Summer Birthdays

 For Tyler's 22nd birthday, {July 25} I made him brownies... from scratch!  I  Dallas had ZERO faith in me and thought that there was NO WAY my brownies from scratch would be fit to eat.  He was wrong.  They were fantastic!  Tyler worked on his birthday. {Welcom to adulthood. ;-)}

Mary turned 5 on July 26.  The last year or so we take the party to Grandma & Grandpa Dale because they really want to see the kids on their birthdays and can't travel.  Grandma made the cake, Corah & I decorated it.

 On July 29 Mary got to have her first  friend party.  Of course, when a girl turns 5, she loves princesses!  So we had a princess party.  Above is the guests with Mary in the middle.

 This was the princess dance competition.  The girl in the middle by the piano {Eden} won!

 Party time!  A chocolate princess cake {of course}.

Princess Mary Elisabeth

For Dallas' birthday on August 2nd, I made him a big breakfast with an omlet & French toast. Banana cream pie was in place of a cake and we celebrated before  he left for work.

We have so many birthdays in a row, it is hard to do each one justice, but we try to make them special, anyway.  Sorry, guys, but the princess party was by far my favorite!  What girl {of any age} doesn't enjoy a little royal treatment once in a while?!

Signed,

The Queen 

Family Camp 2011

Getting ready for camp this year was not normal.  It was the same week we lost Molly.  I was feeling very tired and depressed.  We really didn't have the money to PAY for our camp week, so we had a decision to make about whether or not we would cancel.  I kept putting it off..... long story short, the LORD provided and we went to camp.  I had 24 hours to pack 5 people for camp. (Two were already at a camp so I didn't have to pack much for them.)  Dallas got off early that day so he was able to get the mowing done and other stuff to prepare to go.  I had a "rough" list to follow otherwise, I didn't have a clue where to start!  I had been on an emotional roller coaster that morning: worried, disappointed, shocked, and joyful... my head was spinning!

Somehow we managed to be ready to leave home around noon on Saturday.  We drove seperate, picked up the kids from our friends' who had picked them up from camp, then went on from there. {With a couple of detours, but never mind...} We had an amazing week at camp!  Despite the 117 degree heat index, God blessed us SOOOOO much!  He did a wonderful work in our family and we are just so thankful that it worked out for us to go!  I was even able to sleep more at camp than I normally do at home.  Of course there wasn't as much to do at night like at home.  No dishes, no computer.....  Here are some pictures to show some of our fun:

With that heat, the pool was a must... EVERY day!

Leah's mode of transportation

 Joseph's first time on the climbing wall

Corah, way at the top!

 Peter & Leah at the carnival on the last day.

There was a "Cowboy" theme.

 Mary and her friend.

Our new, 2011 family portrait!

That last picture was taken on a permanent "building front" in the basement of the dining hall {Jensen}.  When they finished the basement, they used an old barn someone had donated, so all the walls have faded barn wood.  It looks amazing! 

Corah and friends playing games in the basement of Jensen. 

You can sort-of see in the background that they aren't totally finished with the basement.  There is a coffee shop, the snack shack, an indoor roller hockey rink which separates into three very nice, large classrooms for the little kids.  The incompleted area will be the camp store.

 Wednesday, family game night, the cowboy version of Bingo-- "Ye-Haw!"

We aren't in this picture, but its a good view of the basement of Jensen and the new snack shack.

 Family devotions

Couple devotions

We just had such a nice time, and it was so clear to us that God really wanted us there!  We are so thankful to Him for making the way clear for us to get there, then to work on us while we were there!

Coming soon..... summer birthdays.....











July, 2011

Wow, it has been a long time since I updated my life story via blog!  Part of the reason was that our internet provider wasn't doing a very good job... :-(  some of the problem was just busyness! 

Well, I guess I should start with the 4th of July.  It was a great day we spend with family!  We went to my hometown and watched the parade with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece and her husband, son, and cousin, and the rest of the Clarke County population.  It was a beautiful day and a good time together.  My niece, Jenny has been in the military since 2001 so we just haven't seen much of her in the last several years.  It has been nice to have her stationed relatively close to home. (Missouri)

Next was take the kids (Corah & Joseph) to camp.  This was Joe's first year, so I was excited to take them up there, with a few friends, too.  Joe was a little overwhelmed with being trapped in a minivan with 4 girls, but survived, none-the-less.  Next year there is potential for a couple of BOYS to go, too, so maybe it won't be such "torchure". ;-)

The next day, we had a family tragedy!  Our 13-year-old dog, Molly followed Dallas & Peter on a walk to the river -about one mile- on a very hot, humid, still day.  She happily tagged along WAY behind without them knowing.  They were at the river "checking it out" for a while when Molly came over the hill, barked once, as if to day, "Ok, you're safe." and headed back home.  Don't ask me how she made it home but she collapsed in front of the garage door and never got up again.  She died during the night.  It was a terrible feeling to go to bed that night knowing that she would be "gone" in the morning.  Here is her "Obituary":

Today we said good-bye to our very dear and faithful, ever-present

friend

companion

protector

entertainer

bumble-bee-chaser

playmate

After 13 years of love, devotion and service, we will sure miss her!

If we were gardening, mowing, plowing snow, playing, sledding, walking, sitting, whatever, werever, she was there.

Molly: January 1998 - July 12, 2011

I was truly amazed how hard it was to say goodbye to this dog!  It really made me sympathetic toward someone who lost a really special person.  I even was depressed for quite some time!  Sometimes I still think I hear her heavy breathing when I first walk out the back door.  She will truly be missed around here!