A perfectly lovely ordinary day

Sunday, July 24, 2011

On a clear day

you can see forever...

well, maybe not forever, but pretty far...

The view from the highest point in our county was lovely today!

It was a sweet little hike in beautiful warm (not hot) fresh air!

But it wasn't only the vista in the distance that was beautiful.

Even the smallest piece of grass was equally photographic.

Every detail in the world God created for us takes my breath away.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Smart dog

One very smart dog. He knows where the best opportunities are for nibbles...

There were 3 silly grandchildren this morning in the river room...

They willingly let me take more pictures...

AH! The face of innocence!

Don't be so easily fooled...

Miss Sparkle.

Here's a cool little bike grandpa bought at a garage sale!

I thought this was cute; who says girls only have to play with dolls?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Happy Birthday Brother!

Happy Birthday today to my brother, (just a wee bit older then me), affectionately known to my sons as Uncle "John Bobby"..

Growing up he was called "Bobby", a nickname from his middle name, so as not to be confused with our dad named John. So I alternate between calling him Bobby and calling him John and my sons just decided "Uncle John Bobby" worked for them. ha ha.
Whatever I call him, it matters not. What matters is that he is very special to me!

And he owns a wonderful piece of property; in fact, property that was once owned by our ancestor who came to this country in 1729 on the vessel the Mortonhouse...

So, brother John Bobby named his farm Mortonhouse Farm.

He has horses and other sundry farm animals.

Isn't it pretty?

For those of you with a jaded view of New Jersey, I hope this changes your thinking.

This is also New Jersey.

Happy Birthday today, farmer John.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Grand Day Out

Yesterday was "Grand Day Out" at our Bible camp: a day for grandparents and grandchildren to come and enjoy a fun day together. And that's exactly what we did..

There was lots of time to enjoy being together.

This granddaughter had both grandmas there at camp! Here she is taking a pontoon ride with one grandma while the other grandma snaps a picture from shore!

And this cute picture of my friend with her sweet grandson. She and I raised our children together and now are enjoying the blessings of grandparenthood together!

There were lots of activities planned; here they are working on a craft while grandparents stand ready to assist, if need be.

They didn't need much assistance to smile.

Concentrating.

The proud fisherman.

This was a very fun and funny game. The person participating gets a stocking over his head and there is, as you can see, a ball inside the stocking.

There were some waterbottles set up on the floor and the participant had to knock them down using only the ball hanging from the stocking, not his hands. His feet were to stay on either side of the line. People were timed to see who could do it the fastest. It was really funny to watch!

Somehow this grandson just got things going just right and he knocked down those bottles faster then anyone else. He was the youngest participant and quite pleased with himself.

It was a GRAND day out!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Ladies walk and talk

I was trying to think of a fun and easy get-together for ladies for the month of July since many of our women's programs take a summer break. I came up with this easy and fun idea; just a "walk and talk" - so any ladies, of any age, met at our church parking lot and walked to a downtown cafe (not too far) - and for those ladies that didn't feel up to the walk, they could simply meet us at the cafe. Moms with children were welcomed to bring the children; strollers, etc. all were in fashion.

It worked out perfectly. The weather was great, sunny and a very comfortable temperature. The cafe has a nice side room that was available for us - and one of the nicest features of the day was the fact that ladies of all ages were in attendance. That's so fun, I think! I love being with women older and women younger as well as those closer to my age. We learn so much from each other - and I love to encourage the younger moms to keep on with the most important job in the world! I look forward to our next "walk and talk.."

Sunday, July 10, 2011

10,000 lakes...

Today was a perfect to day in which to enjoy one of the 10,000 lakes this state has to offer..and we choose to do so with some good friends.

It was a warm sunny day; we boated across the lake to the lake home of one of these couples to add them to our day of enjoyment. We boated around a beautiful Minnesota lake, saw some loons and docked at a restaurant for some great hamburgers and boated back. Seeing some clouds looming in the distance we left a bit sooner then planned and returned safely home, getting the pontoon into the storage shed just as the raindrops began. Talk about good timing. And talk about good friends. We had a sweet time together!

Friday, July 08, 2011

Imagine..

These three boys..

married these three girls...

and now we have these fabulous grandchildren!

Imagine that.

Sunday, July 03, 2011

A ring bearer and a candy "bear"

Yesterday two of our grandsons were in a wedding. Their mom's cousin was getting married and they were the ringbearers..

Well, actually, the oldest brother was the "ring bearer" and the youngest brother was the "candy bearer" - or, as he called himself, the candy bear. His job was to bring a piece of candy down the aisle to the waiting groom.

They both performed their tasks flawlessly.

Father and bride walk down the aisle. This was a real answer to prayer as the father of the bride had an accident 3 weeks prior that included broken ribs and a head injury. Many happy tears were shed as he carefully walked his daughter down the aisle.

A quick picture of the wedding party.

I was sitting by the aisle and peeked out to take this picture while the bride and groom were repeating their vows. The bride's father was doing this part of the ceremony and it was quite touching. However, one little candy bear may have not been quite so interested....