A Vail Visit

My Mother in Law and Sister in Law visited this week with my nephew, Kain and my niece, Kylie. We had such a terrific time visiting! We hung out at the pool and waterslide and went over to the skating rink for the evening. Here are some pictures I wanted to share!

I Have Been Called Worse. . .

As I am, let's just say, maturing, I am becoming more and more aware of my family's impact on the earth. God gave it to us to enjoy and love, but not to completely destroy. In the last year, I have started making my own cleaning products, laundry detergent, grown a garden, started recycling, using energy saving light bulbs, saving water and electricity when we can, using reusable grocery bags, composting, really focusing on reducing and reusing and a host of other things. Ok, so it's lot for a spoiled, earth-abusing family to digest in less than a year. So, Joe calls me a "Tree Hugger." A friend of mine shared this slide with me and wanted to share it with you! I use plastic grocery bags for trash. Now, that I am aware of how many we are using in a year, I will have to find an alternative garbage bag! *sigh* http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016

I really don't know what I am doing here, but go check out this site!

Remembering our Troups

This is Les. He is the son of a guy Joe works with on the KIA project. He is 20 and had not intended to go in to the service. He was having a difficult time finding a job since graduating high school, so decided maybe the U.S. Army was for him, at least he would have an income in these days of unrest and the unknown. He was home on a medical leave on the Fourth of July. Three Creeks Entertainment was having an Independence Day blow out and Joe invited the family. I thanked him for his willingness to serve our country in a time of war. I also thanked his mother who simply said, "I am scared." It struck me that we have millions of men and women, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, sons and daughters fighting for our country, for our freedom, and we, at least I, tend to go about my days worried about what is for dinner, rarely thinking about our service men and women who are way more concerned about staying alive. So I challenge you to take a little time out of your day and thank God for them and pray for our soldiers safety!

Tired of My Gardening Posts Yet?

You may be getting tired of reading about my little garden. I have enjoyed gardening so much more more than I thought I would. I really thought I would till it, plant it and then it would get old. Watering it daily, weeding it twice a day it seems! I hope the next place we end up will also allow me to plant. I love it!

So my garden is just growing and growing. I have picked several green beans, not enough to really do anything with, but I have heard the more you pick, the more it will produce, so I have been pickin'! Yesterday, I was out browsing around in the garden and found a few little things I thought I would share with you! I was so excited to find the watermelon, I actually squealed with glee!

My little summer squash!

A little bell pepper and my lens cover!

A cucumber just waiting to be picked!

Look at that cute little watermelon!

Heatwave Tomatoes with Parsley growing behind them!

Crazy Flyin' Cajun

This dog is the funniest thing. Each night, every night without fail, he does what we like to call "Hot Laps!" He starts running all over the camper, jumping off of furniture, crawling across the back of the sofa. He runs in to mine and Joe's bedroom, to Joe's side of the bed, onto the bed, and flies off! He can literally make it almost half way across the camper, which I know doesn't sound like far, but coming from a bed 3.5 feet off of the ground, he travels. . .flies about 6 feet into the middle of the kitchen! He does this over and over. He gets more excited and worked up if we clap our hands and Joe will say "get it, get it, get it!" He speeds even faster! So here is a picture I took of him last night doing his "Hot Laps" flying through the camper! Oh, and please overlook all the shoes in the floor, I make everybody take shoes off when they enter and during hotlaps, they kind of get tossed to and fro!

And a quick update on the family: Joe is loving his job in LaGrange, well, I guess as much as you can love work! There are lots of people in the park we are in that are on the KIA job, but none who work with him.

Chase has all of his necessary information into LaGrange College which is a private, Methodist supported college. He is excited about his future and facing the world! He loves his job and spends most of his time there.

Coy is loving LaGrange. He has so many kids around his age at the water park at our campground. He has been working picking up balls at the batting cages, picking up trash in the campground and he works the "skate shop" when the skating rink is open. He makes $10 a night at the skating rink! Forty dollars is big bucks for a twelve year old, I guess. He is really one cool kid!

Caden has a few friends in the park as well. There is a little boy who is Hispanic and the sweetest thing, lives in front of us. Caden can't wait to get out in the mornings to play. He also has spent lots of time at the pool. He is swimming confidently without swimmies and is even turning summersaults under the water! He is really impressive. He loves the slides at the water park!

Without going into too much detail, I will be in Chattanooga this weekend for my second surgical procedure this summer. If this one is unsuccessful, I will be having a hysterectomy soon. So, besides recovering from surgeries, I have been spending lots of time at the pool. I am sporting quite the summer glow!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

My garden is growing! I can not begin to tell you how excited I am! I have several tomatoes on one plant, one on another and blooms on the third! I have a banana pepper that is ready to pick and several blooms on my melons and squashes! My field of corn is doing fairly well also, however, the weed fight begins! I have been weeding my heart out! Here are a few pictures of my gardening progress!

Banana Pepper

Tomatoes

Chase's Graduation Party

May 31, 2008: Chase is officially a high school graduate! We had a party in my parent's backyard with about 50 of our closest family and friends. It was a great time. Our friends Carma and Ken came from Springfield, IL and Nick and Dana from Farmington, IL. We met them while working in Biloxi. What a great time to see them! We love you guys! My parent's neighbors, Dub and Elise Payne have watched Chase grow up. My parent's moved in to their house when Chase was a little more than a year old. Dub and Elise had some great stories to tell about Chase coming to their yard to help Dub in his garden and visiting with them. What wonderful people have shared his childhood. Our friends and family blessed him with their presence and presents! He will not be heading to college blanket poor and has a nice little egg to start his adult adventure!

Chase has applied to LaGrange College in Georgia. He will be experiencing campus life at it's best. He will be living in dorm housing in the Fall.

So, here are some pictures of Chase's day.

The cake, made with love by Minnie!

Thanks, Minnie, it was wonderful!

The Family

Nana and Grandpa Phil

Minnie and Grandpa Tony