An apple experiment

This week our neighbor, Marie, told us about her brother-in-law making dried apples.  We had some apples on hand so we decided to try it ourselves.  We talked to our friends, the Gravel family, and told them what we were doing.  Ryan decided to do it too.  We selected different apple types and said we'd bring them to church today to trade.  Both were delicious!

 

Here's what we did:  Making Dried Apples (completely natural)

1. Slice apples into 1/4 inch thick slices (leave peel on, leave seeds in)
2. Find a nice sunny place outside to let them dry
3. Place the slices in a single layer (Optional:  put them on a pillow case and put a pillow case over them - keeps them clean and keeps birds from eating them)
4. Let the apples dry out (in the AZ summer heat it only takes a couple of days)
5. Put in a baggie
6. Eat
7. Share

Neighborhood Wildfire!

Picture this: It's Friday afternoon. The kids and I are playing in the backyard. I smell smoke and say "wow, the winds are blowing the smoke smell down from the wildfires up north." Then we look to the west and see this plume of white smoke going up. That's close! The kids run in the house and I take some pictures. I go next door to make sure Ruth knows and that if we need to leave the neighborhood that we want her to jump in our car. While I'm in her house, we begin to hear the fire engine sirens. I get back to the kids and within a few minutes we hear that the firemen are there and it's under control.

The location of the fire was on the left hand side of Cave Creek Dam Road, which is the entrance road to our neighborhood. When we are entering and/or leaving the neighborhood it is directly across the street from Robin Road. When Matt got home, we went down to see the damage.

Father's Day Weekend

It was a great celebration of Matt/Dad this weekend.  The kids loved hanging on him and just goofing around.  Matt is an amazing, thoughtful, and fun dad!  He's a great role model for these kids.

Lilly's week (during VBX)

Lilly and I dropped off Micah and the girls and spent our mornings together. It was some great one-on-one time! One day we went to McCormick Ranch Train Park with Dana & Kaley, one day we went to swim with the Bubar girls (Kristina, Charlotte, & Katie), one day we went to the Children's Museum, one day we ran errands, and one day we stayed at the church and joined the kids for worship.

SBC VBX 2011 - "Jump"

It's an "extreme" week this week at church. SBC's VBX is themed "JUMP". There are over 800 children registered and we pray for their softened little hearts to understand God's love for them. There will be many that acknowledge they are sinners in need of a Savior and will ask Jesus to fill them with the Holy Spirit. Oh, what a beautiful thing!
The memory verse for the week is 1 Timothy 4:12 - "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young. But set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." (Check out the back of Micah's t-shirt he wore on Monday.)

Swim Date - Meigh Family

Our friends, the Meigh family, are home for the summer. Scott is a teacher and able to spend his summer days with the kids. Kevin & Micah are friends, and Kaitlyn & Lilly are friends. It works out perfectly. The kids jumped on the trampoline and swam in the pool. It was a little chilly, so Scott was a trooper and accepted Lilly's requests to "swim me" across the pool.

7th Annual Father's Day Craft Open House

Wow, our 7th annual Father's Day party! We had 5 moms and their children join us this year. It was great fun to see the creative cards, drawings, and paintings put together for their dads. Our "special" project this year was a laminated placemat.
We thank you Lord for placing these amazing husbands & fathers in our homes!

Swim Date - Bubar Family

Our first swim date of the summer - the Bubar family! The kids and I went to the Bubar's home yesterday. The kids played games in the yard, jumped on the trampoline, had snacks, swam in the pool, and had lunch. Kristina and I had a wonderful visit and enjoyed watching Joey, Willy, Benji, Charlotte, Katie, Micah and Lilly spending time together. Katie is now old enough to start participating in the playing (she was usually napping). We LOVE these guys!!

Tikes & Tales Bookstore

We learned of a marvelous bookstore from Mrs. Seikman at swimming. Her friend, Carol, owns the bookstore 'Tikes & Tales'. She was having a huge sale through the week of June 6-10. Hard cover books for $2. and paperback books for $1. We shared the news with Eastside Explorers, went on Monday morning, saw lots of our friends, and got lots of reading materials. What a deal! She also has this amazingly huge Scooby Doo.
We intend on stopping in regularly and hopefully making some connections with Carol. She is an amazing Christian woman with an incredible past and a marvelous future.

Missing!

Our cat, Sammy, got outside and was considered "missing". We prayed, we searched, we waited, we called, we told neighbors, and we even put up 'missing' posters (that was tough). It was a huge test as we trusted God in a multitude of end results that could be the outcome of this situation. Sammy is 12 years old, has no front claws, and is on medication. After 45 hours, she was seen on the back porch of our friend's house, 2 doors down, and brought home safely. She smelled dusty, was very hungry & thirsty, but had no scratches. Here is the picture we had on her poster. We sing praises for her return!

Strong Families - Pool Party!

On Saturday, we had one last Strong Families social before taking a summer break from June 19- August 14. It was a great time of swimming, eating and socializing (just what summer is all about)! There were a lot of families represented. :)

Early birthday gift - WOW!

Jim & Kelli Taggart surprised Micah with a "baseball training session" with Coach Keith Comstock. Coach is a friend from church, he & his wife join us for trips to Neighborhood Ministries and he is a professional Major League Pitching Coach for the Texas Rangers Organization. Saturday morning Coach spent an hour with Micah giving him tips on hitting, catching, and pitching. He timed Micah running the bases (major league) and Micah set the new 8 year old record at 24 seconds. You can view 2 amazing articles about Coach at: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110426&content_id=18271912&notebook_id=18275496&vkey=notebook_tex&c_id=tex
and http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110504&content_id=18639086&notebook_id=18646022&vkey=notebook_tex&c_id=tex

Harkins Theatre Summer Fun Movies

We are participating in the Harkins movies again this summer. We got tickets with a large group from church. We go to the Cine-Capri at Scottsdale & 101. Fridays go from June 3 - August 5, 2011. YUMMY POPCORN!! 10 movies, 10 weeks, $7. The movies this summer are:

Roadrunner Park

A great overcast day allowed for a perfect opportunity to go to the park, play, and feed the ducks (geese & birds). We drove down to Roadrunner Park because they are close and have a pond. We had 3 bags of buns, leftover from a camping trip, that needed to be eaten. We reflected on the movie "Mary Poppins" and the song "Feed the birds". Good job 'Michael' and 'Jane' - haha!

Swimming Lessons

We didn't waste any time getting started in the pool! The kids began their swimming lessons with Mrs. Seikman June 1st. They are splitting a 1/2 hour session once or twice a week in order to make sure we get some structured pool time regularly. Our goal is to make sure they are both safe and comfortable in the water. Micah is capable of swimming but needs extra confidence when the activities get more "playful" and "rough". Lilly is thrilled to get in the water, but wouldn't be able to flutter back to the top if she fell off the steps or off the edge of the pool. We look forward to a safe and fun summer around the pools!

Summer Begins!

June came and so did a reduction and change of scheduled events. It's a nice break from a few activities and a fresh start to some new ones. Our weather remains do-able to be outdoors for a while longer. Micah is now officially considered a 2nd grader!