Team U.S.A.

I LOVE the Olympics!  The commercials alone get me excited and fill me with cheesy inspiration.  Who doesn't get motivated to stand up and cheer or join in with the national anthem?? I love the idea of anything with a team coming together, sharing a common goal and hello...that's what the Olympics are all about.  I just might even wear my red American flag shirt for the opening ceremonies.  (Seriously)

I'm most excited for......

these guys....meet Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.  Swimming is already my favorite Olympic event and these two should make it even more entertaining.  They have two races together (400 IM and 200 IM) and supposedly they're going to be the closest. races. ever.  They've trained together for years and say they have a great friendship...we'll see about that come race time.  Bring it on, boys!


I swam in high school  (and the summer youth club if you count that) so this is the one sport I follow and understand.  My Sophomore year my coach put me in the 200 IM (Down and back of all 4 strokes) and I thought I was going to die.  Not my greatest moment, people.  The worst part was it seemed to take my coach a couple times of me doing this race to see that I was not our best pick.  Awful.  But on a much brighter note, three other girls and myself still hold the school record for the 400 freestyle relay. (Last I knew) Impressive, right?  My dad still loves to walk by the marque with our names whenever we're in the high school gym...I may like to do that too...  Oh the glory days.  I'm not sure I could swim down and back without gasping for air right now....


Anyway, it's crazy to think about where life had me last Olympics, four years ago.  I was entering my Senior year at K-State, totally unsure of what I'd do or where I'd be after graduation.  God really has been faithful.  Who knows what will be going on in 2016?? Kinda fun to think about...enjoy the games!


(again, no idea why the silly thing is white....ugh)

A Special Spot for Cader-Tot

I was able to spend a few days in Olathe with Cade and Reese while Jana and Matt had some time away in Chicago. I left with a smile on my face as Cader just keeps getting more and more fun, and a much greater appreciation for all the hard work Jana puts in to be a great mommy! Wow...two little ones keep you busy!

Reese is such a good baby, so chill and go with the flow.  (A necessity to keep track of crazy Cade) I'll have to be better about documenting cute pics of her when I go back for a visit this next week.  I got home to realize I really only had shots of Cade and I....he's just so easy to play with right now.  I recently had to choose from a list of prompts to write a paper for one of my masters classes and I chose "something that makes you laugh" and wrote about Cade.  He gave me plenty of material to work with.  Maybe I'll save the paper and read it to him at his graduation or something.  Although I'm sure girls appreciate that sort of thing more than boys.  (I have no idea why this is showing up in white...)

On with the pics....

Playing with his new doctor set.  Maybe this is a foreshadow for his future??

Time for my shot.

After playing in our "tent"

My heart will always have a special spot for sweet little Cader-tot!  Looking forward to more tent-making and "doctor checkups" in a few days.

What's in a Name?

So, I'll throw it out there...my name is unique, different, original, let's see...what else do people say after just introducing myself?  Oh yes, here's a good one, "Uh..wow, I've never heard that before."  What do you say to that, people.  Thanks?  Don't get me wrong, I love my name!  Now granted, I did go through the phase when I was little of just wanting to be able to see my name on a key chain or pencil, but I really wouldn't want any other name.  I love that when you Google my first and last name I'm the only one!  Seriously, everything that pops up is about ME.  I'm sure my mom is worried that millions a few people are now googling my name and finding out  that I won the Outstanding Future Teacher Award at K-State, traveled to Brazil in college, attended Great Bend Middle School...whatever else you want to find out.  By all means, no secrets here...google away. (Sounds highly inappropriate)  Better yet, Google yourself...(even more inappropriate?)

Anyway, all that to say, I love my name and would like to someday give my kids original names as well.*

There are definitely difficulties introducing myself to new people and trying to get them to understand that yes, Gentry is indeed my first name, Gentry is my FULL name, not Jen (first name) Tree (last name), etc.  But lately I feel like there have been extra hilarious name mix ups that were just too funny not to share.

1. I served sorbet at the wedding reception of my best friend, Chyla last weekend and I was able to meet a lot of people, which yes, means you have to introduce yourself and say your name.  There was the cutest older couple who were hard of hearing and I said, "Hi, I'm Gentry Sauder" and received a moment of blank stares in return.  Then the cute lady leans to her husband and says, "This is Gentry's daughter.  Do you know Gentry?"  He thinks about it and of course replies no because I'M Gentry and they've never met me before.  I should have just left it at that and sent them on their merry little way, but I decide to try to clear it up.  "Well, I'm Gentry, that's my name."  "Sentry?" This is when I just decided to smile, shake my head yes, and keep the line moving.

2. I just got back from spending a few days in KC with Jana and her cute kiddos where I enlisted her help in filming an "About Me" video to post for one of my classes.  Naturally, you have to introduce yourself and after we filmed the like 12 second thing we played it back and Jana kindly suggested I do a better job of enunciating my name since these people wouldn't know me.  We immediately both busted up laughing because it's my name, been that way for 25 yrs now, and apparently I still need some help pronouncing it correctly :)  Needless to say, we re-filmed it multiple times and I was super self-conscious when it came time to say my name.  How about I just be Sara for this class??

3.  Jessica #2 and I together sponsor a child from India and we got our first letter from her the other day.  It's addressed to drum roll... Mr. Sauder Gentry.....now that's a new one!  (Reminds me of Miss Chanendelor Bong, anyone seen that Friends episode??)

*maybe I'll someday use some of these crazy celebrity baby names.  I think my favorite is Pilot Inspektor....Gentry is sounding more and more normal.

Crafting Day

My small group from church got together the other afternoon for some headband making fun. 

Debuting my new cute drink dispenser I got for my birthday from good friends.

The war zone

Never a dull moment with these girls!  What a fun day making headbands and using the timer on the camera :)  Next on the summer bucket list: Backstage pass to the zoo with Micaela.

Cajun Country Part II

The conference didn't officially start until Sunday night, which left us a full day and a half to check out the city.  It really is an exciting place and very different from the Midwest.  In fact, there were times that I had to remind myself that this was still the United States; I'm not sure why, but some areas just seemed so foreign to me.  The trip was a great way to see a new part of the country.  Here are some pics from walking around the French Quarters...



We braved the heat & humidity to enjoy an afternoon of sight-seeing.



These awesome girls (not the creepy stuffed bear) are a part of my small group back at church and I got to spend the whole week with them during huddle times where the five of us got together and talked about the speaker's message for that day and shared things God was teaching us.  God really used the Challenge conference in each of our lives in unique ways and it was such a privilege to see and hear what they were getting from the week. I'm excited to be back in Wichita with these girls and see how God continues to work in their lives.


Natalie and Kodi spotted us in our red shirts!



If you ever get a chance to check out New Orleans, it is a must that you find Cafe du Monde and order beignets.  They are very similar to a funnel cake only way better.  Fried goodness covered in powdered sugar. Yes please.



The great thing about beignets is that they come in an order of three for just $2.43. What a bargain!



During the week, the country of Haiti was a focus as they had opportunities for you to sponsor a child from there and pack a bag of supplies to ship over on the school bus you see above.  We had the opportunity to go through the Love Moves presentation of a room they set up to to be similar to Haiti.  They had a Haitian church which consisted of wooden benches under a blue tarp, huts and tents that represented where people live, and different comparisons between American things like meals, closets full of clothes, drinking water, to these same things in Haiti.  It was eye-opening to say the least.  It's so easy for me to get so focused on what's right here in front of me that I easily forget there's a whole world of people out there whose living conditions are so different.  There were different facts and statistics scattered throughout the presentation regarding Haiti and it was truly heartbreaking.  I walked away with such a privileged mentality for life here in America.  Again, the week was amazing and such a great way for me to be recharged and refreshed!

Side notes- I am officially enjoying less then a month left of summer break...(I'm in the denial stage right now)

I've had a two week hiatus from grad classes; the first 2 ended well and next 2 are underway.  These will overlap with the start of school which will likely make for a very crazy, busy start to the year.

Cajun Country Part I

So I just got back from my week in New Orleans and amazing just doesn't do it justice.  Our group of around 100 students and leaders met up with 5,400 other students from around the country for the Evangelical Free Church Association national conference.  Which is basically huge lingo for an awesome week of praising and worshipping God with the opportunity to grow in your relationship with Him through great speakers, workshops, and fabulous worship with Kristian Stanfill (check him out!) I got to go as a bit of a last minute stand-in for a leader and boy did God know I needed to be there.  It was such a fun, encouraging, sharpening time with great people! 

We took a couple of charter buses 15+ hours down to Cajun Country a day before the conference started so we could do a swamp tour and get in some sight-seeing.  During the tour we were on a boat similar to this...

except without the shade cover....in hot and humid country....made for a great sunbathing afternoon!

We got to see a decent number of these...and it turns out they feed them marshmellows & hot dogs.  Intimidating, right?





Not my ideal vacation spot, but I'm sure it's perfect for some people.



Meet  our tour guide,Captain Mike, a man of very few words.  We had to nearly drag information out of him, but I think he warmed up to us.



Yes, that's me holding a baby alligator.  I'm planning on using this picture in my "Meet Miss Sauder" slide show at the beginning of the year to put off the "I'm cool and adventurous vibe".  Sometimes with Language Arts you gotta rope 'em in anyway you can. 

We stayed at the Hilton Riverside right off of the Mississippi river and the girls I roomed with and myself totally lucked out to be in a suite.  We wanted all the girls on the same floor and they were one room short so they offered us the suite.  I'm not 100% sure that's how it went down, but all I know is I got to stay in this massive room for the week.



Large kitchen area



Large open table area that was perfect for game playing, dance parties, and eating pizza.



Living area with our beds.



We had an awesome view that overlooked the Mississippi River



More pics and stories to come! What a great week!