What we've been up to in August!

BIRTHDAYS:August is the beginning of a long string of birthdays- we have 11 between August and October! So, we have been enjoying the different birthday parties this month, as it is always fun when we are all together. Grace, Kate, and Matt were the August birthdays.
ANNIVERSARY PARTY:At the end of July, the kids threw a surprise anniversary party for me and Rick. We have now been married for 35 years. Hard to believe! Kate made a beautiful cake and we all watched the video of our wedding and also a video of our 25th wedding anniversary when we had a very large surprise party with many guests. So- that was fun. I was commenting on how much changes in 10 years. Your babies are now teenagers and your teenagers are married with their own babies!
SUNDAY SCHOOL:Rick and I have been teaching Sunday School the past few weeks- our teacher, Pastor Brodie, has been teaching the class about having building a "forever family". So he allowed us to share our vision for families and some of the things we have done over the years. Kate joined me last week in sharing. We represented 3 generations, as she has her own little girl!
CHURCH BBQ:Emily has been working non-stop on a barbeque that our church had last Sunday night. It was to kick off the school year for the school that is associated with our church. There were pony rides, inflatable toys to jump on, singing (which many of our family participated in) and some speaking as well. There was also a "bake-off" contest for desserts. Most of our girls made at least one entry- and one of Grace's won. That was fun. But, Emily was in charge of putting the entire event together. She worked on it for 40 hours just last week! It went well and it was a lot of fun.
LAKE DAY: In the middle of the month, our dear friends, The Coopers, invited us to join them at their lake house for a Saturday. We enjoyed good food and fellowship, boat rides and swimming. It was a blast, and the whether was beautiful.
MISISONS TRIP: Carrie was offered the opportunity to accompany our youth team to a missions trip to St. Vincent. A teenager dropped out at the last minute and Carrie was asked to go along to help with the Youth Pastor's wife with her 2 very young children. So, only a few days later, Carrie was flying to St.Vincent for almost 2 weeks. Shy says it was so hot you stayed wet with sweat almost the entire time. She also had a chance to go snorkeling while there. She said it was a good and eye-opening experience.
OTHER: Other than those highlights, we have been savoring the summer- Lots of reading and playing outside. Tuck has continued working on his pond he made- it is now stocked. Kelley and Kasey are still working on cake decorating.
So, that's our month! I hope you are enjoying these last days of summer. As always, cherish each moment with your family. As I said before, just 10 years changes everything so drastically. Don't let it just slip by!
Marilyn