Matt's coming home!

Here is a note from Aunt Patty about the party she is having for Matt when he comes home from Afghanistan.

Hi Everyone!!

The votes are in, and the winner is ---Saturday, March 21, 1:00pm until whenever!!!

I'd like families to bring a main dish, any kind of side/salad/dessert, and drinks.(and please pray for nice weather!!!) I will provide paper/plastic products, maindish, drinks and Fluff!!!

Please RSPV (no misprint - that is Respond Soon to Patty VanTasseel) soon!!

Love

Patty

Happy (Late) Birthday to Alissa

Dear cousin Alissa,

I love you with all of my heart. From the time we were really little, you have always been a fun playmate, and as we got older, you became a close confidant. I adore your positive spirit and humor. And if I could describe you in one word, it would be helpful. You're always looking to serve others and make sure they're comfortable. That's awesome! I need to be more like you. I'm praying things are going well for you in school and work because you are the best!

We love you!

Jonathan & Mrs. Bobbie

Around Christmastime, I posted a video on my personal blog that the husband made to advertise Sunset's website to its members. That video is now going viral. It hasn't reached massive numbers, but people are sharing it on blogs and other sites.

See for yourself: Neatorama, The Huffington Post, Unterekless Thoughts, The Findbuzz, Christ Wire, Hackaday, The DW, Michael Reuter, and Attack of the Show.

Mahalo even has a profile for Mrs. Bobbie.

Husband put the video on YouTube over a month ago. On Friday, I posted the video on Neatorama's Upcoming Blog. From there, the video was voted up until it made Neatorama's homepage on Saturday. Before Saturday, it had been seen about 100 times, according to YouTube's counter. By the end of the weekend, it had been seen close to 4,000 times. Then, other blogs started picking up on it and posting it. As of this writing, the video has been seen 25,450 times.

Those numbers aren't anything compared to many other web videos. Still, it's fun to see the video being shared and people getting a laugh. So, in case you haven't seen it, here it is:

Hppy Birthday, Wendy!!

Wendy, my fantastic cousin! I looked up at the calendar yesterday and realized that we missed your birthday on the blog. I'm so sorry! But, at any rate, I hope it was a very happy day for you. I always looked up to you and was sort of in awe of you as a kid. I have one specific memory (it was at Christmas, I think) of you coming into the family gathering, and Katie and Elizabeth being all excited and chattering with you about your new perm! What a family trendsetter. I know I got one after that! So thank you for being our wonderful, wise, cousin, looking out for us and loving us for so many years (not that you've been around THAT many years, or anything). We love you!

Art and Creation

Yesterday I was climbing a tree at Barnum Park, which is on the top of a hill near my house. I could see hundreds of miles of the Rockies on one side, on the other, most of the Denver metropolitan area followed by hundreds of miles of flat land. It was seriously beautiful. All I could think about was how majestic all of God's creation is.

I said, Thanks for creating so much beauty in this world, God. I just want to see all of it!
And He said- Well then go see it. That's what I made it for. You're an artist too, that's why you love seeing others' creation. I put in you this longing to experience the whole world, act on it.

I was completely at peace, and filled with joy. The greatest artist of all time is my friend, and he has a bunch of art that he made just for me and my brothers and sisters. He made all of this just for us!!

So. I'm beginnning the next step of my journey to see the world. I'm trying to avoid doing any of the planning myself, so I don't miss any of the things God has in mind, but the first gallery will be Texas. I'm not sure exactly what sort of beauty is beheld there :) Just kidding,
There is a lot-
Ron, Bev, Joshua, Lori, and Daniel of course, who I would love to see. We'll be headed to Houston, so I'm sure we could stop in Lubbock. Will ya'll be around in about 2-3 weeks?
There's also my friend Andy Baker, who lived with us here at the community for a few months, and lives in Houston now. Also, lot's of money to be made driving pedicabs for the rodeo. Then, it's on to Austin for South by Southwest music festival to see Explosions in the Sky!

We don't have anything planned after that, but we (JakeRyan, Andy and I) will be traveling by bicycle from then on. Possibly up the Pacific Coast to Canada...