Better Than A Hallelujah Amy Grant

I heard this on KDCR FM (station out of Sioux Center, IA) a while back and it has stuck with me. I Love the piano melody and the line "God still loves the mess we are." Hope you enjoy it too.

Are You Ready For Some Football!?!

Baseball is now a distant, pleasant memory. With the crisping of the air it can only mean one thing...it's FOOTBALL TIME!! Mark and Sam are involved with Sioux Fall's Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) flag football program. This year Sam's team is made up of 3rd & 4th graders from Sioux Falls Christian. The name they were given is the Raiders.

FCA is a neat organization. Before each game, the different teams get together and listen to a Christian speaker. The man last night (a former SD Mr. Basketball, now running for office here) gave a short talk about team play books...that God gave us one too..the Bible. He emphasized how that book is the most important one to follow our whole life.

Coach Bryce does a great job with the kids and Mark loves assisting him. Sam had a chance to be quarterback last night; he was excited for that.

Team Utzig tries to emphasize the "Team" aspect of sports & life, good sportsmanship, and having fun with your friends on the field.

The Raiders ended up winning the game and their season now stands at 2-0. Go Raiders!!!

Apple Time!

Here is Summer showing some of her "joy" over fall apples. My parents dropped off a grocery bag of apples they picked from the tree on my brother's farm. (Thanks M & L!)

I asked Mark what dessert he wanted for his birthday...he picked apple crisp. So, Sum and I rolled up our sleeves and made 2 apple crisps and 4 apple/raisin breads. Summer was my apple washer and ingredients pourer. I must admit our Team of 2 had lots of fun in the kitchen, made the house smell good on a cool almost-fall day, and Mark was pleased with his birthday crisp...a little too pleased as it was half gone in one day!

(A special "shout-out" to my Mom for working hard in her kitchen and making home-made apple sauce for her 3 children and their families. We appreciate all the time you put into it! We sure enjoy opening up those quarts throughout the year. YUMMY!!!)

The 2 Sams

This past Saturday my parents were in town to pick up Sam. No, not that Sam, the other Sam. "Big" Sam, not "little" Sam. Confused yet?

My dad's first cousin, Sam, from LA visited some MN relatives in August. He enjoyed his time out on the farm so much he asked if he could come back and help out during harvest. Bulthuis Farms said "yes," so away he flew from LA to Sioux Falls. Let's just say when he landed Sam wasn't quite sure where he was and couldn't believe how few cars were on the freeway.

Here are a few shots of us waiting in the airport for "big" Sam's arrival, the 2 Sam's together, and Mel & Sam...first cousins (mother's were sisters.) Let's just say it should be an interesting harvest season as both Sam's can be quite the characters! Look out Dad & Mike!!

Silly Summer

Here are a few shots of Team Utzig's mascot. She is our goofy, playful girl. You are never quite sure what face she's going to make, noise will come out of her mouth, or what way she'll act to get a laugh.

The first photo is for you Aunt Shell - I call it the "Farrah." On plenty of occasions I have told Shell she has Farrah hair. As I took this photo of Sum in the tub I thought it looked like her hair was being windblown, into the Farrah Fawcett hairdo.

The second photo is Summer with her addiction - fruit snacks. Her face should be on the package and we should have stock in their company. Through her alone we would be millionaires.

The last photos are Summer on "yellow" day for school. She did these poses on her own. She was running around the house with these "cool" shades on plus her "silly bands" (all the rage in the 5-6 year old crowd!) so I decided to grab a couple shots.

Yes, we do realize that Summer will probably be the one to give us the gray hair in a few years as she seems to love to play, act goofy, and perform for attention. Wish this team luck!

Difference Happens

Hello my bloggie friends! If any of you are in need of a laugh, this blog is for you. As you can see I titled it "Difference Happens." Now, I am sure in your perfect households you never have any differences that raise anyone's blood pressure. Team Utzig is far from perfect and to prove it I thought I would share how our Thursday of this past week went:

It is 10:45 a.m., a fairly nice day, so I thought I would get the long lawn mowed. Now, I wanted to do this for a few reasons: good excercise, weather forecast for the weekend was not so great, parents coming (want the place to look nice), and so my hard-working hubby wouldn't have to do it. Once in the garage, with the mower's gas tank filled, it was time to check the oil. Yep, it needed oil. Now, where's the oil? It's not where it usually is on the shelf of the tool chest. Let'see is it over here? Over there? In this corner? In the laundry room? It was then I remembered that Mark mowed last and perhaps put the oil in a different location...not the tool chest!

Sooo, since I was downstairs checking the laundry room for the oil anyway (now, why it would be there I don't know, but hey, I was checking EVERYWHERE!!) I figured I would grab Mark's office phone to call and ask him where he left it. Finally, after a few minutes of me running around the garage looking in his various possible spots, we discovered it. Of course, on the floor...in the corner...next to the brooms & shovels...now, why didn't I think of that!

Finally, with the oil found and the mower ready to mow, I start. I glance at my watch, it was 11:10. The dog had a vet/groomer appointment at noon. Why couldn't Mark have put the oil back where it was SUPPOSED to be, I wasted almost a half hour! Now, I gotta hurry to get the lawn done before noon. Well, I came close to having it completed, yet had to stop to get the dog to the appointment on time. (The OILLLLL!!!!) When I got back home, the lawn was completed and I was a fairly happy girl.

Fast forward to Thursday night. Mark is in his office working and needed his phone. Where is it? "Mary?" "Sam?" "Does anyone know where the office phone is?" It was at that moment I thought "Hum, I remember putting it on the van bumper, after my call with Mark was done that morning." (OIL!!!) "I couldn't possibly have left it there?" After both Mark and I searched the garage, the house, the driveway, I had a flashback. The scary kind. After picking the dog up from the groomers at 2:30 I remembered seeing something in the middle of the road. It couldn't possibly be his phone??? Or could it?? I head out with the car, in the dark, and yep, there it was, in the middle of the street...in pieces from being hit by cars a few times.

I slink back home with the puzzle of a phone and hand it to Mark. He's not to happy since he needs that one for the morning's conference call (has best speaker on it for hands-free talking) and stomps off to Target to try to find another one. All because the OIL wasn't in the correct (meaning my) spot!

So, why share this story with you? One, when my parents were visiting us yesterday we shared it with them and they rolled with laughter. We thought you could use a good laugh too. Second, to show that yes, sometimes Men are from Mars and Women from Venus. Third, to realize that, as the bumper sticker above states "Difference Happens." Our church handed these out a few months ago when our pastor had a series on marriage. Yes, difference does happen. Yet, I am still glad I have the mate I do to travel this life journey with. He isn't perfect, and neither am I. I need to remember this always and be thankful God lead us together...even on the "Difference" days. But please, just don't move the OIL!!!!

Camp BU (BOO!)

Here is Team Utzig spending some time at Camp BU (Bulthuis-Utzig) on Labor Day Weekend. (Otherwise known as our backyard.)

After a few hours at the LifeLight Music festival south of Sioux Falls (even in the sea of people, found our nephew, Matthew!!) it was time to play, start a fire, and eat! Sam and Summer, along with another camper, Coulter, had fun in the dark and getting snug in the tent. The evening was a success, even though we had one go home due to homesickness. Not to worry, Camp BU (BOO!) will hopefully have many more open seasons. Thanks for checking in!