"Seuss on the Loose" Dessert Theatre

This past weekend I went to a dessert theatre with several of my teacher friends. The play was so entertaining and creative. They took different Dr. Seuss stories and acted them out. The top picture is from "The Cat in the Hat" and the one below is from "Horton Hears a Who."

My friends David and Candice are the originators and directors of this ministry at their church. They have presented dinner and dessert theatres each summer for over 10 years. I have acted with them several summers and always have a blast when I do. Next weekend I am going again with my in-laws and Brian.

Here are my teacher friends, Patti and Janel, who went to the play with me. We had a great time together -- we laughed and laughed! Patti's mother passed away a few months ago, and she told me she hadn't laughed so hard in such a long time. That was a real blessing to me! It reminded me of Proverbs 15:13, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. . ."

Morning Blessings

Good night's rest . . . early morning walk . . . beautiful new rose blooming. . .

breakfast together . . . .coffee. . .

spending time in God's Word --

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,

because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning.

Great is thy Faithfulness." Lam. 3:22-23

Have a good day!

Another Special Guest

We had a special guest stay with us recently. Our nephew Grayson from Texas! Grayson is a wonderful boy who will be in 5th grade this fall. He spent the night with us and was so polite and thankful for everything. Essie even enjoyed having Grayson, and she doesn't just like everyone!

After he spent the night, we took Grayson to Chuck E Cheese and he found a game that he won every time! He ended up with over 300 tickets and most of them were won playing this game!

Uncle Brian enjoys shooting hoops at Chuck E Cheese as well. I'm not sure who had more fun -- Uncle Brian or Grayson. Also, Uncle Brian is passing on his love for ball hats to his nephews. He treats all of them to one ball hat a year. Grayson is wearing his new Cubs hat (although you can't see it well -- it is cool to wear it backward). He was especially impressed when I told him I used to live in Illinois where the Cubs are from and had a Cubs hat when I was young. We definitely enjoyed having Grayson.

Although we were sad to say goodbye, we couldn't persuade him to stay. For some reason he wanted to get back to Texas to see his parents and his brother! We know he'll be back because Uncle Brian promised another ball hat and a trip to Chuck E Cheese when he returns.

Beading w/ the Girls

Five years ago at our last family reunion my Aunt Becky showed us girls how to bead.

We all enjoyed it so much and some continued to expand their beading abilities.

My sister-in-law Jen has even started her own little side business.

I wore the pieces that I had made to death, but have not made any more pieces. I guess my time gets occupied with everything else. Well, there was a little store by our favorite coffee shop called "Beadin of Eden." Finally on Friday morning I persuaded Jen, my mom and Ali to go to the shop with me.

As a result we were all reinspired to begin beading again. Jen and Ali served mostly as consultants for mom and I, but in the end they made several pieces as well.

Jen even made "beach bracelets" for all of the girls. Fun times!

Here she is -- my coach, Jennifer!

She even let me wear one of her necklaces with my "busy" top.

Now I have to make a long strand with black beads.

These were my creations of the day.

Mom and I both made short necklaces, earrings and bracelets that looked similar.

I am wearing the black/turquoise/maroon "ensemble" in the picture below.

Now I have the tools and the inspiration to create many more pieces of beauty!

Thanks, girls, for the memories!

Feasting at Mako Mike's

Although we ate excellent food all week long, Brian and I both agreed our last dinner on Friday night, July 4th was the best!! Delicious seafood -- shrimp, crab legs, scallops, flounder, calamari!!! You name it, it was on the table!! I love this picture because Aunt Judy and Dana are so intense on their menus -- Jake and John are obviously good with whatever will be served!!

Here are my parents who were the activity planners of the reunion. They found the beach houses we stayed in, scheduled our deep sea fishing trip, scouted out the fabulous restaurants, and were delightful hosts. Notice my dad wearing his father's day shirt -- Brian keeps him supplied with Polo shirts -- and my mom wearing her beautiful bright sweater set with matching jewelry. Several of us girls were making jewelry earlier in the day and she found supplies to make the earrings to match her necklace. Way to go, Mom! Anyway, thanks so much, Mom and Pop, for all of your work to make our trip so special and memorable! We had a blast!

Deap Sea Fishing Trip

One of our fun activities while on vacation was a fishing trip! This was the fishing crew that went -- Dana & Jake, Jen & Chad, Kristy & Brian. Now mind you one of the three girls is not by nature a fisherman, but I survived! My hairdresser told me she had gone deep sea fishing and the crew did everything for them, so that put my mind at ease. The day was beautiful and the scenery was fabulous!

Dana and Jake just moved to Virginia where Jake is a pastor. Dana is substitute teaching so we had much to talk about as we compared notes about teaching. What a blessing to spend time with Dana and Jake; they love the Lord so much. They also love fishing and did a great job spotting the lines that had fish that were biting.

Here is Jake with First Mate Nate (Dana stood by with the camera). Nate would bait all of the lines. Then when a line would start to bob, someone would have to reel it in. We took turns reeling in the fish. This time Jake brought one in. I even worked up enough courage to reel in two fish! As long as I didn't have to bait the hook or touch the fish it was fine.

When we weren't reeling in fish:), we were watching the scenery. I love the North Carolina shore with all of the lighthouses.

At the end of the day we were tired, but we had had a great time! Our boat was the "Jamesey Boy." The fish that we caught that we were able to eat were Silver Mackerel. Jake grilled them that evening for our dinner and everyone got to sample our catch of the day. All week we had good food and good times!

Good Times on the Outer Banks!

What a fantastic vacation we had on the Outer Banks in North Carolina! All of our immediate family members were there as well as all of the Brasks and Alison and Nathan. This picture was taken on the fishing pier which was just a block from our beach house. I am taking the picture. From left to right -- Brian, Jennifer, Timmy (Kirk's friend), Kirk, Mom, Pop, Chad.

We relaxed, ate, shopped and enjoyed visiting with everyone. These are the three couples that went on a charter fishing expedition one day. Fishing is definitely not my "thing," but this trip was definitely an adventure! We had a lot of fun and the weather and scenery were beautiful! Left to right - Jake & Dana, Jen & Chad, Kristy & Brian

I love this picture of us girl cousins! I hadn't seen Dana and Alison for 5 years so we had much to catch up on!!

When we weren't on the water or eating, Mom and I usually found time to shop in the quaint little stores! Kirk's cat is named "Roxie" so we couldn't resist this picture! I'll post more pictures throughout the week, but these were a few that show how much fun we had.