Levi’s
baseball season is over, and his and Jemmie’s soccer seasons are winding
down. His baseball team ended up with a winning record and was the fourth
seed in the playoffs. They were eliminated in the first round, but played
well.
We had a busy
Independence Day weekend. On 7/3, I got up early and helped a family from
our church (the Sells) whose daughter was getting married that Saturday to get
chairs and tables from our church and take them to the reception site to set them
up. Our van holds a lot of cargo when all the seats are removed, and I
think we saved them a couple of trips they would have otherwise had to
take. Dan Sell has helped me many times with things around the house
since he is very knowledgeable in home repairs, and I am NOT. So, it was
good to give back to them a bit, although my arms felt it the next day from
carrying all those chairs!
Then that
night, our Civil Air Patrol Squadron provided the colors for the Star
Spangled Banner at the beginning of the Batavia Muckdogs baseball
game. The Muckdogs are the Single A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.
Zach participated in that and looked sharp.
He also was recently promoted to Staff Sergeant. We’re both looking
forward to our New York Wing Encampment that starts this week. I’ll tell
you more about it next month, but I did find out at the second staff training I
attended that I will be a Flight Training Officer as well as a Character
Development Instructor at the encampment. The FTO basically acts as
chaperone to a flight of cadets, going to their drill and classes with
them. I’m excited about the opportunity to get to know a good group of
cadets from all over New York State.
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| Zach receiving his Staff Sergeant promotion |
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| Getting ready to present the colors |
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| Zach is the one closest to the camera. You know, the one who looks the best |
Anyway, back
to our holiday weekend. We left the baseball game early since the
Muckdogs were getting crushed, and we got to attend the town fireworks with our
family, including Ella and Cody, and our Pastor and his family. We’ve
been attending the fireworks with them ever since they started at our church.
Then on 7/4,
we went to the Rhodes family reunion that they hold each year (Krista’s Mom’s
family). They hold it at Krull Park in Olcott, NY, which is right on Lake
Ontario. I asked my kids and Krista if they wanted to take a walk down to
the lake before we left, and foolishly invited Uncle Keith to go with us.
Well, he turned it into an hour long tour of Olcott! It was really sort
of fun, but more than I think my kids thought they were getting in to.
7/5 was
Vanessa Sell’s wedding that I mentioned above. We couldn’t go to the
reception, but we let the Sells borrow our van to take things back
afterwards. They said they didn’t get done until about 2AM, but they were
faithfully in church the next morning! Very dedicated!
On 7/10, my
brother, Gary, turned )(*&^#$%$@!$%. Hmm. Let’s try that
again. Gary turned %^#%%(*&*(*(&. I guess Google blogs can’t
enter numbers that large. Well, I hope you had a good birthday anyway,
Gary.
Also, on
7/10, Kortney (AKA The Bride—I guess she can keep that title for a while,
unless someone else takes it) and Mat came to visit us. Mat’s cousin (I
think) got married in Syracuse on 7/12, so they came a few days early to spend
time with us. This is an excellent example to all of you reading this. If your plans bring you anywhere near us, we’d love a visit!
Anyway, the family spent a good portion of the day Friday at Lake Ontario and
playing games at home—well, the rest of them did. I had to slave away at
my job. Hey, somebody’s got to do it.
Sunday, 7/13,
was Hannah and Kevin’s one year anniversary! Congratulations to you both!
That
afternoon, we went to Krista’s sister, Conny’s, house for her family’s annual
party. It’s always good to see her kids and their families. They
were getting ready for family pictures as we left, and I was touched by how
good God has been to them when I saw their beautiful family all together.
Caitlin is now in Africa! She is working for a few months as a housekeeper with
Mercy Ships on the M/V Africa Mercy. Yes, for those who know, that’s the
same ship on which Krista’s sister, Nanita, and her family are working, so they
are all enjoying getting to see family. Caitlin reports that she is doing
well, and that Uncle Ray (Nanita’s husband) is doing a good job checking on her
regularly. Please keep her in your prayers!
If
you would like email updates from her, please send me your email address, and
I’ll forward it to her.
Talk to you
all in August!
