July is for picnics!

Since 4th of July is on a Monday this year, we have 2 days off in a row. So what to do??? Should we celebrate by going to see a parade? Or stay up late and watch fireworks? Well, those things sound like fun, but Andy and I prefer to work on projects around the house. Andy's foot is finally feeling good enough for him to get around and do things almost normally. So he can climb ladders, put weight on his foot and generally be up and around again. It was pretty hard for him to sit around for 4-5 weeks. But it was the best thing he could have done and his foot has healed up nicely. He's still not able to get his biking shoe on, so hasn't been on his road bike. He went out on the trail bike the other day with his sneakers on and did about 6 miles. He came back pretty exhausted, though, and will need to get his strength and stamina back again.

So today Andy is working on replacing the kitchen window on the south side of the house. That one will take a while, but he is already making good progress. I offered to dig up the little hydrangea bush so it wouldn't be in his way, but he promised he'd be careful of it. It's just starting to bloom so it wouldn't be a good time to dig it up, but it also wouldn't be good for it to get stepped on or have construction material dropped on it.I went out first thing this morning and made a new garden on the north side of the house. I had planted a crape myrtle bush at the edge of Mom and Dad's deck about 2 years ago, but never did anything there since then. So today was the day to get to work on that. I like to have gardens against the house because it's easier to mow around gardens than it is to trim grass right next to the house.

I surprised myself in doing all that work by myself without any help from Mr. Muscles, aka Andy! So I guess I'm Mrs. Muscles! I cut in the garden, then put cardboard down, then used up 10 bags of mulch. I was going to buy some bushes or perennials, but I think I'll wait till fall to plant anything there.

Before

After

Mom and Dad went to Johnson's Farm and bought corn on the cob this morning. They're going to share that with us for our evening meal, and we're going to grill turkey burgers and hot dogs. That's a pretty traditional 4th of July picnic menu. And maybe we'll have ice cream later!

Two weeks ago, we went to Amy's for a birthday party she hosted for Chase and Joanna's birthdays. Christy and family were also able to be there so it was fun to see the cousins playing together. Amy had also invited Ricky's family members and some friends from their church. They have a nice back yard for kids to play in.

Joanna liked the tutu we gave her.

Last week was a busy week at church because of VBS! There were 300 kids registered but I think the day with the most attendance was around 250. They sure had fun learning about Jesus. There was a comment from one little boy who told his mommy that it "was fun being a man of God." I saw Dawn and Kira every day because Dawn was helping with the music for VBS. So that was a treat. Then I watched Kira on Tuesday afternoon while Dawn had a doctor's appointment. I didn't really watch Kira, but sat in the house while Kira was napping.

Saturday was the annual Yoder picnic at my brother Sam's house. All my brothers and sisters were there with their spouses. Not all the children could make it since they have spread out all over the US now that they're grown up. My Aunt Sis and her daughter Jenny and her family were able to join us this year. I don't see them very often since they live a 4 hour drive from our house. My aunt was eager to see Amy's baby since she is named Katy Emma, which was my grandmother's name. So here is Sara Anna holding Katy Emma, her great great niece with the same name as her mother, Katy's great great grandmother.

Everyone has a good time being together. Kerby, Judy and Sam went berry picking in Sam's back fields.
And the kids (little and big) enjoyed the pool. It was a pleasant day - not too hot, with a nice breeze occasionally.
The party continued into the evening with fireworks. But Andy and I had to leave since it's a 2 hour drive for us to get home. And we had a lot we had to do on Sunday so we needed to be well rested for the day. I schedule people to do the slides for Sunday morning worship and the one who was scheduled for July 3rd was away. I tried about 4 other people who could substitute but everyone was away, so I had to do it. That meant I had to be at the church by 7:30 am and didn't finish till 12:30 pm. Then home for lunch and getting ready for the evening when we had our older singles group come over for a Bible study and fellowship. That was fun...some good relationships are developing and they seem to enjoy just hanging out with us and each other.