Pops

Saturday was a quiet day around here so after dinner, we drove out to Pops. On the way, we peeked at Lake Arcadia. Neither of us had ever been to this lake and after a little driving around we have decided to try it out for camping this fall.
We arrived at dusk.

When we finally decided on our drinks, we sat outside for a snack.

On our way home, we got to see the Soda Pop all lit up. Very pretty.

It was an enjoyable, impromptu outing. It wore Cami out. Look how sweet he is sound asleep!

Sweetness

2 months old

"for this is God's will"

6. Friends. Close friends; faraway friends. Friends who know me deep down and still love me.

7. Smiles from my precious little 2 month old. Smiles that brighten my day.

8. A husband that is not a picky eater. Who eats everything I make, even when I think it's bad.

9. For biggest (Bren), because he is always willing to help me out and often helps without being asked.

10. For medium (Cam), because he is silly and so well behaved. And because every now and again, he will still sit on my lap and give me lovin'.

A hard week

Sunday morning we received a call that our friend and Pastor's son was killed in a car wreck in the middle of the night. It has been a hard couple of days as we grieve for and with our friends.

Amanda recently posted from Ecclesiastes, "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 and verse 2 continues "a time to be born and a time to die"

Our last memory of Ethan Hendricks was the previous Sunday at church. Ethan was playing with Cameron, carrying Cameron around on his shoulders.

Today, my friend buried her son. In my mind, it is not supposed to be this way. My heart aches for Ethan's parents, his two brothers and two sisters. We can only cling to the hope that we will see him again, some day in heaven.

Just Cait

Tulsa Travels

JC had some work related meetings in Tulsa Monday and Tuesday so we packed up the family and hit the road after church Sunday.

We drove directly to the Tulsa Air & Space Museum since it closed at 5 p.m.

There were a lot of interactive exhibits and the guys really had fun. If you click on the F-14 below, you can see (just barely) the guys standing by the cockpit.

Look at the grins on these guys!

Caitlin & I posed by the space shuttle. Since I'll never get to see one lift off. Thanks to the program being shut down. I really wanted to see it. Just once.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites. It was a very pretty hotel. And they had free drinks & snacks every evening!

After a quick check in and refreshments, we met JC's brother and his family at Chuck E Cheese's for dinner and games.

We had a good time visiting and playing and were quite tired when we finally got back to the hotel.

Monday, JC took the car. I figured we could watch TV, swim, play in the arcade and just "hang out". Here's Caitie by the pool.

And the boys

Our relaxing day wasn't really very relaxing. But we survived. We went out to Qdoba for dinner when JC finally made it back to the hotel. That's some YUMMY food!

Tuesday morning, Caitlin & I took JC to his meetings while the boys slept in. We did a little more swimming and then checked out. After driving around awhile, and a teenaged boy couldn't make up his mind, momma finally decided on Steak n' Shake for lunch. We have one in the City but never eat at it. Burger wasn't too bad but the shakes were really good!

Next stop, Kaleidoscope Children's Museum. I don't think I can give you a really good review of this place. I will say it is not a place to take a bus full of teenagers and let them run wild. Because someone did that while we were there. That took a lot of fun out of our time there. I think they finally got kicked out. After that, the kids had a lot more fun.

It was a lot like Jasmine Moran Museum and Leonardo's Discovery Warehouse. And it was only $6 per person so it was a decent way to spend the HOT summer day.

After the "museum" we picked up JC and had a yummy dinner and interesting conversation at his dad's house before heading home. It was an exhausting, whirlwind of a trip but we had fun and we survived. That's what is important, right?!

Time for Thanks

There is this song that says:

I look around and see my wonderful life

Almost perfect from the outside

In picture frames I see my beautiful wife

Always smiling

But on the inside...

Our blog shows our happy times, "but on the inside..." Marriage is hard. Being a parent is hard. Life is hard.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Let me share with you my thanks...

1. My health

2. Three beautiful, healthy children

3. A husband that works to support our family

4. A home with the conveniences of running hot water, A/C and heat, comfy beds, fridge & freezer

5. To live in a "free" country; to have the freedom to worship God and homeschool my children

What a Peach!

After watching Brendan's flight, JC, Cameron, Caitlin and I headed south for a short visit with Granny.

Her peaches were ripe and we helped Granny out by picking some of them for her!

Caitlin took a little snooze in the summer heat.

Leslie and the kids joined in the fun!

Isabella even found some apples to take home!

I have to throw in this little picture! Biggest and littlest hands.

JC was a little over zealous in picking. Since processing peaches all day wasn't this tired momma's idea of fun, JC spent about 8 hours in the kitchen last weekend. Peeling. Peeling and slicing.

I jumped in and helped whip up the jelly (12 jars of it) along with some peach syrup.

I also threw together PW's peach cobbler and some peach bellini's.

We gave peaches to our neighbors and some friends. Took two sacks to church and a sack for mom. We still have a sack on the counter and a sack in the fridge. Wow!