Sunset at the Lake!

Les and I drove to the Lake of the Ozarks today! And what a beautiful day it was; in the low 80's and no humidity. We arrived here about 6:30 PM and enjoyed this beautiful sunset. God paints the most beautiful pictures!

Jenny and boys at the Minooka park

We had lunch at the Minooka Grade School Park. While we were eating several groups of children came from Minooka Bible Church to play. I talked to one of the chaperones and she said they were having Vacation Bible School at their church with over 300 children attending. Wow! What a ministry that is. We saw a wagon full of kids being pulled by a team of horses. Isaac and Levi were all taken up with that.
Levi took a liking to his Grandpa as you can see in the last picture here. They are good buddies.

Seth and Noah's Baseball Photos - Last Game at CYC

I found the pictures of Seth and Noah from their last game at the Christian Youth Center. Seth and Noah each got a medal and Paul coached their team. They had a great season. Nathan loves to imitate the boys so Grandpa was giving him some lessons in throwing and hitting the ball.

Survivor - The Finale

I took this picture on Paul's cell phone as I had used up the battery on Jenny's camera, so it turned out good for a cell phone. Thanks, Paul! Pastor Mike said the only time he would let someone put makeup on him would be for Survivor Camp. You look good Pastor Mike.

Survivor Program at Pathway Christian Fellowship!

Friday night was a beautiful night for the closing program for Survivor. Josh and Megan came to attend the program and take Colton home. Colton spent the week with us and enjoyed the week following Joseph through Egypt. Colton learned our Tribe Levi chant and participated in the program. The chant summarized what was shared throughout the week with Joseph. John and Carrie helped me write it and I tweeked it. Thanks, Carrie and John. It went like this:

God gives us hope! Yes He does!
God really loves us! Yes He does!
God gives us wisdom! Yes He does!
God forgives us! Yes He does!
We're Tribe Levi! Yes we are!
We're Tribe Levi! Yes we are!
We're Tribe Levi! Here we are!

Jenny and the boys came to watch the program too, and Paul and Amy and family were all part of the Survivor too. Amy was a tribe leader and Caleb, Seth, Noah, Ellie and Grace were in one of the tribes. We were blessed to be a part of the Survivor week and pray that all found hope, love, wisdom and forgiveness that Jesus offers.

Survivor Program at Pathway Christian Fellowship!

Josh and Nathan at the Marketplace at Survivor. Nathan took right to Josh.

Megan and Josh came from Byron tonight to see Colton in the Survivor program.

The Roman Guard was Josh Bourg and Pastor Mike was Joseph throughout the week of Survivor.

Isaac, Jenny, Levi and Les watching the Survivor Closing Program with Joseph and the Tribes.

Ellie won a certificate to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream once a month for a year! Wow! That should be fun for Ellie! Congratulations, Ellie!

Fun at Wilderness Falls Mini golfing!

A Fun Day at Wilderness Falls was had by all. Levi has a rather unusual way of golfing. Just wait til you see some of the shots! Colton did his own thing golfing a hole ahead while Isaac and Levi would just as soon sit on the hole and roll the ball in from a sitting or lying position. What a funny site to see.

Fun at the Water Park

A beautiful day for fun at the Lion's Park in Minooka. Jenny and the boys, and Colton and I met Amy and the kids in Minooka and the kids had lots of fun playing in the water. Even Levi and Nathan got in on the action. Later today the older kids will attend VBS as the last night of Survivor with Joseph in Egypt.

JAY'S FIRST OVERNIGHT!

Jay and Colton both spent the night Father's Day. Colton is going to attend Bible School this week and Carrie is working Monday, so I suggested Jay spend the night with us and we would take him home tomorrow. So we had a fun time. Jay doesn't like a lot of foods, but we did introduce him to some pancakes - here he is feeding himself. At first he didn't want them, so we just set his plate on the table, then a little later put it back and he decided he would try them. Much to his surprise he ate them . He liked dipping them in the syrup.
Jay and Colton had fun playing together.

Father's Day - June 20,2010 -Celebrating Seth and Noah's Birthdays

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY LES, JOSH, PAUL AND JOHN!

BRAYDON, MEGAN, COLTON, JOSH AND KYLE - WE WERE GLAD YOU CAME TODAY

FATHER AND SONS! LES, PAUL AND JOHN

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY, SETH

SETH AND GRANDPA

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY NOAH!

GRANDPA, NOAH AND COLTON

We were blessed to have Paul and Amy and family, John, Carrie and Jay and Josh, Megan and faimily with us on Father's Day. Les and Paul were asked to share some Father's Day thoughts at church on Sunday, which was a great tribute to Dads. I'm so thankful for having Les in my life and for each of our sons and families, and our daughter and her family. Jenny and Dan weren't able to be with us so we missed them.
My nephew Josh and his family joined us and Josh's son Colton is going to spend the week with us and go to Vacation Bible School. The theme is Joseph in Egypt.
We also celebrated Seth and Noah's birthdays since they both have June birthdays. Seth is 9 on June 21, and Noah will be 7 on June 27.

Caleb, Seth and Noah's last day of baseball-June 19,20010

Caleb, Seth and Noah had their last game for the season at the Christian Youth Center this weekend. We got pictures of Caleb's team getting their awards, but somehow didn't get Seth and Noah. Caleb was asked to play in the All Star team at St. Joe's afterwards, so Les took him over to St. Joes'. The team played really well. We were proud of Caleb. Also Seth and Noah did a great job in their games.
Paul and Amy had a wedding in Lake Geneva, so Betty kept 4 of the kids and Les and I kept Caleb and Noah. After the game Les took Caleb home to milk their 4 goats - they got a half gallon of milk. And Noah gathered 16 eggs and washed them. He said his mom gives him a penny for each egg he washed. Way to go, boys!

A SPECIAL DAY WITH SETH

One of our favorite places to go for a birthday celebration is Wilderness Falls Miniature Golf Course. Seth and I played The Eagle and The Bear Course this time. It was a beautiful day so lots of people were enjoying the golf. Afterwards Seth chose strawberry ice cream to eat out of a Sox hat. Seth is a White Sox fan. Go White Sox!

Grandpa and Seth making pancakes. Seth mixed up the batter; Grandpa poured the batter on the grill and Seth helped turn the pancakes. A team effort. Way to go, guys!



Seth played a tune for me on the piano, Go Tell it on the Mountain! Great job Seth! We enjoy having you play the piano.

Seth got a new Sox shirt for his birthday! Wow! I can't believe you're going to be 9 already on June 21st.

Seth played baseball at the Christian Youth Center Tuesday night. They got rained out, but Seth was glad they got to play a few innings. Seth hit the ball 125 feet for the hit-a-thon they had a few weeks ago. Good job, Seth!

Dan and Sandy Rupiper - June 2010

We spent the night in Yankton Sunday with good friends, Dan and Sandy Rupier. Sandy had knee replacement surgery a couple of weeks ago and has started physical therapy. She and Dan were heading to therapy this morning so we started for Illinois and plan to be home tonight. It's been a fun trip, but will be good to be home. We're in Iowa and passing all thes wierd windmills on the side of the road, thanks to all the environmentalists.

Herbal Garden in Gillette with Dave!

Dave with his herbal garden. Rosemary makes the brain smarter. Just ask Les!
Sharon and Dave will soon have their own blog, since I showed them everything I know. It will be late next week though, since they are busy with Sharon's education society meeting.

Sharon and Dave's in Wyoming! June, 2010

Yesterday we drove to Gillette, Wyoming to see Sharon and Dave. We stopped in Spearfish, SD on the way to see Mom's cousin, Wylla, and Sylvan's daughter, Judy.

We arrived in Gillette about 2 PM when Sharon was coming home from the soup kitchen where she helps serve lunch on Thursdays. Dave was mowing before another rain set in here in Wyoming.

Sharon fixed us a gourmet chicken ceaser salad for dinner. As you can see from the photo, it not only looked good, but tasted good.

Sharon and Dave have a lovely home here in Gillette with a neat pond in the back yard.

Today, Sharon and Dave took us on a tour of Gillette, seeing all the coal strip mines. The one in the picture is called Dry Fork, which is the same name as the street they live on. We went shopping at a neat little gift shop downtown called the Crazy Woman Mercantile and had lunch at The Chophouse!

CELEBRATE!

Rachel, Emily, Megan, Kelsey, and Toot - Celebrating Toot's 82nd Birthday!

Sara, David, Julie and Toot - It's great to be together and celebrate Toot's Birthday!

Kyron, Rachel, John, Emily and Julie

Rachel, John, Emily and Julie

Celebrating with Toot - June 9th, 2010

Toot's 82nd birthday is June 26th, so we celebrated tonight at Julie and John's. Julie and John were great host and hostess. It was fun seeing their family and meeting Rachel's boyfriend, Kyron. Rachel is working at the same law firm as Julie this summer and Emily is working at Reptile Gardens. After dinner the girls made fold out albums, which became quite an interesting creative craft. You can see that they all turned out great; once we figured out the folding step. Way to go girls!!! You did a great job!!! Thanks, Julie for supplying the needed tools and paper.

Toot and family in Rapid City - Wednesday, June 8th

Les and Toot at the ball field waiting for the game to start. Kelsey plays fast pitch softball with the Rapid City Sting ASA.

Connie and Toot. A great day for a ball game. The weather is beautiful in the 70's.

Sara and Steve arrive at the ball park to see their daughter play.

Kelsey's in the black and gold uniform. She's the one right behind the umpire with sunglasses on.

Kelsey playing third base. Kelsey did a great job at third.

Kelsey had a great hit with bases loaded. Good job Kelsey. Their team had played in Gilette last weekend and came in third.

Les, David and Carol. More family support for the ball team!!!

David and Kelsey after the ball game. Dave's pointing at the "Uncle Dave's Snack Shack". I thought maybe Dave was the owner, but he says no. And we went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant instead.

Congratulating Kelsey on a great game. They won 10 - 2. They play 80 minutes and then finish whatever inning they are in. That's a different way of doing it than we're used to, but it works.

THE FAMOUS WALL DRUG

Les and I drove to Rapid City, SD Monday, stopping at the famous Wall Drug Store for lunch. They still have their FREE ICE WATER and 5 Cent coffee, which is their claim to fame; so was fun to see it again.

Celebrating with Mom and Sylvan - June 5th, 2010

We celebrated Mom and Sylvan's 4th anniversary since we won't be with them on their special day in August. We went out to the Cattleman's for dinner Saturday night, then came back to thier place for cake and ice cream and a couple more games of golf.
Today, Sunday, we went to church with Mom and Sylvan and had a great roast beef dinner. Les and I walked around the Pierre Capitol Building and did a self tour of the inside. It was quite impressive and makes us really appreciate our freedoms in this country. Tomorrow we are driving to Rapid City to spend a few days with Les' sister, Toot.

A Trip to South Dakota to see Mom and Sylvan! Wednesday, June 2nd

We left the lake house Wednesday morning for South Dakota and ended up driving all the way to Pierre, getting here before dark about 8:30PM. We went to the Senior Center today for lunch and bingo. So we are enjoying our stay here in Pierre with Mom and Sylvan. We played the card game "Golf" tonight and Les won a game and Grandma won a game. So we'll have to play again so Sylvan and I can win a game.

Memorial Day Weekend-May 30-31

Carrie and John tried out our new tube behind the pontoon boat. Jay even took a turn and had fun. We spent another morning at Frankie and Louie's where Jay enjoyed the sand and water.
Jenny had bought us a swing for the lake so the guys got it mounted on the downstairs patio where Jay tried it out.
Jay learned to do "Cheers" when drinking out of his cup. Jay threw his cup and it landed in the water, so John rescued it for him. We celebrated John and Carrie's 9th wedding anniversary while they were here, too.