Volunteer Berries

Remember the zucchini and tomato plants I planted last month?

I'm happy to report that they are flourishing,

but like many a gardener before me . . .

. . . I'm not sure how I'm going to use up all of this zucchini.

Did you know that August 8 is National Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day?

If a baseball-bat-sized zuke shows up on your porch in a few weeks,

it just might be one of mine.

In other news, the rabbits don't seem to have devoured my rose,

but some little bugs are apparently nibbling away at it.

Rosie is soldiering on and putting out new growth,

and I'm looking into companion plants that might attract

pest-eating beneficial insects.

Out back, where our yard meets the woods,

I've noticed that we have a bunch of berry vines springing up.

I think some might be blackberries, and others are black raspberries

(yes, those really are a thing).

Berries are some of my favorite things to eat,

 and I think it's delightful that we have volunteer berry brambles out by our shed.

Hero Camp 2024

In addition to painting their shirts at Hero Camp yesterday . . .

. . . Todd and the other kids in our ward

got a visit from Samuel the Lamanite . . .

. . . learned sign language for a Primary song . . .

. . . and made their own version of the gold plates.

I'm not sure why Todd has his shoes off and his arms pulled into his shirt.

Maybe his arms were cold but his feet weren't.

Whirlwind Shirts

Hero Camp week is upon us, and I volunteered to prepare camp shirts 

for the kids to decorate on the first day.

I was determined NOT to leave this project until the last minute . . .

. . . so I created the design template last week,

and got a friend to cut it out on her Cricut.

So far so good, but somehow after everything was purchased

I still ended up staying up really ridiculously late last night 

spraying fabric paint on dozens of shirts in our garage . . .

. . . which I draped all over Daddy's car to dry.

I then took a 3-hour nap . . .

. . . and as soon as my family woke up, I recruited them 

to frantically cut out the Jesus templates I still needed to iron on.

It was a whirlwind morning, and I'm super tired . . .

. . . but the kids had a great time painting their shirts,

so I'd say it was worth it.

Jesus is good news!

I'm so grateful for His incredible sacrifice

to give us the hope of eternal life and endless joy!

I'm also grateful that Hero Camp only happens once a year.

It's kind of like the summer version of Christmas--

uplifting and fun, but I'm relieved when it's over!

Cordless Belt Improvement

Before church this morning . . .

. . . Daddy showed Todd how to tie his handsewn necktie.

I guess Todd has just had Velcro ties up to this point.

Nice work, Todd!

A few minutes later, Joy brought a drill inside

because her belt was too loose and she needed to drill

an additional hole.

That's better.

I don't have anything particularly cool to wear,

but at least my new haircut looks nice.

Todd Ties

It is such a blessing to have friends with skills I don't possess

who are happy to share their talents.

Todd's church activity group sewed ties for Father's Day earlier this month.

The bad news is that I have neither a sewing machine, nor anything beyond basic sewing skills.

The good news is that our friend Laura Thomas has both . . .

. . . and kindly showed Todd how to sew a tie for himself and his dad.

She even invited us over to her house to finish them today, 

since we didn't have quite enough time to complete them at the activity.

Thank you, Laura!

Hints of Summer

It's beginning to feel like summer around here.

We've set up a hefty, dual-hose AC unit next to our family room window . . .

. . . someone parked a huge bull statue by the gas station

to remind one and all of the carnival this weekend . . .

. . . the kids played with friends at the park today

(Todd was in his pajamas, and Daniel was dressed for winter) . . .

. . . and my bucket garden is thriving.

All my alpine strawberry plants are laden with delicious red gems.

Life is good.

Bringing Joy to Parker

This afternoon, Joy and I headed to Parker for the last school pickup of the year.

We met Daniel and Anna in the lobby . . .

and Joy commented that it was her first time being inside Parker.

Daddy and I have been there for teacher conferences,

I worked as a Parker sub for a few months last year,

and Daniel and Anna obviously know their way around there.

Somehow it never occurred to me that Joy hadn't even been inside

a school that feels so familiar to most of our family.

With the lobby tour complete,

Joy and I drove Daniel home while Anna

went on an end-of-school outing with some friends.

Good thing we had an umbrella in the van that she could borrow 

for the soggy walk to Ruby Donuts.