MOVING!!!

No, not me, just my writings. We are starting a new family blog, and we'll all be posting over there. Be sure to come visit!

We the Pedersens

Romania Day

My family has an annual tradition of "visiting" another country for a day. This year it was Romania. The kids studied the country beforehand, and pretty much everybody helped put everything together. We had costumes:



Decorations:



Dancing:



and food:


What fun!

Marimba Ponies

Unforgettable Business Trip

I went on a business trip last weekend. I had been excited about it because it was for a conference being held at a nice resort. On the way, though, the trip turned into a sort of nightmare when I got stuck in a traffic jam and then my car broke down at a traffic light at 10:30 at night. To make a long story short, the next couple of hours involved several phone calls home, a passerby trying unsuccessfully to push the car, a tow truck, a stop at a hotel that was booked, a cab ride to another hotel, and finally, a collapse into bed. I was able to rent a car the next morning, even though it was Sunday, and go the rest of the way, and my heroic father came with a tow dolly to haul my busted car back to Houston for potentially major transmission repairs.

Whew! It was all very stressful, but I'm thankful that I wasn't in the middle of nowhere when I broke down. I was also very blessed that everyone I had to deal with was friendly and apparently trustworthy. God was watching out for me!

Once I finally made it to the conference, everything went better. I even got some time to walk around the grounds, which were beautiful. Here are a few pictures:



A concrete path with metal inlays.



The view from my window.

It's set up wrong!

One of the lights along the garden path.

Heartbreak

Mommies should never be away fighting a war.

Not Sure What I Think About This

I was in Forever 21, a trendy clothing store, yesterday. It was mostly an entertainment time (you know, "who wears this stuff?!"), but I did find a skirt I liked. When I got home, I noticed John 3:16 on the bottom of the bag:

My first response was, "Huh?" It sure hadn't seemed like a religious store. Some of the merchandise was nice, most was on the line between cute and daring, and some of it was down-right scandalous. A bit of internet research clued me in that the verse on the bags is due to the Christian faith of the founders/owners of the chain. Okay, but something isn't quite jiving here. A clothing store that mostly caters to young women who are trying to show off their bodies can't Christianize itself just by putting a scripture reference on the bags...can it? It's a strange version of "in the world, but not of it" if you ask me.

Am I Still Writing a Blog?

Even I am not sure! Life has been a swirl of church activities, business trips, dancing, and having company over every weekend.

John, Anna, and I went to a small bluegrass festival recently and heard two great bands and one pretty good band. We heard the always-fantastic Chapmans, and this family band, Triple L. The guys had amazing four-part harmony. They're going to have to modify it soon, though. The youngest is in his voice-change time!

Day in Galveston

We went down to Galveston yesterday for a tour of the Moody Mansion, a historic mansion that has been beautifully restored. This hibiscus blossom was in the front garden.


We couldn't take pictures inside, but here's the outside. It was very impressive. I love old mansions! They have so much more character than new ones.


The new gate guard.


A picnic lunch on the grounds.

We went to the beach also, but I was too busy frolicking in the waves to take any pictures. Speaking of the waves, I had the misfortune of losing my glasses when a wave washed over me. Wearing my glasses out in the ocean was one of the dumbest things I've done in quite a while, but at least I was planning on getting contacts anyway. I guess this is a good time! Besides that, we had a great time, and didn't get too sunburned.

This is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Here's a good reminder to be a coronary Christian, humbly lub-dubbing along.

What NOT To Do With Your Microwave

The internet is great for letting you watch things you'd NEVER actually do, right?

Friends Come In All Sizes

I received a blessing yesterday when I was with a group of people from church and got to talking to a young girl who just turned eleven. We talked about everything from her baby cousin who recently died, to her favorite I Love Lucy episode. After a while, her little brother came over and said, "You're talking to a 25-year-old?!?" She responded, somewhat indignantly, "I like her!" It was so sweet!

Slight Miscalculation

Oops.

The Raleigh Ringers

My sisters and I had the privilege of attending a concert given by this group last night. This video is from a different performance, but we did hear this song, among many others. It was absolutely amazing!

Chemistry Fun

Here's a video showing experiments that explode, burn, change color, etc.

Vacation Part Four

We spent a day just enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Ozarks.









We then went to Hot Springs, Arkansas where you can stick your finger in a pool of very hot water...


...and where you can see the historic bath house, where some of the old implements for hot water medical treatments look a lot like torture devices!



Our last stop before heading home was at a historic town with lots of reconstructed buildings. One of the most fascinating things, though, was this massive magnolia tree.


Oh, and the gorgeous chamber pot.

Vacation Part Three

After leaving St. Louis, we went to see a cave, and got a nice guided tour.

We spent a day at the Ozark Folk Center, a place with lots of old-time crafts being demonstrated. We enjoyed it very much.

We got to ride a mule-driven merry-go-round, which was slow, but relaxing and quite a novelty.

Cigar-box fiddle.

Washtub bass.




Loom weaving.




Soap-making.






We finished our day with dinner out...



...and a fun concert, with various bands, dancers, and singers.



John, taking in a moment of country life.

Vacation Part Two

We headed back to Texas through Missouri and Arkansas, and stopped in St. Louis to see the Arch.



John outside the very small tram door.


It was a very exciting ride!




Here we are at the top, looking out the observation windows.


We also went through the museum below the arch. Becca is good at mimicing statues and doing funny stuff for the camera!


We were blessed to stay at the home of our friends, the Servens. They made this fantastic bonfire, which was great fun. It also helped us get our minds off our troubles, since we were down in the dumps because our van had been robbed in St. Louis that afternoon. Someone broke a window and took some electronics, money, and other items that were inside. It was a troubling and very inconvenient occurance, but we're just thankful no one was hurt. We were able to get a new window the next day, so we were able to continue our trip. We left St. Louis a little sadder and a lot smarter.

Vacation Part One

We returned on Sunday from a family vacation. It was a road trip that included both visiting friends and family and doing site-seeing. I missed the first part of the trip because I was working, so the first activity I was there for was a family reunion in Nebraska. Here's a picture Seth took of the cross on the hill at the church camp where we had the reunion.

Becca and Laura paddleboating.

The girls.

Us with our grandparents. We took a LOT of family pictures. Our smiles started to freeze!

Anna and Seth, who got so confident with their canoeing that they went exploring and the camp supervisor had to go looking for them because they were gone so long!