Backward Bucket List Part Two

Hey there friends!!!  Can you believe that we are in the LAST WEEK OF AUGUST!!!!  I cannot believe it - where in the world did the time go??   I know alot of you are more than ready for Fall to come, I, however, am still on the fence.  Maybe after I complete this post and see my summer in it's completion I will be ready to move forward - who knows?  Here it goes though!!  I left you back in mid-July with my backwards bucket list,  a compiling of things that I had already accomplished by mid-summer.  Today I'm going to cover the second half of my summer!!

15.   Julia's 8th birthday

 

I seriously cannot believe that my baby is 8 years old!!

Our cousins from Minnesota were able to make it down for the party (they were on their way already for a two week visit, but was able to leave earlier to be at the party)

 

 

This is Julia and Aryana AND  Jessica and Shelby

hmmmmmmmmmm anyone see any similarities?

 

 

I loved the tables that we set up out back <3

 

It was a Hula-Hoop themed party!!  Hula-Hoop happens to be one of Julia's many knicknames.

 

 

16.  Julia and the beach house

 

Julia was invited to spend the week (or most of it) at the beach with her Minnesota cousins....she was super duper excited!!!!  We don't frequent the beach and have never had a beach house, so I'm extra thankful that she got to have that experience!

 

17.  Church Tea Party

 

Our church puts on a tea party quarterly for some of the women in our congregation.  This particular one, the youth group was able to put together as part of our summer learning series, Becoming a Good Samaritan.  It was a Summer/Beach themed tea, with iced tea instead of hot tea and lots of fun summery decor.  The youth group set up, decorated, put together the sandwhiches, and "served" the ladies.

18.  Lunch Date with Jessica

 

 

 

 

After the tea party, Jessica and I enjoyed lunch at our favorite chinese restaraunt.

A treat that we don't experience nearly enough.

 

19.  Crab dinner

 

 

Bill has been wanting to hit a local spot and go crabbing.  One day he finally did it!! Jaysen, I think was the only one who truly appreciated his efforts and the meal.  I, myself, am not a big crab person anyway....but Jaysen loves the whole experince, just like his daddy.

20. DELANCO CAMP

For the past five years, I've been priviledged to serve for a week at this incredible camp.  In the past, I've been responsible for the crafts of the week and facilitating a small group each evening.  This year, I stepped into a teaching support role and due to a change in the structure of small groups, I was able to teach at a different small group each evening.

Every camper has their own God story about Delanco camp and the transforming work that He has done through/in them there.  I am not exempt from that honor!!  From year one, God has been doing a work in me.  As I look back over my time there, I can see how God has been and continues to weave His handiwork throughout my experience there and personally in my every day life!

On a lighter but still serious note, one way that He's been working is on my need to control and my O.C.D. tendencies.  I have come SOOO FAR in that friends!!!  I had a packed pavillion every day and I still wanted to control the masses and messes and striaghten up around them, but I didn't!!!

 

This is the path that I walk every day while at camp, several times a day, from the camping area to the general camp area.  It's a quiet time of reflection and preparation.  In the mornings as I come out on the other end of this path, I am greeted with a very quiet camp, as the campers find places to sit and soak in God's word with their morning devos.  Something I've enjoyed every year!  So peaceful and beautiful...a gift, to be sure.

 

Congregational Worship....what more can I say....a glimps of Heaven!!

 

 

 

Bill typically accompanies me and spends his time serving as part of the amazing kitchen staff.  This year, however, due to the nature of his job, he was unable to join me.  Joe was a camper and Jessica came with me to serve.  Jaysen and Julia stayed with my parents.  They surprised us on Thursday night and came to stay through Saturday when camp was done.

 

20.  Seeing my sweet friend from Hungary (part of our Delanco experience)

 

 

My first year at Delance, was a personal struggle.  As I mentioned, God began something in me that year that continues to this day.  But it had a painful start.  KatyBeth and her family, misisonaries in Hungary,  were the sweet gift amongst the pain.  They've been in the states for the summer and God decided to work things out in their schedule so that they could come by camp on the first day and visit!!!  Thank you Jesus for the never ending gifts!!

 

 21. Kyle's Homecoming
 

 

 My cousin joined the Navy and this was his first leave. 

 

22.  Cousins and more cousins

 

The two little guys, Luke and Zach turned 6 on the same day!!

 

 

This, is Sabrina....it's not her birthday, although one might think that it was!!!

 

Hubby and I stole away while the kids were busy and walked down to the little beach at the river and enjoyed a few moments to talk, to listen and enjoy our surroundings.

 

 A beautiful day at a beautiful park.

 

23.  Other miscellaneous good stuff

 

 

Morning devo's....God's been chasing me for quite some time to take time and get in His word.  Before camp, I made the committment to add morning devotionals to my routine, moving God to the front of my list.  I have devo books ALL OVER the house, so in addition to the morning time, I can pick up a devo pretty much where ever I find myself through out the day.

 

more forts.....this one collapsed through the night, but they enjoyed sleeping downstairs anyway!!

 

Last friday (since my hubby is off on fridays) we were able to spend some time together out of the house.  In the morning we took Jessica to college to get her set up for fall classes and then after bringing her home, we took off for lunch and some errand running....our date time!!!

 

I'm not sure that Buffalo Wild Wings is the best place to go for a lunch date with your man.  He was slightly distracted by all of the screens!!!

 

Time to prep for the upcoming school year!!!!  Some of us are excited about this, others - not so much!!

 

Jessica created a spreadsheet for all of our school books; old, retired and new!!  She's just like her daddy - that man loves himself a spreadsheet!!!

Our "Library"

 

working and hanging out in the school room

 

Our garden continues to give us delicious treats to nourish our bodies!!

 

So I know that this is totally an untraditional bucket list.  But it works for me!!  It's funny, I had decided to spend the time finishing this list for the summer and after my morning devos, I read this blogpost  from Ann Voskamp.  Please take the time to read it!  It makes total sense!!!  I'd love to quote a few things from the post, but then you may not feel the need to go and read it yourself....so I won't.  Okay, maybe just one....as a teaser. 

 

 "The best lives don’t have Bucket Lists as much as they have Empty Bucket lists."

 

My bucket is empty for the summer and yet, it's so full, overflowing it's boundaries really.  Each day provides us with more gifts than we can even count.  But we would be silly not to try, to list them one by one.  How's your list looking?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dreamy, Collection, Freedom, Relaxing, & Yellow

Alright, its been a few days since I've updated the blog. I promise that I've taken pictures, though! Since we've gotten back from camp I've been trying to unpack, straighten up, and get back on a normal sleep schedule. That's my excuse for not postinf... I know, it's lame!

Anyway, the first picture's theme is Dreamy. While we were at camp we were served a deliciously dreamy smores camp. It consisted of chocolate cake baked on a layer of graham cracker crumbs and topped with marshmallow drizzle. Yum.

The second picture is of a collection. I thought that I would show you my necklace collection. I store my necklaces next to my bathroom door (in my bedroom) and I use oversized blue and white push pins. A few months ago I decided that the push pins weren't cutting it for me, so I spiced it up with some paint chips! Super cute!

The third picture theme is Freedom. I had some trouble with this one but soon realized that it was right in front of me. As you may remember from a previous post, I'm reading Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis. The book is about a young woman who decides to leave her comfortable life and live in Africa. My description does the book no justice, so go read it! Anyway, I've realized over my mere 15 years that freedom comes from serving. Katie Davis sure knows freedom! It's a great read!

I also had some trouble with the photo challenge of Relaxing. Don't get me wrong. I relax a lot more than others, but the past couple days I feel like I've always been doing something. My mom walked into her bathroom today and found this picture of our cat, Nelson, napping in her sink. He's been in there all day! He's so crazy...

The last picture for today is themed around Yellow. A portion of my books (all of the novels) are color coordinated, yes you can shake your head at me now. I don't have a ton of yellow books, but the few I do have are awesome!!

I've been participating in White Peach Blog's Photo a Day challenge, which you can find at her blog. You can also look at my original post on the subject here.