Boys camp.

 Ashlyn is home from girls camp and the very next week Austin was off to boys camp!  This is the first for Austin to be away from home this long but he's nervous and excited!!!!  He's gonna have so much fun!!!!!

He got to meet his camp counselors and see who he will be bunking with all week!  

And then they were off to camp!  One last hug goodbye and there goes my baby to camp!

Jeremiah and Hadassah are on camp staff all week so that means Arie is here with us!

The house was so quiet last week with Ashlyn at camp and it just being Austin and I at home.  Well, Mike was here in the evening with us but still so quiet!  And now Austin is not here and it's still quiet!  I was happy to help with supper clean up and snack on Tuesday night at camp!!!!  It was great to see Austin and all the boys and baby Gunnar!!!!  And Jer and Das too!  We served watermelon, popsicles and pretzels!  The cooks took the first bites of dessert as the boys all banged on the tables and yelled out "we want dessert!"

Austin was happy to see us and a little sad to see us leave again but he loved camp so far!!!!

Hadassah sent this to me from camp!  I can I even handle this much cuteness!!!!!

Loving it and living his best life!!!!!

Meanwhile, at home, we have painters here painting the three bedrooms.  Austin's room is under construction while he's away!

Another photo from Hadassah at camp!

Thursday night, Ashlyn played volleyball with her team!

And look at the cooks at camp!  Total trip!

We were really ready to see Austin again but he had such a good week!  He did great and LOVED IT!  Now, we are off to the laundromat to wash clothes and then get some much needed rest and sleep!

Thank you to all those who poured their lives into camp this week!!!!

Girls camp.

 Well, we've been through some big changes around here lately!  We miss our house dog of fourteen years, Ginger, now that she's not with us anymore.  I miss Matthew around the house!  He got married June 27, had a beautiful wedding and is back from their honeymoon but not back home.  We love his wife Daisy and are excited to see them move into the home they've been remodeling and working on for months now!  Life brings changes and even when they are good changes, it can be a heart tug!

Then Ashlyn was off to girls camp all last week!  We missed her like crazy too while she was away!  Austin was so bored!!!   

Ashlyn was undecided about camp this year.  She's not a little girl and not a grown woman just yet, so I think the in between stage is weird sometimes.  We prayed that she would decide to go and that was her final answer!  She's going to camp once again!  She's loved it in past years and I'm confident she will love it again!!!!

She was dropped off Monday and came back home at the end of the week!  And yes, she did have a good time!!!!!  She loved her counselors!  Her cabin friends were great!

Meanwhile, Austin and I got a lot of one on one time together!  He went with me to mow Matthew's lawn and buy him and Daisy groceries as a welcome back gift!!!!  I love to do this for the newly weds!

Cucumbers and peppers are ready in the garden and Austin helped cut them up to make refrigerator pickles!

All the items came from the garden!!!!!

Austin did not feel well one day.  His head hurt, he threw up twice during the night and laid around for one day.  It only lasted for 24 hours and he was feeling great once again!

We are having one thunderstorm after the next these days!  The amount of rain we've gotten this summer is dangerous with flooding!  I sat down and completed this puzzle on two of the nights!  And Matthew had a big branch break off of his tree in the back yard and really needs to cut down the tree because it's rotting out!!!!  He doesn't want any damage done to his house.  Mike went over to help cut down the tree.  Matthew was happy to see his family again after being away for ten days and Mike was just as happy to work beside Matthew!

I was so happy to see the big yellow bus pull in the driveway bringing all the camp girls back again!  We missed Ashlyn so much!!!!

She really loved her counselors!!!!

She got back home safe and sound and TIRED!!!!  We drove straight to the laundry mat to throw all her clothes into the washers!  I never bring home camp clothes because I'm scared of bringing home any bugs we may not want!!!!  Then she was happy to take a hot shower and relax with Austin back home!

Mike and I scooted out for a dinner with these friends as a birthday celebration for Mike!  We've been friends with these couples for years but hardly ever get to see them anymore!  We ate, we chatted, we laughed until the restaurant was ready to see us leave!!!!  Thank you for being our friends!!!!

Happy Fourth of July!

 We drove off to the cabin once again to celebrate Fourth of July!  We made a stop at Cava for a bite to eat and hit the highway to find that dirt road and long lane that we have so memories on!

The guys all decided to help clear off a bunch of trees because my dad wants to build a pickleball court!!!!  This is sure to add more fun on this cabin land!

We celebrated Austin with some birthday cake and candles!  It's always fun to have a table full of cousins singing happy birthday to the birthday kids!

And baby dear was there too!!!!!  Gunnar is such a good baby and we just love to hold and entertain him!

And we finally went together and bought an espresso machine for the cabin!  Nata made us delicious coffee drinks all weekend!

Gunnar is such a smiley baby!  He makes baby noises of cooing and gives us some squeals when he laughs!  He knows who we are and we adore him!!!!!

Fireworks were put off when it got dark but after one tipped over and sent sparks flying right towards us on the cabin porch, we all rushed inside!  A spark hit mom's leg and it was bleeding but didn't seem to hurt her!  Some of the children were crying because it scared all of us!  Next time, we will take more precautions!  Lot's of games were played outside!  Crossnet, volleyball and the guys played croquet past midnight the one night!  Each family has their own, same rooms!  We share bathrooms.  After doing cabin life as a family for many years, we all take turns making meals, bring snacks and it's a real party!

Happy birthday, America!!!!

July!

The kids and I went over to Matt and Diasy's house to mow their yard.  Blackberries are ready to eat.  It was so hot!  We picked a zucchini off of their plant!  

 

On Wednesday, the day of wedding rehearsal day, we were just ready to walk out the door and head to rehearsal when my mom calls me and says that Tony is in the hospital having a heart attack.  What????  That's my sisters husband.  Only in his forties.  I felt bad for not being able to really be there for them but this is a full week for us too!  We were happy to hear that after a stent procedure, he was going to be OK!  Tony was released from the hospital just in time to head to the wedding on Friday afternoon!

And it's JULY!!!!!

Austin celebrated another birthday!  He's living a full life and loving every minute of it!!!!

Happy Birthday, Austin!  He's now in double digits.  He's growing tall.  Loves his cousin friends!  Hates to read.  Loves waffles for breakfast but hates eggs.  He loves Gunnar and misses Matthew at home.  He loves to swing bats!  Austin is such a pleasant kid and we love him so much!!!!!!

Garden goodies have begun!

Here's a book that was recommended to read!  It really was such a good read and I had it completed in two sit down reads!  It's very inspiring and now in my Amazon cart to purchase!!!!!

We have been having such a wet year!!!!  It's now July and the rains and storms are still rolling in!!!!  So many areas have flooding!  The grass and crops are loving it!  We got tickets to go watch the Phillies VS Padres on Austin's birthday!  He loves the Padres so it felt like a perfect gift to him!  We piled in Ervin's van and on the way down to the game, it started to rain.  Jeremiah got a notification saying the game is postponed until tomorrow.  We were disappointed but surely didn't want to sit in rain either!  We swung by Chickfila for diner and came back home.

Then the next day, we again piled in Ervin's van and headed to the Phillies game.  Jeremiah, Hadassah and Gunnar didn't join us this time though because of work so we invited John Mike and Colson along!  Lena and her boys went too!  

Everyone had a blast and this was better than thunderstorms!!!!

Phillies won!!!!!

Mom and I stopped in to see Mommy D.  You never know how she will be when you arrive.  Today was not a good day to visit.  She was so tired.

July is here!  The big kid is on his honeymoon with his new bride!  The little kid had a birthday!  Life is full!!!!!