Belated Merry Christmas!

Well, my first Christmas in Iowa. Of course, we did all our shopping last minute. The last present was bought Christmas Eve. On the 22nd, we had our Hooyer Party. BOWLING!!! FOOD!!! SKIT!!! BOGGLE!!! APPLES TO APPLES!!! RESISTING GOING MAD!!! It was fun. Actually, the guy there (supervising, helping, or going slowly mad) was the same as last year. I was very surprised. We actually had it at 8 in the morning instead of at night. Needless to say, we all came late. Here's me playing Apples to Apples with one of my favoritest Aunts. I like this picture of my cousins and my dad. (Dad, Jolee, and Kayloni) Jolee is wearing my dad's glasses. The next picture is of Jolee and Ethan. Very cute. The next pic is of our Christmas play we put on every year. Also a picture of the sheep.

After the the Party, we went to my Aunt Sarah's house. There I played Cranium and came in last! I hate humdingers!

On Christmas we opened presents. I got movies, music, and misc. I finally found the picture of the dog! If you can't tell, I had fun with pictures.

Well, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Chapter 2

Becka Butterfly
Or, A Hint of a Quest

Mitch walked despondently down the path. He had no home, no friends, no purpose. A lonesome call rang overhead, a piercing screech. Through the leafy foliage he could just make out a jay hawk circling overhead. As he watched, the lazy swoop turned into a sharp dive, murder glinting in its eyes.

He threw himself to the ground as the streak passed him and dive bombed into a bush behind him. His pounding heart slowed than quickened again when a frightened “EEP” reached his ears. Pivoting, his searching eyes found a defenseless hare fighting for her life. Without thinking, Mitch grabbed a short branch lying next to him and whapped the killer bird. Stunned, it reeled away into the sky.

Silence reigned in the forest once again, when suddenly a beautiful blue butterfly popped into existence in a flash of blue. Flitting, it landed on Mitch’s finger. He brought it up to his face, and was enchanted by her intelligent eyes. “Mitchel. You have acted selflessly in defense of Bunny Beth from the evil Count Jamie Jay Hawk. I have searched high and low for someone like you to come to my aid. You will rescue Sarah Princess from the evil dragon Charity Chomper! Continue down this road, and more answers will come to you.” With another flash, she was gone.

Story

Well, me and my sister are going to write an ongoing story. One chapter will be on her blog, the next on mine. (Charity's blog incase you want to read it). So if one day you see a chapter 2, do not be alarmed. You are not loosing your mind. Charity's blog describes it better so if your interested, read hers for a better explination.

This does not mean I will stop posting other blogs. This story will probably be ongoing between blogs.

Dogs

Well, I did take a pic of my braces and the dog, but I accidentally saved them somewhere and I don't know where. I'll find them eventually. Well, the dog is gone. (excuse me while I cackle). Yesterday, I get home from school and I found out that the dog had eaten one of the little grey kittens. He was also chasing cats. Spooks was limping. Charity was so mad that she was ready to shoot him. She would have too, but we don't actually have a real gun. We only have BB guns. So me and Dad took him to Rock Valley (15 minutes away) and let him loose in town, and took a round about way home so he couldn't follow us.
One of the other cats, Skunk, might die. We think its because he's so cold. I want to blog more, but I have to get ready for my concert.

Teeth and Dogs

Well, I have my braces and so far, I've been staying on Ibuprofen. I hate them already. They really didn't hurt (thanks to meds) but they're really annoying. But they are metallic purple and pink. Today is my Dads and brothers birthday. In art, we went around and decorated windows. It was a lot of fun, but I wish I had more time. I got to skip the hardest classes!
Yesterday, my red-headed neighbor/cousin found a stray dog. So, he brought it over here. I dislike it very very strongly. It it too much of a people person. It will jump all over you. It tripped Michael and it will jump on the cats w/o noticing while trying to jump on us. We are trying to give it away. Mitchell, I WILL get even with you!!! (pics of both teeth and dog hopefully soon).

Braces

Well, it's final. I'm getting braces. Yesterday, I got spacers. They didn't hurt to badly, so I didn't take any Tylenol. It hurt a little to chew, but it was ok. Today, it really really hurts. I can hardly chew. Today is Thanksgiving, so that was just bad timing.
Today we have a Sandbulte thing at an elementary school somewhere. Saturday we have a Hooyer thing.

Life as a traveling saleswoman

So for RCYF (reformed church youth something) we are doing a fundraiser so we can go to Rockie Mountain High. We are selling coupons for free large pizza's, chicken, or cactus bread from Pizza Ranch (which has the best chicken!!!). Everyone else got them on Sunday, but I got them yesterday. Normally, I don't do fundraisers because I don't know anyone and all my friends are doing the same fundraiser. But since I am related to about 1/2 the county here, I had to do it. (everyone on this list bought some)

• first stop: my uncle Al and Cal (twins). they bought some and then we sat around and watched bull riding, roping, etc. My brother decided that he wanted to be a bull rider. I said "I'll sign your cast"
• today: grandma & grandpa S. there we got a bag of milky ways and fake clown noses
• my great-aunt: we talked. phone rang. answered. we talked. phone rang. answered. we talked. phone rang. we left.
• my aunt and uncle (Brenda & Greg): they found a viola when cleaning (their 3 daughters are amazing musicians) and gave it to me so I could see if it was better than the one my Aunt Sarah (who was using it for decoration) gave me. (we stopped at my Aunt Sarah's but no one was home)
• my aunt Maria: we talked. She recommended my aunt Debbie and Uncle Mark
• my aunt Debbie and my uncle Mark: We talked about dogs, chickens, cows, and wanting their son to get married and have grandchildren. Also gave us food.

After that we went home. My aunt Judy would also want some but my mom might buy the rest because we wanted some. My uncle Gene said he would buy any that we have left, but I don't think he's going to get very much.

This blog was totally random but who else do you know that in selling things, would get candy, fake noses, and a viola? I'm not even sure I want to go on the trip!

Sorry

I know you all were planning on this and canceling things so you can come, but it wouldn't work out this week. My grandpa just died this morning. On Sunday, we're having a family thing so we wouldn't be able to take you back. Also, I don't think you'd have much fun right now. I would still love to see you sometime. Maybe a different time?

HAPPY MOLE DAY!!!!

In chemistry, there is a mesurement called the mole. It is Avogadro's number (6.02 x 1023). So it starts at 6 am on the 10th month, the 23rd day. We had cupcakes that looked like moles, chocolate, and pop. We did something for 5-10 min. and for the rest, we talked. Also, everyone else (I ran earlier) had to run the mile today. It was really cold b/c we are 1st hour :)
Friday, we have a pep rally so we get out at 11:30! (Go xcountry team)

Ok, so maybe Paula will be the first to get why this is such a big deal. Today we started throwing (is that correct sp? oh well you know what i mean) pots. I got it the first day, the first time. I'll explain for all y'all who weren't in my pottery class last year. It took me about 4 weeks in class and after school to throw 1 cup. It took everyone else about 1 week. My pot is actually really cool. I'm happy.
My sister had a dentist appointment today and she was supposed to pick me up after. She didn't. She is still gone. My uncle took me home. AM I INVISIBLE!!!!! GGGRRRRR!!!! Oh well.
icantwaiticantwaiticantwaiticantwaiticantwaiticantwait...

Random

In my grade, there is a kid named Ian. His parents are Glen and Viki. Glen is my Dad's cousin and Viki is my mom's second cousin. So actually, he is more closely related to me than any of my actual cousins (but I don't know him really well). Apparently, he got in an accident at around 5 yesterday. He broke his jaw, lost some teeth, and apparently, something is wrong with one of his eyes. But they say that he is a lot better than what they thought at first.
I emailed the Steigerwald's & Megan directions because their parents are the ones driving. If you need any clarifications, you can email/call/blog and I relay it to my sister. About what time are you leaving (1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, etc?) I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Yay!

Of course, as you all know, my friends are comming down to Iowa to visit me!!!!!! I desided to post again b/c we had like 35 comments on my other one. I can't wait!!

Here is a couple pictures of me on the tramp. Two days ago, I ran over a racoon. I was following my dad b/c we had to drop one of the cars off somewere and he hit the racoon, then I hit it. It was rolling from when I hit it so it was very strange to see.
Also, here is some pics of some kittens that you will see very soon.

Ummm... what else to say? Yay!!!! Hey, if you are leaving early from school, that means I'll have to too! Yay!!!

Virtual Tour

Since y'all have been after me to post pictures of my house and stuff, I've finally stopped procrastinating. When I went to Orchestra, I took Charity's camera with me.

The first couple photos are pictures of our house from the porch. Then I went to Orchestra. There were pictures are of Dordt, but they were really boring so I left them out. After that I drove by School. That picture was boring but I included it. The picture is of both the middle school and high school since they are connected. After that I drove by the library. About 5 years ago (or longer), someone threw firecrackers in the drop box and the library burned down. Now they are in the old high school (in the gym- you can see the basketball hoops). They are building a new building but the pictures of that were boring. After that, I drove home. Here are some random pictures (the children's park, a field, sheep, my uncles long barn, my other uncles semi crashed into the building (kidding), and a picture of our house from the road). I took other pictures, but that would have taken way to long of a time to load.

Most of these pictures I took while in the car. Sometimes I stopped, sometimes I was still driving. You can see parts of the car
in the pictures.

Random typing while waiting for my pictures to load... The long barn is about 350-400 yards. It holds cows. It used to be my Gramdpa and Gramdma Hooyer's farm. So my dad grew up there. They sold it to their oldest son (my uncle Paul). It once collapsed when my dad was young because of a whole bunch of snow on it. All done. Can quit ranting now!

Um...

This week, we had ITED's (Iowa Test of Something). So we sat in really uncomfortable chairs in the auditorium. It went from 8:15 to 2. It was kind of like the ACT tests.
Has anyone noticed a trend? So far, my school hasn't had a week were there was no interruptions. I think in a month or two, there will be one full week!!! (Gasp)
Today in Gym, we ran the mile for 'practice.' Gym was first hour. My legs still feel like jelly. There is a mural by the gym. On it is a violin. It bugs me every time I see it. It is disproportional, it has no chin rest, the end of the violin is missing parts, and the bow doesn't have a frog. It doesn't look like a bow. Like I said, it bugs me.
Ooooh, my favorite author (Terry Pratchett, a satirical master) came out with a new book and I just finished it! Yeah!!!
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE EURO TRIP!!!!! MISS YOU! MISS EAU CLAIRE!! MISS TREES!!! MISS WATER!!!! MISS MEMORIAL!!!!!

Ranting

For the county orchestra, I'm first viola. NOT FUN! I like having to have someone to listen to in case I get off. Also, not one of the other violas can keep a beat. It's annoying. Plus, they are playing really easy songs, and we are playing The Gift! I remember I hated that song. Don't remember why, but I did.
Also, Tuesday, we had the equivalent to Arrive Alive. They had a driving simulator. You started out sober and slowly got drunk. It would give you a second delay simulating the alcohol delaying you. I'm sure you're all happy to know I crashed. I kept on swerving and I either hit a building or a car. I forget.
Tonight, we had '50's Night at church. We served hot dogs and rootbeer and stuff like that. It was sort of like the Italian Dinner but instead of having 2 seating's, people came whenever they liked so it was busy all the time.
Oooohhh! My parents saw a couple kittens under the deck!!!! I haven't seen them, but I can't wait to catch them, get all scratched up, and tame them.

1/2 Day Today

Weekend: boring. I babysat and washed tents. On Sunday, my uncle took me to a RCYF party. It was ok. It rained but they fed us. They also had really cute kittens.
Yesterday: Geek Day. Homecomming is this week. I petted Ashley (the wild cat). She went away a couple steps aferwards. Not much else to say.
Today: Pink Day and 1/2 day. It was kind of funny seeing guys in pink. Some were wearing girls shirts or bathrobes. Also our school server crashed. I still don't have a place to save things there (the U drive). So in computer App., we were allowed to serf the web. At memorial's web site, you can go to 'a day at memorial' or something like that. For 6th hour orchestra, it's a picture of Paula, Elisabeth, and me. Also I got to take home my clay lizzard today. I have viola lessons later today. Nothing else to say really.

Freshmen

Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of nice Froshies out there. I even sit by some at lunch. But 2 of the freshmen boys are almost driving me to INSANE. (Just kidding-but they really are annoying)
One guy in my computer app. class once was poking my shoe. For no reason. And today, SC was playing MOC (our rivals apparently who wear purple). Because I was wearing my Memorial Old Abes shirt, he started hitting me over the head with a rolled up piece of paper.
Today in Art, some guy in front of me started hitting me over the head with a ruler! What is up with froshies and hitting me over the head?!
Like I said, don't get me wrong. There are some really nice people down here. Some of the guys will hold open doors for you or let you go in front of them. But hitting a girl you don't know over the head? No one in Memorial would have done that to me. From now on, I will wear my Memorial shirt whenever they have a football game.
On a different note, I think my sister is slightly color blind. She thought my black bandanna was blue. She says that sometimes red seems orange so here blue/yellow things might be messed up. Random picture of my sister being spider-woman. Ooh! In art, I met a girl who'd also lived in WI (I forget were). She also agrees that the water here is disgusting. I mainly drink bottled water now.

Iowa Rain

This summer has been really weird in terms of the weather. We went a whole month w/o rain. Let me tell you, everyone down here was really worried. Then we started to get rain just in time for the crops. But today I got my first taste of a "real Iowa rain" as my dad put it.
We had just jump started our car because dad had left the lights on. He decided to give the car some more time, we would go over to my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Mark. So we went there and talked for a bit. We also got ice cream and strawberry's. Yum! But then it started to down poor. The car was about 40ft from the door. We ran as fast as we could to the car but in that short time, I was soaked. My hair was wet all the way through and so were my close. When driving home, we couldn't see 10ft infront of us and we were only going 25 mph!
On a different note, we had 'Warrior Time' today. It is every Thursday. Classes are shortend. If you have missing work or are failing a class, a teacher will ask you to stay after school. If not, we can go home early (instead of 3:20, we get out at 2:35).

Odd things in Iowa

Tractors driving down the road
Really REALLY old tractors driving down the road
People riding down town streets with lawn mowers
People riding horses down gravel roads
Trees only by houses
Sunday: most buisnesses are closed
NO BOOK STORES
Old appliences (like old stoves, etc.)
My Grandma still washes all her dishes by hand
My Grandma doesn't own a computer
Sarah, Charity, anything else you can think of?

3 day weekend!

Well... What to say. Nothing much except family. This is my first chance this weekend to blog. The rest of my family has taken up the computer. My sisters had school today. Bwahahaha!!!
On Saturday, I babysat. They weren't that bad this time.
Today, we went over to my grandparents to eat Dinner (Lunch to those who aren't Dutch). Our Great-Aunts Grada, Arlene, and Harriet were there as well as our Great-Uncle Howard. When we were eating, my Grandpa told us about someone praying in Dutch and there was only one phrase that people could understand. He told it to us, and all the old people started laughing. I cannot tell you how weird it was. The punch line was in a different language. Living in a Dutch community is weird. A lot of last names start with Vander, Vande, Van, De, etc. (i.e. Vander Lugt (pronounced Vander Luckt), De Jong (De Young)). We also played this fun game called penny Rummy.
Do you all start school on Wednesday? Freshmen tomorrow? You guys ready?

Random

My sister asked me to blog more often so she knew what was happening at home. Well, not much. Sarah moved in with my Grandparents so she is close to school. She forgot her backpack so I had to bring it this morning. Tomorrow I will pick up Charity unless she emails otherwise.
Not much is really happening. Apparently my Aunt and Uncle walked over to our house (for those who live in Iowa it was Paul and Maria). When they left, they looked behind them and following them was a string of ducklings... wait, kittens. (They do that too when I am waiting for the bus). So Dad had to put out food so my relatives could make their escape.
School. I'm done outlining the car and am starting to ink it. I'm also done w/ my lizard and we're starting to make a slab 'mode of transportation.' Chemistry is still the class I despise the most. Bwahahahaha!!!!! School starts next week for you'all

Saturday fun in the Sun

Well, maybe not. It was in the sun at least. 1st off, I had to go to the college to try out for the Youth Orchestra. My D string didn't like me for tuning. The people who told me which scales to play were wrong. They told me to play the violin scales. I hadn't practiced those. My solo went ok though. Same w/ sight reading. That was really easy because most of the kid in there will probably be a lot younger than me. I think I impressed the person.
Then I went home, changed, then went to my uncle Ross's. He's building a place for cattle. My dad was helping him dig holes for fence poles. I helped. Then I got home, ate, then I mowed the lawn. My mom had started w/ the push mower. Since the side of the lawn we were mowing is really really big (huge), doing it w/ a push mower is a pain. So I got my dad to wire on the muffler (remember Sarah broke it) so I could do it w/ the riding one. Then, when I was almost done, Sarah came home from work and mowed the rest for me.
On Friday, when I picked up Charity, I watched the 'Battle of the Classes.' It was a slime fest. Well actually, they had a big horse trough that they had to fill w/ slime. So they ran to the middle were there were 3 trough's for each grade, filled up there cups, then ran back. They could only use kids sand buckets that had holes in the bottom. Sophomores won and Freshmen came in second. Since my sister is a freshmen, I didn't stay for the rest.

School! School! Dreadful School!

Well, actually it isn't dreadful. My English class is awesome (she mixes history along with). My computer App. teacher is cool (even if I'm w/ froshies).

Today, I switched out of Algebra II. That's what I would have been in Memorial. But here, it was all stuff I'd done before. So, I went back to Geometry which I took last year. EXCEPT... this Geometry is more like Trig. So. Actually, I really like the class and teacher. but that meant I had to take Chemistry 9th instead of 8th. But that's ok. I like that class better.

Today in Chemistry my teacher was saying that when describing candles, we shouldn't use 'wax.' It could be made out of mothballs or other weird sounding things. The then set a candle on fire and ate it. It was a potato and almond. Cool.

For the first 4 periods and part of 5th, we took a test that is supposed to show our aptitude.Everybody here is really nice. People (mainly girls) wil. come up to me and ask me how it's going, how I like the school, if I want to sit w/ them, etc. I don't know most of them. At lunch, if they see someone sitting alone, everyone at a table will get up and move to that person. I've seen that happen twice.
It's really cute how our cats follow us to the bus stop. The picture is of me on the swing goofing off. That is were I also sometimes wait for the bus. One bad thing is that the water here is terrible, especially in the school. At home we have to have a filter and it still tastes gross. I usually drink cool-aid or something from a bottle.

First day of school

My school starts at 8. My bus comes at 7:30. I went to gym (Western Civ was full). My gym teacher seems fairly nice. Since we have a big 1st hour (30 students instead of the normal 10-15) he said that if we didn't like the unit we were doing, we could walk instead! Yeah! Next was American Lit. My dad had her. She, too, is really nice. We don't have a seating chart and she says that we wont read any books that she doesn't like (i.e. Moby Dick). Next is Home Room. About 15 minutes of reading. It's there technically for announcements or if someone needs to talk to you. Then I have Computer App. Same teacher as HR. He seems really cool but we had a Junior meeting so he didn't get to talk about the class. Ceramics is next (like pottery). We have 5 other girls in that class (no boys). Or first project is to make a clay reptile. It sounds like a lot of fun. Study Hall has 65 students in it and even more when choir joins us. In the middle of Study Hall, we have lunch. Hot lunch only has 1 option and the potatoes are terrible. I ate by someone who I think was named Amanda. She was nice. Then I went back for 20 more minutes of Study Hall. Then I went to design (art). We are going to draw old cars w/ ink. Chemistry looks horrible and I got homework in it. For my last class I have Algebra 2. It looks really easy. My teacher let us talk for the last 20 minutes because she didn't know when we got done. Count them. I have 9 classes (including HR and Study Hall)
I miss you all and I miss Memorial. I miss lunches and eating them w/ you all. I miss the variety of class options (i.e. German, Orchestra, Ancient & Medieval History). I MISS EAU CLAIRE!!!!!

SCHOOL!!!!!!

ARRRGGGHHH!!!! School starts tomorrow!!!!!!! enough said. I still need some school supplies. My dad says can't use our car unless I have something after school. My sister ran the lawn mower in to the ditch and it got stuck. We had to remove it with our Pickup. Our air conditioner isn't working. It's hot. I don't want to go to school. Have to go to school now!

Kits and Cats

I've apparently forgot to say that we got a new kitten from my cousin. His name is Spooks. You have to sneak up to him to pick him up (the black kitten is Spooks). We also have a grey cat that hangs about that we've named Ashley because he/she is ash colored. We can come close to him/her but not close enough to touch. I like how the kittens will sit on your shoulder (the kitten in the picture is Houdini). Today Tiger climbed up a pole by the barn and went up on the barn roof (which is metal). He looked like he couldn't get back down so I had to lift him down. It's kind of funny watching them. They stay close to the house unless they are following you. Tiger once followed my parents on a walk. They come w/ me to the barn were I pitch. It's really cute becuase the'll be trying to pounce on the balls which are inside the net. We have to be careful so they don't get tangled though.

Here is a picture of the bell chior that I told you about. He's pretending that his music stand was a type writer. It was actually very cool.

Bells and Canoes

On Friday, we (my my dad and my sister) went to the Glee Hand Bell Choir at the mall. Basically, they were from a Japan christian school that I think my church supports. It was actually kind of cool. My favorite songs were the pink panther and the typewriter one. Since my sister took Japanese, we dragged her up to say hello. I was going to add a picture of them, but I can't get the picture link to work.
Yesterday we went river canoeing w/ some of my uncles and 4 of my cousins. It was fun. I rode w/ Sarah. That meant I could paddle or just sit there. I helped my cousin Dilan find clam shells. He also caught a minnow (who died) and a toad which he promptly named Dragon Slayer. My sister took this picture, I don't know why but I kind of liked it so I'll put it on.

Harry Potter Question

Ok, my uncle Gregg just called me and had a question about the last HP book. I had no idea, so I decided to put it on here and see if anyone has any idea.
In the end of the book, Neville had the had and pulled out the sword of Griffindore. He then proceeded to kill Voldimort's snake. The question is, were did the sword come from? The last you saw it was w/ the goblin. Any ideas?

The Iowinian life

First thing that you need to know if you are planning to life in Iowa is that roads are a myth. A pleasant myth, but a myth the same. Most Iowinians swear that there are roads but for the months I've been here, I haven't seen the slightest sign of them. They have 3 types of things that they call roads. 1st, the gravel 'road.' This is made out of, (any guesses?) gravel. When you drive down the center of it and in small cars, you have a hard time getting any faster that 40 mph even though they say you can go 55. You also can fish tail When you meet someone on the side of the road, you have to go to your side. Meeting someone at the top of a hill can be dangerous and scary. Also, after going after a grater is something you want to avoid. 2nd, highways. They are narrow so if you are pulling something or someone else is, you have to be really careful. You have to also be really careful in regular cars. Last and not least, town roads. They, so far, are ok but I haven't seen them to much because of all the road construction.
The next thing you need know is that the weather is NOT a casual topic. You can be making small talk and accidentally mention the weather. If this happens, you are in for about 5-10 minutes of how it was, when you might get rain, how good the last rain was, etc.
Iowa is very small. Your neighbors are anyone in a 6 mile radius (or so they tell me). One day I would really like to meet 'they,' 'them,' and the like. Everybody knows each other. You mention your last name and they start playing what my dad calls Dutch bingo. "Your mom and dad are blank. Were the the mother and father in law to your cousins aunts grandchild other cousin." "Oh, me and your blank go way back..." "Is blank your mother, cousin, aunt, etc. (fill in necessary)" They also have a grape vine that I unfortunately haven't been able to infiltrate. It's amazing how the word gets around. My grandma will call me about someone I have never heard about. When I was playing softball, I would have people who I've never met before come up to me and say, "So your Becka right? I've heard your a really great pitcher! Call me if you ever need a catcher." It's weird.

Ice Skating

Apparently, were these people normally skate, there was a competition so they couldn't use the ice rink. Someone knew the person who owned the rink here. So they came and practiced here. Yesterday, they gave a free show. Except for the 2 new teams, they were all Medalists, Champions, etc. We had the 2007 Midwest Sectional Champions, 2007 Junior World Champions, 2007Midwestern Medalists, stuff like that. And of course, I forgot my camera. They were all really good. There was this one team w/ 2 little kids. I think they were either the Junior Nat'l finalists or the Midwestern Medalists. I forgot. But they were really cute. But I think my favorite was the team that skated to I'm a Barbie Girl. It was really funny.
Afterwords, I went to my Aunt and Uncles house. There we played the dictionary game. The word I picked for the others to define was Qua-hog. Any guesses? (no looking it up)

Sioux Center fire

Yesterday, an ethanol truck was loading it on the train and it exploded. My dad was in town and said that you could see the flames from a long ways off. They had to evacuate lots of buildings close by including the mall. Apparently there the train car by it was filled w/ some stuff and they were afraid it was going to blow too. I go a picture of the train car today. The orange is from the flame. You can see were the truck that was holding the ethanol was. The ends are still there but the middle is gone. As far as I've heard, no one was killed. It might be in the news over there too.

I started violin lessons today. I really like my teacher (Jennifer). She is really nice and she also teaches viola. She has a small son and is expecting. I think I'll like her a lot.

I promised picture of me in that one dress so here is one. I also liked this picture so I'm putting it in.

I BLOG, THEREFORE I AM

I helped shingle the pastors house. Actually, most of it was done yesterday. I didn't do much, except lay shingles were they were supposed to go.

Our cats love to climb the kitchen screen. I think thats Sweet Pea and Tiger, but I'm not sure.

Last night, I had a dream that I was in Memorial/South. The lunchroom and a big computer lab was upstairs but the rest was Memorial. I didn't know what class I had first and it was the first day of school. The first bell had just rung. The hallways were empty. I think I have anxieties about school starting. I'm not sure where my first class is (its in the college) or what time school starts/ends. I think I'll have to email someone at the school.

Our garden gave us our first corn (4.5 ears). We have 2 types of corn. The little corn was planted earlier so that's were we got some corn. Most of it's not ready yet. The bigger corn was planted later so their corn isn't at all ready.

Summer draws to a close!!!!!!

I finished the HP book days ago (actually,the day I got the book from my sister, I started it at about 10 am. I finished it at around 8 pm), but I've just been busy.
I helped my dad take down a tent in Viborg. Don't ask me where it is and expect an answer except that it's in SD near Sioux Falls. There they had Danish Days. (That's like October Fest, except that theirs not enough Germans to justify calling it that) They had a building that they could of used, except that it wasn't the same as having it in a tent! It was actually kind of fun learning how to take it down except that it was was very hot. It was by the fire station and they had a fire truck that looked like a brand new old truck. It had a sign on it saying, "Thanks to your support, We Still Make House Calls!" I thought that was funny.
I don't think that I can make a trip up to WI b/c school is very close, and my sister, who I'd planned on taking the trip w/, is working. So maybe during the school year. If our vacations don't match up, I can come w/ you and sit in on your classes.

WE'VE GOT THE 7TH HARRY POTTER BOOK!

Enough said. My sister read it all last night so I actually have it this morning. I'm liking it so far.
Last night I helped my dad take down a huge tent. Not much else is happening. I'll type more when more has happened and I've finnished the book.

Odds and Ends

OUR COMPUTER IS WORKING!!!!! Enough said.
Yesterday, I helped stain my grandma's shed. I have to go back on Monday but I don't mind. I also went up to Sioux Falls (SD) My sister needed new tennis shoes. While there, we went into an actual BOOKSHOP! (there are none in Sioux Center) I spotted a shop that had some cool oriental fans and stuff. I convinced them to come in and looked. There I got a cool dress that sort of looks like a camino (sp?). I'll have to get a picture of it.
A couple days ago, we got 2 more rabbits. There is an all black buck that we named Cricket. We also got a brown female that we named Brownie. Again, I"ll have to get a picture of all 3.
Today, instead of doing housework, I'm helping clean/spray down tent sides for some guy who I think his name is Stan. 1 side of 1 curtain took me 1 hour. There are a lot of tent curtains. But I get to use a power sprayer that looks like a gun:)

4th of July Belated

Since our computer is broken, I haven't had time to tell you all about my 4th. I'm babysitting and the kids are still asleep.
The 4th of July at our house is full of tradition. In Iowa it is illegal to shoot of a type of firework, I think the air kind. But in near by South Dakota, it isn't. So we always get illegal fireworks. Then, we have a fire were kids roast marshmallows and get unbelievably sticky.
Then there is the timeless tradition of people almost getting killed. This year, my dad had a box of fireworks that shoots up. He accidentally put it upside down. They went everywhere. My grandma was still muttering about the firework that went under her chair days latter.
The next day, the last of my cousins from Michigan left.
On a different note, 2 days ago, I saw the HP movie. It was way better than the book and by far, my favorite movie.

Someone please fix our Computer!

The phone people didn't find anything wrong w/ the connection, and had us take it to a repair shop. They couldn't find anything wrong w/ it either. I'm again babysitting and they're watching Dumbo. Our email isn't working either:( Can one of you please email Megan and tell her about my computer problems and blog? I think she's back from Europe. I don't want her to think I'm ignoring her.
We have a fair going on and I wanted to see the greased pig contest, but I missed it. I'll see the mud volleyball though. I saw one of my softball people there showing rabbits. She is going to sell us a buck and a doe after the fair is done.
I got a 3 on my Euro test. I think most colleges count 4's though:(

Still can't blog!

Our email and internet is still down. I'm babysitting so I can quick comment. Yesterday, Boots, Michael's cat died. I'm not sure how, but I'm still sad. Thursday was our last JV game but this week I still have softball! Terry, my dad's cousin says that he'll soon have some rabbits that we can have. Got to go now, my kids are comming upstairs! I'm not sure when our computer will get fixed or I can babysit again to blog:(

Computer problems!

Sorry I haven't written in a while. Our internet isn't working and I'm not sure when that'll be fixed. I'm actually babysitting right now but the kids are playing together. I had to take them to swimming. I'll also babysit them on Wednesday.
I have games all week except for Friday. On Wednesday, my cousin who moved and her husband will be here so were are having a get together at my game because lately, we've had so many people at our house for fires. All type more later when our internet is working!

Lazy Saturday

Where to start. Well, in the beginning, we (me, Sarah, Charity, James, and Michael) filled up water balloons. We had a Vander Lugt reunion. Like all reunions, we were in charge of games. We always do it the same. Water balloons. At noon, we went to the children's park. When the games started, no one was safe. My uncle and Charity ganged up on my Aunt Sarah. I managed to stay dry. We then visited my cousin who works at the mall and she made us smoothies that had weird flavors. I had Kiwi Peach.

Later, we all went down to Sandy Hallow. My uncle set up a zip line. It was funny. I then left because my cousins from Michigan were coming.

Today the rest of the cousins came from Michigan. I finally saw my second cousin. He's cute. I had a game. JV lost and varsity won. I hit a double and a really nice single. We are actually having a Sandbulte get together at our house and we are having a fire. My cousins from Nebraska are here too.

Double click on a picture to make it bigger. Also, to see kitten pictures and discriptions, go to Sarahs blog. It's on my favorites list.

WE BEAT BOYDEN-HULL!

As you guessed, we won both our JV and varsity games last night. For both we came back from behind to win. For JV, I played 1st and then came in to pitch for the last 2 innings. We had bases loaded, and we got 3 outs w/o them scoring any runs! For varsity I just pinched hit for Hannah when there were 2 outs. I got on and eventually got in.
Sarah babysat my Aunt Sarah's kids so they were at my game so she could go golf w/ her husband. Charity babysat another of my cousins. I actually have a sort of free day to day! I do have a Vander Lugt reunion today and the some more of my aunt and uncle are comming down from Michigan and they are also taking my cousin. My cousin got married and now lives in Canada and her husband and kid. I haven't seen them since their wedding and have never seen their kid.

Random

Today I babysat 4 young boy cousins. It actually went fine. The best thing was on the way there, my aunt Sarah hit a large bird. There was actually a little streak like when you hit a bug except larger. My uncle Al had to have surgery on something and it was his mom's (my grandmother's) 81st birthday. I'll visit him tomorrow.

In practice the coach was trying to fix my batting style just because it is different than what he is used to. I actually am the only one who connects with the ball on a regular basis.

The pictures are my cousin Mitchell (aka the red-headed stranger), and me pitching at Heartly. He came to see my game.

School

For those who don't know, my new high school is about as big as one of my elementary schools. I did get done signing up for classes and I know what my day will be like. Unfortunately, they don't offer German, high school or college. 3 years down the drain. Since they don't have much in extra-cirricular activities, my dad talked me into taking Spanish 1. I needed a full schedule and right now, I have 1 study hall each semester. The weird thing is, even when they have a class full year, it could be at a different hour. I miss Memorial. My English teacher apparently had dad her first year teaching and also my uncle Greg. Greg never turned in an assignment. I wounder if she will connect our last names together. They also have a tradition that they paddle all freshmen. LUCKILY I'll be a juniour.
I babysat for my aunt and all they wanted was Snow Cones. Since it was just after breakfest I said no but they still complained. Today I also babysit 1-2 of the same kids and 2 more of my cousins. I also have practice.
We lost yesterday's game. It wasn't my best pitching ever. It was sand on the pitchers mound so I sank every time I pitched. Thank you Mitch for comming to my game any ways. Withour further ado, my schedule...
1st semester:
Western Civ- since I fullfill all their history requirements with AP US and AP Euro, I'm taking this the college just across the street. Luckly it's only every Monday, Wednessday, and Friday. The other days, I can come late to school! They don't have AP but they offer college courses at school and at the college so NO AP TEST!!!
American Lit- English
Home Room- about 15 minutes were they can pass stuff like year books out
Computer Applications- required
Ceramics- I think it's like pottery class
Study Hall- which is in the 'new commons' a big empty space\
Phys Ed- required all years
Chemistry
Algebra 2


2nd semester:
spch & writing- english
Computer App
HR
Study Hall- last 3 things I'll have with the same teacher
Chemistry
General Bus.
Drawing 1- I needed something to fill my schedule. They have nothing! I so wanted Ancient & Medievel History:(
Psychology- Senior year I can take the college Psychology wich I wanted to do in Memorial
Algebra 2

Random

Hey Y'all!
I get to sign up for my classes later today. Yesterday we had a game and JV won!! I hit a double and 2 singles. I also pitched. Varsity didn't do to well. I was the only one who hit it out of the infield. More later!

Hey Softball Fans!!

I just got done w/ a varsity tournament. The first people we played on Saturday 12 run ruled us in the 3rd inning. The second game I really don't remember other than it was hot and I got to pitch the last inning. It went really well. Today, we played at 11 am. I had to get up at 7 because we were meeting at 8 and that's hard in summer. We lost but I got to pitch the last inning again. That went pretty well. I also had a really nice hit that was caught by the center fielder. The person on 3rd should have tagged up and scored, but didn't. The second game, Maci, our main pitcher got cleated. She was tagging someone at home. So I got to pitch 1 inning and then Rylee, our other pitcher went in. They were hitting me fairly well because I didn't get any warm up and my pitches weren't as varried as they should have been. Well that's all for now!

My first attempt at blogging

Hello everybody. I'm trying this newfangled thing that will never really catch on... like the wheel. My day has been typical. I woke up, helped my brothers name their new kittens, returned one of their kittens, and then went to softball practice. We did infield and for how many errors, we divided it by 4, and that was the amount of times we had to run around the bases. We then watched a movie on how to bat. I love my kittens. Michael's new (smaller) kitten is named Boots. I miss Wisconsin and the library, and the resturants, and my friends (sorry about being 3rd), even my school, and tap water.