Fun at the Lake

Paul took off from work for two days so we decided to go have fun in the lake. It was soooo hot anyway, so the lake felt wonderful. We love to go down to Jonathan Creek because it's not so crowded. The boys are big enough now that we felt safe taking them on the tube, so Andrew and I went first and he loved it. Then I took Adam and he wanted to try by himself, and he did great! We swam, tubed, snacked the whole time, then it was time to call it a day. While we were sitting on the boat having a sandwich, this butterfly would not leave. So, Andrew and I caught him and he stayed on our fingers. Of course, Andrew's fingers were loaded with cheeseballs so the butterfly loved him. Hopefully we plan on going back to the lake before school starts. Baseball has kept us busy in June so now it's time for vacation!

Happy July 4th!!!

Oh what a wonderful July 4th party we had! We had a lot of our good friends come over and had a marvelous time. We ate great food, enjoyed each other's company, and watch beautiful fireworks. Ben brought over his smoker and smoked some chicken, then hamburgers and hotdogs. Yummo!! He did a fabulous job and got many compliments. The kids played played some sort of ball and rode the go cart while the parents got to meet and talk to each other. Miranda came over early too and helped decorate and helped me get everything set up. She and Cody decorated outside with flags and streamers on the bannisters. We had a lot of good company---my friend Carol from Labor and Delivery came with her friend Ed, our friends Mary and Cassidy (old neighbors) came with Timmy and his friend, Pastor Aker and his family were here, the Petersons, PJ and his two boys (Paul coaches with him and the boys also go to school here), our neighbors Ray and Sandy came, and another instructor I work with, Mary Carrico and her husband and daughter, Claire. Poor Claire, she was the only girl among 8 little boys--but she held her own! A couple of us played horseshoes, while a serious game of wiffle ball was going on. Sandy was the emporer (umpire) and tried to keep them in line. Finally, it was dark enough for fireworks! We started off with smokebombs, snakes, sparklers and pop-its for the kids. Then it was time for the show. Paul, Ben, and Pastor Aker set off our wonderful fireworks display. Seems like it gets better every year.

Busy Summer

This summer is fastly slipping away! We have been busy though. Both boys have been playing baseball and are getting ready for end of season tournaments in 1 more week. Paul has been busy coaching Andrew's team and playing slowpitch for the men's team at church. Here are just a few pictures of the boys at bat and Paul trying to relax in the shade. Faye and Fran kept climbing on him and finally they plopped down beside him. Here is also a picture of the boys in the pool--Adam is holding onto his pants to keep them from coming down. I repainted our chairs on the front porch. They were varnished but I sanded them down real good, then primed them, and then spray painted them white several times. They look really good! This other picture is what we found in Adams' cleats on the way to a ballgame the other night. I always tell the boys to please take their shoes off by the side door and not directly in front of the door coming in the house, so we don't track in all the dirt. Well, Adam grabbed his shoes the other night and was going to put them on in the truck, when he laughed "There's a frog in my shoe!!!!!" I felt goosebumps all over me b/c I thought there was a frog loose in my truck, but when I turned around and looked, this frog was dead! In the picture he looks alive, but he was rather stiff and dried out.