During the first week of October, Ella & I got to visit Grandma & Grandpa Olsen to celebrate Grandpa’s birthday. During our visit, Ella got to try out a Jumperoo. Pete’s godparents, the Parkers, let us borrow one to take back to Minneapolis. She absolutely loves it!
So I haven’t had a chance to post an update lately or get any new pictures on. Pete has been studying like a mad man for his upcoming boards (October 16… prayers please!) so I haven’t had much computer time. Instead, Ella and I have been out and about, trying to make the house a nice, quiet study spot for Pete. Last week we visited Grandma & Grandpa Scott in Pequot, Great-Grandma & Grandpa Scott in St. Cloud, Great-Grandpa & Grandma Johnson in Wadena, and spent some time with Jenny & Hailey and Becky & Malena (my sisters with their little girls). We also went to Bayfield, Wisconsin for Apple Fest on Sunday and got some fabulous pics of Ella at the orchard. Today, we headed west to visit Megan & Micah (a friend from elementary school and her little boy) in Waconia after a morning of exploring and leaf-gazing. The line-up for Tuesday is coffee with Shauna and the Science Museum in St. Paul with Jessica & Westin before packing up and driving to Marshield, Wisconsin for a couple days at Grandma & Grandpa Olsen’s house. As I write this, I realize how busy we’ve been the last week! Lots of adventures. We’ll post pics as soon as I have enough time on the computer, but I’m not committing to anything before Pete takes his test. At that time we’ll be heading to Duluth for a three-week rotation, so I’ll have more time to post.
Enjoy the fall colors! We certainly are!
Water.
Yeah, you’re probably wondering why on earth I would want water for my birthday. Turn on the faucet, Ang. It’s right there. I could have all the water I want. I could fill up buckets of it to water the grass or wash a bowl, brush my teeth, cook pasta, bathe, clean Ella’s clothes. Heck, I could leave the faucet running all day just to hear the sound of it if I wanted. Whatever I want, really. It’s there. Clean. Refreshing. Water.
But that’s not the case for millions and millions of people on this earth. I’ve lived in places where water didn’t come out of faucets like it does in my cozy Minneapolis apartment. It came from a single faucet down the road. My friends and neighbors would carry the water in jugs to their homes to use for all the simple things I mentioned above. It wasn’t easy work for them, but that was life. Clean. Refreshing. Water.
Imagine, though, if the water coming out of that faucet was filled with parasites, feces, and dirt. Would you still bathe in it? Wash clothes in it? Cook? Give a glass to a thirsty child? You would if that’s all you had, if there was no choice other than to drink out of a stream that your animals and neighbors all shared, and not just for drinking.
Pete, my amazing husband, surprised me with an awesome gift this year. He knows how I feel about helping people get clean water. He feels the same way. So he set up a website with charity:water so that together we can work toward raising $500 to get water to people who need it so desperately. Five hundred dollars will buy clean water systems for 25 people. Imagine the lives that will change. The lives it will save.
Simply visit this site to make a donation. 100% of your donation goes straight to building wells. So far people have been giving $28 since it’s my golden birthday on September 28, but you can choose to give any amount, big or little. One $20 gift will provide one person in Africa with clean drinking water for 20 years. Take a look at the video on my page and then explore the rest of the site. There are tons of statics, stories, and pictures. It’ll break your heart.
Helping is so easy.
So…will you buy me a birthday present?
Love,
ang
Feel free to pass the website on to anyone else you know who might be interested in learning more about the water situation around the world.
