"Summer CRAZiness"...:)

Jenika and Martina hand in hand...:)

What a great place to be on this perfectly sunny, very warm afternoon! The campfire is burning where the kids made lunch with cousins...:) Ash and Martina hardly get any rest since my kids are always wanting them to come swim! Javon is a great swimmer now. I can relax much better this year since he has gotten much taller since last summer and he can now wade the pool better!:)

Kath was here last week and the kiddos were happy to share some pool fun with them to!
Baby Alan was loving the splash fun with Jordan. Austin of course loved the wheeler rides from Jordan to!! Kath and Mom were helping me clean out my kitchen cabinets as the kids entertained each other. Mom even had my fridge all spic and span when she left to! Thanks guys!!

Precious baby Alan...:)

Austin in his "Happy Place"

Thanks for coming you guys!! We love to share our pool with friends!...

It feels like summer is flying by! We are LOVING it!! I often find Jenika on a chair by herself reading a book! I love that she enjoys reading! She seems to really enjoy it, way more then the boys ever did!...:) I sent Miss Fisher a picture of her reading on the couch this morning just as a "Thank You" for the time she has invested into teaching the first graders to read. It's like a whole new world has opened up to this girl!:)

We are almost ready for the reunion here next week. We have a few odds to do yet and keeping after the growing grass and weeds is a full time job in itself around here right now! We replaced dead bushes and are hoping the new ones will be able to stand our cold winters better. We had some water come into  the basement  last week when the rains were so heavy here! It was coming into the kitchen down there so we will need to make some water flow adjustments to take care of this issue.

Justin sure is enjoying his nice cool bedroom in the basement. We rearranged and made him an "actual bedroom" down there. Out of Dave's "Aquire Room"...:) I think now that it's transformed into a bedroom we will most likely leave it as a bedroom and then use it for guests once Justin moves back upstairs.

The Africa Crew made it home for a six week furlough!! We are excited to have Dave, Rose and their family around for part of our summer. We have a few Zook family gatherings coming up that will feel more complete with Dave's at home! They are staying in a cute double wide trailer back in a wooded area close to Papas. They have nice privacy and they are looking forward to just some quality time spent together as a family without the distractions of their busy lives that they have been living! I'm sure it is the rewarding type of distractions that they have been living but they still look forward to this time of refreshing themselves before heading back to Africa.

Yesterday was fun... Under the big tent. At H.K's farm in Perry County. Food. Fellowship. Music. Baseball. Fishing. Candy Scramble by Ada. Train Rides. Sun Tans! These were all a part of this fun day... We love our church family and having my parents join us for this day was just the icing on the cake!...:)

H.K. loves to host this big crowd!

Javon had fun for awhile but he is so not a people person for to long and he always gets tired of these places long before we are ready to leave! Danny and Rachel Ann left early so he went home with them. He had a nap with baby Ava and was better off at home with them...:) Thanks Rachel Ann and Danny!

Justin in action... He is a great ball player. It has become a highlight for him...:)

Last evening after a shower we had the campfire burning. We were all feeling the after affects of the hot sun beating down on us all day long... Perfect ending to this "Fathers day"

My guys love to eat straight off the grill!! They grilled up some fish late at night and just ate them straight off the grill...:)

Our children are so blessed with a great, loving, fun, adventurous, never a dull moment type of dad!! He is our leader and our Godly example. He gets the big boys reading with the daily book reports, he feels this is an important part of growing in every area of your life, the boys do great with this. Dave and I have also really come to enjoy reading in bed after the kids are tucked in bed... We both have our topics we like to read about then we often share the things that stand out to us...:) I cannot imagine my life without this man in it!! We are truly BLESSED! Happy Fathers Day Hon!! Thanks so much for your dedication to your family!!

 

Does this not look Yummy...?:} It really was so good! These are still fish from the freezer that were caught in Amy's pond last Summer!!...:) Jordan loves them and it's even something he can have!

Jordan has taken the next step in healing the lining of his gut. Due to the bad symptoms he was having with a leaky gut we had to do his special diet all this time to get rid of the inflammation. Doc feels he is now ready for this next step of the healing journey. This was ALL the stuff we came home with the other day and we are now trying to be faithful with the important time schedule of taking all these things!...

It came with instructions but it still takes some time for me to figure this all out! He needs to take things twice a day for this week, (moving to three times next week) it's important that nothing gets taken after noon so he can for sure sleep well at night. One of the pills he is taking is to stimulate his brain to work with the gut and it sure does stimulate his brain! He was jumping on the trampoline for hours on one day last week!! They have a basket ball net on the side of the shed where the trampoline is so they like to jump and play basketball at the same time. I couldn't believe how long he was at this!! He has so much energy! It had gotten much better but I think it's even more so now!

He is so brave! Some of these liquids he takes twice a day do not taste very good at all! Next week requires another special diet for the next six weeks or so! We need to go back to the basics of "no sugar" and we need to cut out all grains so the rice and rice milk will need to go. Duck eggs need to take a rest to, so we feel a bit helpless again but Jordan says "It won't be as bad as before because I can still have the fresh berries and apples"...:) he will also be adding a powder form shake which will keep him from getting hungry. He has learned it goes better to look at the positives when it comes to his food, rather then focusing on the negative.

I took one look at all this stuff at the Doc and my mouth dropped at the receptionist as she explained it all with me! I ask her if he will even feel good on all this different stuff?? Will he not feel yuck?? She said "He will feel so AMAZING!"

It would look like a mountain to me if we had not come "This Far". I know Jordan is strong and he will do almost anything to help his body heal. We are so proud of his effort and the fact that he does not complain. He will need to go one week out of these eight weeks without meat "Vegan only" He tells me he is going to die that week...:) I tell him "Jordan you came this far, you can do it, I know you can! He isn't convinced yet since he loves his meat!... We are just hoping this week does not fall on a vacation week! As long as we stay home for meals things seem to go so much better for Jordan! Yesterday morning we packed his lunch for the Perry County Day. He was able to eat some chicken served there and he had some fresh fruit to but other then that he ate and drank from his lunch.

Today was the day that the first "Uplift Plate" shipment went out. Jordan is showing dedication to this job and last week even had me out there with him on a few of those rainy days! I helped him get organized better and we also cleaned up and organized this garden garage to make better space for him and his equipment...:) He went with Dave to an "Uplift Plate" meeting a bit ago. He will most likely receive his first payment which he has been anticipating...:) He is learning as he goes and he has Ashley down some mornings of the week to help him with his orders and also to keep him company. I can see that it would get extremely boring to be out there to long all alone!...:) Sasha has a bed right next to his machine and she is always right there with him...:)

We are enjoying the fresh strawberries from the garden! Tomorrow we plan to go to mom's to put lots of strawberries away for the freezer! The peas are ready and are being picked and used daily! The onions and radishes are ready to. Spinach, Kale, Lettuce, Colored Greens, they are being cut and used in many of our meals! We have beets ready to. These are great for juicing! I like to juice the beet leaves. Potatoes are making a great feast for the potato bugs. Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Squash, Watermelon, Honey Melon and Cantaloupe and fresh herbs are well on the way and looking great! Cabbage is ready but the broccoli never made it into a head. It only sprouted this year? Not sure what this was all about...? We are anticipating the wild berries that grow on our tree lines. I would say we are truly BLESSED BEYOND WORDS! It's great to eat fresh from the garden! I wish we could do this year round!!

Our chickens enjoy the garden scraps that we don't use! The field is loaded with grass hoppers and it was great to see the chickens roaming the field eating the grass and bugs. It makes the best eggs when they free range but then they discovered the garden!! The huge rooster (Ralphy Jr) (he came with this name:)) leads them straight into my garden now every time Jordan tries to let them roam! It looks hilarious as he leads and they all follow at high speed! No matter how far away the coop is pulled they want the garden now that they discovered it! I guess they have lost the freedom for the time being!

Justin will be home soon and the first place he goes is to the pool! He works long hard days at the shop and loves it but he is ready to jump into the pool on days like today. They swim into the evening most times!...:)

Justin and Jordan don't work to well doing plates together in the garage, since Jordan is way more particular, so Justin has left the plate jobs for Jordan for now. He is way to impatient to stack and box properly. Jordan had to fix many of Justin's boxes since they go on store shelves and need to look in tip top shape. Justin's boxes had blood from his cut finger smeared around and some boxes were bulging at the seams so bad that the boxes were almost busting and the plates were jagging through!...:) His "Get Er Done" personality works better at the shop where it's a hustle hustle all day long! The "Hustle Hustle" is more his style so he is leaving the plates to Jordan for now...:) These two are so opposite but they do everything together, and have a blast doing it to... as long as they can keep the differences from getting between them... Anybody else have two like this??  They are both a blast and add the perfect touch to our family!!...:)

I'm off for a busy rest of the week... It's a beach trip with church friends coming up for me, that is IF I can coordinate things right around here this week for a huge reunion here next week, the day I get home!! I know I must be crazy! It's okay, It's called "Summer" ...Gotta pack in the fun or it will get missed...:) Who wants to miss out on Summer?? Not Me!! So We Do "CRAZY" At Times...:)

Be a  BLESSING To Someone Today...