip!

Allen and Debby Graber said...

A suite is a great idea! And we LOVE the DVD for traveling with the little ones. People can have different opinions on it but they shouldn't have to make us feel bad if we like it!

rentz said...

We love Embassy Suites...especially their breakfast. Yummy!

Julie said...

A borrowed DVD player helped our trip as well (and it wasn't nearly as long!). The pipe cleaners were a good idea too. Can't wait to hear the rest!

Julie said...

Oh, and I forgot to say that the suite is definitely smart. All four of us shared a regular hotel room (with no bathroom or closet big enough to stuff a pack and play in) and it was HARD. Poor Ori didn't even know how to go to sleep with us right next to him. :0)

Diana said...

I agree... if the kids are going to be just sitting in the vehicle, and end up bored, a CD/DVD player would be a big help. We didn't have those when my boys were little... sure could have used one a couple times, for sure!

Mmmm, look at those fluffy pillows you guys had on your bed. Mmmmmmm.

Pipe cleaners can be awesome playthings. Yeah. :D

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