Pajama Party

Last weekend I had a great time with some of the girls from church at the Revolve Tour at the Target Center. It is a Friday night all day Saturday conference for teenage girls sponsored by Women of Faith.
We met at the church at 5:30 and the girls put all their junk for the night in Paul's van and we loaded my van and headed downtown. We heard mini concerts by Natalie Grant, KJ52 and Hawk Nelson (the crowd screamed like it was the Beatles!) There were speakers on topics that really affect the girls - like BOYS, relationships, eating disorders, and how God fits into the picture for teens today. There were probably 10,000 girls and youth leaders - to hear them all singing praises to God was a fantastic experience for the girls from our little church!
We went back to our house for the night and pigged out, hit the hot tub and watched movies.

Then back to the Target Center for more of the conference. There was a drama troupe that had some very thought provoking sketches and brought you from tears to laughter.
Jenna Lucado (Max Lucado's daughter - author of 60 Christian books) was one of the speakers. All the artists shared their own struggles with following God and living in the world. There was only one speaker who was a guy. He gave the girls lots of tips on "The Truth About Boys!" and talked about the choice girls have between being a "target" or a "treasure" in the eyes of the guys at their schools.
We had a great time. If you want to learn more about the Revolve Tour, check out thier website. The tour is coming back again next fall, and groups come from all over the 5 state area. Maybe we'll have double the kids next year and have a lockin at church!

Happy "Harvest Festival"

Can you believe one year has passed and my new great nephews aren't so new any more? Can you believe Matthew (Ted and Angie's son) and Maddox (Corey and Heidi's son) both chose to be cows for Halloween????
Aren't they cute? Maddox turned one on Oct. 24 and Matthew will be one on Nov. 10. We'll have lots of fun at the holidays this year!

Paul's Fall Golf Outing

Back in September, Paul and some of his old high school/church/college buddies got together and went golfing in Wisconsin for 3 days. They have done this several times, and really look forward to getting out in the woods and chasing the ball around! This year they went to one of the guys cabin on Lake Tomahawk. What a beautiful day! Teeing off on a gorgeous fall day in September - what could be better?
Oops - did you go in the drink, Paul?
What a fun cabin - there are more pictures of inside with lots of stuffed things on the walls - but I couldn't put EVERY picture on the blog, you know.
They had a great time on the lake, having a campfire, eating out, and talking about the good old days, as well as sharing about now - joys, sorrows, good times and bad. It's great to have friends "through it all."
Last year they played up north in Minnesota, this year in Wisconsin, next year ... where in the world? Maybe we'll see them on the Senior Tour!

Paintball 2007

On Sunday, Oct. 7 we assembled the troops at Waterbrooke to head out to play paintball. It's very important to start out with prayer for protection from injury in the woods. This is Bruce, one of our youth leaders at the church before we loaded up the cars to head to Special Forces in Buffalo. Once we arrive at the paintball field, we load up in an old army truck to drive out to the woods where we get our army issue paintball guns and helmets.
Here are a couple of the girls getting ready to make their mark on the paintball field. We are given instructions, divided into teams, and sent off into the woods to play a game of "Capture the Flag" with a twist - if you get shot with a paintball, you are out for the rest of that game. Each game lasts about 15 minutes.
Here you see the bunker I was hiding in to help protect our team's red flag out by the rocket silo. Paul was in a nearby bunker. Some guys from the other team snuck up from behind and nailed me! I still have a bruise on my leg from being "shot!" And here I thought hiding in the bunker wasa safe bet.
Here we are out in the "safe zone" after getting out. They have lots of old army things sitting around. The kids have a great time. It was really hot last Sunday - 85 degrees, but I wore an extra army jacket they have there, just to be extra padded in case of paintballs hitting from close range!
You really have a new appreciation of the men and boys who are fighting for our country after a day of simple paintball. Plus, we talk to the kids about the spiritual war they are in every day.
It makes us very aware of the necessity for putting on the armor of God!

What's next for the Casey's? Stay tuned....

Golf Mania

It's official! The first annual CBCH Open Family Golf Tournament has come and gone. It really was a family affair - Corey came up with the idea, Jane and Chuck hosted the event, Joyce and Paul provided the traveling trophy - a miniature golf bag that doubles as a remote for the TV - and everyone else brought food, of course. Here's the gang at the par three course in Cannon Falls. A little rain didn't stop us! Infact, it was a blessing in disguise. Nobody else was out on the course on such a dreary day, so we could all golf together and take as much time as we wanted without holding anybody up. Good thing we played best ball or we might still be there!
Hey Jane - I got the picture of Chuck's umbrella inside out, but I was in such a hurry to click it before he fixed the problem that I forgot to zoom in on the situation. Oh well, it really was funny.
We had another problem with soggy greens and slow moving inhabitants who didn't care to move out of the way of our putts! Paul hit one drive that almost completely buried itself. If you want to see more pictures and tales of the links - check out Jane's blog at the Bracken Bunch. Of course, no family gathering is complete now without a picture of one of the little dudes. This one is Maddox, Corey and Heidi's soon to be one year old. He is definitely NOT camera shy, and loves to show off all his new skills. Go to Corey and Heidi's blog for lots of fun shots of Maddox's latest accomplishments. Jane also has a link to Katie and Phebe's blog from Florida. I haven't figured out how to add that one to my list of blogs yet, since Jenna was the one who put them all on here.
We missed Ted, Angie and Matthew as well as Tom, Kim, Katie and Griffin. Hopefully we can plan next year's extraveganza on a date when the whole bunch can tee off! We had a great time in spite of all the divots and whiffed shots. By the time we got to the 8th hole, we were actually starting to look pretty decent, if it wasn't for those darn worms!

Summer Fun with the Caseys

I know you're wondering what else we did this summer besides travel. Well ... let me fill you in! Shortly after returning from NY and parts East, we organized a youth group camp out/lock in at church and took 30 kids and adults on a canoe trip down the Cannon River. It was a beautiful day, and we didn't tip once, though a few others had an adventurous ride. We stop at an island about half way through our 12 mile journey for lunch and body surfing. This year the water level was just right so Paul didn't scrape bottom as he floated through the rapids!

In July I cleaned the garage and painted the patio to cover up the stain we spilled last fall sealing the deck. No pictures from those exciting events, but the next shot is from another youth group extraveganza. We had the kids come to church and sweep spider webs off the building and weed the landscaping before we headed to Valley Fair. Paul and I did NOT go on any rides that spin us upside down. It's not that we're chicken, but those on the ground would not appreciate what happens when I get dizzy on rides!
The first full week of August I directed Vacation Bible School. The theme was Make a Splash for Jesus and we turned our church property into a water park for a week. One of our men hooked up hoses and a pump from the lake to create water slides and the kids had a blast - teen helpers as well as the children. Nobody went home dry, even if they just got squirted with a squirtgun. The songs, stories, crafts and treats were a perfect way to fill the kid's lives with living water!
The last weekend in August before school started we spent up north at my friend Joan and Tim's cabin. It was perfect weather, and great relaxing with adults for a change! Paul and Tim put in a day of golf - 36 holes and Joan and I shopped. We had several pontoon rides to see the eagle's nest just around the bend from the cabin. I got a few small pictures, but Tim has a professional zoom and got some magnificent ones of the eagle and the loons, too.
The sunsets were amazing - a perfect way to end the day, sitting around a bonfire and watching God's handiwork.

Out East Part 3

We took a walk back in history when we visited Plimoth Plantation. We talked to actors who portray actual historical characters and they respond as if itwas really 1627!
We spent a day traveling from Lexington to Concord, just as Paul Rever did on his famous ride - except we actually made it to Concord. He got captured along the way. A group of Patriot reenactors were on site at a tavern along the road to Concord. It was a real family affair with moms, dads and kids sharing the lifestyle of 1775 activities.
We had fun golfing at several courses during our trip. This one happens to be in the Bershire Mountains near our time share. No hole-in-ones on this trip.
On the way home we spent the night at a KOA Kamping Kabin near Notre Dame so we had to walk around the campus to see the sights. This next picture is of the library which faces the football stadium. The mosiaic is often called "Touchdown Jesus" because it is visible from inside the stadium over the Notre Dame end zone!
Well, this concludes the pictures and tales of our trip ... finally! Most of you have probably all seen the complete set of 300 photos. It was a great time, and I have made a CD of just the historical parts to show at school this fall on my SMARTboard (a whiteboard that connects to a computer and can do all sorts of cool things!) Stay tuned for the further summer adventures of the Caseys. Hopefully I can get everything posted this weekend before summer is officially over.