I had been working on a puzzle that we borrowed from a friend and I was finding it extremely hard. Jason and Mindy pitched right in and we had it finished while they were with us! Have you ever worked on a wooden puzzle by Liberty? They are rather pricey but pretty nifty to work on!
The girls helped me with watering and feeding the birds each day.
I took the girls for a bike ride around the lake.
Later they got rides from Papa and Daddy.
Even mommy got a ride!
The girls love doing art work!
Playdough time
Playing games was lots of fun!
I had a little Bible lesson about Jesus growing up.
They helped me make an Oreo/ice-cream dessert.
They enjoyed pounding and crushing the Oreos.
Of course, we had to go to Drubers Donut shop!
I can still remember when their mommy would sit here when she was their age!
The girls aren't fond of the smell of some of the stores downtown.
It actually just smells like peppernuts that are made at Prairy!
And of course, I bought some for their family, namely Jason!
I also bought the girls some little stuffed animals!
Because Nani likes to do that kind of thing.
We also shopped in Wichita.
Another afternoon, mommy and daddy went on a date to Wichita.
This is what Colorado kids like to do.
Tenley even knows how to do this - they've been teaching her since she was 2!
While they were out, we got out the pool and sprinkler.
They wanted me to do a Bible story again. We sang some songs too.
We watched a duck and her ducklings leave the pond on the north, go across our yard and go to the pond on the south side of our road.
There is a cement wall around the pond and it is quite a drop. Mommy waited for them in the water and we watched to see what the babies would do. They walked back and forth quacking and quacking. Finally, one took a leap and tumbled around on the ground, landing by her mommy. One by one, they bravely tumbled down to the "beach" and then on to the water. Glad no one was injured! It sure was shocking to watch that happen!
Only too soon, it was time for good-byes.
So long girlies! See you another time!
They stopped to see Papa at work before leaving town.
"The path of righteousness is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day."Proverbs 4:18
"Begin the day with God! He is your Sun and Day! He is the radiance of your dawn, to Him address your day." Morning hymn by Horatius Bonar
"You display Your splendour in the heavens. The skies scream out Your existence in an inaudible voice."
I love this! I cannot recall where I read that quote, but I wrote it down because it really speaks to me. I believe it is a paraphrase of Romans 1:20.
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Technically, the story below happened on June 30, but since it has to do with our Nation's birthday on July 4, I added it to this month's post. We went to the historic Fox Theatre in Hutchinson for the 250th year of America Commemorative Concert performed by the Reno County choral and the Hutchinson Municipal band.
My friend Jan and her her 2 friends came and so did Al's brother, Sid.
Our sister-in-law, Gayle, was singing in the choral.
↑ The audience was invited to sing along at times.
This building is so beautiful! Allen and I used to come to the movies here back in the 1970s.
They played the anthems for each of the armed forces and when they did, the men and women who had served in them stood to the applause of the crowd.
Kaia on the 4th of July.
Our city hasn't had fireworks for some time, but this year brought them back! I am so happy about that! They had these on the 3rd.
The Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps comprised of 160 kids, trained at Bethel College for several weeks and gave a performance for our city on the 4th, before heading off to perform in 20 cities across the U.S.
One afternoon, I got a call from my daughter in Wisconsin. She was frantic, curled up between the seats of her van, away from the windows of her van. Baseball size hail was raining down on her. She said it felt like bombs going off. Think of the Egyptians that were killed by them (Exodus 9).
Then here at the end of this month on the 27th, Jill called again, quite frightened, as the tornado sirens were going off. Appleton and Menasha had been hit by a tornado and it was headed over the lake toward them. Luckily, it dissipated over the water. There is much damage, but luckily, our son-in-law's parents and brother didn't have damage.
And I am sad to see that Kumamoto had such damage from the 7.1 earthquake. Kumamoto is about 91 miles air miles from where I grew up. My parents had friends there back then. We've visited the castle that had damage.
Old homes are not earthquake proof.
The first Saturday of the month is the bird walk in our town. I am not always able to go, being out of town or not willing to go due to weather. I do love to go and almost always learn new things about birds!
This is the first year I've seen a white-winged dove in our area! We've had mourning doves and European ring collared doves for years.
Our purple martin babies have hatched!
I have never seen so many bunnies as I have this summer! We have several in our yard and one day on a walk around the lake I counted 9 more.
I'd prefer bunnies to the rattlers in my daughter's home in Colorado!
Our granddaughter, Claire, is taking care of a horse named Penny. Penny is Secretariat's granddaughter!
Our grandson, Eli, gave a devotional on-line for his youth group. His grandpa Pete, who was a pastor and missionary would be so happy.
Our granddaughter Sophia is going to need surgery on her vocal chords. Prayers appreciated! Especially that insurance would cover it!
Hannah has been doing an internship this summer in Chicago. Here is a picture of her and her fiance, Nehemiah. They'll be married next summer!
Our granddaughter Emeri, was able to go hiking with kids from her new school in California. She used to fuss about hiking when she was little, so we found this humourous.
Our son went hiking also with a friend, in Colorado.
I have helped to teach 3-5 year olds during 1st service for part of the summer. They were just delightful! Each Sunday has been different as families are on vacations or they might just be coming to 2nd service. We had visitors too, who were visiting family members. Ruth came to do music. The pastor did a series on the Fruit of the Spirit and the Sunday school lessons were called Fruitful.
I was thinking about the Fruit of the Spirit and got to wondering what my "fruit" would be if it wasn't from Him.
Instead of love or joy, etc., do I exhibit ugly fruit? Did you know there is such a thing as Ugli fruit? Never have tasted it. It is from Jamaica and I hear that it is delightful.
I was asked to help make a promotion video for women's Bible studies for the fall, along with 3 other ladies. I think it will air soon. Bible studies begin in September.
I visited Crust & Crumb at their new location on Main Street for the first time with some friends. I highly recommend it!
We had a watercolour class one evening at our church.
We celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary.
We painted our garage doors.
Not so easy for these oldies who aren't in the best of health! We did it in stages.
We went to our home town rodeo in Pretty Prairie with our friends, Loren and Lynn.
This past week our grandkids from Colorado came, but that will be another post.
July ended back in Hutchinson, listening to the community band once again. My friend Kaori and I went together, as she was introducing me to a Japanese girl who recently began work at her company. She moved to America in March and happens to play with the community band!
They played several marches and also the theme from StarWars, where the conductor used a light saber as the baton!
There were many other songs including one that included rubber chickens!
Sachiko's husband treated us all to Braum's!
July was a full, yet relaxing month. It's been a good summer. August will mean getting back into the schedule of things. School buses will begin their rounds. Allen will begin teaching Sunday School and I'll be teaching the little ones in Awana. I'll need to begin preparing for my Bible studies that start in September. Am I ready for that? I really have enjoyed the slower pace of things.
"He made the moon to mark the seasons; and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl."
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