Tuesday, July 21, 2009

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.



18 comments:

Barb said...

I can't begin to imagine where that crocheted dress came from Dawn, but it's amazing that she just "found" it. My word, I can't imagine a dress like that ever leaving my family - there's obviously a lot of time and probably love involved in the making of it.

Wonderful photos, especially the rainbow. :-)

Mary said...

Dawn,

Yes, I've seen the china plates as a flower bed border before. They were a little prettier than these, but they are unique.

Loved all the photos and am glad you enjoyed the convention.

Blessings,
Mary

nancygrayce said...

What kind of camera do you have? You captured those sky pictures beautifully! Someone in our neighborhood has china plates for a border too and I think it is really tacky!

Robin said...

Well, that's interesting yard landscaping for sure. I'll bet there's a blog worthy story involved somehow!
What a treasure to find a box full of clothes. And the crocheted dress is so pretty. Don't you just love those unexpected little graces that pop up every now and then?!
Do you always have District Assembly so late in the year? For some reason I have always thought District Assembly had to be held before General Assembly. I guess not.
That's funny that Coleen Skinner remembered that she and Chuck were mail box buddies! My husband told me he though she was so pretty and would have asked her out except he thought she was married! I guess that turned out good for me!

Sharon Lynne said...

That is a very strange back yard. I've never seen China plates decorating a yard in my area.

I'm so glad DC was okay! I'm thanking God. That was a cute picture one of the girls drew. (oops can't remember which girl)

The sky pictures are breathtaking...and your house DOES look VERY cosey.

I'm glad you had fun at your meeting. It's so nice to get away and meet with old friends in a nice setting.

Needled Mom said...

Thank goodness there were no serious injuries from that fall. Soooo many things could have gone wrong. Someone was certainly watching over him. When my mom was in rehab after her surgery there was a young father who fell off the ladder when putting up Christmas lights. He had become a quadraplegic in the fall.

It looks like the girls all had fun at the show. How sweet that they brought up their own children!

The views of the clouds, rainbows and all are just glorious.

I hope that you manage to duplicate that adorable dress. It is so precious.

How about sending us a little of your rain? I know you have been low the last few years so I am glad to hear that you are doing okay this year. Maybe that means we will have a wet winter.

Have a great week.

Sam said...

Hi Dawn,

That story about DC falling off the ladder nearly made my heart stop. Thank God, Thank God, Thank God is all I can say.

Care Bear's drawings are really remarkable. I love how she captured the actual movement of her grandpa falling off the ladder. Most kids her age wouldn't know how to do that.

Your photos of your skies are gorgeous!

I haven't been to Colorado in years. I've been to Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Durango and I think a few other little towns. I love Colorado. It's so beautiful. I'd love to go back for another visit sometime. You never know! It would be such a treat to get to meet you!

Not too sure about your neighbor's landscaping! :-)

SentimentsbyDenise said...

Lots of great photos in this post!
So glad your husband was not seriously injured in his fall - that portion of your post just caused me to gasp outloud! Thank the Lord for His watchful Hand on DC that day!
Hope you're doing well - it's been awhile since we've "talked".

Linda said...

I had such fun catching up by reading your last two posts. I love the Fed-Ex story. It really is a wonder in this day when no one seems overly concerned about customer service.
Your pictures are amazing Dawn. You get more and more proficient with your camera. I love the moon and fireworks picture. I think there's a spiritual lesson there somewhere.
I'm glad your summer is so nice. You've struggled with drought for a long time. It seems to be our turn right now. It is getting a little bit frightening - this lack of rain. I'm praying our well doesn't run dry. And praying fervently for rain. Please Lord!!
Have a blessed week Dawn.

A Hint of Home said...

Looks like all had fun at the concert.
I have seen plates in a garden before not particularly as a border though. Never have I seen kids toys or bikes as art for the yard.
The knit dress is as cute as can be.

grammy said...

That was a lot of pictures girlfriend. The little dress was so cute and the girls are adorable of course. Looks like they had a ball at the concert 9o:

Kristen said...

The concert was amazing and fun, and if possible more fun than the original concert in 1990. May have had something to do with the fact that we were in seats, instead of crammed on the green, and that I didn't drop 15 lb binoculars on my toes only to lose my toenail several months later. And that I got to share the experience with my BFF and my girls!! Who would have thought 19 years ago that I would be sharing the experience with my daughters! So fun! And you are a hero for doing what you did for the girls!! So are the Fed-Ex guys, but you did all the leg work! Oh, and also extra fun since Danny was within touching distance of us for one of the songs! I felt like a teenager again!! Good times!

Nancy said...

Great post, great catching up, great photos and I'm glad I had time to stop by. It's great seeing you on FB, thanks for taking the time to find me. I love the crocheted dress...now that is an unexpected BLESSING!

Midlife Mom said...

What a nice post, just full of fun interesting things! Well DC's fall isn't fun but thank God he is okay and no broken bones. Care Bear's rendition of the episode is adorable! A budding artist for sure!

That dress is just amazing! What a lot of work and so beautifully done. I only wish there had been two!! I can crochet but nothing like that.

Your pictures are beautiful. I especially like the one that is really blue and of course the rainbow is beautiful. What a lovely reminder of God's promise to us.

Glad you had such a good time at the convention. So nice to hear the special speakers and enjoy the fellowship that goes on at these things. We used to host our Awana convention at our church every year and the speakers would bunk here at our house. It was so much fun to get to know them better!

It's raining again today, we are to get up to 3 inches of rain in twelve hours! I'm glad I got all my mowing done yesterday! Poor Kev, he must think he is in a rainforest!! It is terribly humid today too, I have been trying to do some heavy cleaning and am just a wash of sweat. Blahhhhhhh!

Again, great pictures and great post!!!

Hootin Anni said...

I actually would think that the china plates would serve their purpose better holding that HUGE slice of pizza in one of your photos.

Golly, such a great array of photos to share with us...love the reference to Thomas Kincaid [how do you spell his last name, I forget] painting with you arriving home...that made me feel good all under!

The photos of the kids are always a special treat. And if you've followed my blog forever...then, you'd know that Bud was born in the Springs...we love the area...especially his 'home street' and all the tree lined boulevards!!

Have a great day Dawn.

groovyoldlady said...

Eek on the ladder incident! Praise God for His amazing protection! Mulletman has been up on a mega high ladder getting our house ready to paint. I cringe every time he starts going up!

Unknown said...

I loved reading about the FedEx experience! I'm so glad that all worked out...great customer service!
Cute Tooth Fairy pillows. Eleanor finally has a few loose teeth, so we'll be putting her teeth under her pillow soon. :-)
Thank goodness DC didn't get hurt when he fell! He was definitely being watched over.
I keep meaning to take a picture of someone's flower bed...a bed frame with flowers in the middle. Okay.
At this point, we are barely keeping the grass cut! :-)...especially with all the rain we are getting.

Rita Loca said...

WOW! those are some interesting yards. I feel inspired now to walk about my neighborhood and see what kind of yards I see!