Family Weekend

Well, we're all really smiling...except for Phinehas. He had a bit of a melt down because he wasn't so happy that grandma had him hauled out of the sandbox. Man. Someone's always out to spoil his fun~ The rest of us look good. Maybe you'll see this at christmas!

the big truck

When the boys were here over the 4th the weather didn't exactly cooperate. The kids were stuck in the house, except for a couple of brief forays like this one! A good friend is a trucker and so the boys got to check it all out and even go for a ride. (though I think it was a bit too loud for Phinehas) There were just so many nobs and buttons and horns and a bed even. Don't they look like they were having fun? Thanks Lynn for the pictures!

Mystery Dinner

This was such a fun idea. We signed up several weeks ago for this mystery dinner. You could choose to host or be the guest. That was too easy, as a guest we just got to go and eat. We had an address and we head over there! So, everyone has a fun surprise and we have a great meal together. There were 6 of us, and we enjoyed talking about jehova witnesses, mormons, nederlanders and other odd belief systems.... of course we have it 'right'!
But I had so much more fun talking about books! Our host was a reader! So with books, we were off and running..Louis L'Amour, Stephen Ambrose, Christian fiction, movies and books..Plus
Good fun. Good conversation. If this comes up again for next year, sign up all!

series of goodbyes

"You know, I feel all my life has been a series of departures".... (from Reading Lolita in Tehran)

Long before I realized that this was a quote from a book, and that someone else has felt this way...I was feeling exactly this way. I think There have been more goodbyes than anything. I don't even want to begin counting all my goodbyes, and I hate them. But this past weekend, while my boys and their families were packing up and giving hugs and kisses goodbyes I was reminded again about how much more firmly in my mind the goodbyes stick than the hellos.

All of a sudden the time with friends, or family or a trip is over. And, Oh Rats, I still needed to herd everyone together to get that picture. I am told that I always wait until the last minute to do the family picture. You know the one: 7 adults, 4 boys under 5 and 2 dogs scrunched together in front of the camera. Smile, keep your eyes open, hold still, look at the camera, blah blah blah. What's more I usually do it like this: "You can't go yet! We have to do a picture. Come on everyone. Stand here together..." It gets old, but I'm addicted to those moments. It definitely is a delaying tactic. No one is fooled either.

Then, hustle, hurry, load the kids, don't forget anything and out the door they go. The silence back on the inside is overwhelming.

Budding Photographers

My grandsons are getting used to seeing me with a camera in hand. While they were here this weekend they thought they would give taking pictures a try themselves. These are Jeremiah's first snapshots. He was especially interested in seeing what he'd produced! Not too bad for his first try! Gotta love those digital cameras.

This is Isaiah's try at the camera. My camera is a bit heavy for these boys to hold, let alone look through the view finder and take the pictures. So, this was point in the direction and shoot.
And of course, these are Phinehas' shots. I thought these were a hoot. Giving a camera to a kid is sure to produce shots that you would never think of yourself. And sure enough....We're going to have to do this more often.

Mission

I'm back on a committee at church again. Missions. I actualy started out on this committee when we first got to OC but then got more involved in women's ministry and had to drop the missions' one. I can't do everything and one committee was hard enough. My challenge is to keep out things that I used to do, or may think I know about and try to let the Spirit do the leading. That 'think outside the box' need is really there for me.

On the one hand I'm excited about being able to do this, but on the other hand I can tend to be intimidated because I don't know enough about how to really do this. So right away we start of thinking about planning a mission's banquet. So how about a trip to India?

New Wardrobe

Now this is a fun part of summer: getting into that new wardrobe. Well, I don't mean that I've gone out and bought new clothes, though that would be my idea of fun. And I don't just mean that I've pulled the summer clothes out of storage, though I have done that. I mean I'm not wearing the same old BIG things from last summer. I've dropped 20#'s and I can now wear (again) a whole size smaller than what I was wearing last summer. I actually saved that smaller size and have been able to pull them all out of their hiding places and start wearing them again. They aren't even that out of style yet.
When I was in Italy the clothes that I took were waaay too big even though I'd just bought them a few weeks before. That felt good. If you look at any pictures of me in Italy, any of the pants that I had on were really about to fall off if you can believe it. With all the walking we did over there I actually lost 6 pounds. Well, for me, it's 20# more to go. I've been told that I need to quit this dieting thing. True. I just need to eat healthy all the time. Enough with eating too much ice cream. I'm so weak.