GIRL'S WEEKEND

A few years ago, my girls and I started taking a weekend to spend time together at a motel in KC. Their husbands have been so good about taking care of all the children so they could have that weekend to just relax and have fun with their sisters and Mom. This past weekend was a fun weekend and we shopped, talked, played games, and ate.


we are eating at the Olive Garden which is one of our favorite places
(we won't tell you how many bowls of salad we devoured)

Elisa is relaxing in our room

my girls love to shop and I needed to rest so I saw a place in a cart that I thought I would fit:) they shop til I drop!

at one point we thought we smelled smoke in our room which might mean fire so the girls grabbed their computers in case the sprinkling system would go on

we had to have the computers to keep up with what is going on in the world

Stay tuned - Camp Gramma is underway!

CANNING & FREEZING THIS WEEK

Our garden is producing in great quantities right now so we are busy canning and freezing. We started picking green beans last week and the tomatoes are ripening quickly but so far we have been able to keep up eating them and we started picking the corn yesterday but still have plenty more to do.


Cutting the corn off the cob

10 quarts ready to freeze

So far we have canned 25 quarts of green beans and this was yesterday's back- breaking job which will make at least 32 quarts altogether

BUSY WEEK WITH VBS

We had our VBS this past week at church. We had 33 children enrolled and had a good week. The weather was good all week for which we were thankful. Yesterday we had a 30 minute program at the end of our day and had invited all the parents, grandparents and other family friends. We had the best response ever for attendance to our program. It was all about God making dinosaurs and of course we included the creation story with it. When the program was over, we served lunch(grilled hot dogs, chips, drink, & cookies) to everyone and had a good time of fellowship outside. We are ready to rest today but will probably be doing lots of canning this next week:)

table with all the food and those serving

a nearby daycare lady bring several children and then brings her whole daycare to eat lunch - they are so well behaved

Rog & others resting and enjoying lunch after the busy week

WEEKEND VISITORS

We were happy to have Jon & Laura(our niece), Austin & Shannon stop by Sunday afternoon and spend some time catching up. They moved to Atlanta about 3 years ago so haven't seen them for awhile. Sounds like they enjoy the busy city life and are doing well. It was good to see them. Shannon will be in 10th grade this coming year and Austin in 8th. Growing up too fast.

PLAYHOUSE COMPLETED

We finally got the shutters put on by the windows and the flowers in the window boxes so it looks nice. Greg put some astro turf on the porch so we are officially ready for camp gramma which takes place after VBS this coming week. We have so much fun with our grandkids and are glad they have this playhouse to enjoy.

JULY 4th CELEBRATION

Rog and I were sick on Tuesday through Thursday so we were really glad to get well before the family arrived for the 4th weekend. Phil & Julie and family arrived late Thursday night and early Friday morning they all went to the downtown Hutchfest parade. I wasn't there but I understand it didn't take first place in all the parades they had attended. Mostly cars, trucks, and tractors - very slim on the floats but the kids did get some candy that was tossed so all were happy. We grilled Friday night and the weather was beautiful so we could eat at the picnic tables in our backyard. We then prepared to enjoy some fireworks that Phil & Greg had gotten for the kids. We had already enjoyed them throughout the day as once in a while they would set off a few in the front driveway. Great grandpa & grandma Tucker were outside for the meal and and fireworks too. I think great grandma even had one piece land in her lap. We enjoyed our time together and when we were all finished in the backyard, we headed over toward the fairground to watch the big show of fireworks that they do at the fairgrounds each year. If you wonder about the picture of Trevin with the headgear, that is one way of silencing the loud bangs and Trevin has been pretty sick all week with a bad sinus infection so he wasn't up to much loud stuff.


The girls having supper on the playhouse porch

Brooklyn did not allow the other girls in her swim ring

GARDEN LOOKING GOOD

Our garden is looking great and we are beginning the harvest. The tomatoes are just starting and the green beans are coming on strong. Evan wanted to help pick green beans but they were not ready until 3 days after he left to go back home. Sorry Evan and any of the rest of you that wanted to help. We have dug potatoes and onions and the corn will be ready in about 10 more days. We are enjoying the cucumbers so it's fun to start canning and get ready for the winter again.


Below are the bags of beans already washed and snapped. We actually have 3 gallon bags packed full now. I think we will be canning by Monday and VBS starts that day too. Doesn't that figure.

ENJOYING MORE FAMILY & GRANDKIDS

Last Wednesday June and her children arrived to spend some time with us while Damon was gone on a missions trip with the youth in their church. We had a good week and all the grandkids here enjoyed having their cousins around for several days.

We also were able to visit with Don & Roberta and then they left for Texas.

June mowed the lawn so her Dad wouldn't have to and Molly wanted to help her.

They brought the pool out so the kids had a lot of fun swimming and making whirlpools in the pool. We are getting things ready for camp gramma which will be coming in a short time.

Our old slide had cracked so Grandpa bought a new slide so we would be ready for camp gramma.

Micah enjoys climbing trees and also while he was here he went jogging with his Mom and continued for 2 miles. That is really great.

Meryn & Molly eating on the playhouse porch.

Caleb and Molly playing in the playhouse

June left us today and made it home safely. Thanks for coming June - we loved having you and your family with us.

If you check out June's blog, you will read about other happenings here in the past week.

SAN ANTONIO VACATION

We left a week ago on Monday morning for San Antonio with Phil & Julie and family, Greg & Susan and family, and John & Melanie and family. It was approximately a 12 hour drive in our 4 vehicle caravan and we did have a couple of car sickness incidents but otherwise everything went well.


Below are the 10 grandkids that went with us and they all had a great time together. The first day we went to Sea World and spent the day and we are just beginning our day in the picture below.

We went to a whale show and saw some unbelievable things that the whales(killer whales) can be trained to do. The girl below would ride the whales and go under water and come up standing tall on the nose of the whale. How amazing and I can't even imagine wanting to do such things:)

There were bunches of flamingos.

I went on 2 or 3 rides with 3 of my granddaughters. Actually, that's all I could handle.

We all visited the Alamo(pictured below) and later Rog & I went to the Imax and watched a show giving the history of the Alamo. That was located down by the riverwalk so we walked on the riverwalk for an hour before the Imax presentation.

No, we haven't lost it - we are watching a 4-D Pirate show at Sea World where everyone had to where these special glasses. Of course our kids loved our new look.

We had a great time but it was very hot - Over 100 degrees most of the time. We had rented 2 houses with 2 families in each house and they were really nice. We cooked our own breakfast and then headed out for the day. For dinner we would usually bring something in. We had 2 day passes for Sea World so our first 2 days were spent there. Rog & I decided to turn ours into a season pass so we could just go over there anytime and we were only 10 minutes away. On Thursday the kids wanted to go to Six Flags so Rog & I stayed with the two babies(Brooklyn & Hudson) so they would not have to be out in the heat and the kids would be a little freer to do what they wanted. We had fun with our 2 youngest grandkids and they were happy to be in where it was cool. On Saturday night we told our kids that we would babysit all the grandkids and they could go out for the evening so they took us up on it. The next day one of the vehicles had the air conditioner quit so after some discussion they decided we should drive home during the night so it would not be so unbearable in the heat. We left San Antonio at 8:30 Sunday evening and drove another 12 hours. It was not easy but we made it home safely and are still catching up on rest. What a fun time with family and we thank them for inviting us along. Roger & family, June & family, and Elisa & family -- we missed having you with us.

DOUBLE OUR FUN - TWINS CELEBRATE BIRTHDAYS

Today, June 24, Brendon & Caleb celebrate their 11th birthday. These two have so much fun and have already started trying to fool the teacher at school since they look so much alike. Brendon loves to help with anything we are doing and on our way home from San Antonio he helped with the babies a lot. Caleb is also a big helper and he rode in the car with no air conditioner on the way home so no one else would have to. They love to learn and ask lots of questions. We love having them close to us and took them out for brunch this morning to celebrate their birthdays. We love your grateful and loving ways and are certain God has special work for both you boys. We love you boys and hope you have a wonderful birthday.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREG!

The day has almost ended and with all the excitement of leaving on vacation and traveling all day to San Antonio, I am finally wishing Greg a Happy Birthday. Greg turns thirty-one years old today and we sang to him as we left the restaurant at lunch time. We are now in San Antonio and had a long day of traveling. We love and appreciate you Greg and hope you have enjoyed your birthday.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

GOOD FISHING

We went fishing again today. The grandkids came over and after breakfast Grandpa took the boys outside to dig worms. They found one big fat grub worm that they put in with the other earth worms. We were able to get the dock at the Dillon pond all to ourselves today and Brendon used the grub worm for his bait. They kept biting it and he pulled in a 14" catfish and the grub worm was still on the hook so good for another try. A little later he let Caleb use his pole with the grub worm on the hook and Caleb pulled in another good sized catfish. We still had the grub worm on the hook but didn't have enough time to try again so I think they will be looking for grub worms for camp gramma fishing.

GETTING READY TO FISH

Grandpa wants to take some grandchildren fishing at "camp gramma" in July so he decided he better buy some fishing poles and equipment. The grandchildren that are in Hutchinson got a head start when they practiced casting in our backyard on Sunday afternoon and then went fishing at Dillon Nature Center on Monday. They were so excited and each caught a nice catfish. Grandpa says, "he is anxious for the time when each one puts his own worm on his hook."

Trevin was the only one that had his fish at the time of the pictures but Brendon & Caleb each caught one later.