Since I alluded to some busyness, I’ll try to do my best at relaying personal happenings. :-)
As you already know, Abby graduated in May. In general, I think May marks the season of many graduations, and this year was no exception! I don’t believe we’ve known more people graduating than this year…at least 10. (You’re probably thinking that’s quite small…for us…it just isn’t!) So, that filled some of our days.
Also in May, my grandma M. came for an extended visit. She was able to see where we live, visit with her great-granddaughter, spend time with us, and also be here for Abby’s graduation. 
Not only that, but at the end of May, Ab & I attended our church’s young adult retreat at a local State Park. We enjoyed camping, eating around the campfire, coming together for 4 different sessions (the topic for the retreat was “The Names of Christ”), volleyball, and….the Tri-Fecta challenge. Having never heard of it before either, I’ll explain.
Not only that, but at the end of May, Ab & I attended our church’s young adult retreat at a local State Park. We enjoyed camping, eating around the campfire, coming together for 4 different sessions (the topic for the retreat was “The Names of Christ”), volleyball, and….the Tri-Fecta challenge. Having never heard of it before either, I’ll explain. 
There are three phases to this challenge. Since we were already divided into multiple teams for the weekend, each team had to complete a certain phase. The first phase was: build your own raft -- only using the materials given, or off the land, which included 6 trash bags, 50+ balloons, and…duct tape. Mhm, yes, duct tape. So, our teams had a half an hour to work on their raft. We were blowing, taping, and collaborating about the third part of the challenge.
Second phase: race your raft against another team. (Yes, it had to be float-worthy!!) One of the leaders went out several yards from the shore and buoyed a beach ball in the lake. The rules of the race: two people from your team must be on the raft (this I wasn’t so sure about since I was one of the two on the boat…I was afraid embarrassment would call my name!); one of the team members had to take a Gnome from our YAC leader’s hand, which already had a sponge inside it, and we had to safely take it across the lake and back -- trying not to let it fall into the water or get wet, otherwise there would be a points deduction.
Well, the race began! After having the privilege of watching a couple of the teams race, team Emmanuel geared up for the challenge. I went ahead and sat on the front part of the raft, while my friend, Allison, retrieved our Gnome and got into position as the other paddler. With two pieces of wood trim, we paddled our way across the lake -- with hopes of not sinking! Happily, we made it to the buoy and back with no mad underwater accidents. Sadly, we lost that round to the other team.
After we all enjoyed watching & rooting the other teams on, everyone headed back to the campsite for the third part of the challenge: a skit. The rules of the game were that you had to be on marooned on an island, and use two prize words. I won’t take the time to explain everyone’s skit, but they were definitely enjoyable! Afterwards, everyone voted for their favorite skit.The winning skit!
A fun weekend was had by all!
June came bustling all over and we still kept busy with things. One of which was the annual home school conference we attend. Although we do make it to the local exhibit, we also enjoy taking a jot over to St. Louis for their conference. The speakers are great! We enjoyed listening to Ken Ham, Kevin Swanson, and Paul Jehle; also in attendance were Marshall Foster & Woody Robertson. It was good to see our friends over there as well! That’s usually the only time we get to see them.
Also, we experienced a sad moment in June. My grandpa (whom we lovingly called "Poppy", my mom's dad) passed away at the age of 81. His health had slowly gotten worse over the previous 8 months, so it wasn't a complete shock. It's never easy, though. We miss him!
Over the 4th of July we had a family of friends over to celebrate. We shot off fireworks, ate a lot of food, played Round Robin at the ping-pong table, enjoyed homemade banana ice cream, and to top it all off…played in the downpour! Yep, our 4th was a rain-soaking event during the night hours. But, did that stop us? No! Me and a friend actually had a Roman candle war, and the others lit their fireworks as well! Not only that, but all of us young people decided to be a little crazy and…run out into the rain and get drenched! Needless to say we were totally soaked!! But, I’m glad we did it, good memories.
Now for the biggest news. We've moved! We tried hard to find a home in the country, but nothing was coming through for us on that end. However, the home we did find is located in a quiet, older neighborhood with lots of trees, and privacy. We officially moved in about three weeks ago, with the big help of some good friends. We are so grateful to those who were able to come pick up furniture (piano and all), boxes and all of our ‘treasures’ -- we couldn’t have done it without you!
Ab & I also had the privilege of helping out with our church’s VBS this year -- a first for both of us. I was in charge of the 5th graders -- it was so good to meet them! I must confess that I was starting to freak out the night before the first day, but everything turned out okay.
Last week both my sisters attended Jr. Camp. Ab helped and Molly was a camper. They both really enjoyed it! That's the first time either one of them had been away for that period of time. Thursday evening the camp hosted a Family Night for all the families of the campers, counselors, and staffers. It was awesome to hear the team's cheers back and forth!! Ohh...I loved it! We also got to watch the skit that they perform every year -- it was great! By the end of the week, we had two, blue face painted girls who were very tired. But, they loved it!
Shwew! I hope that doesn’t wear you out! That’s the trouble with dragging your feet, everyone else gets the dust!I’m sure many of you are busy this summer, too! Drop me a note sometime to let me know what you’ve been doing…
Happy Summer!
