Isn't My Family Beautiful!

I took some well deserved abuse for posting a picture of my swimming pool on the blog. I didn't think I had very many interesting pictures. Today Erin and Kenny gave me a disk with their wedding pictures on it. I thought this family picture was a great one to post. When I look at this group, all I can say is "...My cup runneth over!"

Summer?

Looking at the calendar, I know it is June. Looking at the sky, it looks like March. It is cloudy again and of course the wind is beginning to blow. The pool water is too cold to swim in so I bought some solar rings, hoping to speed up the heating process. But until the sun decides to shine for more than two hours a day, the rings won't do the job. I wouldn't care, except school is out today and I always look forward to having the little ones (and their moms) come for pool days.
On the positive side, the mild weather has been great for my mini-garden. The tomato plants are very prolific, and we will have our first taste of home-grown beans tonight. I am beginning to see some possibilities from the pepper plants. In case you are impressed that I have a garden, don't be. I'm not one to get out there and hoe, cultivate, weed, etc. I use pots and miracle -grow soil. I enjoy the fruits of labor, not the labor!
It's been over four weeks since I took the tumble down the stairs. My ankle is still weak and very sore, but I'm able to walk on it so I know it's healing. I'm being careful, especially around stairs and steps.
Also, I have three new pets. My cat, Rascal I, disappeared while we were in the mid-west in April. Since the grand kids, especially Jenny, loved him, I replaced him with a look-alike kitten which I then aptly named Rascal II. In order to maximize the odds of keeping a cat, I also got two other kittens- Socks, and Colby. Hopefully, one of these kittens will survive and make it to adulthood.

Handicapped Trip

Ken and I had a very busy week planned last week. We were going to go to Iowa and attend Kristi's graduation from Dordt, Kenny and Erin's wedding reception in Orange City, visit with Steve and Alyona in Milwaukee and celebrate Jenny and Andrew's birthdays in Illinois. I was looking forward to an "action--packed" week of "go-G0-GO"!
Tuesday night, at around 9:20 my cell phone rang and I ran to answer it. I missed the top step of the stairs and tumbled down - not so gracefully, I might add, and ended up on the landing with my foot tucked up in a weird way. We ended up in emergency where they said the x-rays were inconclusive, but that I probably tore some ligaments in my ankle.
Loaded down with pain pills, ace bandages, ankle braces and crutches, we decided to go ahead on the trip since graduation and wedding receptions were not exactly "do-over" events. I discovered a whole new way of traveling. Anybody who has ever traveled with me, knows I do not like to sit still and I always want to keep busy. That was not possible and I have never been so sedimentary as on this trip. I much prefer to push the wheelchair than be in it! Needless to say, I felt like a very senior citizen! Despite everything though, we managed to do most of what we had planned.
We went to the graduation reception at Dordt, but did not make the ceremony since it was too hard to get around there on crutches. Instead, we were able to give Danny the tickets for the ceremony and very glad he could watch Kristi "walk". It was nice to see Kristi's family and enjoy her excitement. We also attended the wedding reception. Ken parked me at a table and took away my crutches, so I remained sitting at the same table for three hours. I got to meet some interesting friends of Erin's family and enjoyed our conversations very much! Saturday we went to Milwaukee. We went out to eat with Steve and Alyona and in the restaurant there were steps to climb. I am embarrassed to admit it, but I fell again! I'm not very good with crutches. Fortunately, only my pride was hurt this time!! Sunday morning we had the pleasure of going to church with Steve and Alyona and then she made us a very delicious brunch. It was very nice to be able to sit and talk with them and catch up on their lives. Then we headed to Chicago. Late Sunday afternoon the Lumkes family got together at Jay and Melanie's house for a birthday party. I always enjoy Jay's family. We had a nice visit and the kids were SO CUTE. Andrew is walking all over and Jenny has such an imagination! Sunday night and Monday were spent "hanging out" at Melanie's and playing cards. We cut one day off our proposed trip because of my limited mobility, but otherwise did pretty much what we had planned.
When we got home, there was a message from the doctor. It seems that after reading the x-rays, the radiologist decided that my ankle has a slight fracture. It might take a while before I'm walking through the fields again...................GR.r.r.rrrrrrrrrrrr!

Kenny's wedding

Last weekend Kenny married Erin Kuiken. We are so happy for them both! The weather was perfect for the wedding; the place was gorgeous; the ceremony was God-honoring. It was so much fun to have the whole family together again, it was the first time in over a year! We took advantage of the rare event to have our family picture taken. Hopefully I will have some to post soon! It was enjoyable to watch the little grandkids enjoy each other. They could not have been better!
It is wonderful to know that all of our kids have found their life partners. Once again I am reminded that GOD IS GOOD!