We kicked off the month by celebrating Thad's 10th birthday. I can hardly believe that he is 10! Thad enjoys swimming, reading, and hanging out with friends. He wanted to have a friends and family party complete with swimming and a Nerf war. Nana made pineapple and blueberry sherbet for dessert at Thad's request. He used some of his birthday money to buy things for Mac (his early birthday present) along with getting a new Nerf gun. He was also blessed with another book in the series he has been reading and Lego set. He enjoyed having Nana and Papa, the Andersons, and his friends Moses and Travis over. Several of the boys stayed the night. They watched a movie and had Nerf wars in the dark. The celebration ended the next morning with a breakfast of biscuits and gravy. It was a great birthday!
Next, we celebrated the 4th of July with some friends. Our town did something different this year. In order to keep the crowds low, the mayor rented a truck that had big screens on three sides that had fireworks displays set to music. It was underwhelming to say the least. The kids still enjoyed the free popcorn and Icees though. Marie's favorite part were the cheerleaders who danced for part of the event. Eden liked that the trolley came too. It was fun to be there with friends.
We were invited by some friends to go to their lake house and go boating. The Lord blessed us with perfect weather. We all thoroughly enjoyed our time on the lake both in the boat and on the tube. Even Anna admitted to enjoying tubing. We also had a picnic and wonderful fellowship. We are so thankful for the blessing of people who are still willing and able to get together with us.
Jeff spent two weeks during July helping out with training that the school mandated for all staff. His background in technology has proven invaluable, especially lately, with so many things going virtual. He enjoys being able to help others and will continue to be a valuable resource to many in the district.
Our church hosted a "drive through" ice cream social for the elementary kids and their families. They have been coming up with creative ways to stay connected while socially distancing. They have also done a drive through pizza night and a drive through hot-dog night. We never know what they are going to come up with next!
Eli has done several things this month with his youth group from church. He really enjoyed a morning of hiking along with a night game of volleyball and a sleepover at church...all while wearing a mask. Such a weird world we are living in!
Another highlight of the month was going on a mini-vacation. We rented a 4 bedroom house in Paris, Arkansas just a short drive from Mount Magazine and Cove Lake. The house, Myra's Mountain Retreat, was a perfect fit for our family. We spent a good portion of two days on the lake. We went swimming, paddle boating, and kayaking. The kids also enjoyed making sand castles and feeding the catfish that came right up to us. We also spent time coloring, painting, playing games, and watching movies. We went up the mountain and enjoyed the sights from the highest point in Arkansas. It was a wonderful, relaxing time. We are thankful for the time to get away, the resources to do it, and the dog-sitter that took care of our pooches while we were away. We are already talking about going again!
We also had fun celebrating our nephew, Gabe's, 5th birthday and a sweet friends 16th birthday. We enjoyed time at a nearby river with Nana and Papa several times this month. We also had friends over for dinner and Leigh Ann enjoyed several opportunities to meet with friends.
As summer winds to a close, we are thankful for all the fun we have had. We are looking forward to the start of school and a return to a routine but we will miss all the time we have been able to spend together as a family without a bunch of additional distractions. See you next month!
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