Still summer, right?

Technically it is still summer so I can still post about summer, right?!  It will be fall in a couple of days so I should wrap up how we spent our summer.

Besides going to Door County, and a couple trips to Arkansas, we had cousins' week with all five grandkids (my previous posts).  While we had them, here is what their parents did:

Josh went hiking in Colorado with several friends.

 Adam and Jill also went to Colorado to a cabin.

Staci went to Mackinac Island with her parents and aunt and uncle.

 While Mindy and Jason didn't leave any children with us since they don't have kids, at least not yet, they went on a trip to Banff!  We've always wanted to go there!

Some other things we did were:

Go to Prairie Pines in Wichita, a couple of times by ourselves and once with friends.  When we went by ourselves, we took along a picnic (in my grandparents picnic basket) and we enjoyed the music from the gardens.

We went with friends, Robert and Sally another time.

We had farewells with Al's sister Julie and helped her pack up.

 If you know anyone wanting to move to a little town in Kansas (Little River), we know a house for sale!

 The siblings

My friends and I met regularly over the summer, one week at a coffee shop and then next at my home sewing for Dress A Girl Around the World.

We went to the Pretty Prairie Rodeo. 

  A monkey cowboy on a dog

The bulls are my favorite!

With cousins 

I went to Pretty Prairie (a different time) to go to the retirement center to meet with some of the residents, friends of my parents, to see if they could help me identify some old photos I have.

 They did know some of the people, but I left with many interesting people that we don't have a clue about.  Too bad grandma didn't write names on the backs.

We cleaned out the garage, which meant getting rid of lots of stuff!

 I about cried getting rid of the crib, but you can't sell these anymore because they don't meet gov. regulations.  I looked on Pinterest to see if there might be something I could do with it, but nothing interested me.

 We needed to make room for Kaho, a Japanese college student who was coming to live with us this year.  She needed garage space for her vehicle.

It meant getting our old flivver, Grandma's 1954 Chevy Belair, out of the garage.  That will be a post of its' own.

We also had baptisms at the pool - we got rained on for a while, but what a joyous occasion!

I finished the ancestry book for my Dad's side of the family!

My grandmother is the girl in the center.  There were so many stories over the years, like how an ancestor died in prison for his anabaptist faith in Switzerland, where you were required to join the state church.  Or the one about the families who made it to Kansas in 1874.  While the men went to look for land to purchase, the families stayed at an immigrant lodging place.  During the time the men were away, 17 children got ill and passed away.  So very sad.

Mindy and Jason came to visit!  We always do a Drubers run!

Went out to eat in Wichita.

We caught a guy proposing to his girl!

 
Mindy showed us a troll who lives in the drain pipes in Wichita!

 Well, it was a fun summer.  And although the calendar shows it will be fall, it is hard to believe as we are still facing high 80's.

Cousins' Week: Goodness and Mercy; and Artists

After our morning at the zoo and lunch at Freddy's, we had our lesson from Psalm 23.

                  Surely goodness and mercy 
                     shall follow me
                           all the days of my life,
                 and I shall dwell in the 
                          house of the Lord
                                          forever.

God is kind.  His loyal love will pursue us.    He IS good!
   We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

What if daddy is to lose his job?  Or dies?  What if there is no money to pay bills?  Or friends are mean?  Do mercy and goodness still follow us?

Yes!  All things work together for our good - He always wants what is best for us, even if it means going through difficult things.

We watched a movie about sheepdogs, who like goodness and mercy, pursue the sheep.




While our own "sheepdog", Kobi, slept among the sheep, we spent much of the afternoon painting.

 

 Hannah and Emeri did Bob Ross paintings.

 

 Shepherd Allen got into a wrestling match with his sheep and sheepdog.

 

We took the kids to see our local artist, Phil Epp's work.

I love cloud pictures and I especially love his paintings of clouds!  This is called Blue Sky Sculpture.  Phil Epp painted it.  Ceramists were Terry Corbett and Conrad Snider.

Here is a sample painting of his.

LOVE!!!

He does have his paintings for sale that you can find on-line!  Maybe some day!  In the meantime, I will enjoy my grandchildren's paintings!