Indiana...finally!! Part I

Well, I admit it has been over 4 weeks since our trip to Indiana and I am finally getting a post done about it! We had a wonderful time... the Lord was so gracious to give us good weather...aside from a rainy day of arrival, most of the days were so pleasant. The campground was much emptier than usual (the economy?) so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. Our days were full and laid back...just what we all needed!
Thanks Mimi and Pop-Pop for another week of memories!!
You'll notice some interesting effects by our oldest sons who decided to play around with the settings on my camera! There are too many pictures for one post, so consider this part I.

Sunday morning we had our own church service. Pop-Pop's brother and his wife joined us... We shared our favorite scriptures, one thing we are grateful for, and sang lots of worship/Bible songs.

Pop-Pop is such a good playmate. Whenever there was down time, he was asked to play a card game, go for a bike ride, take a trip in the kayak, play ladder ball, work on a crossword puzzle etc. He always willingly obliged and in the process made loads of memories with the kiddos!!

The games of choice for the older crowd...although the young crew did learn Phase 10 this trip~P was getting creative again with his camera shots!

Mercy and C just going for a spin!

Relaxing with my hubby!!

The guys are eyeing up the next home improvement project...trying to figure out how to rig a makeshift outdoor shower. Check back for Part 2 for the grand unveiling :)!

Bingo was the kid friendly activity on Saturday -something everyone can play:)... and it was candy bar bingo!!! YUM!

Breakfast helper of the day...which of course equates to "breakfast taster" of the day...someone has to be in charge of quality control:)!!

Dad and the big boys venturing out for a ride~

Our little guys holding down the fort...wouldn't you feel safer having them on guard??

Keeping busy... these boys have a strategy...this is no simple play time!

The 'hostess with the mostest'...My mom wore many hats during our visit...master chef, domino queen, kayak granny, nail technician, referee...you get the picture. She makes everyday such fun for all of us!! This picture is the work of C and P who were playing with the camera and experimenting a bit...

2 heads are better than one!! P and Pop-Pop worked on a crossword almost daily~

Coordinating cuties... this day we were on Uncle Duane and Aunt Linda's boat...they took us on a tour of the lake and then dropped anchor at a sand bar where we met up with many of their friends from the campground...the kids had a blast swimming and jumping from one raft to another...

Warming up after a refreshing dip in the lake!

One of my favorite outings was a trip to a restaurant that boasts of the hummingbird population which frequent their place because of the many feeders they have set up...despite getting lost, we were not disappointed.We arrived near dusk--perfect timing to observe them feeding!! I love watching these amazing creatures and there were about 40 to 50 of them dive bombing the feeders and each other constantly.After sipping the nectar, they would alight on nearby bushes which was equally fascinating because these wonders are so incredibly tiny. P took this picture on Mimi's camera.

How great and marvelous are your works, oh Lord!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Graduate!

Odesco graduated from "Miss Deena's" speech therapy lessons after receiving them weekly for 6 months. It was the perfect set up in our home and she was so great with him. As the mom of 2 small boys, she was unfazed by Odesco's occasional lack of enthusiasm or his 'ants in the pants' during therapy. His speech has improved significantly and I no longer need to ask him to repeat himself multiple times :) I'm so grateful for how the Lord made it clear to us that the time was right to pursue intervention and then provided just who we needed in the comfort of our own home! He surely does gently lead those who have young!!
Great is His faithfulness~

Baseball-again?!?

Life has been full and busy in the B household. Baseball season was extended by several weeks since C was invited to play on the tournament team for his age group. Although his team did not advance to the next level, we are all glad he had the opportunity and privilege to play on this team. We were able to spend concentrated time with our special friends the I's (met during the 2008 season) and we met many other neat families as well...we even learned a few 'life lessons' along the way as we dealt with disappointment and learned how to win over others with kindness. The younger crowd rallied and did a great job attending the added practices and games...they also made some new friends among the siblings of C's teammates.

Aren't they a handsome team?! Can you find C? (He is in the bottom row, 2nd from the left)

I thought this was the 'Big Leagues"...the boys practiced in their red shirts and donned their jerseys once their warm up was over... they hung them up outside the dugout so a hanger was part of their necessary equipment!!

Here's L (sketching, of course!) and Mercy being her sociable self during one of the games ~

Our All-Star!

When C was not playing in center field, he had the thrill of pitching...

L decided he just had to make his own version of his big brother's uniform shirt--he wore it to the final game!

And of course, Odesco could not be left out of the creative fun!
He felt no need to remain loyal to C's team though and decided to go with the Phillies theme instead:)

Twas the night before 'hair day'.... and we needed help. Our dear friend, Mrs. I jumped right on the bandwagon as we painstakingly removed all of Mercy's yarn extensions in preparation for Miss Britt's visit the following afternoon...once the game started Mercy donned a bandanna and all eyes were on the field. As you can see, she was not too thrilled with this lengthy process! To her credit though she was quite diligent in doing her part to prepare her head for Miss Britt's visit~

Oh the things we do to keep ourselves entertained during baseball games!

Treasuring Christ

I know it's been awhile. I promise updates and pictures are coming soon...until then, I found this and it was too good NOT to share.
Hope it encourages and inspires you!
Thanks for still checking in on this delinquent blogger!!



Blessings,