Summer Days

Where have we been? Enjoying a very busy and full summer!

The first of June found us in Tennessee talking about marriage and child rearing - our boys weren't thrilled about those topics but they were thrilled to spend HOURS here:

Then a quick stop at Cades Cove - we just missed seeing a bear.

Then on to the Smoky Mountains for camping.

We went back to Mile High Campground because the views there are unbeatable.

We had a very nice secluded camping spot and that is happiness for little boys. Through the week we saw a total of 11 elk that came through our campsite - one not even 10 feet away - that's a little too close for comfort. One morning we woke up in the clouds and that was really neat.

While camping there were times to walk through bamboo forests

and wade in streams.

This time we learned a very important lesson: when you leave on a hike, no matter how pretty the sky looks - close your tent. A thunderstorm can develop very quickly in those mountains and if you leave your tent open, everything will get wet. Thankfully Cherokee, North Carolina has a laundromat that made quick work of pillows, sleeping bags, blankets and clothes so that by the time bedtime arrived, all three monkeys had a warm dry place to lay their heads.

Then back for a few weeks to focus on caring for the garden and working on some painting projects.

 Some baby birds in the Boston fern on the porch.

Then a trip to AL for Pell City Camp but....the new camera I was given never left it's case. But when we got back I did take a picture of Daniel who lost his first tooth.

Then my nephew came for a visit and asked for a "Hobbit Hole Cake" so I dug out the cake decorating materials and did my first Hobbit cake. From my son's reactions - I'll probably have three more over the next year. (And just as we were about to walk out the door one of my boys gasped and said, "Mommy, you forgot the golden doorknob." So we remedied that before it was delivered.)

It was then time to say goodbye to a great friend who is leaving to do an internship for the next year. How we will miss Darnell's laugh and stories but so thankful forwhat God has been doing in his life and looking forward to what God has ahead for him.

Then a few days away in Amish Country to celebrate 12 years of sharing life together with this man:

And enjoying some beautiful, relaxing, country scenery before the rush of another school year returns.

And now Philip is away preaching his last campmeeting, the boys and I are home picking blackberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers. This next week we finish preparations for the first day of school. Such a busy summer! But what a great one!