AMAZING (and there's a happy ending!)

Sabbath Rest

A trip down memory lane... Mary Jane is sorting through a bunch of stuff in preparation for ... (have the beans been spilled yet? hmmm...). So we went through a box of Fisher Price Kitchen stuff that we all used to play with. I couldn't pass up taking a few things. Ryan used to have this story memorized about Shep the German Shepherd that saved the boys start to finish. Oh, the books from our childhood... the best stories ever... Loony Coon, Clever Queen, Spunky's Diary, Bernstein Bears, Swift Arrow, Taught by a Tiger... need I say more.

Tutt tutt, I'm soaked!

God answered my prayer, it rained! After weeks of 100+ scorching weather, what a relief. But next time I wish he would hold off until I'm back in my car on my way home... or at least when I know where my car is in the parking lot...

2 x 3

You know who you are

Although I didn't have cell phone service for most of my birthday, as soon as I came back into service my phone was making lots of noise. And when I got home, I found that 3 elves had broken in and left me presents (and groceries on accident)! (I might have been even more grateful if they had finished the puzzle still sitting on my floor.) Ya'll (dare I use this expression?) filled my inbox with special things too! Thanks to all of you who made me feel loved and special on my birthday!


At work Thursday I saw this quote on the desk calendar at the nurses station for August 8:

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I thought Carrie's birthday card to me was even more appropriate:
Friends will be there for you when you do something stupid...
... but a good friend remembers to bring a camera.

You all know who you are...

Sunny Alabama days

So, I was really kidding. My summer wasn't over. I took another almost-week off at the Knights' lakehouse in Oneonta, AL. (I have now worked a total of 3 days in the last month.) Apparently I'm becoming a Giants fan... and an Alabama fan. I now have my own maroon Alabama shirt and I have fallen in love with the Alabama landscape (nice and mountainous around the lakehouse) to go along with my Alabama boy. It was nice to relax away from internet and cell phone service and eat lots of good home cooking thanks to Nanna, Aunt Suzanne, and Ryan's mom, Valeri. I don't think I've ever eaten so many fresh garden vegetables in my life!

Perhaps the best part about this vacation month has been playing with my camera. Digitals make picture taking so much more fun because you get immediate results on your experiments! Here are a few of the results:

Ross (Ryan's brother)

John boards with Ross behind

Ryan watches while his cousin John tests his wakeboard, Ryan's new wakeboard, that he couldn't use because of his knee... :-(

Robin takes a turn

John and Ross (I missed getting a good picture of Jeff, John, and Ross on there together)

Seen a picture like this before? Stanley gets a footrub from Nanna

On Sabbath afternoon we sang lots of old youth songs and hymns.
Here's Aunt Suzanne and Pawpaw.

Happy Birthday to me with Key Lime pie

One last spin before leaving on my birthday

Ryan's learning to use my camera too. Pretty good, eh?