Happy Easter!

Easter Sunday was an incredibly gorgeous day! Not only did we wake up to the birds singing loudly and the sunshine blaring in all its' glory, but the kids had a blast hunting down hidden eggs filled with treats and finding their Easter baskets filled with love. We thoroughly enjoyed an uplifting Easter service at Hosanna followed up with hosting an Easter feast back at camp and sharing the day with family dear to our heart. 

While we are very thankful for our family, our church and leaders,  the food on our table, our health and minds, our school and teachers, and amazing friends and neighbors, we are most grateful for Jesus and His ultimate sacrifice. God gave us his one and only Son who led a perfect life yet was tormented, ridculed, tortured, hung on a cross and left to die... for our sins. Talk about true and perfect love. He sacrified His life so that all who believe in Him will have eternal life. It makes our hearts heavy with grief for all he had to endure but SO, SO grateful! We hope you enjoyed your Easter as much as we did ours and that we all remember how much He loves us, unconditionally, no matter what! AMEN :)

Spring Break 2014 - Eastern Caribbean Cruise

Life has been crazy busy but filled with lots of joy and memories. We just returned from a fantastic family vacation and had the time of our lives! I don't even know where to start summarizing how much fun we had. Let's start first by how grateful we are for the opportunity to partake in such an amazing vacation. It was nothing short of spectacular in so many ways and we will remember it always with HUGE smiles on our faces. 

We sailed on a 7-Night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the brand new Norwegian Getaway. AWESOME ship and crew! We had two large, connected suites with balconies that also connected, on the 11th deck, mid-ship, a prime location on the ship thanks to our friend/business associate, Lance Wachter, and his connections. The ship has everything you can imagine for everybody, young and old. Our views of the ocean and the ports we visited were glorious. The food was absolutely delicious (now need to go on a diet!), the shows were incredible, the entertaintment was top-notch for the kids and adults, and ports of call at St.Maarten, St. Thomas and the Bahamas were beautiful and exciting. We did and saw so many things! Here are just a few of the things to enjoy on board:  ropes obstacle course 18 levels above the ocean, zip line, bungee jumping, mini golf, outdoor basketball court, rock climbing wall, swimming pools, slides and hot tubs, bowling, shuffle board, arts & crafts, health club, spa, gourmet restaurants, Broadway shows (Burn the Floor, Legally Blonde, Illusionarium), fun bars (pool bar with live band, dueling pianos, ice bar, comedy club, sushi, karoake, dance club, Irish pub), movies under the stars, dance parties every night outside under the stars (different theme every night), a large casino, lots of stores/shopping, food and drink anytime of day, etc! The list goes on. Needless to say, we ALL had a great time. Some of our favorite times were just hanging out on our balconies taking in the sights. 

One highlight on the ship was when Dave entered the "Mr. Sexy Legs" contest. There were about 25-30 men that entered and they randomly picked 5 ladies from the pool area to judge. I can't believe Grandma and I actually talked Dave into entering but I think those few extra beers helped :)   They called Dave, "Mr. Minnesota", and the Cruise Director got a kick out of him. Dave ended up doing a little dance for the judges then did a front flip into the pool followed up by synchronized swimming with his legs above water to finish up his routine. He was definitely the crowd favorite and got the most applause. He was not awarded "Mr. Sexy Legs" BUT he was one of the 5 men who received an award and his award was "Mr. OMG" and he received a free drink. Hysterical! The kids were laughing at their dad but pretty proud; Grandma and I got some good laughs as well. 

We thoroughly enjoyed renting a car in St. Maarten for the day and checked out two beaches and drove around the entire island. Maho Beach is famous for large jets flying directly over the beach onto the landing strip on the other side of the road from the beach. They come in pretty low and Dave got a video of it which we will make sure to post. We had a delicious lunch at another beach on the island in Grand Case which was a little less crowded and not as large of waves so the kids swam ALOT. 

In St. Thomas, Grandma stayed back at the ship and we took a taxi to Coki Beach which was gorgeous. Lots of sun, white sand, calm waters in a bay, snorkeling, water sports and a few Cervezas. In the Bahamas, we took a ship-sponsored excursion to Atlantis which was absolutley beautiful but VERY large and a place that needs more than a day to truly experience. Wish we would have had more than 6 hours to check that place out. We loved the raging river and slides, the aquatic life (rays, sharks, colorful fish) and the grand architecture of the entire grounds. The only downfall is that there were 5 other cruise ships at port that day, it was over Spring Break, and the lines were LONG (1 hr waits). Next time, we would choose to avoid a ship-sponsored excursion and do it on our own to save $ and time PLUS go some time other than Spring Break. 

All in all, the trip was a huge success and enjoyed by all. It will be tough to beat this vacation and the kids are still talking about it. SO thankful we got to share it with Grandma Good. Dave and I both agree we would cruise again and especially were impressed with Norwegian. We talked with others from other cruise ships and were glad we chose Norwegian; they are top notch. We have about 190 photos which we encourage you to check out on our Shutterfly Link on the right hand side of this blog page (just click on the link). Here are just a few of the professional photos we had taken on board. HINT: the slideshow in Shutterfly seems to have inconsistent timing and skips photos. We suggest clicking on the album and then using the right arrow above the photos to go through and review them  - maybe it's just a Techno Tina thing :)

Photos from Half-Time - Sportsmanship Award

Who knew my cousin, John Oxton (Lakeville North), was going to be the opposing head coach at the Prior Lake High School varsity boys basketball game on Friday night? What a welcome surprise! As mentioned in the previous post, Dylan and his teammates were recognized at half-time for the Sportsmanship Award for P.L.A.Y. in-house boys basketball league for 3rd grade. Here are some fun photos from that night. Let's just say we had some proud coaches and parents and some pretty cute 9-yr old boys beaming with serious pride as well :)

PS - We lost by 1 point in the last few seconds of the game. A thriller! Sad for PLHS team and fans but I was happy for John :)

The Thunder Won Sportsmanship Award!

The news just came in. Our team won the 3rd Grade Boys Basketball Sportsmanship Award!!! Here is the news we received via email from our head coach this morning:

"The Thunder won the "Good Sportsmanship Award" for the 3rd grade.  After every game referees and coaches have to fill out evaluations for teams about coaches conduct, players conduct and respect for Prior Lake PLAY values during the game and we ended up being the winner! I am really proud of the boys for this award!  This Thursday night, February 20th at the Prior Lake high school basketball game we will get our awards."

This is a direct reflection of the coaches and their style with our young boys. Always positive, encouraging, fair, motivating and inspiring. Excellent mentors who did a fantastic job "leading by example". Well deserved. Very proud. Thank you!

Basketball Season Comes to an End

3rd Grade Boys Basketball regular season is officially over and what a year it has been. Dylan and his 7 teammates and their coaches (Dave was an assistant coach) had an excellent season and played in the top ring (top 4 teams with the best records) this past Saturday for the championship. They may not have won the overall championship but they gave it their all, played by the rules, and they HAD FUN! That's what it's all about :) Way to go, Thunder! We are very proud of you!

Next up for Dylan, lots of snowboarding and then there's baseball to look forward to. Regardless of what sports or activities LTD are involved in (academics, piano, sewing lessons, AWANA, gymnastics, dance, track, basketball, skiing, snowboarding, baseball), Camp Clark's principles will always be:  practice/study hard, give it your best effort, stay positive, but most of all, have fun. We pray that as these kids get older that we all keep these principles in our hearts and at the forefront of our values. Here is an article I recently read that summarizes our beliefs and how we feel it should always be.

http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/blog/the-only-six-words-parents-need-to-say-to-their-kids-about-sportsor-any-per

2014 - Here We Come!

Technically, this post is 30 days overdue! Not sure what happened but it's high time we get back in the saddle and get this horse back on the trail......blog, that is!

We are thrilled that 2014 is upon us and the coldest month of the year is ALMOST over. We have so much to look forward to in 2014 with many exciting milestones ahead of us. 

In March, Camp Clark is headed to the Eastern Caribbean for a 7-Night cruise on the brand new Norwegian cruise ship, The Getaway, along with Grandma Good. We can hardly stand the anticipation, especially since it has been SO miserably cold. In May, Dave and I celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary and hope to sneak in a quick adult-only getaway. Some wonderful friends have offered to take in our children for a few nights so we can escape together and enjoy some alone time. In July, we are headed to ND for the 4th and then off to SD for a weeklong summer vacation in the Black Hills area (in lieau of Leech Lake). Mid-July, somebody turns 50 years old and let's just say there is going to be lots to celebrate (50 is the new 40, don't you know?)! In fact, in October, I am joining a group of dear high school friends to celebrate our 50th birthdays in, where else, Vegas!  A mini getaway with my lifelong friends whom I adore and always enjoy sharing time with. In early December, the children hit the double digits and turn 10 years old. Tears will flow heavily that day, you can be assured!!!  Phone calls, cards, and joining me for a few shots of tequila are welcome to help me cope with the sadness of that day :) Seriously, it will be a milestone birthday and we will be thrilled to share in the joy with our 3 gifts from Above. Just think, only 8 more years and we will be empty nesters :(  Kleenex please!

Then, a few weeks later, drum roll please..........another certain somebody in this camp turns 50 years old. That's right, Mr. David Jon Clark joins the 50's club. Since Dave is not one to celebrate, it will probably be a quiet night at home by the fire with warm milk and cookies. Yeah right! We all know Dave MUCH better than that :) Something tells me we just may have to host a party. 

You see....lots to look forward to indeed! May God bless each and every one of you and your loved ones in 2014 and grant you health, hope, love, peace, joy and comfort, in good times and challenging times. He is always there for us and we can rest assured He has our backs. Below are just a few photos from January to share with you of basketball, dance and The Toots.

KC & The Sunshine Band visit Camp Clark

After Christmas, Uncle Ken and his 4 beautiful angels (KC and the Sunshine Band) paid a visit to Camp Clark for a 3-night jamboree and to celebrate Dave's birthday! LTD enjoyed having their cousins here and they all had a blast doing puzzles, playing dress-up (Dylan too), performing a play/musical for the parents, building forts, playing games, creating, coloring, watching movies and camping out in the family room. It was one big slumber party! Dave and I also enjoyed sharing quality time with Ken and the girls and we wish we could see them a whole lot more than we do. The kids are already looking forward to our next gathering, hopefully sometime soon. Please feel free to click on our Shutterfly link on this blog page to see lots more photos.