Family gathering at the pond

The extended family got together for Memorial Day at the family farm.  Al's youngest brother and his family live there now.

Not everyone could make it out due to conflicts.  We always have lots of laughs.  Those Grabers sure do have a sense of humor!

After dinner, we loaded up on pickups and drove out to the pond in the pasture.
Molly followed behind.

 


When Al saw I was taking pictures, he decided to suck in his tummy.  "Hurry up and take the picture already!  I can't suck it in forever!"

Getting married in August!

 

Looking for frogs

 My niece broke her toes doing tae-kwon-do practice.  Ouch.  Covering up her "boot" with plastic

Both of the parents are gone now. Remembering them and missing them!  How they would have loved to see the family growing!

While they are working at the house...

Jill spent the day at their new house.  Al had the day off so he, along with several very nice people who volunteered to help them, stripped some quite stubborn wallpaper, did some mudding, sanding and painting.

The girls and I went to the zoo.  It was Claire's first time!

 She saw some animals she had only seen in books before.

Some were quite friendly.

???????????

Peter Pan, a lady pirate and some princesses decided to come to the zoo.

Flowers in the herbal gardens

In the Africa farm area, 2 little goats named Oreo and Snickerdoodle began to nibble on the stroller and at Claire.  Perhaps they could smell some graham cracker?  A worker came over to rescue us.

 Most of the time, Claire was just taking it in - hardly any emotion at all as you can see below.

 There's a little smile!

They say these are injured birds.  Wouldn't it be sad to taste the freedom of soaring in the sky and have to be cooped up in a cage?  I think this is how my Dad feels after his stroke put him in a wheelchair.

 There are those fairy tale characters again!

 

We asked and they told us they just felt like dressing up and having a fun day at the zoo!  I know they sure made some children happy!

On our way home, we decided to stop at the hospital to see Grandpa Pete and to cheer him up.  Dad fell last week and broke some bones.  It will not be an easy road.

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Later on, we went to the Smith's for an ice-cream social.  They were raising money for our VBS next week!  We were only too happy to help them out!  Ice-cream is my daddy's favorite food.  Wish he could have come along!

We had a wonderful day together!  Hopefully the house will be all ready for their move in just a couple of weeks!