Of Lakes and Corn Bins, Weddings and Little Friends ...

Hi all! We've been away a lot lately squeezing in some special time with friends and family before summer is over. Here's a picture gallery to give you a glimpse of where we've been and who we've seen! :o)

We spent a week at a lake with Steve's parents, his sisters, and their families!

Here are the cousins on their way to go swimming! (They loved the kick boards!) Haddie and Seth are in back, but in front you can see Antonio and Hayden.

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids.

Out of many attempts to line up cousins on the couch, this is the best one I got. ;o)

Seth having fun with his new hat and fishing pole.

Haddie and Seth.

We had a fun time even though there were a lot of cool days. We were thankful to have a great cabin with a big living room. Here is Aunt Buzzy (Samantha) coloring with the kids.

Steve on the paddleboat with Haddie and Seth.

One of the highlights was feeding the ducks bread.

Dad and Haddie watching the ducks.

The previous weekend Seth and Haddie stayed at The Farm while Steve and I went to a wedding. Here they are with Grandpa Dewey, Grandma Sheila, as well as some boys who were visiting for a week to have a chance experiencing life outside of "the city".

Here I am with Anna, sister of the bride. ;o)

My friend Naomi and me the morning of her wedding. She married a great guy named Gabe. Steve and I were honored to be involved in their wedding. I did Naomi's hair, as well as her sister's, and Steve did the welcome at the beginning of the ceremony. It was so fun to see how happy they both were to get married!

Here's Haddie looking out at the horse pasture the week before we headed off on our adventures.

Seth on the tire swing. :o)

This rooster in front is fondly called "My Boy" by Seth.

Haddie enjoying one of the kittens.

These next few pics aren't in the right order. Here Seth is getting hosed of with air by my dad after he and Haddie spent time playing in a nearly empty corn bin.

Haddie peeking out of the corn bin. (My mom said, "Make sure if you put up pictures of this that everyone knows the kids were carefully supervised while they were in the bin!!" No problem mom.) :o)

Seth having a blast on a little corn mound in the bin.

Steve was an usher at the wedding of his friend, Richie, recently. Here we are at the reception. We had lots of fun seeing Rich and Rebecca get married, visiting with old friends, and making new ones.

Here's Steve with his friends. First Steve, then Erik, then the groom, Richie, and then his friend Buzz.

Lastly, here's a couple pics of my dear friend Kelly's little girl, Anika, along with Haddie.
They live a ways away, so it is always a treat when we get to spend time together.

Seth, Anika, and Haddie at Kelly's parents' house. :o)



Well, that's a wrap! Hope you are all well! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to view this post!

You Might Be a Redneck...

... If, to escape the heat of your non-air conditioned home, you grab leftover pizza from the fridge and sit in lawn chairs in your front yard (because you don't actually have an adult-sized picnic table) and eat your supper while the neighbors drive by and look at you and your kids alternate between eating their food and jumping in the near-by kiddie pool to cool off.

Ah, yep. That would be us. :o)

Joyful Ride

The fresh August wind was blowing through our open windows, swirling my hair around my face as we drove down the county road. I didn't mind though. It was such a beautiful day, we couldn't help but drive with the windows open.
The music from Seth's current favorite song poured out our speakers and we all grinned as he sang along. (To get a better taste of what our drive was like, click here and press the "play" button to listen to the song Seth loves when you finish reading this post!) :o)





The sun warmed our arms as they rested on the open windows, and we looked out at the lush green fields with keen awareness of God's majesty reflected in his creation.

Pausing from his singing, Seth belted out, "Hey mom, I love God!"

As soon as the sentence had left Seth's mouth, Haddie piped up joyfully, "I love God TOO!"

Steve and I immediately looked at each other with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts.

It was a beautiful day.

And this was a joyful ride.

Hooray! He's Home!

Last night we were THRILLED to welcome Steve home after being gone for 11 days! He had been leading a group of youth on a mission trip to Galveston, TX to do hurricane clean up. We missed him so very much! We're so thankful for a successful trip for them, and also that the Lord brought the crew home safely. There were many difficult moments here on the home front (and I definitely applaud single parents who manage to do the work by themselves!) but God was also gracious to us. Overall the time went by fairly quickly, nobody broke into the house while we were sleeping (my biggest fear when I'm alone!) ;o) and we tried to stay busy so we wouldn't think about missing Dad so much! ... It was priceless to see the looks of joy on Seth and Haddie's faces when their daddy stepped off the bus! (Grandpa Dewey was also on the trip and they were excited to see him too!)

The work crew did a lot of demolition and new construction for the people of Galveston whose homes had been damaged by hurricane Ike. Here's a little video to give you a glimpse. (Steve is in the blue shirt and wearing a baseball cap. The others are boys from youth group.)

Sometimes....

Sometimes...

When Steve is gone...

And I'm home alone..

And I'm up late...

I do something crazy...

;o)

The Intruder

It was Meshach's "Something is Wrong" bark that led me to peer out the back door. Seeing nothing unusual, except our collie barking and looking worriedly at me, I stepped outside. Then I saw him. An intruder in our yard. The fence and the dog had not deterred him. Camouflaged in black, green, orange, and yellow, he had been sneaking his way up to the house....





We caught the intruder and took a mug shot of him.

Then we proceeded to detain him in a small cell for observation.

Due to his good behavior, he was allowed a larger area to roam while we continued observation.

We concluded that no foul play was intended, and seeing that he was eager to return home, we obliged.

We walked him down to the location of his residence, said our good-byes, and released him.

It was a bit hard to see him go. He was a nice fellow, actually.

But he'll be happier back home. :o)

Equine Enthusiasts

I came inside today with the intention of writing something deep, but after kneeling on hard ground for almost two hours as I pulled stubborn weeds from the flower beds, my body is tired and I think I will stick to something that will be a little quicker!

I took a couple pictures this weekend which inspired me to dig up some old photos and create this post.... I thought it would be kind of fun to show you some pics of many years worth of equine enthusiasm in our family! ;o) So, here they are, from oldest to most recent...

Okay, okay, no horses in this photo, but we were dressed for a ride no doubt!

(Here I am with my younger brother Shaun.)

Here I am with my younger sister, Jessica, on our old Quarter Horse mare, "Gin". She was the only Quarter Horse my parents owned while we were growing up (they raised Arabians), but she was wonderful. Many, many children (and a few adults) gained confidence in their riding skills while sitting on her back.

Here is Shaun, Jessica, my youngest sister Stephanie sitting on our pony, "Lady",
and me.

Growing up I rode lots of horses, but when I was 13 my parents bought a horse I could call my own. Kick-a-Poo, my gray Arabian gelding came to us in February from California (He must have been shocked by the cold!) My parents still have him on their farm. "Pooh" is an easy-going, lover of treats, funny man who gets bored easily and loves to stick out his tongue. We've had a lot of fun times together. ;o)

Kick-a-Poo and me.

No Hands!

Here we are at the Fair in our "Western Pleasure" garb.

My sister Stephanie riding her sweet Arabian mare, Enchantress, with Kick-a-Poo and me.

We were riding with a small drill team in a parade that day.

Third generation equine enthusiast!

Here's our Haddie girl atop Kick-a-Poo, with me beside her - taken this past weekend. She was completely delighted!

Seth having a fun time riding "Pooh" while my dad leads.

Thanks for the ride grandpa, and thanks for taking care of our "Pooh" so we can still enjoy him even though we live in town!!



And thanks to YOU for stopping by! ;o)