Jeremy, The Hero

I invited my friend, Stacey, and her family over for supper tonight. I told them they could come if Jeremy grilled. My only grilling experience was trying to get the fire started and then giving up and cooking in the oven.

When they got here, Jeremy brought in his tools because, being the wonderful friend he is, he fixed my refrigerator doors!!! If you want to know about that see this post referring back to April Fool's Day.

So while he was doing that, he gave me grilling instructions and I grilled the meat with Stacey's help. The brats and hot dogs turned out great and I'm no longer afraid to grill. Thanks, Jeremy!!

Mr. Fix-it hard at work. He and JP went fishing after supper and both caught fish!

The new grilling professional hard at work.

Famous Dad

I just have to take a few moments to brag about my father. He is now a published author! He has written a Bible Study for RBP. I'm very proud of all the work he did. If you want to read the introduction and first chapter, you can download a PDF here.

I guess this might also be a good time to announce that my parents are moving to a new ministry in Illinois. Although I am sad that the distance will be a hindrance to my seeing them often, I'm excited for them as they obey the Lord's leading.

I'm very thankful for my parents and the foundation of Christ they laid in my life.

My Potted Garden

Since I have no yard, I have a potted garden. I have behind and finally purchased my plants yesterday. Judy, the camp's bookkeeper and my friend, helped me pick them out and plant them. I didn't decide to this until I was on my way home from church. I gave her a call and she was game. Thanks Judy!

I can't wait until they grow and fill out. Isn't God's creation marvelous! The cast of characters are as follows: Begonia, Impatiens, Dusty Miller, Fuchsia, Sedge, and Coleus.

Annie's Wedding

This last weekend, one of my dear friends got married. I had the honor of being her personal attendant. I got to spend the entire day with her and help with whatever she needed. It was truly an honor.

After the rehersal dinner, several of us spent the night together in a couple hotel rooms. Here we are playing hand and foot waiting for the other girls to arrive.

Here we are ready to watch Annie's new favorite movie. That was her one wish for the night...that we could all watch this together. She fell asleep after about 20 minutes.

This is the first picture of Annie on her wedding day. She's totally faking. She hardly slept a wink all night long. I think we all got about three hours.

Since we couldn't sleep anymore, we decided to go down to the lobby for breakfast in our P.J.'s and with messy hair. I would only do this for you, Annie!

Time to get her hair done!

How do you like those ringlets?

What a beautiful bride (even in a sweatshirt)!

I loved this picture of Lynn, so had to put it in. She was one of the beautiful bridesmaids.

This is Annie's twin, Sylvia. With her hair all combed out, I told her she looked like Buckwheat on The Little Rascals. We had so much fun!

Here they are all decked out! Aren't they beautiful???

Finished product. Wow! I don't know how she wore that dress all day. It was heavy! And I should know since I put her in it!


And here I am with my dear friend just before she walked down the aisle to her prince charming! Congratulations Chris and Annie!!!!!

Another Mmmm Good Recipe

The camp hosted the area pastors' fellowship today. We always invite them out for a picnic in the spring. I made a really good salad that I thought some of you would enjoy. Sorry there won't be any pictures. I left my camera in a friend's car.

Pretzel Salad
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
8 oz. cool whip
1 cup crushed pretzels
1 stick butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup sugar
20 oz. can crushed pineapple

Soften cream cheese. Mix in 1/3 cup of sugar. Add drained pineapple. Fold in cool whip. Melt butter. Add 1/2 cup sugar. Mix in crushed pretzels. Spread out on cookie sheet. Bake at 250° for 5 minutes. Let cool - break up. Add pretzels just before serving.

I'm telling you...you have to go out and buy the ingredients right now and make this. You will thank me later.

Happy Mother's Day

I just want to say Happy Mother's Day to the best mom!!! She is amazing! I'm so blessed that God gave her to me as my mom and as my friend. I love you, Mom!

Jr. Girls' Program

Wednesday night was our Living Lights Program. We always like to write a fun skit for the girls to perform. This year we did a news cast of Elijah on Mt. Carmel and the prophets of Baal. The girls did a fantastic job. And yes, Elijah was played by a girl.

This is a picture of our entire class before the program began.

Here are our two news anchors, Hillary and Jamie.

Then we move over to reporter, Samantha interviewing Elijah with his servants in the background. (Check out the stuffed cow on the altar.)


Now it's on to reporter, Abby, and the prophets of Baal. Aren't those prophets cute all wearing black and pink!

I am so proud of these girls!!! Praise the Lord for two girls that were saved this year and one that has decided to be baptized. It is such a blessing to teach them and try to instill in them a desire for the Word of God. Stacey will be their VBS teacher and we pray that they will continue to grow and have a desire to please God. Thanks for all your prayers!

Check out Stacey's blog for our group silly picture! I think she's going to try to post a video of the skit as well.

Illinois Drive

Driving to my family's in Illinois takes a little over five hours. One of my favorite parts of the drive is through Galena, IL. It is especially beautiful in the fall, but I took a few pictures along the way to share with you.

When I was a kid, my dad would often stop here on our way back to Illinois. We would make the trek up this tower and look over the landscape. I really didn't appreciate it much as a kid. I was disappointed when I stopped and the tower is closed.

I took these two pictures from the hill next to the tower. Imagine the view from the top!

I took this picture while driving. (That probably wasn't too smart, but I did live to blog about it.) I especially love this scene in the fall when the leaves are full and colorful. I love how the trees meet over the road. I wonder what they say to each other.

Isn't God's creation marvelous? How can anyone believe this world came about by chance?

Time with Friends and Family

I had a great weekend with family and friends. I took Thursday and Friday off work and headed to Illinois. (A big thanks to Anna for taking the reigns in the office.) Bekah had a meeting not too far away, so she drove four extra hours to spend some time with me. It was really fun to spend time with her. It's wonderful to have her as a best friend, but a bummer that she lives in Pennsylvania and will soon be moving to Japan.

I hadn't seen my brother and his family since Thanksgiving, so I was prepared for a lot of growth in my niece and nephew. They are such fun! Here are some pictures of the weekend.

This was actually our goodbye, but I decided to put it first. I just love those kids.

I gave them these towels for Christmas. Aren't they adorable?

I gave them bubbles, so of course we had to try them out.

I loved this picture of them chasing the bubbles.

I just loved this picture of Ethan.

We decided to try to climb the neighbor's tree.

Yep, even I gave it a try.

I didn't realize until Bekah left that we didn't get any pictures taken together. She will love that I put on this one of her "climbing" the tree too. Love you Bekah!

It was also great to spend some time with my aunt, uncle and cousin. I love you all!

Checking In

I just wanted to check in with you and let you know that I survived Counselor Training. I did end up getting full-fledged bronchitis, but I made it through. God is good!!!!! Every time I needed my voice it was there, or if I needed to not cough I didn't! He's amazing! As soon as I was no longer needed, I did crash though. And hard!

I'm taking today and tomorrow off and am in Illinois to visit my brother (which really means my niece and nephew) and Bekah is meeting me here today too! There is much fun to be had.

I promise to post pictures!