Happy 15th Birthday, Ellen!!!

Her favorite color defines her so well!

She is all of those things and so much more!  

 I am so thankful for all of the things we do together: talk about crazy things, stay up late, watch movies, play games, take pictures, go places by ourselves, babysit, and so much more!  She makes me laugh and helps me enjoy the lighter things in life.

Happy birthday, sweet sister!!!!

Summer Review

Hello everyone!  I know I have been rather hit and miss this summer, but I am going to post at least one more time before school starts on tomorrow.  :-)

At the beginning of summer, I wrote a list of goals for this summer; and in order that I would not get too overwhelmed or discouraged, I wrote another list of  things I did accomplish.  My "Summer Goals" list contains sixteen items and, as of now, my "Things I've Done This Summer" list contains 63 items (including a couple repeats, social events, personal achievements, and random "goings on").  The following are highlights from the latter list.  This post is not meant to brag about all the things I've done this summer but to give you a taste of what I've been doing and to remind myself of what a blessed three months I've had and that I've not entirely wasted the summer.  :-) (The list is roughly in chronological order. :-) )

• Went to a game night with the Ellen's speech and debate group
• Helped with the VBS (Vacation Bible School) at our church
• Took the ACT
• Went to volleyball get-togethers with friends
• Spent the night and watching movies with Grandma
• Swam in our cousins' lake and spent a lot of time with family
• Went to the College World Series
• Had a Strength Finders consultation
• Blogged more (hehehe at least for a while)
• Drank my first chai tea latte :-)
• Shopped with Mom and Grandma (several times)
• Visited Red Mango several times :-)
• Took pictures
• Babysat two kids from church with Ellen
• Read and listened to fun and interesting books--I would highly recommend: Jesus Among Other Gods Youth Edition by Ravi Zaccharias and Kevin Johnson (recommended for 13 and up) and Knight's Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff 
• Went to a church cookout
• Crocheted and knitted several blankets and mason jar cozies
• Took Driver's Ed and earned my driver's license! 
• Caught up with friends in my Bible Study group
• Started kitchen remodel
• Went to Two Rivers in August with friends
• Assisted in Ellen's piano recital
• Taught piano for some of the summer
• Practiced more violin (one of my sixteen goals)
• Went to our family reunion in August with Grandma where we spent time with family and also did some paddle boating :-)
• Went to Campy Rivercrest!!!
• Listened to new Christian contemporary songs
• Went to see Finding Dory :-)
• Played games with Ellen and had fun together (several times)
• Baked breakfast snacks with Grandma (for when school starts)
• Went to a Labor Day weekend game night with families from church

So I hope that gives you bit of a glimpse of what I've been doing (in between blogging).  It was a very fun summer, but now I am ready to start school and get back into routine.  Time for fall! :-)

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven".

Ecclesiastes 3:1 

The Zoo

I'm a bit tardy in posting this, but I will anyway.  :-)

     Over a week ago, Mom and Dad's investment agent hosted a 20 year celebration of her company at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo.  Even though it was a hot evening we took Grandma and went to see the new African Grasslands exhibit.

     We rode a tram halfway down to one of the zoo's new buildings.  We got off to get some soda, and it started again without us!  But that gave us a chance to get a closer look at the new elephants and giraffes and take some pictures.

We walked the rest of the way down to the dinner area where we enjoyed delicious food and air conditioning.  :-)  

 We were able to pet an armadillo!  Dad got a picture of the snake, but I didn't want to see it!

 Waiting for the tram to take us through the zoo to the entrance

(Ellen insisted on me taking a picture of her hand. ) :-)

What a beautiful, exotic looking plant!

Tram pictures:

Selfies of course!

The tram driver said that is was very rare to see a leopard lying on the hill.  (Sorry about the fence!)

Hello, Mr. Turkey!

The prarie dogs are my favorite.  They live on the zoo property and have made themselves an exciting exhibit all on their own.  They were just everywhere!

And this time of year they also have babies!

Do you know how hard it is to snap a good picture of one of those fast little things when you are on a moving tram!

This one obviously didn't want company.  :-)

What beautiful peacock!

How nice a splash of cold water felt!

I couldn't resist getting a few pictures of some of the beautiful flowers during the last little bit up the hill.

Despite the heat, we all had an enjoyable time.  It was fun getting to see the new improvements at the zoo, and spend time together as a family (and have a nice dinner and take some photos.) :-)

CWS!!

Tonight is my first College World Series game this year!

This is my view of downtown Omaha from our seats.  Isn't it pretty with the sunlight!

I honestly don't pay much attention to the baseball itself. I usually clap when the team we're cheering for makes a good play, watch all of the people around, do things on my phone, or crochet.  😊 

But it is a fun family tradition just the same. Dad really enjoys it, and it is a nice thing to do with him on Fathers' Day.  And tonight is a beautiful evening to have it!  Our seats, starting around 6:30, are in the shade, and tonight there is a refreshing, steady breeze.  

P.S. (added later) We were cheering for Coastal Carolina University (partly because they are the underdog team, with this being their first year to make it to the CWS, and partly because Mom knows the mother and aunt of one of the players), and they won!.  :-) It was an exciting game!  

Summer Selfies

Since Ellen and I have had a friend move out of Omaha recently, we have been texting her random selfies of what we've been doing.  To record those fun memories and give you guys a small glimpse into what we've been doing, I decided to post them!

Tracing stencils to make hieroglyphics to decorate for our church's VBS whose theme this year was Egypt

Praise the Lord for stencils!  I could not have done it without them!

Red Mango!  Ellen absolutely loves this place.  So ever since Grandma gave us gift cards, we have made several stops there.  Yum!! (This is not officially a selfie as I took I, but I'll include it anyway.)

Random good night selfie to our friend!

Playing Five Crowns last Friday

 It is one of our new favorite card games that friends from church introduced us to.  (Grandma played too, but unfortunately she didn't quite make it into the picture!)

Playing Dutch Blitz, another favorite game, on the back porch after I took the ACT

  It was such a blessing to relax and have fun after that ordeal.  :-)

     At the beginning of summer, I always seem to stress over how I spend my time.  I want to make my summer productive by doing things I am less able to do during the school year (such as fun reading, doing some school, practicing more piano and violin, and the like) but also I want to leave plenty of time to do fun things with family and friends.  I need to continue to be thankful for the things I have been doing (shown by the pictures above which are only a small glimpse) and know that the most important things that God wants me to accomplish I will accomplish.

One of my goals is to blog a little bit more.  Blogging is a wonderful way to record events and to practice my writing skills. :-)  I hope also to be able to make it a blessing to others and honoring to the Lord.  

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." 

Colossians 3:17 

 

Nighttime Redbud Trees

   At about 8:30, Tuesday night we turned on our outside house lights to walk Grandma to her car after a delightful evening with her.  It was already dark by the time, and I noticed how the lights shone on our redbud trees.  The lights made a such beautiful effect on the blooming redbud trees that I ran inside and grabbed the camera.  The lighting made the tiny buds shine against the dark background creating a lovely sight in the cool spring night.  I enjoyed seeing what pictures I could get.  Mom watched me and gave me some helpful ideas.  I am not always in the picture taking mood, but I certainly enjoyed it the other night!  Before I knew it, I had taken about sixty pictures!

Sibblings' Day!

Mom saw on facebook that today is National Siblings' Day!  

Flashback:

I love my sister!  I would not laugh half as much or doing many of the things I do now without her!  :-)