July 2023

 

July 2 - Our 2nd day on the way to Cindy and Ken's.  We saw fog in Iowa, rain in Illinois and Michigan.

We made it!  Met the new cat babies Echo and Shady! I am so sad that I didn't even get a picture of Cindy on her 40th birthday!

July 3 - Blake taking his morning nap in Ken's new recliner. Echo sitting at the table with me. Taking the cans and bottles in for recycling. We got enough cash to pay for the groceries we needed.

We went to pick blueberries at Becky's patch. Our hands got real dirty. Then we saw a blueberry picking machine.

Just chilling with all the animals.  Shady was the most friendly.

July 4 - We made the trip to Shipshewanna, Indiana to Dutch Creek Farms.  It's so fun to see these animals come up to the wagon for food.  We were sitting behind Cindy and Ken, so getting pictures was tricky.

The wagon ride is so fun! And the petting zoo is fun, too. Blake took a little snooze on the the way home.

Going for a fun nightly walk around the neighborhood.

July 5 - We did a really fun thing! We caught a charter fishing boat on Lake Michigan at 5:30am! It was through Fish Stalker Charters with Captain Kevin Roberts.  The sunrise was incredible on the way out on the lake.

I just couldn't get enough of the gorgeous sunrise!

Here we are on the boat waiting to get where the fish are. It was a fun ride. Captain Kevin got 12 poles all into the water, we just had to watch them to see if they had fish on them.

The first fish on the line! Ken reeled it in! it was hard! The fish was huge!

The 2nd one on the line! Blake reeled it in! It was really hard! It was big, but not as big as Ken's.

Now for the 3rd one! Cindy's turn! it was so, so hard, but she stuck with it! It was the biggest!

These are some huge fish!

Now for the 4th! I tried reeling it in, but must be really weak, and let Ken finish getting it in! It looks big in the net, but it's quite a bit smaller than Cindy's.  

We ended up catching 4 more nice fish. We were so glad that it was one at a time, it would have been really interesting if we would have had two coming in at the same time.  It was so much fun!

Captain Kevin had a nice place to hang the fish so we could get a good picture of all of them.  He cleaned and filleted them.  Look at all that meat! There was some Salmon and some Trout. We cooked some up and it was pretty good, except Ken didn't like it much.

July 6 - On our way back home - we found a Red Lobster in Kearney, Nebraska!

July 7 - We went to the Fort Collins, Colorado Temple.  It was such a nice little temple.  We really enjoyed it.

July 9 -  We brought some fish home and cooked it up.  Everyone liked it! Even the kids!

Ryder hanging out with Penny. Penny just doing her sit-ups. Maden, Hallie, Molly and Annie playing a game on the bed. It's easier to cut Penny's nails when she's sleeping.

July 10 - I love the beautiful summer sunsets!

July 13 - A bunch of us went to watch Molly, Hallie, Michael, James and Kenzley at swimming lessons.  It was a perfect morning.

July 14 - Lynne, Rob, Kaylene, Michelle and I put in a long afternoon clearing things out of my parents house and started setting up for a big garage/estate sale.  It was a lot of work!

July 15 - Ryder got baptized! We are so proud of you and love you so much! He had a lot of people come and support him. 

It was a beautiful service! I felt very honored to be asked to give the talk on Baptism. I think Ryder liked his Baptism Bear. I was so glad that Grandma Beth got to watch on FaceTime!

Mark and Helen Purcell reunion! Penny was the star of the show.  She tried to get Brent's beard and made a new friend in Olivea.

Molly and Hallie had a grand time with a lot of cousins on the blow up water slide.

July 16 - Just playing a game with Jared, Hallie, Nikelle, Molly and Penny.

July 19 - Starting the day off right with this beautiful sunrise!

July 21 - Another wonderful sunrise.

July 22 - All ready for the garage/estate sale!

I couldn't have done this without these two! Michelle and Shauna were incredible help!

Everything was gone by 2:45, except the bedroom set! Not all sold, but hauled out. We had an angel named Joane Clovis show up just as we were ending and volunteered to take two loads to the DI in her pickup! It was such an amazing act of service that we won't soon forget.  Jared took a big load to the dump in his dump trailer.  

Penny thinks she is so funny to have this bottle!

July 23 - Grandpa giving Penny some carbonated water! She thought it was amazing! Hallie loves helping me play a game on the iPad.  

July 25 - Annie gets to take some horse riding lessons as a reward for getting good grades.  I got to take her to her first lesson, she learned how to put the bridle on November, then lead her around, then brush her and clean her hooves. She thought it was great fun. 

July 26 - Another unique sunset.

July 27 - I woke up to thunder! I tried to get a picture of the lightning, but was never quite quick enough.

The bedroom set from my parents house is being hauled off on this flatbed trailer.

July 28 - Two for one! The starting of a beautiful sunrise, but at the same time lighting up the clouds in the west.  I love these beautiful coral roses.

July 29 - Another breathtaking sunrise!

July 30 - Penny and Hallie visiting with Grandma Beth and Grandpa Paul!

The phases of a sunset within 15 minutes.  Just beautiful.

July 31 - Annie got to come spend the night.  She loved riding the scooter, doing handstands in the grass and on the trampoline, then playing games on the tramp with the Williams kids.

Another two for one, Sunset in the west, and beautifully lit up clouds in the east.