July Update

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.

Zach receiving his Staff Sergeant promotion

Getting ready to present the colors

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!