To the beach!

Warm sunshine and sand. Toes cool in the water. 
A warm breeze and lots of giggles and splashes from these four crazy kids!  Thank you, Lord!

So many things to be thankful for yet my heart feels heavy and pulled a hundred different directions.  Too much to do makes it hard for me to be completely "here".  So many things on my mind.  I can't stand it!

But the Lord is so good.  Philippians 4:8 keeps ringing in my ear today.  "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things"

My mind keeps getting cluttered and bunched up so I keep praising and murmuring this verse. 

Till I get it.

On our way!

My Mother-in-law collects Santa's.  She keeps her santa collection out year round and it's beautiful.  Last week my sister's husband asked me last week if we wanted to take along his plastic light-up Santa.  He was getting rid of some Christmas extra's, so after talking to Keith we decided to take it as a surprise for his Mom. 

Surprise it was...for us when we saw how big it was! 

It had to ride on the roof of the Suburban!  Santa had his friend snoopy come along as well...but he fit inside the vehicle.  =)  We stopped at our local fruit market and as I walked inside she smiled and said, "You know you have a Santa on your car?" 

It's Christmas in July!!  I'm sure we brought some smiles along our way...well, definately a lot of double-take looks and stares but hey, we laughed a lot!

When we arrived, Keith thought it would be funny to strap Santa to the front of the car and drive up the lane.  So that's exactly what he did!

We laughed, honked and waved!  (It doesn't take much to humor us!)

--and Keith's Mom thought we were crazy and LOVED IT!

Celebration of Life

Saturday we celebrated the life of my Grandparents.  Poppy, as we called him, died a couple of years ago and my Grandmother followed him home last month.  Oh how I loved them and their great adventures!  The gathering was beautiful.  Here is a couple of photo's of our kids.  I can't believe how big they are getting...

Let's back up.

(Please cover your ears)

AAAHHHHHHHHH! 

(Thank you.  You can uncover now)

I'm sitting in my jammies this morning with my feet propped up, laptop warm on my lap.  My babies are snuggled in blankets all around me and my husband, who is sitting in the chair across the room, just sent me an email.

From:  Keith Thompson 8:30 AM (9 minutes ago)
To: me

I would like to schedule an appointment for a trim today please. 

 
He smiles big at me.  It's his birthday.

We are on vacation but I just wanted to take a little bit of time to recap last week.  That scream still lingered inside...so thank you for giving me the freedom to let that out here.  =)

Let's back up to last Friday, which would have been June 29th.  A huge storm blew in with winds around 75 miles an hour.  It tore through the area leaving a huge mess and most of the entire state of Ohio without power.  We were one of the lucky ones not loosing electricity and only littered with a bunch of branches!  My husband Keith ended up at work for about 30 hours straight because of the power outage. 

Saturday morning, our 4H club volunteered to pass out water for the 5K run.  What a great group of kids.  They always have so much fun together!

That afternoon we gathered for the 4th at Grandpa and Grandma's.  The kids had a blast with water balloon,  squirt gun fights and lots of good family conversation! 

(Keith is now sitting beside me -we moved out to the porch- has emailed me again, "hi, you are cute" and is sounding off random duck calls on his phone.  I better hurry this post!  haha)

Later that afternoon we gathered back at our house to celebrate a very special ladies birthday!

Happy 83rd Birthday, Grandma Shopp!!

My sister in law (who makes the best desserts ever -YUM!) brought two cakes.  A Reese cup ice cream cake and a strawberry cake! 

The kids ran, smiled and giggled.  The adults smiled, laughed and giggled too!  What a wonderful time spent together in celebration!

That evening....FIREWORKS!

Sunday after Fellowship we went to a local roping clinic.  Natalie and Tristin LOVED it, Kolton & Lola there for support. I see some lasso's and calf dummies in our future!

Wednesday, Natalie had another horse show.  She got 5th in the Halter class and 5th out of nine in 4H Showmanship.  It was over 100 degrees that afternoon and Natalie got a little overheated but really did a terrific job!

The rest of the week was filled with cleaning, packing and lots of doll sorting, cutting and finishing! 

Keith just asked me if it was time for his hair cut so it's time to go for now!  =)

I'll be back with all of our vacation adventures!

It's summer and it's HOT!

Ohio felt like a southern state yesterday with temps up over 100 degrees!  It wasn't too bad early morning as we headed to the barn.  Natalie has been working hard with Shiloh! She has ridden her everyday except Sunday for the past two weeks.  We've accepted that this will not be an easy snap finger journey...it is one that will take time and patience.  One that will be worth all the hard work!  Shiloh's stubbornness reminds me of my own.   Hmmm ...I laugh but it's true!  We braided her mane and forelock up pretty, knowing the heat that was coming and hoping maybe she would be a little cooler with it off her neck.  Its amazing how much we love her already!

Tristin has been working at Grandma Shopps house all week.  Cleaning windows. Washing curtains.  I told her she was training him up right!  Now he knows how to do that at home...our windows are a mess!!  What a blessing to see them working together!  Grandma's 83rd birthday is today!

The hot afternoon was filled with kiddie pool fun, friends and popsicles!  I love hearing their splashing giggles, Kolton's screams when water gets in his eyes and seeing their smiles as they run and play!  Gifts I cherish!

In the midst of all the fun are lots of doll parts!  We are working hard to get caught up before the Christmas cart coming in July.  The 4th of July celebration starts today so the weekend will be busy busy busy!  Baby be Blessed has donated a Sabrina Ballerina so if your uptown, enter the raffle and help support the park!!

And,as the day winds down and clothes come down off the line, flowers get watered and toys gathered...I catch a glimpse of this in the window.

Nothing ends the day quite like a game of Go Fish with Daddy in the workshop!

Oh, what joy they bring to my heart!

A new direction?

Writting is not my natural gift.  I am terrible at spelling and grammer and typically litterally re-read the words that are pecked out 10 times or more to tweek this word or that.  I have struggled on this blog for years, not sure where it quite fit.  Should it be about the dolls, our family, my walk in faith....hmmm seeking His direction.

One thing is for sure...I want to grasp each day a little more. 

What a wonderful gift a blog can be when you can scroll down memory lane by the click of a mouse!  I've done it intriqued with what we were doing on that very same day in years past.  What joy that it brought! 

So things may change a little bit here on the blog.  Might get a little more personal with a lot more of our everyday life, which reminds me of Laura's husband Chris when they came to visit the very first time.  He walked around stopped and smiled, "It's like getting a sneak peek behind the curtains at Disney Land!"  He cracks me up!  But really he should have said the Ringling Brothers Circus because that is what it is like around here most days!

So we will see what will come!
 My hearts only desire is to glorify God in this little place on the big ol' web!

Refreshment!

Summer is just rushing by and all these days, weeks are just flowing right together!  I'm sitting here on my porch again this morning.  It has been my quiet spot to sit, read, ponder & pray.  I hear the kids in the house.  A robin just flew up and rested on a branch in front of me.  I'm thankful for these moments.  Sometimes it's hard to stop and take these moments!  They are gifts of grace.  Moments of prayer and reflection.  A time of refreshment for weary bones!

Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest, [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls]. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For my yoke is wholesome (useful, good - not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and my burden is light and easy to be borne. ~ Matthew 11: 28-30