Meet Dorito

John had a birthday. He's 53 now. His birthday came on the heels of much activity in the house--July has been a very full month ya'll! Due to scheduling, we celebrated his birthday in two parts. We had cake and gifts on one night, and then we played games (despite the heat--thank God for a good breeze!) and I took him out to lunch on his birthday proper.

John received some great gifts, but one stood out more than the others. Jozsef, Nikolas, and Bethany teamed up to get John a very unique gift. Meet Dorito. Inspired by a commercial and a good sense of humor, John now has an office mate. And as it turns out, Dorito has captured the heart of all of the children. :-) It's great when humor can be appreciated and family fun can be had in multiple ways.

Happy Birthday John! May Dorito be a long standing companion and may God bless you with many more years!

Bladesmithing

Connor is a hands on guy. He loves to explore and learn, especially with his hands. He will have an idea, reasearch it, and then attempt to create it himself. We are interested in seeing what he chooses as a career path. In an attempt to help him pick a field, and because he loves watching Forged in Fire, we enrolled him in a bladesmithing class.

Directly after returning from beach camp, Connor spent two days at The Forge (a place Nikolas discovered while he was out and about on jobs) learning how to make a knife from scratch. Connor was the youngest guy in the class, but that didn't phase him, and if nothing else, the guys respected him for being there. Connor had an excellent experience and came home with a solid, good looking knife. :-) Good work, Connor!

I'm so thankful he was able to have such an experience. He might even go back for the next level class. :-) Thanks to Nikolas for not only finding The Forge, but for helping to get Connor there and back again. What a full and wonderful week for Connor! :-)

Beach Camp

This year, the bulk of the children had a great opportunity. The church planned to take the teens on retreat to the beach in Florida! Jozsef and Nikolas went as leaders. They helped to chaperone as well as to lead small groups. Connor, Sonja, and Riley were all able to attend. The two older boys have been to Florida, though not this location, previousely. However, for the other three, this was their first trip to Florida. Both Connor and Sonja had been on retreats before, but none a week long. For Riley, this was a first all the way around! The retreat started on Sonja's birthday proper--talk about a birthday gift! :-) Needless to say, the whole group was excited to participate.

The church sent a chartered bus as well as two 15 seater vans full of participants--leaders and students--so it was a good crowd! Our church group met up with another youth group (the two Pastors know each other) and they joined up for a week of learning, worship, games, fellowship, beach baptisms (they had 12!), and memory making.

The children made friends, learned lots, and loved the beach. Panama City Beach is beautiful!

Some of the children came home rather red, while others just returned bronzed. They all loved their time away! Sonja didn't mind being away for her birthday, and to her relief, no one made an embarrassing display of her birthday though she did get some sweet well wishes. :-) Nikolas as awesome about taking pictures, but since he was the guy behind the camera, I don't have too many of him. Still, I'm thankful for the shots he got. There is already chatter about next year's beach trip. Hannah will be in the group by then (move up Sunday is coming up and she'll leave Sunday school to join the teens). Who knows, maybe John and I can volunteer as leaders and we can all attend... :-)

Too Much Excitement

Some years birthdays pass by with little fanfare, are modestly celebrated, or, in some cases, they are rather punctuated. This year, Sonja's birthday was a stand out event for several reasons. The Grands were visiting, and I believe it's the first time they've been present for her actual birthday. The teen group from church went on a beach trip to Florida, leaving on Sonja's birthday proper and enjoying the beach for a full week--SO many firsts there for her (more beach trip details in another post). Since the teens were headed out on her birthday proper, we celebrated just before. The idea was to have a leisure day out--just the girls, having lunch and shopping before returning home for dinner with the rest of the family followed by cake and gifts. However, circumstances gave us a rather late start to our day out so we didn't get to the shops Sonja wanted, and to top it off, we got in a car accident.

Thankfully it wasn't severe, but I was sitting at a red light when I was rear ended. The car is still driveable, but needs a fair amount of repair--thankfully the driver assumed full responsibility. We were sore for about a week. I believe I hurt the most as I was looking over my shoulder at the passing traffic when we were hit, and though my muscles immediately went in to cramping and pain, it was manageable. I was concerned for Sonja as I knew she was headed to beach camp the next morning, but she rebounded really well. She was just really upset and disappointed that her day out was a bust. However, she was able to enjoy cake and gifts at home, and upon her return from camp, I took her out for lunch and some shopping to redeem the day. It was good. And there is much to be thankful for. I'm thankful we were in the van as it's a bigger vehicle and our sustained damege--both to car and body--would have been more had we been driving the CRV (a Ford F150 hit us). I'm thankful that the body heals itself, if not terribly damaged, and even as we age. :-) I'm thankful for good police officers and honorable citizens who were involved in the accident and reporting. I'm thankful that the car will be repaired and that we have options for accomodations during the weeks that it will be in the shop. I'm thankful that though Sonja's outing did not go as planned, her beach trip plans were not affected. AndI'm thankful for Sonja and the memories we make together--even when they don't get made just as we planned. Happy Birthday Sonja! Welcome to 14!

Excited About Our Independence

Small town life is a special gift. Community events are always welcoming and enjoyable. It's a space where you can go, hang out, and expect to run into folks you know who will join you for a bit and enhance the experience. The city fireworks display the weekend before Independence Day is one of those events that we excitedly look forward to each year. We pack chairs and blankets, food and drink, and games to play while we hang out together passing the time until the fireworks begin. There is always live music and our favorite coffee shop to enjoy as well. The friends we have that stop by and sit a spell vary every year, but we love that people come and go. The fireworks display never disappoints and the event is the perfect kick off to Indepence Day proper.

As for the 4th of July, it seems that the details vary per year, but every year we enjoy ourselves. This year, The Grands were visiting--have I used that term here before? It's the short name we use around the house to refer to my parents :-) We also had a couple of friends stop by to join us for food and games. Also, just for the record, and if you have taken notice, I'll make the official statement--yes, Nikolas and Bethany are dating. :-) The rain came in and shorted our time of firework fun, but no bother--we got plenty in and we'll just use the rest another day. Oh the glory of a state that honors real freedoms! :-)