July is almost over! Craziness. I also haven’t posted at all
in July. It’s been pretty busy, but I probably could have found a time to blog
earlier. No excuses really. I probably will forget a lot of things. I’ll try to
start from the beginning of the month. July 2nd was Claire’s 16th
birthday, which means we legally have 5 drivers in our house. We had a surprise
birthday for her on her birthday. We invited so church and school friends. She
went to pick up her friend Breanna in Princeville, because she was going to
come anyways. So everyone came while she was gone. We hid in the cornfield
across the road and then jumped out at her. Her blondness got the best of her
at that time as she missed seeing 8+ people running at her car. Dad grilled hamburgers,
which were delicious. Rhea and I had a bible study at Jim’s, so we went to
that. I really enjoyed it. It was on Personalities and how to accept
differences in the body of Christ. Really interesting. When we got back, we
played laser tag with the other partiers. On the 4th of July, we
went to fireworks in Galva, which is about half an hour away. We met up with
Keith and Ruth Herrmann and Dean and Dawn Herrmann. It was a pretty good show,
although I heard that Peoria’s was pretty amazing. I still have yet to go to
fireworks on the Riverfront. I have always wanted to. We must have been pretty
close to where they were setting off the fireworks, because it was raining
cardboard on us. On the 5th, we had Elderly Singing at Howard and
Maryann Herrmann’s which was hosted by the Steffans. It wasn’t a huge turn out,
but good none the less. On Saturday, I worked from 7:15-12, and then went to
Fairbury/Forrest for an invite. I came home that night with Stacy Wagenbach and
Hannah Schick, and then went up again on Sunday with Rhea(she worked Saturday
night) and Hannah Schick. Of course we went to the home on Monday night. We
went to Schick’s afterwards. This last Friday, the single group was invited to
sing at the Timberidge Handicap Home with the Bradford church. There was a
pretty sad turn out from the single group, but it was still really enjoyable.
Ben and Katie’s kids were there so Rhea and I had cousins climbing all of us.
It’s so fun having younger cousins! Phil and Beth were there too, so I held
Autumn until a therapy dog walked overJ
I also got to hold Caleb for the first time. On Saturday, we headed down to
Taylor, MO to be with Luke and Jill Hoerr(my cousins) and the Wagenbachs(also
our cousins) My dad has one sister Marybeth who is married to Curt Wagenbach.
Jill is their oldest daughter. Next is Tanya who is married to Shawn Puckett,
and then Courtney(my age) and Colton and Connor(both 8 yrs old). Luke and Jill
have two foster children Remington(Remy) and Clayton. They are adorable. We
went to Luke’s grandparents on Saturday night and had a cookout. Luke’s mom was
also there with her 5 foster kids too. They are all 8 years and older. We did some fishing and then
played a card game inside. Luke brought his gun, and so they put this explosive
thing in the middle of pond and he shot it, it really blew up! We stayed at the
Stony Creek Inn in Quincy. On Sunday, we went to Taylor for church. A first for
us kids. They are all very welcoming. After church we went to Luke and Jill’s
house and hung out for a while and then went to eat at a Barbeque place in
Quincy. It was delicious! We headed home after supper, and got home at around
8:30ish. Dad had to run up to the Marshall Putnam County Fair to get his
chickens. Cassie showed them on Saturday. We actually got championship! So that
was pretty exciting. Cassie took 7 birds and 5 out of the 7 got 1st
place, but her small bantam chicken got best bird of the show. She still has
several other shows this summer. This past weekend I was in Lamar on a bus trip
with Princeville. It was about a 7.5 hour trip. It went fairly fast, maybe
because there was a seat full of toys in front of usJ We stopped for lunch of your
choice of Culvers, Arby’s, or McDonalds. I don’t like fast food all that much,
so I figured Culvers would have to satisfy me. We had supper at the Lamar
fellowship hall and then a singing afterwards. You could tell they were really
grateful we came. I can’t imagine going to a church so small, I know for myself
I would get easily discouraged, but they all seemed to have really good
attitudes. We stayed at a Super 8 in Lamar that night. We got up and headed to
church. It was Erik’s turn for rotation, so he had the morning sermon, and Jim
had the afternoon. Jim came along to help drive the bus along with Ben Martin and
his family. After church we changed and then went to a nursing home to sing to
a man from church, who has been unable to attend. While we were singing, he
cried, and it broke my heart. He was so thankful we came to sing, and I’m glad
we took the opportunity to. We headed home right after that. We stopped at
McDonald’s on the way home for supper, but there was no way I was going to eat
there. I don’t mind McDonald’s breakfast food and coffee, but other than that,
there’s not anything I like. So I noticed a Pizza Inn across the road, and I
told them I was going there. So Molly and I headed over there and then some of
the others followed. They had a really good buffet, and I was so glad I decided
to eat there. Plus someone paid for our meal(thank you, you know who you are).
Oh, and did I mention, someone paid for our(Me, Molly, and Brianna) hotel room
too(Thanks to who did that too, it was really appreciated) The ride home was a
little more eventful as the younger kids seemed to be a little wound up, and
wanted to play/climb all over us half of the trip. It was pretty fun though. I
always enjoy bus trips, because it is such good bonding time as a church
family. I learn to love my church family more and more as I get older. This
week has been pretty uneventful so far. Monday we went to the home as usual,
and then out for ice cream, and then we attempted at surprising Lisa at her
house, buuuut she was outside so she saw us. Tuesday was actually a free day
after work, so it was nice being home. Today(24th) 8 of us from
Princeville went to Bradford for church to surprise Rosalie Wiegand for her
birthday. It was great to be in Bradford, because I haven’t been there in a
while. I sat with Grandma, (Great)Aunt Martha, Libby, Elijah, and Aubrey(my
cousins). They(Libby and Aubrey, of course not Elijah) wanted to sit with me. I
wondered tonight what it would be like to go to church with all my cousins. I
wonder if they would always want to sit with me. The only cousins I have in
Princeville are the Wagenbach’s and they are all older, so they don’t sit with
me, which is fine. I just think it would be fun to have all your cousins in one
church. Anyways, we went to Adam and Brittany’s after church for cupcakes. We
just chatted, and I read books to Kylie. I also got to hold baby Sierra for the
first time. I had to suffer while everyone else who was not related to her,
hold her. I survived though, and savored those few moments holding herJ Today also marks 3
years since I gave my life to Christ. What an incredible journey it has been
thus far. I love to look back and see all the growth, and also look forward to
see what God has in store for me in the future. One think I think I can say I
have learned in the past year or less is that God is faithful. He has been
there with me every step of the way, even when I can’t see him at the moment. Today(25th)
was my day off of work, sooo I decided to take the 3 younger girls to the zoo.
I hadn’t been there in years, and Sophie has never been to a zoo. The Peoria
Zoo isn’t huge, but it’s really nice. We spent about an hour there. I always
enjoy zoos, and I think my sisters do too. I was surprised at how well Sophie
did. I thought maybe she would get scared, but I guess I was wrong. For lunch,
Mom packed us a picnic, so we went to the park right by the zoo and ate there.
It has a really nice and huge playground. The girls played there for a while,
and then we decided to go visit Rhea at Justice(where she works). So we stopped
in for a while, and Tessa found a shirt she liked, so we got it. Then we just
did a little shopping at the mall. I decided the worst store to take 3 girls is
a shoe store. Sophie was grabbing boxes of the shelves and trying on every pair
of shoes she could get her hands on. Tessa was also doing the same, but she
usually put her boxes back when she was done. Then we headed to Spoonfull for
some frozen yogurt. I believe this was also a first for Sophie. I had a gift
card there, so that was good. They really enjoyed it, and ate every last bite
of their frozen yogurt. It’s crazy how popular frozen yogurt has become in the
last couple of years. We probably have at least 5 different frozen yogurt
places in Peoria. It’s so good, but also a little pricey. Then we headed to
Kroger for a few groceries I need for tomorrow. I’m pretty sure everyone is
really tired, but we had a fun day with just us 4. Last night, I had some girls over for a wiener roast since there wasn't anything going on for young group. We had a grand time riding the four-wheeler and dirt bike, playing sardines, and star-tipping. My sisters enjoyed immensely I believe. Have I ever mentioned that I love summer? Ahhh....it really is the most wonderful time of the year:) Hope you all enjoyed your month of July. Oh, I have pictures. A few anyways, I am feeling a bit proud of myself for capturing some moments, as I don't do very well remembering to do so. Enjoy the pictures I have. Sorry for all the misplaced pictures, at least I tried, right?
She's a pro if you can't tell;)
Tessa and Cassie by the Zebras and Rhino.
Dancing to the African music.
Ready for some adventure at the zoo!
