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Aunts and Uncles, Events, Family News, Project 365

Heading off for a wedding…

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So many pictures, so little time to blog. These posts will be frightfully out of order, I’m afraid. Ah, we do the best we can.

Thursday we drove to Lake Michigan, picking up the groom on the way.

phil's pensive look

What is Phil thinking? Deep groom-like thoughts?

It was an unexpected gift to have some uninterrupted time with Philip. Okay, there were 5 children in the van so it was hardly a quiet drive. We managed to get a smile out of Phil.

phil smiles

Just mention Emily and Phil lights up.

That evening Aunt Kate (my mom’s twin sister), Uncle Jerry (Kate’s dh), and Aunt Stephanie (my mom’s older sister) all flew in. We also met up with my brother Thom and Doug, a good friend of the family. We all went out to dinner. “Thank you, Aunt Stephanie, for a delicious meal!!!”

phil and doug

Phil and Doug

The next day we played in the sand and enjoyed our new digs. It’s certainly different being the family of the groom (ie sit around and relax all day, show up at the appointed time) versus the bride (decorate the reception hall, teach breathing techniques to the bride and bridesmaids, tie up little bundles of sweets for the reception tables, panic over last minute details, etc). I certainly don’t remember any time to relax on the weekend of my wedding. Maybe that’s just because I was the bride. I’m sure my brothers weren’t fretting and stressing during that time. Now that I think about it, they were probably sitting around relaxing and waiting until it was time to show up for the wedding. Hmmm.

Far be it for me to imply that the activities surrounding the wedding are boring but look at these little guys.

david restschase sleeps

I think the playing and relaxing at the beach wore David and Chaseton out.

The rehearsal dinner was delicious. We filled up three long tables with family and friends. I met Emily’s mother and aunt. She has a lovely family. The kids are so excited to have a new aunt. They adore Jenn (Thom’s wife) and figure Emily will surely be as wonderful.

the girls

The girls – Kathy, Emily, Rachel, Tahlia, Sarah and Aydia – pose for a picture.

Phil was a gracious host and went around, speaking to all of the well-wishers. We, of course, snagged him for a picture.

Phil is loved up!

Chase grabs Phil for a hug while Mom and Dan smile pretty.

More details to follow. It has been a lovely, lovely vacation and the wedding was perfect!

Kathy
Project 365 – Days 172 & 173

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Vacationing Away

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We’re having a wonderful, wonderful time. I think I’ve taken something like 700 pictures since we arrived in Michigan. Not to fear, gentle reader, I won’t be posting them all. :)

Although it’s tempting.

We’re staying in an incredible log cabin on Lake Michigan. The owners are friends of my parents and graciously kept this week free for our family’s vacation. Wow!! It’s gorgeous! There are about 40 steps down to the lake. The beach is perfect – sandy and warm with nary a person (or even boat) in sight. I’m still a bit in shock that we are situated in such a gorgeous spot for our vacation.

beach time

The kids have found a large rock down a little bit into the water. It has provided hours of “King of the Rock” fun.

A Huge, Sloppy, Thank You to the D’s for opening their home to us this week!!!!!!!

The only downside to this little piece of paradise is the utter lack of connectivity. No e-mail, no dial-up, no cell phone coverage, no high speed internet. I’m dying here. I knew blogging was an addiction but I didn’t realize how ugly withdrawal would look.

There’s the twitch of my mouse finger, rooting around for something to click.
The glazed look in my eyes as I stare at the screen that isn’t there.
Sentences that go half written in my mind but are never blogged.
Waking up in the night mumbling something about “unmoderated comments.”

It isn’t pretty.

Thankfully we got word that the library in town has wireless internet that you can access outside the building. This evening we drove down, grabbed some fried chicken at the local market and did some computer work.

Ahhh, it’s glorious.

Unfortunately I have 8 children here (my own five and my brother Dan’s three) who have a limited amount of patience for computing time (no matter how happy I look and the cookies that I hand out).

kayak time

Our hosts have two kayaks that are available for our use. The big kids have all tried it.

I’m trying to get an access number so I can connect via dial-up at the house.

Glad to be blogging again. Recharged!

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 173

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Old Friends

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Bible Study Fellowship has enriched my life in many ways. It has deepened my knowledge of scripture. It has provided a place for my children to learn about the character of God and His Word. I’ve been blessed by the teaching of wonderful godly women. I’ve had years of excellent small group leaders as well as times with poor ones. I’ve grown and studied and learned under all of them.

One precious treasure BSF has given me is some dear, dear friendships. This week I was able to visit one of these friends. Amy and I met in our BSF class years ago (I’m afraid to add up the years). We lived near each other, had similar backgrounds of growing up in the church, and were both in the beginning of raising our young families. I had two small children and she had one. Now I have five and she has four. Where have the years gone?

amy and kathy

Every year we return to Michigan for a visit, I always carve out the time to see Amy and her sweet family. It is such a joy to be with an old friend (not that either of us are old, of course not). The conversation is natural and nearly without pause. The only interruption comes from the children. After we had been there for some time, Amy’s oldest asked her, “How long have you been talking?” I’m sure in his mind we couldn’t possibly have anything left to say. Silly child. :)

Amy’s new home is beautiful, relaxed and comfortable. Amy is just the same herself. It was delightful spending the afternoon with her. The children played inside, went for a walk to the park, had popsicles, came inside, watched tv, played games, and then went back outside for more fun. I tried to borrow Amy’s set of clippers to do Daniel’s hair. She got it out and then remembered she needed to use them this week. At the last minute (literally the children were all getting into the van) I decided to cut Daniel’s hair. I can’t believe I forgot to ask Rachel to take pictures. We all went to the back yard (except Joshua who thought it would be more fun to wilt, swelter and melt in the van, waiting for us) and I cut Daniel’s hair right there on the patio.

bunch of cute kids

You know it’s a true friend when you can borrow hair clippers and give your son an impromptu hair cut in the back yard. Tim teased me and said we sure like to go a long way for a hair cut. First it was the girls, and now Daniel’s got his Michigan cut. Who’s next?? The only downside is it’s going to be expensive to continue flying to Michigan to keep up with my highlights and the rest of the family’s trims.

Thankfully I have good friends that are always ready with an open home and welcome smile.

Thanks for the lovely visit, Amy!!

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 170

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Early Father’s Day

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So much to do this week. Any time? Enough time?

family

Tim and kiddos in a random picture. Look closely to see Father’s Day photos and frames from David and Daniel on the window sill.

Joshua came home safely from an outing with his Middle School small group. He said it was like part birthday party and part working party. They put in around 5 hours or raking, digging and grounds maintenance for a camp out in the country. They spent the night and had a church service out on the amphitheater (in the rain). One of the boys is from Texas. Poor kid! Joshua said he doesn’t think he’s really meant for this western WA weather. Ha!

I can’t believe I forgot to grab my camera. I would have loved to have snapped a few pictures of the (tired and rather soggy looking) boys as they exited the church van. Although it might have been the leaders who looked the most exhausted. :)

Rachel and I did some shopping. Got all sorts of great deals. It’s always fun to be out with Rachel.

Cleaned and worked on the house (only don’t come by right now as it’s messy again).

Tim and Joshua went to the Concert of Prayer at church this evening. Since I had been out all afternoon running errands and picking up Joshua (who was late) and because I have a HUGE to do list, I decided to stay home. I did get some work accomplished but not as much as I hoped.

After the men/young men folk returned, we celebrated an early Father’s Day.

cd's

Yes, we did go with a “theme” this year for our Father’s Day presents. :) I’ll post a review later.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 161

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Homeschool Curriculum Sale

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Too many books, games, teacher’s guides, puzzles, manipulatives, workbooks, novels, toys, magazines, computer games, books, books, books, and too little money.

Rachel and I went to a used curriculum sale this morning. She didn’t find as many treasures as I did but she was a lovely companion and good sport (especially as the hours dragged on and I continued shopping).

We ended up staying until the bitter (or sweet depending on how you look at things) end of the sale. At this point I definitely scored!! Almost all of the tables dropped their prices in half and several people started giving away their books for free. I think I got almost as many things free as I did at cost. Delightful!

I meant to spread everything out and take a picture but didn’t get around to it. Here are just a few of the things I found.

books

Of course, all of the homeschooling moms out there know that most/half (?) of these treasures will end up unused on my shelf. Sigh.

That doesn’t stop the glee of a good bargain and the roving eye of a curriculum junkie. Until next year!! :)

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 160

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