My Summer, 2003

The Beginning

My summer did not actually feel like it began until June 18th, the day I finished my 7th grade books. I was so excited! My whole summer stretched on ahead of me, and I could do whatever I liked most days and that was, of course, to read. I read a great many of books last summer, and continued to learn, but in a more enjoyable way.

One of the things I did over the summer was to dance. On June 12th, 13th, 16th, 17th, and 18th my ballet teacher held a summer workshop. My two good friends Hannah and Lauren took it too, and we had a good time. We started working on a song called Garments of Praise. It has some Scottish music in it and was great fun to choreograph. It’s so awesome to be able to praise God with dance! I also danced at my church and at my Grandparent’s anniversary celebration. It’s exciting to share the gift of dance!

Birthday!

On July 5th, 2003 I turned 13 years old. It was so exciting to finally be a teenager! To celebrate I went ice skating with my family, my friend Miriam Hart, and her family. I really do enjoy ice skating, and this time I didn’t fall down very often. I guess ballet helps with the balance part of it :-) After we were through ice skating I got to try an ice cream cake for the first time. It is definitely a favorite of mine now! It was so delicious! And even more enjoyable was having my family and friends there to share it.

The Great Trek Northward

On July 17th, Mom, Lydia, Elijah, Jubilee, and I started on our great trek northward.

From Thursday until Sunday we were in the car heading for Elbow Lake, Minnesota. I didn’t mind these days for we had sufficient room in our big white car, affectionately called the “Tank”. Yes you’re right, I read most of the way up. I also played numerous games of Phase 10. I was really glad when we finally reached our destination: the little town where my mom grew up. We reached it in time for a picnic supper at the park, and with enough time to visit our old friends, the Houghs.

We stayed in Elbow Lake for a week, sleeping late, seeing the sites, and lazing around. I especially enjoyed biking around town and being at their nice library.

The next Sunday, July 27th we were off again after going to a small church in town. Our destination? New London, Wisconsin. Our reason? A family reunion with my dad’s side of the family. One thing I really looked forward to was seeing my sister, Miriam, after not seeing her for 2 months.

We were the first ones to get to Uncle Tim and Aunt Deb’s house so I got to spend some extra time with my cousin Hope. We went to the park near her house before the others arrived and that was fun - even though it was hot!

My Grandparents and my Dad were the next ones to arrive, and after that my brother Luke and his family. My niece and nephews sure have grown! I got to do something I really enjoyed - hold a baby! Zachariah sure is cute! I especially was amazed to see how much he’d grown because I’d gotten to go to my brother, Luke’s house when Zach was born.

We got to do a lot over the next few days including tubing down a river. It was fun and challenging not to get stuck on the abundance of rocks.

On Thursday morning the reunion was over and we were on the road again. After stopping at the Tanzania Missionary Reunion for a while we headed back to Elbow Lake. We were heading there to attend a special festival they have every summer called Flekklefest. We got to the motel kind of late so all we want to do that night was go right to sleep.

The next day we were up and ready to see the town. Elijah, Jubilee, and I went to yard sales to browse, but after a while I went back to the motel because I had a sore throat. It wasn’t too bad, so I went out with mom later on. After looking through my Grandma Nordholms old house Mom took me to a special European Coffee house. I got to try some delicious treats and an Italian soda - very good!

That afternoon Lydia, Jubilee, and I played one of our favorite games - Dutch Blitz!

That night we went to a pitch fork fondue dinner in the park. There were a lot of people in the park, so we had to wait a while but it was good. Later that night we went to fireworks over Flekkefjord Lake. They were really spectacular! It was weird because they were shot off pretty far away, and they exploded before you heard a boom. Then they resounded because of the three lakes around Elbow Lake. It was so cool!

The next day we went to the airport to see some planes, but Jubilee and I caught a shuttle to go to the library. Jubilee wanted to take a pony ride and I wanted to go to the library. I wanted to write another e-mail to Miriam Hart, or see if there was a book I really wanted to read.

That afternoon on the library lawn they set up a kids game show. I never actually worked up enough courage to be in it, but it was fun to watch.

Around 4:00 p.m. we went to the parade they had. We got to see a lot of floats and of course got a lot of candy thrown at us! When the parade was done we went to the corn roast at the park. We figured out something. When northerners say barbecue, they actually mean sloppy joe's! We were glad for this, because none of us really have a liking for southern barbecue.

We went to bed with the car already packed and woke up around 5:00 a.m. to leave. After getting dressed, we silently left around 6:00 a.m. We were heading back to the Tanzania Missionary Reunion for their morning service. There we would meet Dad and Grandma and Grandpa.

The service was really neat. They even sang some hymns in Swahili! Afterwards we went to lunch and then got on the road again!

Finally after being on the road for a few days we arrived home on Tuesday, August 5th. It had been quite an eventful vacation for all of us.

The End Of Summer

The rest of August went by pretty slowly. My nephew, James, came to stay with us around the end of August while his parents went to a meeting in Gatlinberg, TN. The others went backpacking so Mom and I had James all to ourselves. We frequently went to Ten Commandments rally. There are a lot of people standing with Chief Justice Roy Moore.

A New Beginning

Well, I’m back at book learning again, and I’m once again settling into the routine of it. I started ballet up again, and get to start taking pointe! I feel so tall when I stand on my toes, but it also hurts a little. Band will start up in October, and I am looking forward to playing flute in it. All in all, it was a very eventful and enjoyable summer, the summer of 2003.

-Anna Naomi Lofgren-

"The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in Him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song." -Psalm 28:7