Summer fun 2024

 We had a wonderful summer, but as usual, it went by too quickly. We enjoyed the typical things such as: attending JUCO games, holding our VBS at church & helping with it, doing a big puzzle, backyard movie nights, having family visit, going to Joshua's mom and sister's home for July 4, etc., We also did some minor home renovations. 

I will let you enjoy the pictures, including a family reunion on my mom's side. It was fun to see extended family, including cousins, aunts, and uncles that we hadn't seen for 9 years. It was nice to have a positive reason to gather, instead of at a funeral, since last year there were four!

Kids enjoying a JUCO game

Hubby, my Mom, and I enjoyed games too...

We helped (a little) with VBS decorations... we made a sand castle out of boxes! The beach theme was fun.

Kids singing during VBS...

My sister visited and we saw "Inside Out 2" with her and her kids.

We played lots of card games together at our family reunion, especially Nertz!

All of us at the family reunion, about 70 people (out of 220+). We took this with a drone!

These are all of my cousins that we were there...17, I think. Loved seeing each one!!

On the way home, we saw Mount Rushmore and the Badlands...so cool!

Then we were home for one day, did laundry, and repacked for the 4th of July time with Joshua's family!

Our group was smaller this year... we missed the big kids!

We went to a speakeasy, that was different but we liked it a lot!

Youth group movie night...

We listened to "Encanto" music while we made this 1,000-piece puzzle. The bottom was tough!

Our son moved out in May. The ceiling in this room had damage from years before, so we removed the popcorn ceiling. It took about 4 1/2 hours and was a mess, but we are happy with it! My hubby retextured it, and we repainted the room. It looks so much better!

Our youngest daughter moved in there a few weeks ago, and she likes it. We have a guest room now, and it was even used last weekend!

It was a great summer. We are starting to get back into the fall routine, which is good too. Our daughters also went on a mission trip to Mexico with their youth group and enjoyed building a house for a family there. My mom was out of town for 3 weeks and we took care of her dog. We enjoyed our friends' pool and we had a nice anniversary. The girls are in marching band now, and soon that will keep us busy with football games and competitions!

What did you do this summer? Were you able to travel anywhere? I'd enjoy hearing about it.

Psalm 74:17
It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.


Proverbs 26:1
Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.


Proverbs 30:25
Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;

Spring Break trip!

 We had a wonderful trip out of town for Spring Break. We visited our daughter and son-in-law in Las Vegas for her birthday. She is an elementary music teacher and her spring break was the week before our spring break. We traveled on Friday (our district was off that day), so we had two full days together and 4 evenings. We came back home on Tuesday. 

On Friday night, we went down to the strip with our son-in-law. We wanted our teenage girls to see the Bellagio fountains, and gardens and to walk around there. We also wanted them to see the Mirage fountain erupt like a volcano. Caesar's Palace is between them, so we walked around all three hotels/casinos that night. It was fun to see my son-in-law's reaction to the Mirage as he had never seen it. We were pretty tired of walking by the end of Friday night and glad for bedtime.

The gardens at Bellagio...

Mirage volcano

Bellagio fountains

The gardens at Bellagio...

The gardens at Bellagio...

Ceiling at the Bellagio...

The Paris hotel and casino...

On Saturday we went to the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. It was pretty neat, the girls loved seeing the animals and types of fish. We loved petting the stingrays (or trying to!) and seeing the underside of the swordfish in the large tank overhead and around us. We walked around in the Luxor too.

Mandalay Bay aquarium...

My son-in-law...

Obelisk at the Luxor...

Inside the Luxor...

Joshua loves the Blue Man Group, but we did not get to see them!

We went into New York New York and to the Hershey Store, which was kinda neat...

On Saturday evening we saw our daughter sing with her choir group, the Master Singers. It was a lovely concert and we enjoyed hearing her sing again in a choir setting. After the concert, we went downtown to Fremont Street. It was CrAzY! Since it was a Saturday night, and the night before St. Patrick's Day, it was very busy... lots of people and all kinds of wild things were seen just walking down the promenade. We got ice cream and called it a day!

At Area 15...

Enjoyed the arcade at Area 15 on our daughter's birthday...

At Hoover Dam, one person in one state, one in another!

It was such amazing scenery, and a huge man-made dam!

Lake Mead

On Sunday, since it was our daughter's birthday, we met for breakfast at Starbucks and we attended their church. We bought lunch at Target and went to see the Seven Magic Mountains. This is a huge art piece which is large, painted, and stacked rocks in all different colors. It was kinda cool to see. Then we went to see the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. We enjoyed its beauty and being outside of the city for most of the day.

Seven Magic Mountains...

Opening birthday gifts...

At church together

After her choir concert...

On Monday, our daughter had to go back to work. We slept in, had a late breakfast of Pinkbox donuts in a park, drove around town for a bit, and met our daughter on her lunch break. We got to see her music classroom and a part of her school. In the afternoon we went to the Springs Preserve, which is a botanical garden and we saw the Nevada State History Museum. That evening we walked on the strip with our daughters and we saw the Paris Hotel and Casino. We went to the M&M store and the Coke store. 

 

At the Springs Preserve, too bad the Butterfly Pavilion was closed for a few more weeks!

The Welcome to Las Vegas sign was surprisingly small and also near the airport, so we heard planes landing and taking off while we were standing in line for pictures!

At the M&M Store... so many kinds and colors of M&Ms there!

The Paris Hotel and Casino...

There was a Liberace exhibit and the Nevada museum...

The gray fox at the Springs Preserve... we wished there was more wildlife to see!

The flash flood exhibit really had rushing water!

Our daughter in her classroom...

We drove by Circus Circus and the Stratosphere...

Fremont Street craziness!

On Tuesday morning we headed back home again! It was a nice trip, and we loved seeing our oldest "kids"! The only bad part was that I had a lower molar that was painful the whole time we were there. Thankfully I got it taken care of when we got home. I think that this trip was one that our younger daughters won't forget! I wish that our son could have come along too. We did buy him some souvenirs, but it's not the same when one of the family is missing!

Acts 26:17-18
" I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’"



Proverbs 2:20
Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.


Isaiah 59:8
The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace.