Memorial Day Weekend Memories!!!

Our weekend spent at the Hidden Hollow Getaway was a wonderful time away!!!  It's a big crowd but we only do this only about once a year with this group!!!  These friends and families have been dear friends of ours for many years!!!  Our families have grown and now the children are making many memories together too!!!

 

Martha Rose always gets something together for the children.  We all hike up the wooded trail and when we reach the top of the hill, there's a sand volleyball, swing set and a large grassy area to play!  This is where John and Martha did their best to hang a pinata filled with candy!!!  :)))

 

 

 

Nothing beats the good old hard up methods!!!  :)))

Baby Zion got to visit the Hidden Hollow for her first time!

And then when the band ripped off of the pinata, Mart thought she could just hold it!!!  Yikes!  Look out!!!

Everyone dig in!!!

So adorable!!!

Then the rest of the weekend we were on a sugar high!!!  Ashlyn loves candy scrambles!!!  And even though she didn't want a turn at taking a swing at the piñata, she's got a hard swing and could have busted that cheeseburger piñata in no time!!!  :)

These four spent so much time together the past three days!!!  They play so well together!

Colson, Jessica, Ashlyn and Ava!

Ashlyn and Ava have been friends ever since birth but they really connected this year in kindergarten!!!  Sweet girls!!!

Hadassah didn't go along this year and so Matthew asked to take a friend!  Chandler and Matthew played in the woods and down by the creek and in the mud and on their game gear. 

All these boys!!!  Just another reason why this 10 bedroom, 10 bath cabin is great for this crowd!

Crazy ... always action packed.

I really didn't take near as many pictures as previous years.  This is the first year ever that we've had down pours of rain during the weekend.  The women stayed indoors a lot more and the kids played a lot in the creek.  I didn't take that hike down to the creek once.  I kinda wish I would've though because they made lots of clay things from the clay in the bottom of the creek.  Bowls, cups, etc..  They set them in the sun to dry.

Our food was fantastic again!!!  We stick to the same menus pretty much each year.  JR Rose cooks steaks and chicken on the grill and then with Ruthie's extra yummy fixings, we have ourselves a five star meal!  Then Dutchie JR has BBQ Chicken over charcoal the next night.  Linda offered a "Trim Healthy Momma" dessert that was so good!  Sadly, they didn't think about their cooler full of chicken packed in ice setting in their garage until they were almost at the cabin!!!  They stopped at another grocery store and bought more!  I guess that means JR and Linda will need to have another BBQ cookout.  :)  Suz and I make a breakfast and then a early supper on Monday before packing everything up and cleaning and heading home.  It's a lot of work packing to go ... then cleaning up to leave ... but its more memories and more laughs and more Acquire games played by the men and more laundry this morning!!! 

And more tick bites!!!  This was bad this year.  Each evening, we would pick off ticks from the children!!!  Matthew had two.  Ashlyn one.  Chandler one but the other children had many more!!! 

And each year we do a ladies pose.  Cheers to 2017!!!

 

These families are so dear to us!!! 

 

Thank you everyone for another fun weekend and for the delicious foods and help with making this another weekend of fun memories!!!

Strawberry season has begun!!!

 

This is such a dear picture from yesterday!!!  Ashlyn absolutely loves strawberries and she was thrilled to be able to pick Mommy Lapp's berries for her yesterday afternoon!  She picked a small bowl full and it was so cute to hear her words of excitement.  And then to eat a few was of course the best highlight!!!  She loves these red berries just as much as she does watermelon!!!!

 



We hope to enjoy lots more strawberries in this short season!!!  But when its berry season, that means summer is just about ready to begin!!!

We are counting down the days for school to be over.  When I woke up the children for school this morning, I said, "Good morning!  This is your last full Friday of school for this year!!!"  Yeah!!!  The kids woke up with a smile!!!  :)))

Summer mornings of sleeping in and lounging around the house always brings change and some adjusting too once summer vacation begins.  I know it will be a fun summer for the children as we spend time at the pool and have cookouts and campfires!!!  We are excited!!!

To kick off the summer fun, we always go the cabin over Memorial Day Weekend.  And here we are, packing up our bags for another fun weekend in the woods!!!  Our hearts still remain heavy though because Dad Lapp is still so ill!  We talk a lot of trying to keep our schedules "normal" and we know that we still need to live on in life and go with the things we normally would do, but it's hard!  We want to be with friends and we know that we will have a great time but our inner hearts and thoughts will still be at home with Mom and Dad!!!  Thankfully, we will not be too far away and if need be that we should come home, it can easily be done!!!

Dad Lapp is getting weaker.  Yesterday, when the therapist came out to the house to help get him up and about, it was all Dad had to sit up in bed and change his shirt and get bathed in bed.  This is a set back from just a week ago and its hard to face reality at times.  He lays peacefully in a hospital bed, in their living room, with the sunshine beaming on him.  He looks so restful and for that we are grateful!!!  He is free from IVs and TPN.  He drinks from a straw when someone offers it to him.  Austin and I stopped in this morning and when I touched Dad's warm hand, he opened his eyes and said hello.  He can talk but it is weak and he doesn't say much. 

Mom is trying her best to coop with life!  There are daily decisions to make but with being finally at home again, she now has many friends and family stopping in and helping in any way possible.  This doesn't take away the terrible disease but it sure helps with the emotions!!!

Thank you all so much for all your loving words, gifts, meals and even a new CD with songs of worship and encouragement!!!  You know that I love music, Erma, and so thank you so much again for the songs!!!

Well, I've got bags to pack yet and the lawn to mow and laundry to fold!!!  So, I'm off to get some work done before spending some time with our dear "buddies" this weekend!!!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!!

Preparing for a shed ...

I am taking back my words that were spoken about a year ago.  I said that I do not want another shed to come to our house.  The last one we had was so bad looking and aged that I hated it!  The door trim was all beat up and the paint was chipping big time and it just wasn't nice anymore.  And, it was the very first thing you saw when you pulled into our driveway.  I said that if we do ever get a shed it's going to be a nice, real barn! 

 

Mike runs a shed business and sells sheds at Lapp Structures every day and his employees really make a ton of nice looking sheds.  So, Mike started designing and came up with his a shed he thinks I will like.  It is now built and ready to be delivered!  It's going back with the garden beds and I hope it will make a stunning show when you arrive at our house because it's again one of the first things you will see coming up our driveway! 

 

Last night the stones arrived for the foundation.

 

And if you notice the silver truck in the back ground, Mike is still renting a truck until he buys a new one.

The kids sat by the gardens and watched the stones fall out of the big dump truck.

With baby Kate.  :)))

Ashlyn asked Austin to babysit while she rakes some stones.  :)  And yes, that is all lettuce that you see there!!!

Austin's turn.

Taking it all in ...

I am just amazed at the garden these days.  The herbs are thriving! 

The strawberries are starting to ripen.

The sugar peas will be hanging soon.

 

And our watermelon plant is growing but far from any watermelons to eat yet.  In the mean while, we buy them at the store and enjoy it on the back porch!!!

Spring time is one of my favorite seasons!!!  So much is growing and blooming!!!

I love Spring!!!

Salty Kid's Bible - Cast All My Cares Upon You

My heart is heavy again this morning.  Dad Lapp is being moved out of Fairmount Homes and is going home.  This is good news because it's where he wants to be and nothing beats being at home, especially after being placed from one place to the next like Dad and Mom have been for the past few months.  Being back at home is right where they should be!!!



But, another move brings another change.  Another challenge.  Dad is so weak and tired.  Mom is exhausted too!!!  Please keep praying for the whole Lapp family as we try our best to deal with emotions and feelings.  Today, more decisions will need to be made.  Home Care will need to be set up and like I said, it's another change. 



This song, a song I used to listen to as a kid, keeps ringing through my head all morning and I'm around the house singing it out loud!!!  It brings healing to my soul and reminds me to really "cast all my cares on the Lord"!!!  He will sustain me.  I know that the message preached on Sunday at church about casting our cares on the Lord, was exactly for me!!! 



In my prayers this morning, I told God that I have my eyes open for more miracles today.  I'm looking for big or tiny miracles!  If and when I have my eyes focused on Jesus, which can be challenging at times when things seem or feel like they are falling apart or maybe falling in place, I can see God's hand in each step of this cancer journey!!!  It's when I lay my burdens down at Jesus' feet, that's when inner strength comes to help face another day!



Maybe you need a reminder today that God cares for your needs as well!!!  Life is tough at times, really tough, and without God to help us through, we end up in bitterness and anger and a mess!  Please, listen to this song and cast your cares, big or little, upon the Creator on the universe today!!!  He has given all the stars names.  He cares about the sparrows and LOVES US SO MUCH MORE THAN THE BIRDS!!!  Remember, He knows the amount of hairs on our head!  He knows the words and thoughts we think BEFORE we even think them.  God knows the outcome of this day and I need to trust Him in carrying me through today!!!



"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you ..."  Psalms 55:22

Cast My Cares

Tiger's Got First Place!!!

Matthew plays for the Tiger's Team every Monday night!!!  He is the first baseman and does a fantastic job hitting and fielding!!!

 

On Saturday they played with determination to win in a tournament.  They lost their first game.  Then won all the rest from there on out!!!  It was one tough game after the next but they kept working hard and ended up with First Place!!!  Go job Tigers!!!

 

What a play!!!

Mike helps couch!  Matthew loves that!!!

Good hit!!!  A triple!

Austin played in the dirt with sticks and trucks while Matthew played.

 

These boys were so tired and dirty till evening came around but they were so proud of their plays and hard work.  Good job Tigers!!!

Mike and I had to slip away from the ballgames a little early to go to his cousins wedding.  Jesse and Abby had a gorgeous outdoor wedding and barn reception!  Thank you for the invitation and may God bless you as you live the rest of your lives together!!!

The campfires felt good with the cooler weather!  Everything was so pretty!!!

Mike and I love times with just him and I get out!!!  We had a great time!  And my phone doesn't take very good photos but here's one of the bride and groom's first dance!

At church yesterday, a new song was sung.  I loved it and because I get so encouraged with songs, I take courage in these words.  "Cast My Cares", by Alli Rogers.  Listen to it!