Hallelujah!

Our friend George made this alter for our church in memory of his mom. I can't think of a more beautiful, long lasting memorial. George is a farmer and more recently an appraiser. It took him seven or eight years and in his words "the grace of God" to complete the alter. It is an absolutely impressive addition to our church. Thanks George for your vision and ambition. I would imagine your mom is very proud.

Shutter Island

We read the book, we saw the movie......

and we all gave the book and the movie a thumbs up. I suggested the book to my sister and she read the whole book in one day!

The following blog entry was written by my brother Mark Marshall and posted first on this blog.

All of the most spiritual things I have seen in my life I saw in my first days in Haiti. These Haitian people are the strongest, most spiritual, most amazing people I have ever known. Faced with poverty, abuse and indifference – and now the most devastating human tragedy the earth has to offer – they sing and pray and give thanks. They smile and laugh and look forward to each new day.
I have seen miracles happen each day. I have seen babies die from malnutrition. I have seen injuries that defy human endurance. I have seen mothers starving in order to feed their babies.
These people in Haiti ask for nothing and expect nothing. They are gracious and grateful for any small gifts of time or touch or medical care. They give more than they receive, and all of us who have visited their world for a day or a month or a year are far richer for the experience.
There will be great need in Haiti for a long time – for a lifetime. I have been truly blessed to have spent a moment of my life in this place. Please remember these people in your thoughts, in your prayers, in your daily life. Thank you to everyone for the prayers and the positive energy sent my way in this greatest adventure of my life.

Hooray for Hoover

My old vacuum cleaner had been on its last leg for about 6 months. It finally broke altogether and I had to break down and do some research and buy a new vacuum. I ended up with this Hoover Platinum Lightweight Bagged Upright with Canister. I have to say I love it so far. It only weighs 12 pounds and automatically adjusts to carpet height. It has impressive suction and little brushes that stick out from the sides to get closer to baseboards. It tells you when the bag is full and has a little handle at the bottom that you can hang on to if you want to do steps. I have not used the attachments yet but you can wear the little canister like a backpack. How nerdish is that? I love it!

'Nuf' Said

Princess Princess

Sunday Laina dressed up in her usual "princess" finery. What do you do while you're dressed up as a princess? I mean just sitting around would be pretty dull. Laina wants to play her usual games of hide and seek and "baby" but she just puts the word princess before the games when she is dressed up. So we played Princess hide and seek and Princess Baby.

Happy Heart Day

Laina wore this heart outfit to her pre-school valentine party and made these valentines for family and friends.

Snow Day

On Tuesday Bridget had a snow day and so she took Laina sledding. Lucky Laina!!

Dog Gone Fun

Laina likes to terrorize Lola with this toddler toy.

A Four Legged Visitor

Lola always makes herself right at home when she comes to visit. Elsa is a pretty good sport about it and shares her bed with Lola.

Poor Barbie

Laina was alarmed to find out that one of her Barbies had been out in the garage by her bike all winter. She was being a big drama queen about the whole thing saying her barbie was cold and had missed Thanksgiving and Christmas. She brought her in and put a fur coat on her to warm her up but said the barbie was not comfortable with the fur coat on and wanted a hair cut. Laina loves to cut her barbies hair so I think maybe Laina was thinkinkg of herself and not poor barbie.

What is your Destiny?

Destiny came to visit Sunday night and she and Laina colored, cut, glued, stapled and folded paper into cards and other unique shapes.  

Destiny loves dogs and I think Lola loved her back!

Spiritual Anesthetic

My brother was interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio and below is the audio of his interview. I again stole this from my nieces blog. I just recorded the audio as a video to make it easier to get just the segment with his interview on the blog so sorry for the blank screen. He is planning on being in Haiti until February 18.