Annika Sahlstrom

2012-01-31T16:59:00.001-08:00

So, here begins my adventure on the island of Kauai. :) I will be living here for about 3 1/2 months taking classes at KBC and living on campus... in a tent. In my opinion, it is amazing. Campus is rustic to say the least, however the scenery is beautiful and God's creation is astounding. I will post when I can! In the mean time, if you would like to send me cookies or anything in the mail, don't hesitate. ;) haha... Blessings!

The address is as follows;

P.O. Box 1990

Kapaa, HI 96746

Painting My Room (continued)

2010-06-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you saw the older post of me starting out on painting my room. So, here are some photos of the finished product.
I painted the verse free-hand to serve as a border on one wall, I was nervous as to how it would turn out. But I decided I like the results. :)

I enjoyed this project so much. It was one of those relaxing things that I could do whenever. That is probably why it took me so long to complete, I only painted during my freetime which I don't get much of. :)

Here is the tree with leaves added. :) I made a stencil and used a sponge to do the leaves so that I could keep them all looking the same.

Here I started making up a border that will end up being pretty random I think, haha. I have yet to finish this part.

I love music and I wanted to express this through the way my room would be decorated. This is an unrepairable guitar that we had and so I painted it and plan to hang it up on my wall. :)

Here is a broken violin that was sitting around that was not going to be put to use anytime soon, so I decided it would make a great wall hanging as well!

Bramble Park Zoo!

2010-06-21T15:12:00.000-07:00

Our end of the year field trip with the homeschool group this year was the Bramble Park Zoo in Water town, SD. Mom wasn't feeling well when the day came around so I was the one that got to take Charisma, Becca, Reuben, Amelia and Katrina to the zoo! :) So I packed a lunch and then we loaded up and set out on our adventure! No adults! Woo hoo!!

Here are the girls posing as various prairie animals. :)

Amelia is standing next to a life size bird wing span scale.

Here is Katrina milking a fake cow at the farmyard animal portion of the zoo. They all loved visiting the zoo and seeing some of the more exotic creatures that God created! :)

Happy 9th Birthday Amelia!

2010-06-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

Amelia tunrned 9 on May 16th. I'm so happy for a little sister like her. She always has energy to cheer up those around her. She's a very busy girl. Whatever she's doing, she does it with exuberance, from playing with friends to doing her chores. God has a special plan just for her and I pray that she will continue to want to follow Him with all her heart.

Here is Amelia's party crew! We were able to celebrate her birthday in Bemidji with the family!

She received many fun presents, one was the book; Charlotte's Web. She loves reading and also got a pink reading lamp. She was very excited, let me assure you.

Since everyone was gathered in one spot we decided to take turns sharing music. I played a song on the violin with mom accompanying me on the piano.

BEMIDJI!

2010-06-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Side walk chalk is still something that appeals to me. I couldn't help but make a welcome sign on grandma's front sidewalk. :)

Going to Bemidji means going to Grandma's house. Going to Grandma's house means hugs and kisses, graham crackers and milk, swimming at the beach, playing games, having fun and being loved. I love you Grandma! Here is
Grandma holding two of her most adorable grandchildren; Johann and Liam.

For Reuben, going to Grandma's house means a whole new yard to explore. He's always finding something interesting. From 4 leafed clovers to such things as tree toads! This one was very well disguised when sitting in a tree, but for Reuben it was easy finding the little creature.

Thomas Berge is one of the well-loved cousins that my siblings wish to see more of. Since we live 6 hours away it's a big treat to see our cousins! Thomas seems pleased about the arrival of our family to Grandma's house for a whole week. :)

Painting My Room!

2010-06-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

Since we had to re-do part of the house, my room was included. I love painting, so I figured the best use for my walls were for me to have fun painting them! After some thought I decided a tree would give an interesting look to my room.

Here I am going at it!

I love art! :)

Bright Lights

2010-06-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

June 4th-5th was the "Bright Lights Campout". :) All of my Bright Light girls came out and stayed the night at my house. We filled up the camper and the playhouse with girls. There were 26 girls total, counting the leaders (Meri and I). God had blessed me with the ability to lead this young ladies bible study with Meri, a dear friend of mine.

Here is team #1 for the morning Bible sword drill!

And this would be team # 2.

Here is a picture from an actual meeting this spring. For the meetings the girls all dress up to help make it more of a special event. Besides, girls love excuses for getting all dressed up! :)

Beautiful Bermuda... :)

2010-06-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Benjamin my older brother has been serving on the Logos Hope (largest floating bookstore in the world) as the plumber! He has been there since January 7th and will be returning home July 14th. While the ship was ported in Bermuda I was able to fly with my parents and Johann to visit him for a little more than a week. It was so fun to see him again and the operation of the ship. It is pretty amazing!

We were able to spend some time at the beach, it was gorgeous. Here are my parents with Johann, don't they look young? :) I love you guys!

...Father and Daughter...

There was a little rock island not too far from shore, so Ben, Naomi and I all jumped in the ocean for a swim, the island being our destination. We made it! From the top of the rock structure there was a beautiful view.

David Garrett Concert

2010-06-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you probably have heard me talk about my favorite violinist; David Garrett. I have fallen in love with his music. Charisma, my sweet sister who knows me so well, surprised me by buying me a ticket to his concert in Minneapolis at the Fitzgerald! I was ecstatic!

I was able to find three other friends to accompany me on this great experience. Here are three of us standing outside the Fitzgerald.

And the three of us inside! If you have never been to the Fitzgerald, it is a smaller theater that is one of the oldest in its area. It is a very adorable theater at that.

We had a great time being together and hanging out and watching the performance. This concert was definitely one of my highlights this spring!

House Demolition!

2010-06-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

Our house was in need of insulating. Being the old side of our house was built over a hundred years ago it was not insulated. Dad decided that it was too expensive to try and heat the outside world anymore so we set to work.

Come the month of March we were living in a construction zone. The construction crew was faithful to be there on the site and we had to be sure to keep the little ones out of their way. :)

We were also able to do our share of the work on weekends. We re-did all of our trim. That meant hauling it to the shop, scraping off the old finish, sanding it, then giving it a couple coats of varnish. :) Nothing a little work can't fix!!

The whole project was completed in a little over a month. :) And now my dad can sleep well at night knowing that his hard earned money that he puts into heating and cooling our house is not going to waste. We love you dad!!

Johann Daniel. Sahlstrom baby # 10.

2010-06-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Johann Daniel Sahlstrom. Baby number 10, yes I said 10. :) He's a blessing to all of us! I was happy to be able to help with the home birth of Johann January 4th 2010.

Beautiful Mommy and her adorable manchild. :)

Johann, the little stud muffin.

Katrina, welcoming Johann to the world. There were many more cheerful siblings in the welcoming party. :)

PAINTING!

2009-02-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

This is our basketball quart that was previously used as storage for straw. But Ben, my brother, had this great idea...that we paint it. This is what it looked like in the beginning.

I am painting a verse "I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me" Phil. 4:13

Somehow, someone came up with the idea of footprints... and as you can see, there was lots of fun involved in this part. :)

Here is the finished product. The floor ended up being completely covered in paint...someone got a little carried away. :)

Welcoming Kathrin from Germany!

2008-12-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

This school year our family has welcomed two foreign exchange students into our family. Here we are at the border of Minnesota. Charisma and Kathrin are on the right and I am on the left.

Kathrin and I get along pretty well. She is 17 years old and is from Germany.

Ben did a photo shoot for our school pictures. We were goofing off and did a few fun ones. :)

Baler, Hay, Grease, Summer!

2008-12-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Cecilia, a freind of mine, and I were helping our dads fix the baler before heading out to bale hay.

Using the grease gun was our job. Here the gun is attached to the grease zerk. :)

GREASE!

2008-10-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

Hello all of you who are listening and littering this wonderful globe as well as loitering in front of local businesses; this is my new place to write all sorts of very intriguing statistics and information. You should be aware of all things that I do, because... well, CAUSE I'M A BLONDE YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!

Cause I'm A Blonde by Julie Brown