Weekend in Review

The weekend went very well, we all enjoyed the visit of both sets of grandparents!

Stephen made his first Communion and it was really nice to have both sets of grandparents in attendance. We had a little get together afterwards, and Monsignor Slepicka showed up and we all enjoyed his company. Monsignor told us some of his adventures that he had while up in Alaska doing some missionary work up there for the past two months. Monsignor is in his late 70's to early 80's and the amount of activities that he is doing is amazing. He does not look or act like he is older than 65!

He recommended not to eat the whale, the taste was not that great. He explained that on the plate it was the size and shape of candy and it looked like a piece of candy, and having a sweet tooth decided to try it (not knowing what it was at the time he tried it). He found out what he tried was actually whale, and the taste did not come close to tasting like candy.

He also advised us not to taste sea lion oil, it tasted like rotten eggs. The Eskimos and Indians up there hunt sea lions and use the sea lion oil as a staple as a cooking oil. The Eskimos and Indians use sea lion oil all the time.

Out in the bush the price of things are very expensive, a gallon of milk can cost $8 to $9, a small jar of regular cooking oil about the same price. While in the major cities of Alaska the price of goods is similar to the lower states, but out in the bush things are very expensive.

Monsignor also said that the men would do all the hunting and the women in the village would clean what the men caught....hmmmm I kind of like that concept!

We took Mary back to school Sunday afternoon and then went to West Des Moines to attend Sarah's concert. The Wartburg Wind Ensemble played at the New Hope Lutheran Church in West Des Moines Sunday night.

The concert was excellent, for those attending her concert in Iowa City you will really enjoy it. Dr. Hancock did an excellent job of describing each piece of music they played and also talked a lot of the traditions that were a part of the band.

Sarah's Iowa City concert is Friday April 24, 2009 at 7:00 PM at the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church 123 E Market St.

The "Limerick Daydream" piece was amazing.

This will be Sarah's last and final concert in the wind ensemble as a college student. The tradition that they do at the end of each performance is neat, and I am guessing she will probably get misty eyed.

She will play in the May term concert, but she will being playing the clarinet and will conduct one piece. But the wind ensemble band for the seniors will end with this tour

We hope you can attend the concert. The performance will lasts about 2 hours

Posted by Randy