Cousins

Here's a picture of eight out of fourteen first cousins (C) and a bunch of spouses at my cousin's wedding in Cincinnati last weekend. Fun times.

Back row, L to R: Dan and Valerie (C) (newleyweds!!), Dan, Jeremy (C), Lynne, Ashley (C), Eric (C), Jennifer (C), Nick

Front row, L to R: Bridgette (C), me, Lisa, and Stephen (C)

As an ironic aside, Dan has known my cousins almost as long as I have. He went to camp with a bunch of my cousins and went to Life '92 with Jeremy and Jennifer.

Naptime

Today over lunch, Isaiah asked to do something, and I wanted him to wait until Sam was napping.

Me: Wait til Sam is taking his N-A-P

Isaiah: Oh, ok. When Sam's taking his N-A-P

Sam: No N-A-P!

I think Sam finally figured out one of the words we've been spelling!

Long timeouts

Last week, when we were discussing our trip to Cincinnati, Isaiah asked how long the car ride was. I told him, "About five hours." He replied, "That's as long at my time outs!" I made sure he knew his time outs are five minutes, not five hours.

Pet Rocks

The summer edition of Family Fun magazine had so many great outdoor activity ideas including pet rocks. We picked out rock heads, noses, and mouths. Corn on the cob happened to be on the menu that night while we were camping, so we used some of the silk for hair. I superglued the eyes, nose, mouth, and hair onto the heads. I almost superglued my fingers together. It hurt! But the rocks turned out cute.

Relatively speaking...

This weekend we had the opportunity to attend my cousin, Valerie, and Dan's wedding. They are just the sweetest newlyweds you'll ever meet. On Sunday, her family hosted a brunch for the extended family. Here's Isaiah and his buddy.
The boys and their great-grandma

Their serene, inviting lake

The boys with 10 out of their 25+ second cousins (I'm not really sure how many there are. I'd have to think really hard and by then I'd lose track).

My cousin, her mom, and two kids

Another cousin, his wife, and son

Chatting

The groom's dad was teaching Isaiah to fish, and would you believe it, he caught this one on his own! He was so very excited.

Me with my cousin, who was one of my best friends growing up

We also got a shot of the adult cousins (my age), which my aunt will email me later. Will definitely share. Although things have been a little crazy this summer with lots of traveling, we saw Val's wedding as a rare opportunity to see family from all over the country and couldn't pass it up. Even though it was a little nuts driving out to Cincinnati on Saturday and back on Sunday, we are definitely glad we made the trip. So many precious memories.

Banana boats

This is a super simple, tasty snack that can be made on the campfire (or grill!) in a few easy steps.

1. Peel the top (front) side of the banana, but leave the peel attached. (After adding the goodies, you will need to close the banana up again.)
2. Using a spoon, scoop out about half the banana and eat it of course. The less banana, the more room for yummies! If you're on a diet, don't scoop out too much. =)
3. Sprinkle in some mini-chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. 4. Close the banana peel up, wrap the banana in foil so that so that the foil makes a "handle" in the event that you don't have long tongs handy (we didnt!).
   

5. Place the foil-wrapped bananas into the fire. Watch closely. You will have to check on them a few times. It takes about 10-15 minutes for the chocolate chips to melt, depending on the heat of the fire.

6. Unwrap your banana and enjoy! It may not look too appetizing, but trust me, everyone will love it.

Happy lunch

Mom (on top with long hair) and two boys

What we've been doing...

Enjoying Hampton fireworks

Spending the day at Waldameer. All the campers from Edinboro went up there for a day.

Swimming in Presque Isle, again, with Edinboro campers. Here is Isaiah with his bff for the week.

There were about 45 12-13 year old kids at camp... which meant we had about 45 babysitters. =)

Watching the big kids play carpet ball

Ringing the bell

Why does God have mercy on us?

Why does God have mercy on us? Because he loves us? Because he created us? Because he wants to save us? How about this reason in Paul's letter to Timothy, from I Timothy 1:15-16:

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: "Christ came into the world to save sinners" - and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life."

Interesting thought for today.

Vacation pics #2

Working hard on a sand castle at Watauga Lake

The finished product. Check out those mountains in the background!

Wiffleball!

The boys loved wrestling around in their loft

Sticky smore fingers! Yum!

Looking back...

Nine years ago (yesterday) Dan and I got married and six years ago this week we moved into our house. I can't help but remember how hard all our church friends worked on our house to get it ready for us to move in. When we first bought it in April 2004, it had been abandoned for four years or so. The counters, bathrooms, floors, walls, cabinets, etc., really needed scrubbed before we could even begin painting or fixing anything up. Everyone from church came over, people of all ages, and cleaned the inside of the house from top to bottom (literally!) and helping with the brush cutter and chipper outside. Dan and I proceeded to work on the house every night after work for the next two months, and then many of the same people came back at the end of June to help us move from our apartment into our house.
After worship team practice tonight, we were talking to Chris, who said that 30 years ago, many of the same people helped gut and rebuild his house. Wow.
It's amazing how we come together to pitch in and help each other when we really need it. So this week I am super thankful to everyone who helped us get into our house. THANK YOU.