Not My Will, But Thine

It is so hard to pray "Not my will, but Thy will be done." It seems like everywhere I turn, something difficult is happening to someone, and I just wish I could pray for the outcome I think would be best. But only God knows best.

A baby dies. Not my will, but Thine.

A friend's parent loses his fight with cancer. Not my will, but Thine.

Another struggles to get pregnant. Not my will, but Thine.

Another faces relocation, far away. Not my will, but Thine.

Father, if you would but take this cup from us! Nevertheless, not our will, but Thy will be done.

Family Camping Trip, Fall 2007

We had our annual fall family camping trip this past weekend at Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park, about a half hour south of Rochester. It was amazing. The weather was incredible, and the site was OUT OF THE WORLD AMAZING. The only down side was that Amber & Pete weren't able to be there the whole time because Amber is too close to having her baby! But they came up and visited on Saturday.
Here are some highlights.

Ants on a log

Wagon Ride

I call this one, "Ninja Mist." This picture encapsulates the essence of a Harpel family camping trip.

She couldn't pick up her toys because of her mittens

The other kids playing in the water

Bundled up to go into the Mystery Cave
In the cave

Gotta love Malachi's shirt

See the fishes?

Back to Work

A couple weeks ago I got a call from my old boss at WCCO-TV asking if I would be willing to come back as a freelance producer on a temporary basis. Apparently they are really short-handed right now and just need some help as they fill a number of open positions. He basically told me I could pick my own schedule - they'd take anything they could get.
After talking it over, JP and I decided that I could help out for a little while. So for the months of October and November, I'll be producing the noon show on Mondays and Tuesdays. Rae's grandparents are going to take turns watching her during this time.
I'm a little bit nervous to go back. After almost 9 months at home, I'm obviously rusty. And I've never had the desire to go back to work. It makes me sad to think that I won't be here when Israel wakes up. Of course it's only two days a week, and I'll be home by lunchtime...but STILL! :) I'll also have to get back into the habit of getting to bed on time.
We'll see how it goes. It may be nice to have the extra couple bucks in time for the holidays.

Fall is Official

At least in my world it is. I absolutely LOVE this time of year and the cool, crisp air! We have been getting outside just about every chance we get. Of course, Israel gets bundled up.

Rae is changing every day. She now has three bottom teeth and is working very hard on the fourth one. I can feel it with my finger but can't see it yet.

She is also learning to crawl. Actually it's more of a "scoot." She was doing really well at it, then yesterday she started going backwards when she wanted to go forward. I found her almost completely under the couch yesterday from scooting backwards.

And of course, fall wouldn't be fall without football! We had our friends the Gills over for the Vikes opener on Sunday. They brought their almost one-month-old, Abigail, and she and Rae were both donning their Vikings garb. It was pretty cute.

Our adventures really begin next weekend when we will be packing up for the annual Harpel Family fall camping trip. We are going to Forestville State Park this year. This is the best time of year to camp. I am so excited!

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

-Robert Louis Stevenson

Two Months Later, $200 Cheaper

So, yes, it is true that two months after the release of the iPhone, the price has dropped by $200. I guess it's a bummer, but you knew it was coming, right? However, many people were so upset about it that they wrote Steve Jobs nasty letters...and he has responded in the form of a $100 gift card to anyone who bought the $599 iPhone (that's us!).
This Letter is the reason why we are Apple people. Steve Jobs is the man, and he's taking care of his most loyal customers. He is by no means obligated to throw us all a bone, but he did it anyhow in order to maintain a good relationship.
By the way - JP has been thrilled with his iPhone.

MN State Fair 2007

Today ends the 12 days of fun known as the Minnesota State Fair, and this year I did more than my share to contribute to the success of the fair. In all, I ended up visiting FIVE TIMES this year. Don't get me wrong, I love the fair, but I am definitely ready to be done with it until next year.
Still, I had fun, and here are my pictures.
On Thursday, Rae and I met up with Scott, Nicole & Beckett. Here is Beckett with a little lamb at the Miracle of Birth Center:

And Nicole as a Mountie:

We were given free tickets to the BB King Blues Festival on Thursday night!!! Etta James opened - she is an amazingly talented but surprisingly DIRTY woman!!!

Next was the Rev. Al Green - our favorite part of the show!!! He even got his preach on...

And of course, the King of Blues, BB King:

As I mentioned in my previous post, Rae and I went to see Bill Carlson at the fair on Friday morning. This is him greeting the crowd:

Friday night, we went back to the fair with James and Alyssa Knoblauch, but I didn't get any pictures of that.
Sunday, we went with JP's dad, step-mom, sister, brother-in-law, and our niece Ava. Here she is eating sweet corn:

Ava and Scott actually went down the giant slide, but Rae just got a picture.

You'll notice the Sweet Martha's stand in the background. :)

Israel and I were on TV

Israel and I were in the background of some video WCCO shot for their noon program on Friday. We were at the fair to visit Bill Carlson and ended up on the air when they showed video of him making his appearance that day.
You can watch it here.
Please keep Bill in your prayers. He was cheerful and wonderful, but very obviously tired and weak.