Campus Cookout!

We had a great time last night at the GBS campus cookout! Mark/Kristin, Andy/Dixie, and Aaron and I decided to host one last summer bash before school starts. Everyone always seems so busy around here, so we didn't know what kind of response we would get. Even if it was just the 6 of us we would have been happy. However. . . we had 42 people!! We were thrilled that so many came and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.

Yep - we had plenty of food and it was all so good!

And a cookout isn't complete without corn hole, right?

Carson managed to entertain us on several occasions. He fell off his picnic table onto his head 3 different times, he grabbed a cup off a table that was higher than him and spilled the liquid right in his face, and here he had just tipped over another drink. What a funny guy (and what am I in store for?)! :-)

VBS!

Whew! What a busy week! We were in VBS this week at our church, Kenwood Bible Methodist. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work.

We started out each evening in the sanctuary to sing songs . . .

. . . and watch a mini-drama that told the bible lesson.

Then everyone went outside for "tribe time" with their group and tribe leaders.

Each team sent one person to the marketplace each night to bake bread.

They visited the synagogue as a team to hear a lesson from Rabbi John.

One of the favorite nights in the synagogue was the leprosy object lesson. This was demonstrated with John putting his hand in soaking wet potting soil and then he shook hands with the kids. After he explained what leprosy was, he told how Jesus healed the leapers. He dipped his hand in a bucket of clean water and of course his hand came out completely clean (healed). The kids (and me too) thought this was pretty cool.

The different craft stations were a really big hit. Here they made sandals. This is Caleb hammering away.

The stone (soap) carving was also fun. They carved their Hebrew tribe symbols into the soap. Or in the case of my tribe, who were all around age 2, they kind of just scratched around on it. But, no one really knew anyway - after all - who can ready Hebrew??

Trisha and David did a great job with the fisherman's net shop. There were different crafts here each night.

Door hangers or bookmarks with lots and lots of cool things to glue on them - oh, the many options!

And we had some "not so young" kids painting at the toy shop. (Check out that concentration!) I think Beulah Haggard enjoyed VBS as much as the kids did! :-)

The games were also a big hit. This was one a lot harder than it looked. The kids had to move the lifesaver down the line by only using the straw in their mouth while racing against the other team.

After snack time, we all went back to our blankets for more tribe time where we finished up the lesson and learned the memory verse.

Then back inside to close with a powerpoint of the pictures from the evening and more singing.

Jenn and I surviving the heat and the VBS action - we're only 8 weeks apart.

On the last night, we had a very special guest, Jesus, (aka Bro. Durr) come visit and talk to the children. The kids thought that was pretty cool too. He took off his beard at the end to pray for them and one little boy right outloud said, "That's not Jesus!" It was funny!

Our Staycation

We joined the bandwagon of taking a "staycation" this year instead of a vacation. We spent 2 days in Cincinnati and 2 days in Indiana - and we had just as much fun!

We celebrated our 9th anniversary at one of our favorite places to eat - Teak Thai in Mt. Adams. A very quaint place with very good food!!

Aaron's parents and Cameron then met up with us and we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center to see The Bodies exhibit. This is a MUST SEE! It was absolutely incredible and nearly indescribable - so you just gotta go!

Then we traveled to Edinburgh, IN to spend some time (and $$) at the Edinburgh Outlet Malls. They had a Carter's baby store with lots of good deals and adorable clothes. This is an outfit that Aaron just had to have - and I think it's cute too.

I laughed so hard while we were in the Crocs store. Aaron's dad was trying out a kneeling pad. I came around the corner and saw this and it struck me so funny because it looks like his legs are only about 2 feet long. It was the funniest thing!

We also went to Upland, IN to visit Grandma Herring, but we must have been so busy talking that I didn't take any pictures! But, we had a great time and certainly enjoyed seeing her! :-)

Mini Fruit Pizzas

I love fruit pizza and I've especially been on a fruit kick recently. So, I was delighted to find a recipe for these mini fruit pizzas. I've made fruit pizza several times, but had never thought of doing them like this. The "no cutting" makes it really easy to serve and they stay pretty. We certainly enjoyed eating them at Brent/Rhoda's on Sunday evening!

Happy 85th!

Happy 85th Birthday to Grandma Young! We celebrated with her in Muncie, IN on Saturday at a restaurant which happens to be one of my favorites - Ruby Tuesdays! They have the best salad bar of any place I've ever been to.

Shirley (Aaron's mom), Aunt Bev, and Grandma Young

Dayton Air Show

We had a great time on Saturday at the Dayton Air Show! Yes, it was hot and we got quite a bit of sun, but I love being outside so I really enjoyed it.

These planes really weren't coming out of Ron's head, but it was so bright it was hard to see the back of my camera. :-)

Ron was explaining to us what part of the plane he works on at GE.

Aaron, Brent, Nathan, Ron, and Jeremy . . . very intrigued . . .

. . . with this.

Family Resemblance??

My crazy brother-in-law, Cameron, (all of 15 years old) has recently been intrigued with manipulating images on the computer. Aaron emailed him the picture of the ultrasound and Cameron responded with an email that said he definitely sees the family resemblance. When we opened up the attachment to his email, this is what we saw. . .

Hee hee - yep Cameron's crazy. :-)

What a Blast!

We had a great time in Missouri over the 4th of July weekend! Trips home are always too short, of course, but we sure enjoy going when we can. The fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays and it was sure good to be home and in America this year (last year we were returning from the Cayman Islands on July 4th). And of course the holiday is not complete without our own rendition of a fireworks display.

The sparklers were a big hit with the kids. Aaron got 144 of them (I think we had plenty).

Only part of the stash.

Mark got a "good deal" on the cackling hens... I think we cackled more than they did. :-)

Camen did not enjoy the loud bangs, but did good with covering his ears.

..they watched from a far.

Emme - Jeff/Vicki's youngest firecracker (2 months) liked being indoors where it was much quieter.

Karson - (Mark/Jana's youngest) all geared up for the holiday.


And a trip to MO isn't complete without a Sonic stop - I sure do miss having one of these nearby. But it might be a good thing - I'd be wanting a lemonberry slush, a limeade, and a butterfinger blast everyday!