Summertime

Summertime is full upon us, and it seems like every day holds a new adventure. Whether it is visiting the adorable county fair, playing the new game my brother invented, or just chatting with visiting relatives, I'm enjoying it quite a bit and I thought I would share with you some of the best things about it.

I'm thankful for...

• Letters to read and write!
• Free ebooks!!! I recently enjoyed The Sparrow Found a House.
• www.noblenovels.weebly.com They've taught me lessons in writing and deadlines. : ) (My latest story "This Is Home" should be posted today.)
• "Resurrecting" an old character I had invented around eight years ago. Enter Gabriel Smith the pony express rider!
• The fact that my latest food experiments have actually turned out! I was never able to do that when I was younger.
• The Pioneer Woman and The Joy of Cooking cookbooks that tell me exactly how to hardboil an egg or make lemon zest.
• That cool lemon smell on my fingers that I got to smell all the rest of that day and some of the next. : )
• The way those lemon bars tasted. Heavenly. It was so amazing that, even though it was time to go grocery shopping, we had exactly the right amount of lemon for them. : )
• The chance to do two sets of neighbors chores. Betsy Bea thinks of it as a petting zoo and talks to all the animals. "Hey, duck! Watcha' doing with all these chickens? Are you friends or something?" "Canon, Canon." (Said in a cooing voice while she feeds the baby goat little bits of hay. In the next moment, she was giggling because he was lipping her fingers.) : )
• All the surplus organic eggs and raw milk people have been giving us.
• A baby sister who taught me to play her own version of hopscotch on the kitchen tile.
• People having relatives visiting them which means BABIES AT CHURCH!
• Haying opportunities for my gigantic-ly tall little brother. (And Aimee did some too, I might add.) ; )
• Lunch and wi-fi at an adorable local café on the way to the county fair. What could be better than a bagel sandwich?
• The cool decorative lamp posts at the café. We took lots of pictures near them and there were many references to Lucy in Narnia. : )
• My gigantic-ly tall little brother who took most of the pictures. He did an awesome job taking them and since he is taller than us there was none of that dwarf effect.
• Those nice purple smiley faces that show we got to go to the fair even two days afterwards! : )
• My dad who promised my baby sister a Ferris wheel ride and helped her stay calm as the wheel went 'round and 'round.
• My baby sister who bravely rode the Ferris wheel, laughing nervously and excitedly and waving to us each time she came around. : )
• The animal barn. I had never been to one at a fair before, so this was a new experience.
• Getting to stroll around with my family, my friend, and her pygmy goat Fatso. : )
• All the cute baby animals.
• The beef judging (where my friend's brother showed a steer). It was so interesting! The judge was very knowledgeable, so if anyone asks—yes, I did science that day. : )
• That deathly yummy carnival food. 'Nuff said.
• Grocery shopping when Costco was about to close. : )
• Dad asking what we wanted to eat in the drive-through and my sister saying, "I'll take a cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake with ketchup." We laughed over that new ice cream flavor for a little while. : )
• Doing chores at midnight with flashlights. I'm not one of the main chore-doers so I was in the van while this all happened. : )
• Two window air-conditioners and several fans!
• A clean house the next day, even though we had to clean it to get it that way.
• A set-up foosball table! Through the efforts of Mom, my gigantic-ly tall little brother, Yours Truly, and some random little sisters it is now standing in the school/game room. : ) Dad even brought home balls from town for it!
• "Babysitting" my younger sisters and building a blanket tent for us to play games, color pictures, and hang out in before bedtime.
• My middle-sized sister who was my right hand in tent building. Fortunately, all the blankets were still accessible since we had used them at camp.
• Sorting through pennies with my gigantic-ly tall little brother. He's super into coin collecting right now, and I'm actually finding it quite fascinating. : ) (Now I can explain what it means when there is no mint mark. Cool, huh?)
• Relatives visiting! Those nephews are too cute to be true!
• My brother-in-law, my sister, and my gigantic-ly tall little brother (time to invent an acronym!) playing foosball really, really hard!
• The older nephew splashing with my little sisters in the baby pool. : )

So we've been having lots of joyful times together, and I can't wait to see what God has in store next! : )

 

 

P.S.- I'm also super grateful for Mom who edits all of my writing and makes sure I don't sound too goofy. : )