Really, Really Random Ramblings

I just got back from a wonderful couple of days in Colorado Springs for our annual church convention. It's something I do every summer, and I enjoy it so much. I see old friends, I hear wonderful messages, I stay in a nice hotel room, eat out, and the business parts of the meetings are okay, too.

Summer is flying by! School starts in less than 4 weeks - much earlier than in any other year. Feisty will be in kindergarten - hard to believe!

This will be a long post full of pictures - it's catch-up time for me, since I haven't written and posted much recently. Thanks for all the fun comments on the FedEx/NKOTB story. Following are some pictures of the event.

The "kids" brought their own kids out for the final number. Cute!

I'm going back to the 4th of July, believe it or not. Remember the trip to the prairie? When we got back that afternoon, we went out to dinner with DC's mom, sister, and BIL. We had a wonderful time together, but as we were eating, a sudden downpour appeared. We wondered what would happen to the fire works. Before we even got home, there was already a beautiful rainbow over the lake, appearing to land in our neighborhood park.




While we sat in the park waiting for the fire works display, I enjoyed experimenting with my camera's settings to capture God's beautiful display.

Feisty, who had been looking forward to this holiday for many days turned out to be afraid of the loud booms. But the babies thoroughly enjoyed it.




I love the juxtaposition of the moon and the fire works.

I mentioned in a post recently that Care Bear lost her first two teeth. My dear blog friend, Needled Mom, sent her and Feisty these adorable Tooth Fairy pillows. Thank you so much! You are SO talented!

Then I had to take pictures of each tooth!

The other day Kristen found a tub full of clothes in her basement, many which fit the twins. We don't know where these clothes came from, but it's fun to have such a discovery. We'd love to know who created this adorable dress - it looks so simple, but I wouldn't know where to begin. All of you crocheters out there, what do you think??

One recent day, DC was trimming some branches off one of our very large trees in the front yard. He was on a tall ladder, using his chain saw. The girls were watching from the porch swing, when suddenly, somehow, the ladder gave way and he fell to the ground - with the trimmer still running! There are so many miracles involved in this situation that I can hardly even imagine that he wasn't seriously injured. Care Bear immediately ran in and captured the situation on paper. If you click on the pictures, you can see her thanking God for His protection of her grandpa!

We've had such a beautiful summer so far, with lots of moisture keeping things green and lush, and with no horrendous heat yet. The thunder clouds to the east have been massive. On a bike ride one evening, I captured the sky in many different scenarios.

When we got home, we felt like we were going into a Thomas Kincaid painting. Our house looked so cozy and inviting.

Jungle Mom has a great feature on her blog where she captures "Things I See" around her home in Paraguay. I spotted a couple of interesting things that I thought I'd share in a similar vein.

There are many kinds of people - those who are proud of their yards and keep them in immaculate condition, with great flowers and bushes neatly taken care of.

There are those who do just enough to keep the grass cut.

There are those who do nothing with their yards and make the neighborhood look tacky.

And there are those who do very strange things to "decorate." This guy falls into this last category. I have watched his yard deteriorate for years, but this latest scenario has me totally puzzled. For some reason he seems to think that children's toys and/or trikes and bikes are decorative. And he has so much growth in his front yard that you can't even see the house. I have never actually seen a person, but we're assuming it's a "him."

I was riding my bike past this house when I did a double take. Don't get me wrong - I think the flower garden is lovely. But as I looked closer, I realized for some reason they are using china plates as a border. I would love to know where the idea came from. Has anybody seen anything like this before?

Well, if you've made it this far, Congratulations! I now feel kind of caught up. I'll be back soon with a celebration of my dear DC's birthday.