June 2018 Update

The bad news is that this is a week late.  The good news is it’s a week late because we were visiting Kortney and her family in Minnesota last week, so that story will be included in this update.

 

May 19 was my barbershop chorus’s annual show, the first one in which I participated.  It was tons of fun!  We do a skit with songs interspersed that’s about an hour long, and we always have one or two guest performers.  This year’s guests were a quartet from Ohio, and the University of Rochester Yellowjackets, a men’s a cappella group.

 

May 20 was Abigail’s nursing pinning and graduation at Genesee Community College.  Congratulations to her for this achievement!  Please pray for her as she studies now and soon takes her NCLEX test to become a certified RN.

 

Pinning processional (Abigail is covering the "G" in SUNY GCC)

Listening to the thrilling speaker

Pinned!

Saying the Nursing pledge (all nurses in attendance, so Hannah and Kevin participated)



Pinning recessional

Abigail and her friend, Lydia

With her friend, Kristen and two of Kristen's three boys

Graduation processional

Getting her diploma

There sure are a lot of hands to shake!

Balloon drop!

Balloon drop GIF!

For Memorial Day, we spent the day at the Mickles with all of our local family.  The weather couldn’t have been better, and we thoroughly enjoyed the warmth and good food and family time.

 

Dive for it!

We received some scary news on 6/8.  Carissa's husband, Matt, who works for a roofing company, fell off a two story roof because of a loose slate shingle.  By God's grace, his life was spared, but he broke his right leg, fractured his pelvis on both sides, and fractured a very low vertebra.  They determined he did not need surgery or a cast, but he is home recovering and off work for several weeks.  Please pray for him to be able to manage his pain, and for all those caring for him.


We celebrated Hannah’s birthday on 6/6, and Kortney and Mat’s anniversary on 6/13.  To be precise, the family got together for Hannah’s birthday dessert on 6/10, and we sent wishes from afar for Kortney and Mat’s anniversary, but then we hand-delivered a card to them when…

 

We drove out to Minnesota (Krista, Zach, Jem, Levi, and I) for a week-long visit with Kortney, Mat, and Daisy.  God blessed us right at the beginning because I had reserved a full-sized rental car for the trip and was able to upgrade to a minivan at no extra charge.  That made the trip a lot more comfortable for our three teenagers who would have had to share a back seat for the 17 hour drive otherwise.

 

While we were there, we visited playgrounds, the Minneapolis Sculpture Park, Convention Grill, Minnehaha Falls and the Mississippi River, and Mat’s family’s cabin on Lake Kimble.  We were there on Fathers’ Day, and we had planned to join Mat’s family at Convention Grill to celebrate, but too many others had the same plan, so we ended up getting pizza and enjoying it at his parents’ house.  Daisy was delightful in every way, and we all made good friends again quickly, even though we hadn’t seen her since Christmas.  Actually, Zach was just there last month with Amelia, so we joked a lot about his monthly visits to see them, and Daisy seemed to remember him.  She called both him and Levi “Zach,” but that’s better than how she pronounced “Grandpa” which came out sounding like “caca.”  Her cuteness allowed her to get away with it.

 

Playground



Daisy and Mom-mom

At the Sculpture Park

The silent bell

Daisy playing with Uncle Zach (the elder)

Hiking at Minnehaha Falls

Can you hear the waterfalls?

Daisy, what are you doing? "Hiking!"

We made it all the way to the Mississippi River!

Big kids and little kids love the playground!

Sometimes a stick and rocks are more fun than anything else

Mat’s family’s cabin was beautiful, and the weather when we were there was perfect for outdoor and water play.  We kayaked, canoed, water skied, paddle boarded, swam, boated, tubed, fed the sunfish, and generally had a fantastic time.  Their cabin reminded me of my brother, Ken’s, cabin that I visited about a year ago.

 

The cabin

Kortney, Daisy, and Mandy the Moose

Getting used to the water

Getting used to the water the quick way!

Boat tour of Lake Kimble

A Loon on her nest

Male loon close by

Daisy loved her car!

Mat's dad, Mark, came up to join us

Can you see all the sunfish?

Mat shows us how it's done

Levi ready to give it a try

Zach on the tube!

Daisy chasing fish.  "Get 'em, get 'em, get 'em!"

The cabin from the water

Mat, skiing like a boss!

Daisy and her Daddy in the kayak

Expert paddle boarder!

Although we’d driven out there all at once, we took two days coming home, stopping at a hotel near South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday night.  That made for a little more comfort for the driver’s (my), shall we say, “endurance” if-you-know-what-I-mean-and-I-think-you-do.  Let’s just say, I didn’t feel the need to sit down a lot last night after we got home.  Hannah and Kevin and Alma and Alex came over after we were home to welcome us with a delicious dessert.

 

Ella and Cody and their girls made a trip down to North Carolina this past weekend with Amelia along to babysit so they could go to a friend of Ella’s wedding.  They’re back home now, so hopefully we can see them again soon.

 

That was our exciting June, so we’ll “talk” again in July!