Bracelets For A Cause ~ Veterans Honor Flights

** Guest Blogger **

Sarah Hendrickson

I started making bracelets a few months ago to sell to raise money for a charity.  The charity I chose was
Veterans Honor Flights - Honor Flight Network.

Veterans Honor Flights is a non-profit organization funded to honor our American veterans for all their sacrifices and service.  They take veterans to Washington D.C to see lots of memorials, the Arlington Cemetery, Botanical Gardens, the Capital, the White House, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and many other places.  Every veteran is escorted by a guardian.  The guardians are usually students from local high schools.  The three day honor flight is free for all of the veterans.  That is why I chose to support and raise money for this charity.  I want all of our American veterans to be able to experience a Veterans Honor Flight.

Link to the Honor Flight Network - CLICK HERE.

My Popee is a U.S Army Veteran.  He got to go on an Honor Flight in April - 2019.  When his group was at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, they got to watch the changing of the guards, and they also got to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  That is pretty cool!

Why are the Veteran Honor Flights very special and meaningful to veterans?

Popee: '' The memorials are the most meaningful because of all the people who fought in the wars or served in those branches of the military.  It was also meaningful seeing the names of people who served that I knew on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall.  The Honor Flight is special because we are with other veterans that served.  The high school guardians from South Lyon County made it possible by raising money, and they were by our side to help us the whole time."

LINK to the SOUTHERN LYON COUNTY HONOR FLIGHT web page - CLICK HERE.

If you would like to help us raise money for the Veteran Honor Flight please consider buying some bracelets to support this cause.  As of now I have three varieties to sell: string, bead, and rubber band.  These bracelets are only $1.00 each.  Half of the profits go directly to funding Veteran Honor Flights.  I have lots of colors and designs available to choose from, and I can make custom orders for individuals or groups.  Please contact our family to purchase bracelets or to place an order in person, by phone, through Facebook messenger, or email.  Thank you for helping me support our American veterans!

Below are pictures of bracelets that I have made and have ready to sell.  I can make these in bigger quantities, different team colors, or add words that are special or meaningful to you.  Please contact me with questions and to order.

March Fun

We had a lot of fun this season watching our local high school basketball varsity teams.  The boys had an undefeated season and were packed with talented boys who played well together.  Sarah, Silas, and I attended the Campus basketball 6A Regional championship game with some of our friends.  The boys won and were our 6A Sub-State Champions!

Below, Mandy, Sarah, Abigail, Silas, Stacee, and Traci.

After the win, fans joined the players on the court for celebrations.

Steele and his brother Sterling Chapman were some of our favorites this season.

Silas's favorite was Thomas King.

Below, Silas on the court with Steele and Thomas.

Eric accepted an award on behalf of his company, Hutton, at the halftime of the 5A sub-state championship game in Andover.  This game was particularly exciting to me because they played my high school for the championship...Andover vs Emporia High.  Emporia played hard, but fell to Andover.  It was a good game.

Sarah's YMCA volleyball team was undefeated for the season and played in a tournament to end their season.  They won!

Sarah's team - Below back row, left to right, Coach Cassie, Emmi, Hope, Sarah, Delaney, Coach Mike, and Coach Adrian.  Front row, left to right, Kayla, Reagan, Finley, and Ava.

Silas and Phoebe enjoyed an evening of roller skating with some of their friends from school in March.  We hadn't been able to make any of our other school skating parties this year, so I am especially glad we were able to make it to this one the week before spring break.  Silas even won the Four Corners game!  His prize was a drink and big cookie from the snack bar.

Roller Skating friends - Silas, Shawna, and Phoebe.

Eric took the kids to a nearby pond to do some frog hunting and catching.  They also saw a lot of turtles.

Three Months

**Guest Blogger**

Eric Hendrickson

From December 23rd through March 23rd, I was on a paid 3 month sabbatical through my employer.  These sabbaticals are given to long term employees who are eligible to take one after 7 years of employment.  My opportunity came after 11 years.  I went into it not understanding the point of having three months off, but soon after the sabbatical, I understood why they are offered.

On December 26th, we headed out to Colorado to ski at Granby Ranch with family.  This was the first time our kids have skied.  Granby is a great resort for kids.

There are two mountains.  The easy side and the hard side.  My brother-in-law, Eric, and I would sneak away every once in awhile to the hard side.

Colorado was beautiful and the skiing was fun.  It was a great first week.

From about 9am to 3:30pm each day, I worked on finishing the basement.  The first room I finished was the "Craft" room.

It took about 2 weeks to finish this room.  Then I moved on to the bathroom.

The bathroom was already roughed in and had a tub installed.  Someone wanted a jacuzzi tub, so I took out the tub and tore out all the existing plumbing rough-in.

There was a lot of work required for this tub but I really like the way it turned out.  It took about 5 weeks in the bathroom.

The last 3 weeks I worked in the main living room/game room area.  I had finished 1/2 of the room when my sabbatical was over.

There is a mess of wires/cables behind the TV, and I built an oak enclosure to house the electronics.

Our last week was to be a spring break vacation (see previous blog).  Unfortunately, it was cut short due to the coronavirus.  We did have a great visit with Grandma Great.

And we had a short stop in St. Louis.

We did get to see the Ark Encounter and meet Kirk Cameron.

Part (the best part) of my sabbatical plan was increasing my devotional time from 45 minutes a day to two hours.  I used this extra devotional time to catch up on some reading and to watch some video series that I have not been able to make time to do.  The more time you spend with God, the stronger your relationship will be with Him.  I very much enjoyed the extra time I got to spend with my Lord and Savior.

While on sabbatical, I let my facial hair grow.  Stacee said no to the full beard, but she likes the partial.

All good things come to an end and I am now back to work.  It did not take me long at all to disengage from work at the start of the sabbatical, and similarly it did not take me long to get back engaged at work.  I enjoy my job so it was easy coming back to it.  I am grateful to my employer for the wonderful three months.