Happy Fourth!

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in so long! I wasn't really keeping track, and just got busy. Sometimes I just don't know what to say, and other times so much happens all at once and we get busy... then it all piles up on top of me and I get overwhelmed trying to remember all the things I was going to tell you. Anyway, we are doing ok. There are ups and downs, but mostly we've been just digging into life - working around the house, both on the inside and outside.



So... some of the highlights of the past few weeks:



Back when Andy and Kim were here, we had a snowstorm! Yes, this was June. And I'm not talking a snow flurry. I'm talking 6 full inches of snow that stuck. It was crazy! Only a few weeks later we were having temps in the 90's.

Here are some pictures that Reni took:
Ethan's cousin, Garrett. Doesn't it look like he's in a snow globe? Notice the green grass in the background... that was at the beginning of the day. It continued to snow for the rest of the day!


Ethan's cousin, Alex, throwing a snowball. (Alex was one of Ellie's very closest friends.)


This picture is the same view as the previous picture - but it was taken two days later. This was actually a double rainbow. We could see both the beginning and end of both rainbows. I've never seen anything like it. One side of the darkest rainbow was at one end of the lake, and it ended at the exact other side of the lake. And the second rainbow was directly over the first - each end at the tops of the trees. Just perfect!


John's aunt Kathy came for a little while. We had such a nice time with her! It was mostly low-key (no bear sightings) until one evening when Loretta, Reni, Kathy and I were watching TV together. Grandma and all the guys had long gone to bed, and Reni had decided called it a night. Just after she left the room, I let the dogs outside. Well, apparently a bat hitched a ride inside on the back of one of the dogs, or it flew in the open door. Now, if anyone had snuck a video camera into that room, they could have made some serious money on America's Funniest Home Videos! Reni probably wishes she had gone to bed much earlier, because we called her back in. The four of us spent the next hour and a half running around that room like crazy women. My one and only moment of bravery was early on when I went for the broom. It was all down hill from there. I swung the broom every time the bat came close (and by all accounts, let out a screech/yell with every swing. Now I don't remember this exactly, but I think that must be accurate because I just remember swinging the broom then panicking that I had just gotten the bat closer to myself than the door.) So there we were - flapping around in our P.J's and nightgowns, chasing the bat with pillows (and broom). We actually started to wear the bat out. He would get so tired, that he would stop up near the ceiling. Until one of us would spot him and start the chase all over again. We were yelling and screaming and huffing and puffing from all the effort. And there were the occasional moments when Kathy and I would double over laughing. Finally, someone smacked the bat down... then began the oh-my-goodness-it's-going-to-touch-me dance (by a certain broom wielding girl who shall remain nameless for the sake of her pride). One by one, each of the others had their moment of bravery. Loretta did an up close and personal search of a chair (that I was pointing at from a safe distance). Then Kathy did the unthinkable, in my book. She actually captured the bat in a plastic bag and ran it outside. I watched the three of them from the window, as they tried to let the bat go in the great outdoors. Unfortunately, his wing was injured beyond repair. So Reni took it upon herself to do the humane thing. I left my post at the window at that point! Well, that was the great bat escapade of 2008. Let's just hope it's the last!



I hope that you are all having a wonderful Fourth of July. Thank you to all of the men and women who are fighting (and have fought) for the many freedoms we enjoy! May we never forget their great sacrifices.