Well, July has been a very busy month!! At the end of June, Eric took off for Chicago for a last minute week-long trip for work. Fourth of July was spent with friends and neighbors, ending with the Dodge City fireworks show near our house. Then, it was off to Chicago for me for the National Pastoral Musicians Conference with friends from Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral and a couple of friends from Prince of Peace parish in Great Bend. We had a WONDERFUL time and learned a lot! After a week in Chicago, it was off to Great Bend to work in the offices and then on to Topeka to pack up Grandma''s apartment for her (she''s moving to assisted living in Arizona). On the way home, I stopped back in to the offices for some follow-up. Then, this past weekend, we spent my birthday in Oklahoma at Canton Lake. It was a WONDERFUL time with the Myers clan, made even better when Grandpa Dan came down to join us on Saturday! Lots of boating, swimming, eating, laughing, lasso golf, wood gathering (for the "pyro" in all of us), and visiting. We are looking forward to another camping trip next summer and hope that more folks will consider joining us in the fun. The camper''s 3 trip was successful and Eric is already trying to figure out what local lakes we can stay at this weekend! The pop-up is working out amazingly well and we are soooooo glad we made that purchase instead of a larger camper! This is perfect...the air conditioner is wonderful, the plumbing leak fixed, and the space is perfect for our family. We are already looking in to how we can improve it...a new awning perhaps? Hee! Hee!
The kids are finally winding down their baseball games this week. Allison''s last one was last night. They don''t keep score in t-ball, but she had a wonderful season. Matthew has unfortunately been stuck on a team that runs faster AFTER the game for the snack box than during the game, but we''ve been working with him at home and HIS game is improving. He''s already been asking around about getting on a team next summer with some of his classmates. He didn''t have the fun this summer he thought he would. Losing every game and even having to forfeit one (only 6 kids on his team showed up that game) has been disheartening for him. But, he''s now looking forward to football and to school starting. He did get to pitch a lot this summer so we are working on that with him.
School starts in about a month. Hard to imagine...we are hoping and praying for a better year at Sacred Heart. All signs are pointing to a wonderful year, but we can''t help but enter with apprehension. The music program has been slashed, much to my surprise and disappointment (isn''t it sacreligious or something to take Liturgical music out of a Catholic school?)...that''s been a hard pill to swallow and I admit, made me rethink sending the kids there. However, we are placing our faith in God for this one...hoping that music will one day come back to Sacred Heart. Please pray for our school for a successful year. Total stewardship has been scrapped at the parish; another blow. We are now back to tuition, which will make our giving TANK. Very frustrating. However, we are now looking for other ways to live our stewardship life and will have to adjust to giving more of our time and talent instead of our treasure.
Oy...time for some cheerful news, huh? We are gearing up for planning for the wedding of Eric''s cousin Kevin and Amanda. Eric will be reading and I''ll be singing. We are looking forward to going up for the celebration as we are excited to make Amanda''s and Lexie''s addition to the family "official!"
Allison is now the "toothless wonder!" She has lost most of her front teeth and has delighted all around her with her ability to shove her tongue between her teeth...ha! Kara has shot up in height this summer, although doing so has made her skinny as a rail. I knew it would happen but I can''t help but be a little sad that my little girl is losing all her "baby-ness." Matthew''s feet are almost as big as mine now. Won''t be long and he will be taller than me. He''s almost there! Ack!
Well, have a wonderful week!