A Little Flashback...

Ryan and Evan are off to band camp in Indiana for the week. As I was trying to get their picture yesterday, they were reminding me that I needed to hit the road because they had to get to orientation.  
 

I was going through some photo albums, and found this from Easter 2006 -

Maybe 2002?

And just for fun...

Swimming in the Smoky Mountains!

So maybe I'm a little sentimental.  :-)  They are having fun and hopefully will excel tremendously in their instruments this week!

Happy Independence Day!!!

July 4th was a super relaxing day for us. Skies were overcast, and we had periods of gentle rainshowers. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch at my brother and sister-in-law's country home. Their house is so cozy and spacious!

Ryan and Evan "shooting" with Will.  He loves it when they
play with him, and he can wrestle for hours!

Eating on the deck...

Allison and Ruby

Later that evening, we met up again at the fireworks.  Lima has been rated the best July 4th fireworks show in the state of Ohio.  And we've learned that they don't cancel unless the rain is really coming down, so we prepared...

Alli and Suzie snackin' it up!

Growing boy!

Classic...lol

Classic x 10...lol!

I've given up on getting "good" pics.  The ones we'll enjoy in 20 years are the silly ones anyway, right?

Our beloved USA is really going through some difficult times right now, but we're still proud to be Americans, and we're not giving up on the land of the free!

Glimpses of our June...

We are chugging through these summer months all too quickly! Ours has been a little different, considering I've been in a cast for the last seven and a half weeks. I thought time would slow down a bit, but it hasn't. Here we are at July 3rd!


The very happy green cast :-)

The first Saturday in June, our young adults hosted a church picnic/going-away-party for our neighbors and friends, Rob and Stephanie. They were with us for a couple of years while Rob attended school here in Lima. We are going to miss them, but we know that they achieved their goals here and they are excited to get back to their Florida home.

We've fallen in love with their kids, too.  It'll be a little different not to see their smiles peeking through the blinds or over the back fence when we pull into our driveway each day!
 



 

Austin found a snake in the park. All boy.  :-)

On the 10th my mom took the girls and I to Cincinnati for a quick overnight trip.  Mom and I had a mtg at the Bible College campus the next day, so the girls were able to spend some extra time with their great-grandma, aunt, and cousins.  It was my first trip out of town since my injury, and I was nervous.  It ended up being a lot of fun, and it was SO good to get out for a few hours!

This is Allison's trademark look these days.  She thinks she's so
funny.  Here she is with a Skyline coney in her mouth.  :-)

 

It's hard to believe that my grandmother's cancer diagnosis came almost a year ago.  She seems to be doing very well, and we are so thankful for another year that God has given us with her!

 



On Father's Day weekend, we took our RV to Frankfort, IN to set it up for youth camp.  That night was a trial run for me to see if I would be able to navigate the steps and be able to live in it for two weeks!  We ended up getting into Frankfort super late, and ended up sleeping in the RV in WalMart's parking lot.  The kids always enjoy that...lol. 

The next morning Greg quickly set everything up and we traveled the 150 miles back home to get to a graduation party.  Congratulations to three of my former students (Ashley, Nathan, and Jennifer) who all graduated from college this spring.  They are siblings, so it kinda worked out well for their parents!  :-)

Father's Day 2013 - So thankful for my husband who is on a daily quest to be God's man...

Early the next morning, we headed back to Frankfort to begin PYC '13.  This was Evan's first year to be a camper, and he was so excited.  My sister and her husband were able to spend the week there with the Bible college group, so that was a huge help for me - thanks, Valerie! 

Frank Heidler (Pennsylvania) was our youth camp evangelist.  We had approx. 170 campers and the presence of God saturated the place.  The final night service began with a preservice at 6:30, followed by a worship service at 7:00.  Traditionally, there is a "banquet" after the final service and then skits and comedy that continue until midnight or so.  This year, however, the worship service didn't wrap up until about 11:45.  There were several altar services, and our teens were blessed to experience God and express their worship in a way many had not previously.  5 hours is a long time for anyone to be in church, but I didn't hear a single complaint.  Isn't it funny how God's presence completely changes things?

Apparently I should have had them turn away from the sun.  :-)

 

My nieces had fun in the camper

As well as a certain little guy named Prince

  



 

I was sitting outside the camper one evening, and the next thing I knew, something plopped onto my shirt. Surprised, I yelled, "It pooped on me!"  My sister and I laughed till we almost cried.  By the way, it's considered good luck to have a bird choose to poo on you.  :-)

 

 

One of our pastor's wives provides a VBS type format for all the kids through age 11 who are too young for youth camp.  Kait and Alli had lots of fun participating in that, and they were thrilled to have the rest of the day to play, play, play! 

 

Our youth camp and church camp are back to back, so although it can be tiring, we enjoy spending that two week block of time away.  Greg was able to join us for the entire 10 days of family camp again this year. 

 

Our church's job for the 1st half of camp

 

And we celebrated a birthday during church camp! 

 



 

Thanks for the accessories, Sherry!
He failed to hold up his pink
'Happy Birthday Princess' balloon! 

Our friends, Jerry and Becky Glick, provided music at the camp.
Since their children live close, we were blessed to have them sing, as well!

Rev. Harold Jackman is one of our pastors from Illinois. He
will celebrate 50 years at his church this coming fall.  I gave him
a ride to his camper on my golf cart...it was so cute.  He loved it!

 

Allison with some friends...and her signature "crossed eyes" pose.
That's gotta stop.  :-)

 

Kaitlynn and a couple of friends camped out in a tent.
Vanessa (middle) is the daughter of one of my best high
school buds, Annette (Hart) Forsee.  We can't have kids this age, can we?
Carissa Line is on the left.

 I didn't have my camera out a whole lot this month, so I'm impatiently waiting for www.midwestphc.org to publish some camp photos.  I think our youth camp photographer took over 1,000 per day!

 

Anyway, that's the wrap on June.  I hope you are having a fantastic summer!

 

If You're In The Area...

Register for VBS HERE!

Update on Stephanie

Click here