New blog is here!

Our new blog is here, head on over to www.annandnick.com.  We will no longer be using this blog.

New Blog Coming Soon!

Be on the on the lookout for our new blog to be up within the next 48 hours!!

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

Albert Einstein once said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” I’ve heard that quote a few times, most recently from my mom who has it hanging in her office at work.

This Saturday that quote came flowing through my mind, and God revealed to me the truth in that statement. I spent this past weekend at Camp Courage near Clearwater, MN. Nick has been bugging me for years to join him in his mission with Children’s Grief Connection, formerly Camp Amanda. I finally gave in, and after two cancellations this year, I made it to an actual camp this weekend. I have to admit, I was incredibly nervous on what I would say to these kindergarten and first grade students assigned to me as their camp counselor. I had no clue how to counsel grieving children.

Then my first camper, Natalie, arrived. She held my hand the moment her dad left and didn’t stop holding my hand until he came back to get her the following day. To recap the weekend, I went swimming fully clothed (you would think my co-director husband would have informed me that this camp had a pool or just maybe I should have read the packing list), went way out of my comfort zone to talk to family members and children who had loved ones die, trampled through wood-tick, raccoon infested woods (without screaming), managed to get five young girls to sleep, managed to convince those five young girls that my sound machine sounds GREAT, and came to realize just how much I love Gods children.

I had an Aha! moment when I was in the cabin with our group and little Natalie was passing me notes telling me that she wanted to cry, that she missed her mom, and that she loved me. I realized just why God tells us the greatest command is to love him with all of our heart and next in line is to love our neighbor as ourselves. I told God on Saturday that it is in fully serving others with no care about myself that I truly feel alive. I’m not going to lie, that doesn’t happen often. But when it does, I feel freedom like I’ve never felt it before. I feel like I have found my purpose. I encourage all of you reading this blog to go do something this week that is completely selfless. Ask God for direction on what he wants you to do, and listen. You will be blessed!

My ear hurts daddy...

We spent much of the evening up with Kaleb as his hear hurt.  He started with a cough a few days ago and now has an ear infection.  Kaleb and I made a trip to the walk-in clinic this morning to get some antibiotics.  Poor little guy keeps saying, “My ear hurts daddy, make it better.”

We made a trip to Target, or in Kaleb’s words, “The Red Circle Store” to fill his prescription.  Since he was such a good boy at the doctor’s office, he was able to get a new car.

Both Ann and I aren’t feeling up to par either…shall be an exciting weekend at the Tunheim home.

Weekend in the Metro…part two…

 

  

  

  

  

 

Weekend in the Metro…part one…

We spent the weekend of February 5- 7th in Plymouth, MN to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Erika’s (Ann’s cousin) baby girl. We also celebrated the return of Erika’s brother, Karl, from Iraq. (see part two). Both events went off without a hitch. We had a fabulous time visiting with the Gustafson family. It was such a joy to see Karl, his wife Becky, and daughter Greta relishing in their time together.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Here's the proof, I really did it!!

A genuine heartfelt thank you to all of you who gave financially to Children’s Grief Connection in support of my Polar Plunge.

I received the Golden Plunge Award for raising the most money individually, over $1,500 and still counting.  In total, we raised over $10,000.  If you still would like to donate, visit http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Nick-Tunheim-Is-Taking-The-Plunge.

It was quite a trip.  Ann wasn’t too happy to be going, especially with the impending storm that we were supposed to get and not knowing when she would make it home.  To top it off, about five miles away from camp, we received a call from my mom (who was watching Kaleb) that Kaleb had thrown up in the back of her car.  Not to mention, she has a brand new car.  Of course the motherly instinct came out in Ann, and she insisted that she “needed” to be there with him.  The ignorance in me came out when I said, “We aren’t turning around now, my mom raised two kids, she’ll do just fine…”  Thankfully we were almost at camp as the rest of the ride would have been awfully quiet.

Kaleb woke up Saturday morning and ate cold pizza for breakfast.  I was right this time, “She did just fine…”

Although it was a difficult decision, it became very apparent that in-order to ensure the safety of our campers, camper’s families and volunteers we needed to cancel Hearts of Hope Camp and Teen Retreat. 

The weather was treacherous from the 1/2 inch of rain that fell Friday evening to Saturday morning and more still coming making traveling less than desirable.  Two of Lake Beauty’s staff, who drive to the facility multiple times a week, ended up in the ditch on their way into work Saturday morning.  The forecast was telling us that we could expect another 2-5 inches of snow on top of the 1/2 inch of rain we had already received.  Along with freezing temperatures, it was a recipe for disaster having families and volunteers on the road on Sunday.

Thank you again for those of you who supported me in this endeavor.  I’m forever grateful and so will be the children who attend our camps.

God bless!

Kaleb - 2009

Here's a fun little video I put together for Kaleb's 3rd birthday party.  It's a collection of photos from 2009. It continues to amaze us at how fast he grow...he has become such a smart little boy!

View Video

If you are viewing a video for the first time, you may be required to install the Photodex Presenter plug-in.  The plug-in is required to view the video and is 100% safe and will not harm your PC.

Long overdue update...

We’ve been really lax at keeping our blog up-to-date. This could be because we are too lazy, or because we are too busy. I like to think it’s the latter.

We had a wonderful Christmas with family. The great joy during the holidays was to see the many smiles on Kaleb’s face and to worship our Lord and Savior on Christmas Eve. FYI - Uncle Matt bought the drum set...

Kaleb turned 3 years-old on January 15th! Can you believe it, 3 years-old already?!? We continue to feel overwhelming blessed by the joy and love that our precious child continues to bring into our lives. God has been so good to us!

We had a Cars themed birthday party at the Courtyard by Marriott in Moorhead on January 9th for our little guy. Although it was a lot of work and a fairly costly event, it was so much fun to see all the fun the kids had. The kids had fun swimming, eating pizza, swimming, eating cake, swimming, getting candy from the piñata and did I mention, swimming?

Ann’s birthday was on January 16th. She got the short end of the stick, as I was hanging my head over the toilet for the majority of the weekend. She spent some quality time with her parents, my mom, Luke and Jess while I hung out at home traveling from the bedroom to the bathroom and back. I promised her a redo for her birthday.

This coming weekend Ann and I will be traveling to Little Falls for the next Children’s Grief Connection (formerly, Camp Amanda) camp. This will be Ann’s first attempt at attending camp. After reading her camper (ages 5-6) applications she said, “I’m not going, I can’t do this…” I hope that camp has the same effect on her has it has had on me.

While at camp, I will be taking part in our very first Polar Plunge fundraising event for Children’s Grief Connection. To date, I have raised over $1200.00 to support grieving children. If you have any interest in supporting this cause, please visit, http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Nick-Tunheim-Is-Taking-The-Plunge.