Before the summer is officially over, I’ve been wanting to look back on all the wonderful memories made in a very short amount of time. I don’t think it could have been better. We celebrated milestones, traveled and explored new territory, served at church and camp, opened our home to friends and neighbors, started and finished summer home projects, and had quality time with our kids. I still found time to read, cook, bake, clean, organize, purge, podcast binge, walk, and swim (maybe not swimming so much as soaking). I wrote two sets of Advent devotions which always forces me to dive deep into the Word. And finally as it all came to a close, it ended in the most fantastic of ways.
Back in May, my last day of school was a Wednesday and on Thursday we got into the car to head up to Wisconsin for Hosanna’s high school graduation. I did manage to write about it in the last blog post. It was just the most perfect of memories. When we returned home, we had a few days to prepare for Graduation party #2 for the Texas crowd whose turnout did not disappoint! We had a blast welcoming friends, church family, and neighbors to join us in celebrating her milestone and shared in the excitement of her next chapter of life.
We were only home a few days when our next trip was scheduled. Earlier in the year I had been invited to speak at a ladies church event in Colorado. After agreeing to participate, I had spent the next months prepping, writing, practicing, etc. An invite to preach that Sunday had also been extended to Wayne and we were going to make a trip of it together. We flew to Denver on Thursday, the event was Saturday, and once service was over on Sunday we could both officially relax until we had to leave Colorado on Thursday.
This trip was like being handed a fabulous vacation from the Lord that I didn’t have to plan. He used His people to do it and allowed the circumstances to fall into place. I had never vacationed in Colorado before so this was actually a place new to me and an adventure to share as a couple. Wayne and I spent more time together than we had in probably a year! We loved meeting our family in Christ from the Firestone (a Denver suburb) church where we were invited. The ladies event was such a precious time that had been carefully and thoughtfully organized and I was blessed to be a part of it. We stayed with our hosts, a fellow family in ministry, for the first half of our the trip and spent the second half in the mountains in a gorgeous mountainside home overlooking the continental divide.
We were able to explore Boulder, Estes Park, Loveland, and Nederland. We visited with friends from the area - some we hadn’t seen is years! We toured Celestial Seasonings, and enjoyed some local breweries. We toured a gold mine! We did our version of “hiking” which is basically about walking on fairly level trails and taking pictures of ourselves with the mountains behind to prove that we legitimately hiked!
So thankful for the Spiegelbergs who opened their home and hearts to us. We loved meeting their sweet daughters and continue to pray for the challenges they face.
We returned to Texas only to hit the ground running with two weeks of camp at local Camp Shiloh. Dear friends from Ottawa days who now live in N. Carolina flew in to attend teen camp and they stayed with us on either end of camp. So fun to see how they’ve grown since we’d seen them last! They assured us that camp was a wonderful experience and they went home happy and a little tanner than when they arrived a week earlier.
Our participation at the camp is pretty minimal actually compared to VBS in the past. I volunteer when needed in the cafeteria and Wayne does the opening service for both Teen and Youth Camp. It’s always fun to see familiar faces and everyone seems to love the camp vibe. I love being able to go home and sleep in my own bed with the air conditioning on!
After camp finished, it was only a few days and we were off on our next adventure across the country in a difference direction. And once again it was just the two of us leaving the kids (and Buddy) behind. Will had finally gotten a full time job in the Texas Guard and he was getting ready to head to El Paso where he would work on the border. He moved most of his worldly goods out while we were gone and somehow managed to get it all in his car. He left his plant babies behind though and I’ve been tasked with keeping my grand plant babies alive until … I’m actually not sure until when. But I’m hoping that they will still be alive when he decided to come for them! Meanwhile Zanna was working her summer job at the local country club. She worked poolside bringing food and beverage orders to the sun bathers. This job was a welcome change from the previous summer’s Dairy Queen job but it had some downsides. It seemed like feast or famine depending on the day. If it was busy, she made money. If it wasn’t, she didn’t. She spent many 10 hour shifts outside in the sun trying to stay hydrated. But she interacted with a lot of people and still managed to have some days off to pursue other things. We sure enjoyed the short time that both kids were home and we were all together. Those days are few and far between!
So anyway, Wayne and I headed off to S. Carolina to visit my parents and spend the 4th of July with them since that is both of our wedding anniversaries. The guys enjoyed golfing a few times, Mom and I enjoyed checking out the little towns around them. We all enjoyed sitting on their front porch with a cocktail and visiting. The four of us also survived our first mall shooting while visiting the Augusta Mall in Augusta, GA. We were just trying to find something to do on the day of the 4th that would be air conditioned and we ventured to a very nice mall. It was nice until I heard gun shots and we all headed out the door of Barnes and Noble to make a run for it. So that was a bit more excitement than we expected!!
Wayne and I squeaked in a little side trip while we were there. When I realized that Ashville, NC was only three hours away and that was where the Biltmore was, I begged my husband to take me! We found a really cute Airb&b to stay at and spent a day visiting the grounds and touring the mansion. It was a wonderful time and I hope to go back someday!
On the way back we stopped for the night in Laurel, MS where the HGTV show “Hometown” is filmed. My dear husband once again humored me and allowed me to soak it all in while finding himself a comfy chair.
Finally back at home once again, Wayne got back to work and I got back to a bunch of different things. Zanna and I enjoyed our time together going to the movies, shopping, and drinking too many Starbucks drinks after introducing me to the app and the coupons that come with it. We had so much fun handing out! We also spent a day meeting up with my sister in law and niece, Chantal and Claire, and had such a nice time together just the girls!
I gardened and tried to keep the tomatoes and stuff going until I just couldn’t keep watering them anymore by mid summer when it totally dries up. I canned some blackberries and did blueberry jam this year to add to my repertoire. I completed some projects at church I've been wanting to get to. I worked on reading the stack of books I started my summer with. We hosted get togethers with neighbors and friends. I worked on my presentation for the WELS Women’s Ministry conference. I also worked on putting together the next webinar for WM.
I also worked on an “easy” home project that ended up requiring all hands on deck to finish. The small entryway that links the garage to the house is the family dumping ground but a needed area to be functional. When we first moved in, the previous owners had put in some make shift shelves and I put together some storage around it to make it work. It was fine but looked chaotic to me and I knew we could improve it. It’s the first thing I see when I walk in the door from work, which by nature is chaotic itself, so it was really bothering me and my goal was to tackle it this summer. With the help of Wayne and Zanna and a few tries to paint match at local hardware stores, we finally finished it and I’m very happy with it!
The way I looked at it, I had two “end of summers”. One was the end of July because I started back to school August 1st. But the second end of summer would come the end of August when we’d bring Zanna to college in New Ulm, MN. So my last trip before the start of school was the Women’s Ministry Conference in Milwaukee, WI. I flew in the night before and stayed with Skip and Karen in their new digs on the Seminary campus. It felt so familiar being in their home even if it was the first time. 16 years in Ottawa was a long time to share in friendship and one that continues now in distance. The next day was the start of the conference and my mom met me there. This was really the pièce de résistance of the summer!!! I’ve held a volunteer position on the executive board of WM for several years now and this is my second conference to participate in and not just attend. To see it come together and how the Lord orchestrated it’s final, beautiful outcome took my breath away. Around 500 women (and some men that were invited as speakers) descended on Milwaukee to connect with Christ, grow in Biblical wisdom, and learn how to speak the truth of Jesus to a world that desperately needs it! It was beautiful and left me with a cup overflowing!
Thankfully, I would need it because I started work the next day. The first two weeks are without kids so it’s like the calm before the storm. And I get paid the same whether there are kids there or not so I relish these two weeks. But it was different than the last few years and busier because of my new position as the computer keyboarding teacher. Now I’d have my own room to decorate and get ready and I must admit I had some fun with it:) So this year brings a lot of change and so far it’s been a welcome one at that.
The second end of summer has come and gone and that was packing our sweet girl and all her possessions into two vehicles and heading north! This was her first major cross country drive and she did great. We also made a stop in Albert Lea, MN to see my grandma who is now 97! We brought pie from Perkins and had a lovely visit together before heading over to New Ulm. We made it through registration, the campus tour and parent meetings, the obligatory trip to Walmart to stock up on all things dorm life, the parent/teacher mixer, and the traditional tour of Schell’s Brewery culminating with the sampling of flavors. We met Mark and Tonya for lunch and had a much overdue visit with them. We stayed a night with the Thompson family who saved us from a night of undesirable local hotels and treated us to a french toast breakfast made by their son who is now old enough to work a stovetop! How did that happen?!
We hugged our girl goodbye so she could officially start her college career and headed out of town for a stop in Branson, MO. Wayne and I spent a day at Silver Dollar City where I relived many childhood memories, many that seemed more exciting back then but isn’t that the way those things tend to be? Never mind, I still yelled “Fire in the Hole!” during the tame indoor roller coaster ride, was thrilled and got soaked on the “American Plunge”, walked through “Grandfather’s Mansion” at an angle, rode the “Frisco Silver Dollar Steam Train” and laughed remembering the trips we took with Grandma and Grandpa Nork. Wayne and I took the tour of “Mystic Cave” where I know that my mother would NEVER have gone but was so interesting. We ended the day at a local winery before going back to our Airbnb.
And that was the end. The final end now that it’s officially Labor Day weekend. It was one of the best summers ever.
