Phone pic dump

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. Busy is an understatement.

Please keep R in your prayers as she is way too close to the fires in CO. She has been right next to the evacuation lines a few times now. She has her evac bags packed and has plans for all her "fur kids" and her horse if the call comes to evacuate. Thankfully she has very good landlords who live next door. And please keep JT in your prayers too. He has been on several missions lately and I don't know where exactly he is or what he's doing but please pray that the Lord would heal him and protect him, physically, mentally and spiritually. Thanks so much for your prayers.

Well, we have given up on parts 5 and 6 of our big plan for me to go to school. School's not out of the plan, just parts 5 and 6 of the plan. We looked and looked and looked for a dif vehicle for me but every time we looked at something it just wasn't right, wasn't taken care of, smelled awful or had mechanical issues. We finally just decided to keep the van and put a hitch on it so it could pull the camper. We need to do a few other things as it's pretty heavy for a pop up but we think it will work.

Speaking of the camper, here it is. It's about a 1000 pounds lighter and when it's opened up it's longer than our other one was. It doesn't have a toilet but we got a port-a-potty and are working on making a surround for it. It also has more floor space because of the slide. We took it out last weekend and at one point there were 10 of us in there enjoying the AC and visiting.

I do love good sunset pics! I think this was at the drive in and that's what those posts are doing there.

Bridget, up close and personal.

Who is that handsome guy?!

Diesel had an allergic reaction. We don't know what he's allergic to but he has bumps all over his feet and legs and some on his belly. He loves to be outside.

We went to the lake a few weeks ago and it's so dry here that the water is way down. It used to be up around that grass line. It's about 5-9 feet below normal.

After three summers of trying A finally got up on water skis. Thank you, Jesus! One of my kids can ski!

Diesel was a little strung out on his allergy meds. He couldn't decide if he should take a nap or go outside so he took a nap by the door.

G'ma and G'pa came and visited and brought us these redneck wine glasses. J lifted them up to his ears and said he could hear the ocean in them. Talk about a redneck...

Misty has had a thing for the smell of strawberries for a long time. If A eats them, Misty is all over her. A threw a strawberry stem at her one time and Misty sat on it. Then she rolled on it. Here she is, trying to eat the strawberry carton. She looks pretty bizarre in this pic.

We took our boat and our camper to Nickajack Lake last weekend. My dad brought his boat too and slept in it. My brother, SIL, nephew and his wife met us out there and we all boated up the TN river. I have pics but they are on T's phone. It was very beautiful and we had a great time. We had a picnic lunch on an island that you can only get to by boat, in the TN river, in downtown Chattanooga. How cool is that? This is a pic of the sunset the first night.

And J's campfire. He made it by himself (with Bampa's instructions).

It's been incredibly hot and dry here. I don't know the last time we've had rain and it's been over 100 several days too. We are busy trying to get the garden to grow but have just about given up on it. It's just too dry. J is finally mature enough to learn to drive the lawn mower and the grass is all dried up and crunches when you walk on it. Poor kid. He only got to mow one time so far this year.

Birth mom gift

A friend of mine made this necklace for J's birthmom, or Haiti mom as he calls her. I gave her the pic and she attached it to a glass tile and attached the necklace part. I think it turned out awesome and can't wait to get it to her. Thanks K!

We're baaaaack!

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted since mid-May. We have been so busy with our "6-steps to school" plan. We are struggling with step 5, which is finding another vehicle which is good and we can get for less than our van is worth. Sigh... would you pray for us?

We had an awesome trip to the beach to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary, which isn't actually until Oct but we celebrated now. It was 53 years ago on Memorial day weekend that they went on their first date. He went because he liked her and she went because her parents said she could. Ha! The rest is history.

Here is our trip in pics. Keep in mind it's a crappy phone so I was really pleased with the pics considering what I took them with! R and her friend C, who's hubby is also in Afghanistan with JT, got to our house from CO on Sat afternoon. We all took off Sunday morning and when we got to the beach house we unloaded the cars and decided to go out to eat. We were back in a gated community and on the way out, there was this awesome double rainbow. So pretty!

On the way to the beach J said, "I know we are close when we see de big red chair." We couldn't remember what he was talking about 'til we went by it. The next day R, C, T and I headed over to the cider place we love to visit. On the way back we stopped and bought strawberries and took the girls' pic in the big red chair.

They're so cute!

The beach house. There were 25 steps up to the front door. And a second story. And a "crow's nest".

A short-legged starfish I found in the ocean.

An old piece of driftwood that people have decorated. As we were driving up to it on the golf cart we couldn't tell what it was. From far away we thought it was a person.

There are various shells, flip-flops and hats attached to it.

J was the designated driver and loved every min of it. And thankfully he was a good driver.

The view from the porch.

We played a crazy game called Quelf which had people doing some interesting things.

Look at our reflections in the window. Hysterical!

That paper is stuck to her forehead with gum, which started oozing and running down her face. Eww!!

Our little gated community was back off a dirt road.

So pretty!

There were 13 of us celebrating and several of them went deep sea fishing one day and caught some shark. We also had some shrimp and some snapper and we all worked together to make dinner that night.

We had so much fun all working together.

We used coconut rum in the shrimp and it was awesome.

We sort of made up the recipes as we went.

At one point my SIL and nephew were both standing in the kitchen with their phones comparing recipes and trying to figure out how to modify them with what we had.

It all turned out great!

T and I went for a sunset golfcart ride one evening.

This almost looks like a painting.

I love this pic but I don't really know why. It's slightly blurry but it has an "old-timey" look to it. Or something.

These are the eggs of some sort of sea creature. I was probably told which one but I don't remember.

View from a little bridge on a golf cart path.

Everyone except my parents, T, J and I left on Sat morning. After they left we did a bunch of cleaning and packing and then after lunch we went out to "the point" one last time before we left. By then the tropical storm was coming in and the sky looked awesome!

To the other direction the sky was pretty clear.

J and I on the back of the golf cart. It was getting quite windy by then.

Mom and Dad took home a bunch of shells. The whole back of their van was full.

There were a few toys at the beach house which J set up as a very interesting pirate scene of some sort which included the Hamburglar in a get away boat. Too funny!

The animals were glad to see us. This is a box full of Diesel.

T got a new boat seat. He's trying it out...in the kitchen.

The beach was beautiful but the skies at home are pretty too.

Th-th-th-that's all, folks!