Boy...this sums up the past 20 years for me...

Beautiful. Powerful. Speechless.

Turn up your volume.

Church and Socials

Last Sunday was the annual Strawberry & Ice Cream Social at our church. I wish I knew exactly how many our church has had. I need to find out. My mom and I were talking about it and she remembers them when she was a kid. I told my mom that they went back to when my grandma and grandpa were young too, because I remember my grandmother telling me that the Strawberry Social was her and grandpa's first "date", so that takes it back to around 1944-1945 or so. 60+ years at least!

We got to church that morning and they had been setting up chairs and picnic tables out on the lawn for the social, but it was such a beautiful morning, they decided to have worship services outside.


They even wheeled out this small old organ for Joyce to play, so we even had music!

Our church is celebrating its sesquicentennial (150 years) this year. Pastor Bob opened services by saying, "150 years ago our ancestors built this church so that we didn't have to have services outside." It got quite a bit of laughter!

Pastor Bob spoke on John the Baptist and the hymns were all by congregation request. Such a wonderful message and service, surrounded by all of nature's beauty, with a slight breeze carrying our voices throughout the countryside.

After the services, we began more preparations for the social, getting ready for the garage and bake sale, as well. Brian and the girls went home, as they were coming back later to hear the Community Band play, but not before I snapped a few picture of the girls in their strawberry dresses!

And a little history too...

Our first church was built in 1862 and was located at the old cemetary. This original church is still with us. It is the small square part of this white building back to the chimney. The part behind it was added on once it was moved to the new location. This church was used until about 1878. At that time, another church was built on the current property. That church burnt down in 1963 and the church that we use today was built in 1964. It was where I was baptised and where my girls were baptised. I have much history here. It is quaint and small, miles from town, but in the most beautiful setting.

It is not hard to be filled with the Holy Spirit when you are in such a place.


If you'd like to view more pictures of our day, you can see the entire set on Flickr.

God's Blessings to you!

Thrifting, gardening and babies...

I've been doing a little thrifting here and there. I came across this lovely afghan. The colors are beautiful and pictures just don't do it justice. It gives me sort of a...whimsical feeling.


I also found some children's books that the girls love. My favorite is "There are Rocks in my Socks!" Very cute!

We were out at the garden last weekend and things are happening! The peas. Oh my! They are lovely and I just couldn't help myself. I had to eat some. Nothing better than fresh peas eaten right in the garden! DH also picked some beets and the lettuce looked good. The green beans will probably be ready this week too!


And the daylilies have just been so BEAUTIFUL in front of our house!

Our front garden is looking so full; so different from a month ago. I think a little weeding is over though. This garden is one of my favorite parts of our yard. I love the little pond. The birds love it. The two crabapple trees are a gathering spot for all kinds of birds; cardinals, blue jays, robins, finches, orioles, bluebirds and we have some hummingbirds too. It's a gorgeous view from the kitchen table each morning!




And because I can't not post any pics of Lindsey & Sydney, here they are at soccer last week with one of their classmates's new baby brother! They were very proud to be holding the baby!

We started swimming lessons yesterday. More to come on that soon!

Happy Father's Day!

A day of heat, sun and sprinklers...

...watching the bees and butterflies...(btw, anyone know what kind of tree this is? It is FILLED with butterflies!)


...even dad liked the sprinkler!

...and Ring around the Rosie is still fun, even at 4.5!

...and finally...wiped out after a busy and fun day. (found them like this again...can you even see them?)

It's soccer time!

We signed the girls up for soccer this summer; just a short 6-week program. Both seemed to be excited at first, but I'm never sure if they will actually particpate once we get there. But...they surprised me, especially Sydney. She wouldn't go out there without someone or with her "buddy", but as long as that happened, she was out there most of the game. Lindsey, now is another story. Tonight, she told me that she didn't really want to play soccer. "I just want to take swimming lessons." she said.




They do seem to get a little overwhelmed with all the other kids. Check out their t-shirts. Nice fit, huh? They are the smallest on their team and probably in the whole league! I'm reading a book called The Highly Sensitve Child. It's been quite eye opening for me. I've only just started it, but I can tell that it's going to be beneficial for the Brian and I and the girls. I'm beginning to think that both L & S exhibit the HSC temperament.

This week we've also been doing more bike riding! Both Sydney and Lindsey have been riding their bikes since last summer. Well, I should say that they could ride them, but they always chose to ride their trikes. So, last week, we hung the trikes up in the garage and set the bikes out, and ONLY the bikes, and the trikes will be sold at our garage sale this weekend. We just told them that they were almost five and almost five year olds don't ride trikes anymore. They pretty much just accepted that and Sydney jumped on her bike and rode the rest of the evening. Lindsey, was a little more hesitant, but she did great!




And the really cool thing is that I got my bike out too!

My miracles! Sometimes it's hard for me to believe they were only a pound.

They just amaze me every day! When they were born, I wasn't sure how things were going to turn out, what kind of long term problems would they have, if they'd ever be like other kids.

Now they are 4.5 and they are...just like other kids.

My conductor and my singers!




You can view previous videos at www.dropshots.com/justkima. I don't have any early ones on here, but they do go back a couple years.

Enjoy!