Quite Possibly the Best Berry Ever

I love raspberries.  So when our wild raspberry bushes started producing berries at the beginning of this month I was thrilled.  At first they came in just handfuls and then enough to fill a small bowl.  But tonight I was able to pick about 4 cups!  So far we’ve just eaten them fresh by themselves or on ice cream and I haven’t known what to do with them.  However, today I was inspired by a shared rapsberry pie recipe, so I whipped this super easy dessert up and now we have something to treat Sam’s parents to when they come for the weekend! 

Too Far North

Ok, I know that it’s down right boring to talk about the weather, and even more so to read about weather unless a tornado or a big thunderstorm ripped through town and left everyone without power for over a week.  But I’d just like to take a few lines here to express how ridiculous the weather has been in Westboro.  I began to get excited about football season, because if I had no idea what month it was I would seriously have guessed October.  I wore pants all week, had a sweatshirt on at times, and actually threw a stocking hat on one morning.  I didn’t really need it but there is no reason why my head should be that cold during the “hottest” month of the year.  To top it all off, EVERYONE here thinks that it’s so great and refreshing.  I think we’re just a little too far north.  But the weather has been great for Tawnya and baby, so I’m not complaining…I’m just sayin’...and I’m done now.

Maintenance Happenings
Today we are going into our last week of youth camps, Super High.  Next week begins family camps.  Roy and I have been busy putting out all of the maintenance ‘fires’ that spring up each week while we try to make progress on projects in between.  Last week we made good progress on the new boat house.  We installed windows, fascia, soffits, and gutters.  This week the doors will be installed the the boat house should be ready for use by the time family camps begin.

Another area that is keeping me busy is learning the maintenance of camp’s waste water treatment system.  I know you’re just dying to here about it.  Just a couple years ago camp had a septic debacle and had to replace the septic tanks.  New pumps were installed along with a new computer system to run it.  It has taken a lot of monitoring and tweaking to fine tune the process that the waste water goes through.  Mike Harrenstein (maintenance director) has been training me on it so that eventually the septic maintenance will be my responsibility.  I know it’s not an opportunity that most people would be thrilled about, but it’s really like a big science project and it has actaully been a fascinating learning experience.  Come visit us and I’ll tell you all about it.

That’s what I’ve been doing lately.  Thanks for reading.

Too Much Fun

We had the privilege of being visited this past week by my sister Nichole, and her two kids Allison and Caleb.  What a blast we had with them!  Each day we went out to camp and did as much as we could including the mini-farm, putt-putt golf, handcrafts, waterfront, a walk around Little James lake, playing at the playground, and eating lunch with Sam each day.  It was so fun to be able to show them our lives and ministry here and to expose them to some things they’ve never done before too.  Speaking of, we had a campfire at our home each night and the kids tried s’mores for the first time over a campfire!  One night Sam even pitched our tent way out in the back yard and the kids slept outside with him ALL night!  To be honest, Nichole and I were anticipating little feet to come running in after a couple hours, but no, they hung in there and even went back out after a 3AM trip inside for the bathroom.  We praised them up and down and told them they were “real” campers now:)

The goodbyes are always hard and I think will always be but it was so good to have family here.  We’re so thankful they made the trip all the way just to see us!  Here’s a few shots of our week together:

Allison roasting her marshmallows

Nichole preparing her Campfire Bundle Dinner

Sam manning the fire…and our campfire bundles

Playing at camp’s playground…a favorite spot while waiting for other things to open.

Creating treasures to take home at the Handcrafts building.

Nichole and Alli out on a paddle boat - Caleb and I were on another one

It’s Pickin’ Season!

I went to Nelson’s Berry Farm, just a couple miles from where we live, to pick strawberries last week!  It only took me a half hour to pick 10 lbs of strawberries!  At 1.10/lb that’s an incredible deal. We’re set up for strawberries for the summer at least:)  Next up…bluberries and raspberries, however, this time I’ll be able to get some wild raspberries from my own back yard.  We’ve got a large stretch of wild raspberry bushes.  If you come up to visit this summer, you too can help me pick!

26 Weeks

Alright, so here’s the latest shot of how my growing belly looks.  Today marks 26 completed weeks - I feel like it’s going by so fast…ask me again at 36 weeks though:)  I’m not into posting my bare belly on the internet, so don’t hold out any hopes for one of those shots.  After taking this picture I looked at it and realized I have a very noticeable stain on my shirt…go ahead…look..it’s there.  I thought about retaking the picture with another shirt, but you know, this is what I usually look like these days.  I never considered myself a sloppy person, but somehow with more of an obstruction in the way, when food falls from my face, plate, fork, whatever, it’s likely to land on my tummy.  So, here you have it, a very real picture of what I look like these days….food stains and all.  I guess I’m just preparing to be covered with spit up and poopey diapers and all of that.