Thankful July

 WARNING!

Very long post ahead....

Thankful for the 4th of July and parades on the 4th of July!

We  had 2 unicyclists in the parade and

 2 walking with the Kids Pro-Life Club

 And I had the 2 littles with me trying to get all the candy we could!

It's so stupid...my kids are not very aggressive, and I'm like,

"Go get that one!  Get that one!  Over there!!"

Then we go home and have all this candy and I'm like,

"Why did I want them to get this candy?"

(I might be a little competitive!)

Thankful the parades this summer were so fun, especially for these littles!

 Our last parade....

We are wondering if there is some kind of unicycling club in Arizona....

 Can you tell it was really really humid?

 Thankful for our annual 4th of July drinks!

Diet 7-up

frozen strawberries

Blend in the blender

 

SO GOOD!!

 Just ask him!

 Thankful we had a pretty low-key 4th of July after the parade

Just fireworks at home this year.

 Thankful for matching 4th of July jammies!

My flag shirt.

(that you can't see in my selfie here)

I love and am thankful for the way everyone dresses patriotic on the 4th!

It's so fun to see!

 Thankful Grandpa here took Tom and the 4 oldest kids fishing way up in Canada!

 

They had a really good time and we have enough fish for one more fish fry meal!

(we had enough fish for 3 total meals)

 Thankful I had time with only the littles.

It humbled me quite a bit.

It helped me to remember how hard some things are when there are no big kids to help.

We get kind of snobby, us older mamas with older kids. 

Yes, some things are harder, like meals are bigger and there is more laundry

and more groceries to buy,

but when I only had these two littles,

showers were out

(unless I put on a cartoon in my bedroom and did it real quick)

Life, somehow gets easier and harder at the same time.

 

 Thankful for Nutella sandwiches....

And Nutella faces

And Nutella smiles

and, heck, I'm Thankful for Nutella.

 Thankful for coloring on the porch....

 Thankful for this mama deer and her babies (she actually had 3)

that visited us almost daily in July.

 Thankful for summer blooms

 Thankful for my summer mailbox...

 Thankful we now have another teenager in our home!

Thankful she's not taller than me...(yet)

 Thankful for water fun in July

This kid, melt my heart!  He LOVES squirting people! 

Just give him a squirter and he's happy!

This video is guaranteed to make you laugh.

(in the very least it'll make you smile!)

Thankful Simeon has the greatest deep belly laugh ever.

(watch til the end)

 Thankful these girls are trying to be all serious and all

When total chaos is happening all around them.

(yes, Sims is running around naked squirting people)

 

 Thankful for summer memories....

 Thankful for beautiful Sarah (HERE)

Here she is in front of her beautiful garden

 

 Thankful for our friendship

 and our children's friendships!

 Thankful for easy popcorn and smoothie nights

 Thankful for games with friends

(this is Adam, my oldest's best bud)

Thankful for beautiful sun kissed shiny blonde hair!

Thankful for my best friend, my love, Tom.

Goodbye July!

 

I bet you are Thankful this long post is finally done.

 

 



Thankful for Blogging

(Maggie, just like my kids...)

 

 I am an accidental blogger.

About 8 years ago,

I was trying to help my friend Christine figure out how

to start a blog when all of a sudden, it asked me what name I wanted

to give my blog.

I felt my stomach turn a little and thought, "what the heck?"

I named my blog something I always pray.

So it came to me immediately.

I posted one thing and within minutes

2 commenters had left a comment.

I thought, "Hey, this is kind of fun!"

 

You know the rest of the story.

I'm still here.

 

 

Along with blogging came many new friends,

some I've met and some I haven't.

 

Last week, some of these friends got together

and threw me a party!

(a going away party, though, we have not sold our home yet, so I'm not going yet!)

 

 

 There we go!

These lovely ladies are, (from left to right)

Christine (and her chicken), Margaret (also answers to "Mags" and "Maggie" and "Hey you!"),

Lori, (who drove like 4 hours and lives way way up north, you know way up there!), Sarah, (look at that cute baby tummy!), Becky, (she also makes amazing rosaries HERE), and last but not least,

Marie (and her adorable sweet littles)

 We hung out on Christine's beautiful porch

(my favorite thing to do)

Lovely Sarah was one of the hosts,

and I think forced Christine to have this party at her place!

I met Sarah when she was just a teen, at a retreat hosted by our church,

way back when Tom and I were first married. 

Blogging has brought us a lot closer.

So thankful for that.

 I think Christine was OK with hosting-- she has like 40 acres and a ton of things to do!

Thankful for Christine who helped me accidentally start blogging.

We've been doing it and supporting each other ever since

 (with blogging and other things too!)

 Sweet Becky.

It was such a pleasure to meet her (finally!)

She has been reading my blog for years, even though I don't read many blogs,

she still sticks with me. 

I, for some reason thought she'd be a huge talker and maybe be loud....

but she was sweet and reserved and so pleasant to be around.

I love how actually meeting and putting a voice with her words on the screen

is just, so, special.

 

Reminds me of God's love for  us.

How we all need each other.

It's wonderful to be friends online,

but to be physically present, is just all the more special.
It shows we are all one Body.

One Body in Christ.

 Marie with her sweet little girls!

She was so laid back and easy going.

I was not that laid back when I had 2 littles with no big kids to help!

We were all googly eyed over this sweet baby....oh, my,

 if she doesn't make you want another baby, nothing will.
  Marie was such a great conversationalist. 

Her stories are really interesting.

 Maggie surprised us all by saying she was not coming and then showed up anyway!

We were all overjoyed!

 She was either posing for pictures

or taking them!

She has a budding photography business now!

(If you have a link Mags, I'll link your business)

 Becky's girls have the most beautiful eyes and were sweet just like their mama!

Hey!  There was pop?

We were all too busy gabbing and laughing!

Christine actually stopped chasing chickens to sit and enjoy a cold drink, I'm glad! 

She gets those muscles from picking up chickens...

 I brought my 2 oldest girls

(this is my oldest daughter, with Sarah's Lily and Christine's Colette)

ON A DUNE BUGGY!!

 

See?  I told you, tons of stuff to do at Christine's!

 She told me on our way home

"This was the best day of my life!"

(pretty sure that's partly because I did not bring my littles and so she was

free to go rafting, swim in their pond, explore, go on their zipline, balance on their slackline,

ride in the dune buggy and hang out with some really nice kids)

 Skateboarding, ripsticking, sidewalk chalk, 4 square, bubbles....the fun never ends!

We filled our souls with lovely talk and laughter.

We girl talked too.
 

Lori here, to come so far, really touched my heart,

well, you all did!

You are all so very special to me and you always will be.

Friends to encourage, share, lift up, pray for and love.

Thank you, thank you ladies!

(Christine, I can feel your hand behind my head!)

My flowers are still beautiful and make me

smile every time I look out my kitchen window!
They remind me of my sweet blogging friends and how blessed I am
because of them.