August 2017 Update

Hello friends and family!  Here is what has happened in my family since I wrote you last.  It’s been an eventful month!

 

On July 21, we got to see some of you that get this update when we went to the Wilson family reunion at Lighthouse Christian Camp in Barker, NY, on the shores of beautiful Lake Ontario.  The Wilson family is my wife’s Dad’s family.  I know a lot of my parents’ generation Matthews relatives have memories of that camp as well from when they lived in western NY.  It’s still a great place to go, and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to see Krista’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and their families.

 

The biggest news of this month happened on July 25 when my sixth grandchild was born!  Ruby Lynn Wilkinson arrived weighing 6 pounds 8 ounces.  Mom Carissa and baby Ruby (and Dad Matt!) are all doing really well.  She went to church for the first time this past Sunday, and everyone loved her (of course).  And you know there are lots of pictures!

 

Ready to go in for Ruby's arrival

Hi mom!

See how much she weighs?

Bored with life already



With Aunt Caitlin

Even cute when she's not happy!

The new family

Uncle Ben says hi

Found her fingers!

Ready to go home

Our next adventure was going camping at Hamlin Beach State Park on the shores of beautiful Lake Ontario on July 28-30.  We haven’t done that in a few years, but the excitement of camping with the Mickles and Sommers got us going again.  Also joining us for our camping trip were Abigail’s boyfriend, Seth, and Cai’s girlfriend, Amy.  We had three campsites next to each other, and enjoyed an Amazing Race (created and run by Cai), biking, walking, cookouts, games, sunsets, and on and on.  We broke tradition this year in one way though.  Usually, the forest service contacts us when there’s a drought and asks us to go camping because that’s sure to start a torrential downpour, but this year it stayed dry the whole time we were camping.  Which is good, because as I’ve mentioned in previous months, our water levels in this area have been very high for a long time and are just now starting to get back to normal.  If we got our normal camping rain, we would have flooded the shores of beautiful Lake Ontario again!

 

Looking one direction is our tent (Krista, myself, and the girls) and the boys' tent

Looking the other way to the Mickels' site

And down that way was the rest of the boys and the Sommers

Levi loves camping!

Sunset on the shores of beautiful Lake Ontario

Alma and Hazel ready for a bike ride

When we returned from camping, we had a day to get ourselves back together, and since Amy was with us and it was her birthday, you know we had to have a party!  Cai made an amazing cake for us all to enjoy, and it was so good, he made another one the next day!

 

It tasted even better than it looks!

Then on August 2, Krista, Jem, Levi, and I headed south to Philadelphia (which is nowhere near the beautiful shores of Lake Ontario) to meet Ruby and see Carissa, Matt, Caitlin, and Ben.  While we were there, Jem, Levi, and I went into downtown Philly to see the historic sites.  We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and several parks.  Then we met Caitlin on her lunch break from work before heading back to their houses and more Ruby-time.

 

Ruby and her Grandpa

Classic fencer pose

Uncle Levi loves Ruby!



Ruby with her Mom-mom

...and a Levi photobomb

At the Liberty Bell

In front of Independence Hall



Jem laughing at Levi

Looking solemn in front of the Tomb

In Washington Square Park



In Old City Hall where the Supreme Court met when Philadelphia was the U.S. capital



Levi wanted a close-up in Independence Hall

Where the Declaration of Independence was adopted

They're supposed to be posing like George

Hanging with Ben

Waiting for Caitlin so we can go to lunch

I think she's ready to give a high-five

At our weekly Civil Air Patrol meeting on August 10, our squadron went to a local Remote Control flying club (also nowhere near the beautiful shores of Lake Ontario).  Zach and the other cadets had opportunity to fly some of the planes, which helped them put into practice the things they’ve been learning about aerospace in CAP.

 

You may have to zoom in to see it, but the plane Zach's flying is in this picture

My son-in-law, Ben’s, birthday was on August 12, and Krista’s birthday was on the 16th, so we had plenty of celebrations this month!

 

On August 15, I got to perform for the first time with my barbershop chorus!  The building we own has been designated as a Historical Site, and the Village of Webster (where our building is, and which happens to be on the beautiful shores of Lake Ontario) had a dedication ceremony.  We opened the ceremony with The Star-Spangled Banner and closed it with God Bless America.  It was really fun, and I can’t wait until we perform again.  We’re going to do a September 11th ceremony in Webster (on the beautiful… oh, never mind) singing The Star-Spangled Banner and The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and then we’re going to our regional convention in Rochester on 9/22-24.  There we will be singing a barbershop arrangement of Frank Sinatra’s hit That’s Life, and a song called I Didn’t Want to Fall.  If I get recordings of any of this or web viewing options, I’ll let you all know.

 

Until September!