Our summer.....

Well, once again it is time for school to start and summer has gone by in a blur.  I have very few pictures to show for it too. The older the kids get, the more they dislike Mom's camera so I don't remember to get it out like I should.

Here are some highlights from July & August....

- In July, we all went to Hartville, Ohio, to our church conference.
- Darryn was gone for about 10 days to Alaska visiting his cousin, Kayla.
- In August, the other 4 kids were away to a camp with our church youth.
- With Darryn in Alaska and the rest at camp, Lyn & I had 4 days at home with no kids here!
- We took 3 days (in a row) to do some day trips for a little vacation this year with a few pics to prove it.

The first day we went to Chincoteague Island.  Dwight & Devan had been camping with friends for a few days down in the southern tip of the penisula.  Driving to Chincoteague was about 2/3 of the way there so it was a good place to meet the boys.  We had lunch at a "hippie" lunch stand.  The kids thought the hammocks in the trees were pretty cool.

We did spend about an hour sitting on the beautiful beach before we met up with the boys.

And then for the evening we went to a dirt racetrack which is near the southern DE line.  Some friends met us there so that made it more fun even if it was a bit too loud to talk the whole time.

The second day we drove about 2 hrs. to the west side of D.C.  Someone told us about Great Falls National Park which we had never heard of.  It is only about 10 min. off the D.C. beltway and the Potomac River runs through it.  There is a "waterfall" area and some nice hiking trials.  We would like to go back again sometime and hike the other side of the river which has a separate park entrance.

We had some extra time so we stopped in at the Smithsonian National Zoo on the way home.  I got pictures of the 2 most interesting things we saw.

A mouse-deer type of critter

A lion king that stood up and gave us a couple of loud roars

By the end of the day, the kids were getting silly and were having fun running around and posing by the animal statues.

On the third day everyone was ready to sleep in and we had laundry to catch up on.  In the afternoon we headed for the Cowtown Rodeo in New Jersey which is just over a hour drive.  On the way, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for supper.  Someone had given us gift cards.  That turned out to be a bad experience.  It took them forever to wait on us.  Finally half of us got food and it was lukewarm.  They were mostly done eating before the others got their food.  We had gotten in traffic earlier and then with the slowness at the restaurant, we were running late and afraid there wouldn't be any seats left at the rodeo.  We took the last meals mostly to go and thankfully found some seats.  Once we were seated about 7:10, we realized the rodeo started at 7:30, not 7:00, and we could have breathed a little easier.  On the plus side, Cracker Barrel did cut our bill in half!

I know I took my camera to the rodeo.  I guess it must have stayed in my bag because there is not one picture from it!  Aaagh!!!

The next day was Darryn's last Sunday here at home so he and Ericka invited a group of friends over to play volleyball, swim and eat.  The rest of us hung out down at the pond with them.  It wasn't really the same as getting away for vacation, but it was ok for this year.  And we got to check out some "new" things for us not too far away from home.

Visit from the Freeds

It was very nice to have my sister, Joy, here along with her husband, Shaun, and 3 kids, Elena, Greta, & Landis.  Their children have never been to our house in the summer time.  For those of you who are family, you already saw a bunch of Joy's pics of their time here.  I have a few more beach pictures and some from our house down at the pond.  These are for you, Joy.

 Elena is actually standing up in a very deep hole that was filled in around her.

The finished sand fort, mostly built by these girls.  Dwight & Devan are building a moat around the front to protect it from the incoming waves.

A picture to prove that all my kids were there.

They all had off on the same day without planning it!

We had a lot of fun just hanging out at our place and it was a hot weekend so the pond felt nice.  Actually, it was so hot we were trying to find the cold spots in the water!

 The zip line has had fishing lures (and tangled line) stuck on it since last summer.  Lyn, Shaun & Dwight got them cleaned off and the kids had fun just using the zip line from the low end and swinging out over the water.

Ready.....

 ....hang onto knot and start running....

Wheee.....sail out over water and let go.

(Sorry, Elena, my picture of you doing this didn't turn out.)

Of course, Renae thought that Dexter had to join in the fun!

And this last picture is to prove that Joy was actually here too!

I don't know why we didn't take a picture of Joy's whole family together!  And I only had 1 picture taken in the house....the one Joy put on her blog with the girls on the couch!  Oh, well.....  Thanks for coming!  We really enjoyed having you here.

Class of 2015

Congratulations, Ericka!  On Sunday, May 31, Ericka graduated from Greenwood Mennonite School.  Hard to believe we now have 2 graduated from High School!  We are very pleased that she was able to be the valedictorian.  (She has always tried her best to keep up with Darryn.)  It was her great grade in physics that put her there!

Way to go, Ericka!

GMS class of 2015 - 13 girls, 3 boys

Congrats to all of you!

Grandma was able to come in for a few days.

Grandma Byler was even able to make it.

We went together with 4 other girls from her class and had a party the next evening.   The party turned out very nice.  Unfortunately I was too busy helping and talking to take any pics. (so sad)  Lyn barbecued 400 pieces of chicken at our house and put them in coolers to take to the party.  Erma set up her chocolate fountain for us and we had Byler's hand dipped ice cream for dessert.  The rest of the families made mac & cheese, baked beans, 7 layer salad, veggie sticks, and sweet tea which were all excellent.  We rented Sam Yoder's pavillion and had volleyball & corn hole set up outside.  We are thanking God that the looming thunderstorms held off until we were mostly cleaned up.

 This is a picture of her table.

The griller and his helpers

Softballs and Gowns

Ericka's softball team at school was without a coach.  It was time for practice to start and they still had no one.  Somehow, Lyn got talked into coaching this year....Ericka's senior year, was the ploy used.  He really did enjoy it once he was working with the girls.  It was a big commitment for a busy man.....3 times a week and 4 hrs a night or more if it was an away game.  I think Lyn will be able to look back and say he was glad he did it, but he was sure glad to have it over!

Ericka was the lead off batter

She played center field 

This is the 3 seniors with the 2 coaches

The "little" 9th grade boys, Dwight & his friend Ryan, that Ericka brought home from games/practices.  They had the same game schedule.

It's always a big event the night of the jr/sr banquet.  The senior parents are invited for the first hour and a light snack.  After that, most of the parents went out to eat together and watched a video of the seniors.

Our girl all grown up

Ericka & her dad

These 4 lovely girls went together and squished into this old Mercedes Benz (which belonged to a grandparent.)  It didn't really have a normal back seat so they weren't all buckled.  They were supposed to stay on the back roads only and take a different car if they went elsewhere, but these 18 yr. olds didn't listen to their parents and "went out on the town" afterwards.  They said they didn't think we were serious! Thankful God kept them safe and thankful they didn't get pulled over!

Spring Travels

Lyn and I have had quite the exciting places to travel this spring!  The 2nd weekend in April we were in the Lake Tahoe area for a Strategic Renewal Advisory Board Meeting.  Lyn meets with this board once a year.  Lake Tahoe is a beautiful area.  They were lacking in snow this year and most of the ski resorts were closing.  There are over 20 around this lake.  It was beautiful and the weather was great.  We had 2 afternoons that we were able to explore and do some hiking.

Our first time driving in California

Lake Tahoe is half in California and half in Nevada.  It is over 70 miles around it.  The price of land is outlandish and there were many nice homes.  The one afternoon we drove around the lake.  On the south side, we found a hike and then we made our own trail on up an old glacier bed.

This was our view out the one way....

.....and this was out the other way.

We stayed on the northeast side of Lake Tahoe in the tall green bldg. (Hyatt)

Then.....the 3rd week in May we flew to Denver and spent 5 days in Colorado Springs being counseled (we learned a lot!) with Caring for the Heart Ministries.  We arrived 1 day early and were able to spend it at Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park.  

Our trail was still mostly snowed packed.  This was in the Bear Lake area.

We decided to turn around at this lake....it was windy and COLD!  The trail continued on up.

The road thru the park wasn't opened yet.  This was at the turn around spot.

The elk were down in the town of Estes Park feeding.

We were so thankful to have this nice day.  That night, rain moved in and stayed all week.  The clouds hung low and we couldn't even see the mountains.....all week!  They supposedly have over 300 days of sunshine in a year.  We were glad we weren't there on vacation.  It would have been sooooo disappointing.  Finally, on the last day the sun came out, we were able to see the mountains, and we had an afternoon to visit the Garden of the Gods.

Balanced Rock

At the top you can see the "kissing camels"

The clouds moved away and gave us a glimpse of Pike's Peak.  We realized Friday that we could have seen Pike's Peak from our motel had it been clear.  We couldn't even see the foothills!

Pike's Peak (the faint snow cap in the distance)

It was a really good week for us personally!  It was a crazy time of year to be gone though.  Spring is always so busy here at home.  The garden was mostly planted and the mulching done before we left.  The strawberries were just starting when we got back so I guess it was good timing.

Birthday Time

It's hard to believe that 20 years ago we had our first newborn baby.  We have enjoyed having Darryn here at home the past two years while he has been going to college and working in the deli at the store.  The "cake" is brownie squares and oreos.....his two favorites....with a few M&Ms sprinkled around for color.

At 15, Dwight is now as tall as his brother.  We are thinking he might pass him up.  They have always been pretty good sports about having to share the same birthday!

DQ Reese's ice cream cake.....yummm!

And a week later Ericka turned 18!  It's hard to believe I have another one almost through high school.  We have enjoyed seeing her come out of her shell and become a fine young lady.

And the day after Ericka's birthday, we had a new birth....a heifer calf.  It doesn't look like the other cow got bred.  Guess where she will be heading to soon?  Yup, T-bone soup.