At Home in August

While I was away in June and July, Paul had plenty of jobs to keep him busy and out of trouble at home!

The pergola has been in the works for a few years.  When we first bought our home, the deck seemed small.

 Last year, Paul added a section, making the deck  12‘ x 28‘, almost doubling the size.

The pergola for the deck was still his priority, so we got estimates, thinking it would be nice to have it built.  That didn’t work, since they were all more than five times our budget!  

So when we got back from our spring MMAP trip, he did some figuring and ordered supplies, had them delivered

and began building!  

The posts needed to come up from the ground, so he had a lot of extra work to make sure it was sturdy. A lot of thought went into the specifics and details, including the spacing of the cedar beams, and lighting.

He was adamant about having round pillars, which I acknowledge was worth the extra work and money, and made the deck even more elegant!  The end result could not have pleased us more!!

He finished all the last details this month.  i am so proud of all that he accomplishes!

The swing set was on the list since we moved in, and Paul completed it; painting it John Deere green,

making it adjustable for all of the grandkids by adding a baby seat,

a tractor seat,

as well as a regular standard straight board seat.

After I got home, a colored window that we found and purchased in our wanderings became another project.  We originally purchased it for our bathroom, but it did not fit.  Our second choice was above our front door.  But that entailed some ingenuity,

and eventually, it was completely installed!

Since February, I have been home for six weeks.  But we did not slow down a bit!  This month,

Celebrations included Andy’s birthday,

and the announcement of gender of Karyn and Andy’s #3 coming in December.  It is going to be another little girl!  We all decided that is okay, because they make cute little girls.....

Activities

included the Williamson County Fair,

Grandkid time,

and attending Gospel Explosion.  A perk we have by living near the Music Capitol includes the opportunity to be exposed to many music venues, some of which we do take advantage of. 

Although we had not heard of any of the groups, they were all fantastic, harmonizing and singing some great gospel songs.

In His Image

By Faith

and Jordan Road Boys

It was a great time of worship.

It is time to pack up again.  MMAP projects await!  

In September, we will be in Teladega, Alabama, and in October we are scheduled for near Baltimore, Maryland.

July Happenings!

We celebrated July 4th at Nate’s house; he has a great yard for shooting off fireworks.  We had purchased fireworks while in Indiana, then our city banned them due to the drought, but Nate’s city still allowed them.  So we were able to celebrate the fourth with them and their home Bible Study group in style, with burgers, hot dogs, salads, the works!  And I did not have my camera, shame on me!  However, we had a great time.

My life is not my own.  The Lord puts me in places I would not necessarily put myself, but I am truly blessed when I am able to follow Him.  A trip with World Changers was one of these times.  The female chaperone was not able to accompany our church youth at the last minute on their trip to Anniston, AL.  Long story short, I found myself on the church bus with nine of our youth from church.  What a blessing!

There were several other churches with over 250+ students willing to physically work hard and witness, while being challenged spiritually during services at night.

My group, the “bone crushers”, were assigned to an older lady who had several maintenance problems on her house that we were able to correct for her as well as witnessing to her and in her neighborhood.

Besides repairing a leak in her roof by her chimney, we fixed the ceiling of her porch;  before 

                                   during 

                                                                       

                                      and after 

and added a wheelchair ramp

Repaired windows and painted trim and her porch; before 

and after,

We even added some plants for that special touch.

And of course I had to get a picture of the world’s largest chair!

The following week was VBS, where I got to play with the toddlers.  Although it was low key,  by the end of the week I was worn out.  I have been fighting a persistent cough, which turned out to be bronchitis.  So after three weeks, I am now starting on the second round of antibiotics, steroids and “puffer”, and trying to take it easy so I can feel better!

But I don’t have time to be sick...  there are too many fun things to do..... like
having individual time with granddaughters.... their choice for lunch:
Hailey at McDonalds

and Tegan at Chick-Fil-A

Then to the zoo with Nate, Chris, David Jakob, Karyn, Hailey and Tegan.... a fun day.

And then going to see the world premier of The Nutty Professor Musical, directed by the original professor, Jerry Lewis!  

He was in the audience during the show we attended, and got up on the stage afterwards and spoke.  It was great to see someone like that in person... and from the front row, center seats we had a great view!  

And of course the annual Women’s VBS.... yes VBS for women.  A great 3-day conference.  (Although I was only able to make it to one, I was blessed~).  
It was a great way to unwind and end the month of July!