A DIP IN THE POOL

The kids at CSC recently had a reading contest. The children had a goal of so many pages to read within a certain amount of time. If they reached their goal, their reward was to throw Uncle Paul into the pool. As we have communicated with our kids these last few weeks, they have given us updates on how many pages they had read. They were very excited about the contest. Well, the kids did their work and the reward came to pass. Here are a few pics of Paul being thrown into the pool. I think it is so funny as the pool is quite small and Paul is quite tall. I'm sure it was a challenge trying to pick Paul up and THROW him into the pool, but I know it was a big hit with the kids!

DID YOU KNOW??

Did you know that our kids already have relatives living in the States? It is really kind of interesting to me. Roselyn, Romeo and Rodrigo have two nieces and one nephew that were recently adopted to a family in Wisconsin. Our kids know that Edmon, MaryBeth and Mariemea live with a family in the United States and have asked how far Wisconsin is from Minnesota on several occasions. Because of the age similarity, it seems like they should be cousins. I guess it doesn't really matter. We are excited that they have relatives in the Midwest and we will plan on making connections with them as time goes on. We have been in touch with their family and look forward to meeting all of them!

The big kid in the back is Joel Reasoner. His family lives in Cambridge and he recently went back to CSC to work with the children at the shelter. We sent a few things for our kids with him. A big part of me was jealous that he is now with them, seeing them, touching them and spending time with them. I kind of wanted to grab Joel, give him a big hug and lots of kisses before he left (so he could pass it on to our kids, of course!) but I thought that might be kind of weird, so I just shook his hand, thanked him and said goodbye. That was Thursday night. Now he is in the Philippines. Amazing how small our world is, isn't it?? We are so fortunate to have people THAT WE KNOW who work with and love our kids. It will be so great to see Joel when we go to pick up our kids! Knowing that the next time we see him will be at CSC... it gets me pretty fired up!

THE ROOMS ARE READY

A few of you have asked to see the new completed bedroom, sitting room and bathroom. Well, here they are! Ta-Daaa!

THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL

Most of my blogging friends had pictures of the first day of school. It was so much fun for me to see everyone else's pictures from the first day of school that I thought I should do the same! Well, the first day of school was just fine at our house! It was easy as easy can be with one child. Steph gets herself up, chooses what to wear, makes her own lunch and decides what time to leave for school. The only thing I really do at this point is to get in the car and drive her to school. Even picture-taking this year was easy. It took less than a minute...maybe even thirty seconds! We stepped outside, I snapped the picture and Steph was on her way to school...all this before 7:15a.m! Pretty impressive for a Mork, I'll have to say! It is a very different scene from say... five years ago. We will revisit those days next year so stay tuned!

Swimming is in full swing. Every other year the varsity swim team makes a two-day trip to Grand Rapids and Virginia, Minnesota. It is something that the girls look forward to as they all stay together overnight at the Saw Mill Inn (It's a tradition!). It is just a fun adventure for everyone that goes! Mr. Sholund, the head coach (for 39 years!) is from the Iron Range and loves taking our swimmers to his old stomping grounds. This year, the Virginia meet was cancelled due to pool repairs. They didn't notify us until Wednesday afternoon. So...the weekend get-away turned into a long bus ride to and from Grand Rapids on Friday night. Steph asked if some of the girls could come to our house after the meet on Friday night to spend the night since their other plans were cancelled. On our way to Grand Rapids, I texted Steph to see how many girls would be coming. I waited a few minutes for a reply expecting her answer to be...maybe 10 - 15 girls. She texted back saying that..."its about 25 girls counting me." Whoa!! Allen and I just laughed and started to think if we had any food in the house. Basically, they brought their own snacks for the night and we made cinnamon rolls for them this morning.



The girls stayed up well into the night watching movies, using the hot tub, running around the house and talking, talking, talking like most teenage girls do. We went to bed around 12:30 a.m. When the girls finally did go to sleep, they were sprawled out everywhere downstairs...beds, couches and the floor. It was quite the scene when I went to rescue them from Bernie this morning. Today, they came up the stairs for breakfast in shifts. The girls in this picture are a part of the first seating. There were two more after this. I am thankful that we have a house than can accommodate so many kids. It's always fun to have them. I'm also thankful that Steph is a part of the swim team. They are very nice girls and are welcome at our house any time.


Notice the feet sticking out...

THE GREAT MINNESOTA GET-TOGETHER

Last weekend I went to the State Fair with Lindsay. It was a great afternoon. I can't say that we did anything out of the ordinary, but we just enjoyed walking around looking at everything from art to animals. The International Bazaar, the Miracle of Birth building and the Arts building were especially fun and all swarming with people. The food, of course, was a highlight. What did we eat? Well...there was the old standby pronto pup to start with, a caramel apple, Australian potatoes, a raspberry shake from the dairy building, a strawberry and cream filled crepe, and my personal favorite, a fried Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. Lindsay and I talked about the success of the Minnesota State Fair. Not all states have such a great event. Why is it so popular in our state?? Maybe it has something to do with the people in Minnesota...? I'm sure some of it has to do with the organizers. I personally like the idea of capping off the summer with this great tradition. We plan on taking our Filipino kids next year, but I appreciated the chance to go with Lindsay because it was relaxing to not have an agenda. As fun as it is to go with a group, it becomes a bit more complicated. Anyway, thanks LIndsay for a fun afternoon!

My friend shared a funny story with me about the fair. I didn't exactly ask her for permission to share this, so I will do my best to protect her identity (if it matters). My friend and her family were in the Miracle of Birth building. This is where pregnant animals (i.e. cows, pigs, sheep...) are brought to deliver their young. People who might never have the opportunity to watch a live birth can witness a delivery first hand. There are many newly born babies to look at as well. My friend was trying to get a good view inside one of the pens...which is usually pretty challenging with the crowds of people. She bumped into a man who was also trying to see what was going on. She notice that he was wearing a Bethel University shirt and started to make small talk with him. She explained that she had attended Bethel College and knew several students attending Bethel. Of course, she asked this gentleman if he was a Bethel alum or had kids going there. He smiled, hesitated as he looked over at his wife and said, "Well...actually... I am the president of Bethel University. My name is Jay Barnes." In that instant, my friend recognized him from newsletters and mailings she had received in the last few months. He was very gracious about the whole thing. I suppose they chatted for a few more minutes and went their own way. I love stories like this! Moral of the story: You never know who you might bump into at the birthing barn AND really, it doesn't matter who you are, everyone LOVES the Great Minnesota Get-Together!

A HAPPY PLACE

I have been putting a book together for each of our kids with pictures of places and people in Cambridge. I plan on sending it with Joel Reasoner (a staff person at CSC) who will be traveling back to the children's shelter at the end of the week. It has been fun to gather pictures and notes from teachers, administrators and people at church. I have also included pictures of our house, the medical center, the schools and our church.

Last night, Allen and I went on a little adventure on the Rum River. Whenever he gets a chance, Allen loves to take his canoe down to the river and do some fishing. He often tries to get one of us to go with him, but sadly...we usually decline. I went with him last night because I wanted to get some pictures of him in his canoe for our new kids. Also, it was such a beautiful evening for a DATE. How could I pass that up? Allen had been down earlier in the day and caught seven fish! Naturally, he was so excited for me to come so he could show me his fishing expertise! I had great hopes of capturing a great picture of him and a BIG fish. We paddled through the back waters to the river. (Actually, I didn't exactly paddle much at all. Allen did 90% of the paddling and 100% of the fishing. I was taking pictures and enjoying the scenery.) We went down the river to an island that Allen frequents when he takes the canoe out. He often stops at this spot to fish so we both got out. It was so quiet and peaceful . Although I had been there before, I had forgotten how beautiful it was. No wonder he likes to go to this place! It is a safe place... a happy place.

After our "photo shoot", we headed back up the river toward our home. We didn't really talk about anything. We didn't need to. It was enough to just listen to the sound of the paddle pushing through the water and to enjoy the beauty of the river...together. I suspect that next year this time it will be easier to find a fishing partner for Allen. I think our kids will LOVE it. I think I LOVE it! I just forgot how wonderful it was...and to think that it is right in our back yard...! By the way, Allen didn't catch ONE fish on our little excursion! He was a little disappointed...but not me! I had a GREAT time and I have a great excuse to go out with him next time!

THE END OF SUMMER, THE START OF SCHOOL

Wow! Can it be true that school starts tomorrow??? Yep, it's true. The crazy thing is that we don't have anyone at our house going to school tomorrow. Grades 1-9 start tomorrow in District 911. The upperclassmen at the high school begin on Wednesday. So... Steph gets to sleep in one more day. This will be the first time in 16 years that there won't be any Mork kids at our house running off for the first day. Of course, Wednesday starts a new year for Steph and THEN the school year officially starts. Just for the record, Lindsay and Kristin start tomorrow as well.






The transition from the end of summer to the beginning of school has been happening very slowly over the last few weeks. Swimming for Steph started three weeks ago and we have already had three meets. It is very fun to reconnect with other swim parents and exciting to watch the girls in the pool again. Cross country for Kristin also started a few weeks back. Bethel had their first duel meet at Augsburg last Saturday morning. It was a beautiful morning and a good excuse for us to "run" (a manner of speaking!) down to see Kristin.








I'm quite sure that you will see more swimming and cross country pictures in the coming months. I get a real kick out of dragging my camera to almost every event. It's fun to experiment with my camera and...it gives me something constructive to do with my nervous energy!