It's a BOY!

If you have been following my blog recently, you know that we recently lost our beloved Cavalier Maddie. We have been quite lonely without her, and were thrilled to get a call this week from the sweet lady from the Cavalier Rescue.

She had an 11 month old puppy that was rescued, and needed a home! So, we have a new family member now! His name is Chips! He is going to be keeping us quite busy as he hasn't had any training, and needs a few pointers. :0)

In the picture above, Chips is playing peek-a-boo in the garden...

He seems to enjoy being around the kids alot--he's fitting right in!

And so, we're the proud owners of a 17 lb boy!

It's nice to hear the pitter-patter of little paws again!

Ahhh The Good Ole Summertime!

I love summer! Everything is in FULL Bloom! And I so love flowers! From my showy Clematis, to the huge sunflowers, to the little cluster of Verbena!

These Petunias and Verbena are in a hanging basket together. I think the purple and pink set each other off!



I saw that these little butterflies also were enjoying the flowers! This Black Swallowtail is probably seeking to lay it's eggs on my parsley--I've already seen the caterpillars this year.
And this wretched, but pretty, butterfly lays it's annoying eggs that hatch into caterpillars which plague my cauliflower and broccoli!
You can peek into these vines and see lots of grape clusters ripening in the sun...
These Jalapeno's too--we plant them right in our landscape! Don't you just LOVE SUMMER!?

Sunsets, God's Handiwork

Our family was out in our gazebo playing games the other night, when we had the most glorious sunset!

My daughter took these pictures of it, and I love how it changed so quickly!

One minute it had orange hues, then suddenly-pink!



You can see the lovely sunset in the background of this picture that I took.


Isn't God just the most awesome artist! His Creation shouts out His glory and praises Him! The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalm 19:1

Strange Produce

Leave it to us to produce strange produce! LOL This is a cucumber that came out of our garden this week.

Looks more like one of those pillows that goes around your neck! :0)

Family Camp

For those of you who have never been to a family camp-I am posting this to let you know what you're missing out on!...and for those of you who were at this family camp with us-I'm posting this so you can remember how much FUN it was! :0)
Family Camp is a combination of great preaching, wonderful music, fun fellowship with other families, sweet family time, and much-needed couple time...
(below is a picture of the couples on a late-night wagon ride--it was hilarious! Trust me!)In alot of these pictures, you see us playing some of the games. Some games are played individually, some are competitive, and some are just for fun. Here I am doing the airsoft target practice--I did well! But my son did better. :0)

This little guy is literally "into the game!"

The camp we go to is a small, cozy, Christian camp. We love it there! It is old-fashioned, conservative, and directed by the sweetest couple in the world!

You see some of our friends above enjoying the creek! Who had more fun, the kids, or the parents??

One of the many wonderful aspects of this camp, is the delicious FOOD! You can see some of the young people enjoying their dessert! Yum!

Although...some people eat more than others (not mentioning any names TAM) Hee hee hee

The game pictured above is a competitive one, the family pictured playing it here were the champs!

The camp staff entertained us with hilarious skits!

Since Family Camp fell on July 4th, they had a "County Fair" which was so much fun for little kids--and big ones too! :0)

Some of the dads loved getting in on the games!

The above game was like soccer....except you used pool noodles as hockey sticks! We were all getting ready to play in the picture above. (I personally found the running in this game grueling!) I'm getting tooo ooolllldddd for this! LOL

Family camp is a great place to fellowship with friends (new, or old!)

It's also a great place to get refreshed and recharged spiritually...and make great memories!

No Pain, No Gain

Let me be honest...the past few weeks have been grueling! I have had trials, and tests, and difficulties galore! A few of the tests I passed, but many, I failed.
I am having difficulty totally, 100% trusting in the Sovereignty of God.

Last week we went to Family Camp. (Which I will post more on later). During the preaching at camp, my heart was stirred as the key-note speaker's wife said something during her lesson to us ladies. She said something like this, "We a person is putting their trust in the Providence of God, they cannot be bitter, or anxious, or angry.

Guess what? That's not me! I am always the one trying to figure out a better way, a solid answer, a painless ending... But sometimes God wants us to have the pain. He uses the pain to help us grow. To make us wise. To get our attention. To wake us up!

Well, He's got my attention, and I'm wide awake, and I'm hoping to grow. I want to grow wiser yes, but what I'd really like to do, is grow closer to Him.
I'd like to use the pain--to gain!

Anyway, I have been in this frame of mind, and then hopped over to my friend's site and she had posted this video. It really helped me put some things in perspective. I hope it touches you too!

Are you Good Enough? Watch to find out...