July 4th

I LOVE the 4th of July!! Not everyone enjoys the 4th as much as I do. I don't understand why anyone would rather stay home than go and watch fireworks. I love it!! Now I don't enjoy just seeing the fireworks-- I have to be under them and hear the BOOM. If I can't hear the whistle and boom of the fireworks, it is not the same. This all started in Abilene-- I love to watch fireworks in Abilene because it is easy to get close and it is just fun. When we moved from Abilene, we would drive back every July for the 4th. Not until my in-laws moved from Abilene did I have to find a place to watch the fireworks in the DFW area. Well --last year I discovered the fireworks in the quad-cities. I park at the old Birdville Stadium to get close. This year I parked in the same spot and ended up next to the same two families as last year. What are the odds of that?

I think I have gotten a little ahead of myself. Our forth began with the kids spending the night with their grandparents and watching the parade out at Robson Ranch the morning of the forth. We then all met up at my sister-n-law's for a cookout and swimming. It was fun spending time with family. Addie loves playing with her baby cousin and Brandt is his uncle's shadow. All the kids had a great time together. As we were leaving the girls came up with a plan to spend the night --so Addie was not with us at the fireworks. We missed her, but she had a great time with her cousins. My sister's family met us at my new "parking spot"--which is just 3 minutes from my house-- we all had a great time. It may have taken less than five minutes to get there, BUT over 30 to get home. It truly did not bother me one bit that I had to drive around the world to get home that night. I LOVE the 4th!!

Work Day at Mom and Dad's

Mom and dad are putting together a new swing set for the grandkids. We are all trying to do our part to help get it together. The kids jumped right in there to help.(O.K. I should clarify the boys jumped right in there--it was "too hot" for the girls. The did bring us cups of water, which was greatly appreciated. Beth said "There are Mary's and Martha's in the word" as the girls were serving us the water. I love their sweet spirits.

The boys are helping wax the screws. (Go figure--it helps the boards not split.)

Sweet Boys

Today we saw the mail man wipe his brow as he walked away from the house. (It was very hot today.) We grabbed a bottle of water from the frig and the boys wanted to give it to the mail man. Brandt and Cade ran after him. I don't know if he saw them and ignored two boys running after him or if they just could not catch up with him. I started following them down the street because they just kept running after him. They finally caught up with him five or six houses down. He was thankful and took the water from the boys. As we were walking back home Brandt said "He is fast!!!"

Summer Fun

We were blessed a few weeks ago to go to summer camp as a family (minus Cade- He was not old enough to go this year.) This was Addie and Brandt's first taste of camp. We had a great time and got to meet new friends and see an old family friend-Burke Brack-that I had not seen in a very long time. It was a wonderful time for us to spend together. We got to sing, swim, climb rock walls, crafts, yes-even a zip line. We had a blast!

We were up in the Mountains of New Mexico. It was wonderful to see God's glory all around us--BUT-- we were not able to use cell phones up in the mountains; therefore we were unable to call and check on Cade. We had not ever been away from Cade for such a long time. We were all ready to talk to and see him by the end of the week. He got to spend some quality time with Aunt Beth and Nanna and Paw Paw. It sounded like he had a great week as well.








Grave Dig'n

The second Saturday in June has been what our family calls "The Grave Dig'n". We have gone to our family cemetery for generations now and had a work day. I loved watching my kids join in on the work to clean things up.




Dad got to visit with his Uncle O.V. - while the rest of us WORKED!! :-)






Great Wolf Lodge

Yesterday was my nephew's 3rd birthday. He had his party at the Great Wolf Lodge while his family was there on their vacation. We got to go and spend the day with them and celebrate three blessed years with Coen.


What a fabulous place. We ALL had a great time swimming and going down all the slides. I'm so thankful I have such brave kids. My little 3 year old, Cade would ride any slide the life guard didn't say he was too short to ride.







I have been wanting to get Brandt into swim lessons and I have not done it yet----Well, yesterday he just started swimming!!!! Beth said "I guess you just saved yourself $60." Brandt looked at me and said "Since I did that will you pay me $60?"
(Smarty Pants!)





10:00 p.m. and time to go home. What a fun, yet long day. The kids had a blast, but some are starting to have melt downs. What a great time with family and friends.

Here We Go!

Well, here I go into the land of Blogs. I did not think I would dive into this world, but I love reading all about my friends and seeing what is going on in their lives--I figured --what's it going to hurt. :-)
The Japhet family is doing GREAT! God is so good and I'm reminded of this daily. Blessings are poured over us all the time. It is easy to walk about and not see what is right before your eyes. I was reminded not to long ago about my Life Learning Skills class with Willard Tate. How thankful I am that he had us write down 10 good things that had happened to us that day before class. I know many of you know just what I'm talking about. When it is 8:00 in the morning- at first you think he is crazy and you don't see all the blessings- BUT, Mr. Tate is quick to remind you that you were able to get out of bed, walk to class, breath along the way, etc. Yes, there are many blessings we walk around daily and forget to thank our Lord for. Lord, help my to see things through your eyes and not take things for granted.
Three of the blessings God has given me are Addie, Brandt and Cade. My how fast they grow. It seems like just yesterday Addie was a baby. Now my baby is 8 and going into the 3rd grade. Brandt is 4 and will turn 5 in August. I never thought I would question the fact that I was not going to send him to Kindergarten this next year. The teacher in me knew before he was born that he would not start on time. The mom in me has gotten a little sad. I'm excited for the adventure to begin for him, because I know how much he will love it. The teacher in me is right and I know B will be better off in the long run by waiting another year to start school.
Cade is 3, yet thinks he is as big as Brandt. They are great buddies. I have loved watching them play together. It is such a sweet blessing to watch my kids play and grow in the Lord.