4th of July Weekend

It seemed to me that we were on the go constantly this past weekend and I have a few pics to share. The cookout is at the Canfield's house. Greg was being so very nice in the background by holding an umbrella over Chris (the chef!) while he grilled in the rain. At least there was no lightening so the kids and yes, my grand dog Frida could swim. It was Fridas first time in a pool and she is pictured here swimming to Lindsey. On Sunday after church, a group of us went to Famous Dave's to celebrate Kathy's birthday. The pic above is of Mike F. after he finished ALL he could...... Burp!! We had lots of fun, were really tired, and would do it all again; well, next year we will hope for no rain during the party!

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Summer Bible Study

These are the girls that met tonight for our first summer Bible study. We had such a good time. We are joining Beth Moore's summer study on her Living Proof Ministries blog. We are excited to have six weeks this summer growing closer to God and each other. Please pray for our group; we are praying for others as we meet and talk every two weeks.

So, these are our friends, Debbie & Greg. The picture is from when we traveled to Alaska last summer. This year (actually next Friday) we are headed to the Smoky Mountains with them! Believe it or not, Mike and I have never been to the Smokies. We have both been to Europe, Mexico, and the UK, but never to the Smokies. We are excited and looking forward to getting away.

We love to travel and we love at least one or two trips a year which include Debbie & Greg. Summers off just have to include travel.

Nascar surprise

Mike and I go to the Coca Cola 600 every year. We go on a bus through his job. While working at school, I have met Samuel (on the left) who knows everything there is to know about Nascar. His brother Matthew, is at school this year too and I am getting to know him! Anyway, we invited their whole family to go to the race with us this year. We have all kept it a secret from the boys until today at 5pm. This week was state testing and we knew Samuel would not be able to concentrate if he knew. So, today both families (accident/NOT) happened to have dinner at McDonald's. Halfway through eating, we pulled out color copies of six tickets.........six! that is way to many for Mike and me so we better take the boys and their parents!!!! You can tell by the pics we made sure the boys were prepared...........they both got shirts, hats, and even coloring books!! They were both excited but Samuel was beside himself. He didn't even finish his dinner!! He was SSSOOOOO happy; he said it has been his dream. The moment he realized that we were ALL going was absolutely PRICELESS!!!!

Flat Stanley

I have a friend, Nick, in my Awana class at church. Nick goes to Milton Elementary where they have been reading about Flat Stanley. Nick asked me to take Flat Stanley to Altizer Elementary where I work and let him visit. Of course, I took pictures to document Flat Stanley's day! I showed Flat Stanley our recycling bin, he found books about himself in our library, he got a phone call at the secretary's desk, and he even got weighed at Weight Watchers after school! He had a nice day and was very tired when he got home.

In flight

When asked to provide a picture of something in flight, I knew what picture I would use. It is a bald eagle! We saw quite a few of them last summer on our tip in Alaska and this particular eagle was soaring around looking for food. Yep, babies in the nest! So, I'm posting an extra picture of the eagle sitting in the nest. The picture was taken through a telescope. It was all from Icy Strait Point and the town of Hoonah, Alaska. We saw our first bears here and were actually a little to close for comfort without protection around us. The way of life there in the winter is like something from way to far back for me to remember. Food ( all the beef) has to be flown or floated in and is very expensive for the residents.