These last days of summer

I've been trying to enjoy these last days of summer. They are quickly coming to and end. On Sunday we went up to Charlotte for a BBQ to benefit a little girl with cerebral palsy. She is the daughter of a client that my husband's company works with. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Here's the old Charlotte beach house. Click on it to see the details of people on the beach.
We walked to the end of the pier and back. The pier is about a half a mile in length.
On the way home we stopped in Pittsford for ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. Allen did not come with us since he spent the day with some friends in Hopewell. Next week is the first day of school for the kids.

A day out

Went to Corbett's Glen yesterday with Martha and some of our kids.
Corbett's Glen is a little nature oasis in the middle of the busy suburbs of Rochester. It is a pretty little place that seems like a secret to me.
After having a picnic lunch, Martha showed me where the dog park is in Ellison Park.
It was great to be at a place where I could let my dog off of the leash, see him romp freely in the water without having to look over my shoulder for whoever might come along and scold me for taking him off of his line. There were about 5 other dogs there besides him. I will definitely take him back there!

Photos are thanks to Martha!

New Blog

I have created a new blog...if anyone is interested. I have been having very poor quality and inconsistent quiet times with God. I am challenging myself to do at the very least, a devotional each day. I would like accountability and that is why I am inviting you to come look at it and comment. Any encouragement is welcome. Here is the link to it.

My Utmost

Winding down

Do you like my "new" porch furniture? Amazing what a few cans of spray paint can do.
I am trying to spend a little more time out here...just enjoying my summer because the time is winding down. Soon I will be starting my final semester of library school. I will be doing a practicum in the library of two local schools. Both schools are within a half an hour drive of where I live.
I'm looking forward to this time of learning under some very experienced and good school librarians. Soon my degree will be completed and hopefully I will find a position of my own.

Allen...home from teen camp

Went to get our handsome teenage son from teen camp on Friday.
He stayed in Red Pine...one of the older cabins. He had such a great week that he didn't want to come home and is seriously considering doing the teen leader in training next summer. I am very proud of how my boy is turning out. He truly has a heart to follow the Lord!

Hiking in Lowville area

On our way up to pick Allen up from Beaver camp, Jamie and I went hiking. My only regret is that we didn't bring Sherman along. He would have loved it. However, it is a tradition that we stop at Cracker Barrel for a bite to eat on the way home and figured having the dog along wouldn't work well. Here is Jamie looking over the edge of a rock cliff. You can't tell from the photo, but it was about 30 feet up. There was a nice waterfall at the end of the hike.

Had a wild time...

Got many cool pictures of the animals at the African Lion Safari. One of my favorites was the dancing camel! He moved at the very second I snapped the picture and this is how it turned out! LOL!






And then there was this strange animal that we saw towards the end of our tour! She was friendly, so we took her with us when we left!

Water for Elephants

On the way through Ontario, Canada we stopped by the African Lion Safari. I had gone there once when I was about 13. It has really come a long way since then! One of my favorite events of this visit was watching the elephants parade down to the lake for a swim.
I think there were about 6 or 7 elephants. When they saw the water, they ran into it! You could tell that they were filled with joy at the prospect of swimming. They reminded me a little of the way Sherman acts when I take him swimming somewhere.
The lake is deep enough that they actually do swim. They are very social animals and several came over to where the crowd was standing to say hello.

On our way

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line...which is why we cut through Canada on our way to Michigan. This naturally calls for a stop at Niagara Falls.
It never ceases to amaze me that although I only live 2 hours away from this marvel, I have come here only a few times.

Been Away!

On Thursday morning, the girls and I took off with Jamie's sister Laurie and her husband Kevin to go to Michigan for a family wedding. (Allen was scheduled to go to Beaver Camp so Jamie stayed home to take him there.) We had a wonderful time! I will post more about our trip soon. Here we are on the way home from Michigan today when we stopped in Ohio for some eats. We brought home an extra kid. Paige, one of the girls' cousins who lives in Maryland came home with us. She is staying at our house tonight. Tomorrow, my girls, Paige and two other girl cousins who were not able to make it to the wedding, are gathering together at Laurie's house for "Camp Butler"-a girl cousin camp for a good share of the week!

There is a winner!

Thank you to all who participated in the Mina Project board game drawing. Thanks to you, $225 will be going to Haiti Relief efforts!

Congratulations to Ben and Karen!

Projects...

It started out as a curbside find. It is a wicker table that I decided would look good with my other wicker furniture on my front porch. It was blue (no before picture). I primed it...
and spray painted it a dark forest green. I'm planning on spray painting the rest of the porch furniture to match.