We had one of dear friends stay with us last week, & it was good to have her here again. We met Rachelle in 2006 through church. She moved in 2008 back to Kansas City, where she is from. We have missed her, but are so happy she is where God wants her & she is faithfully serving the Lord there. She was in town for a wedding, so we enjoyed the visits we had in between her busy schedule in Memphis. Here are few flashback photos & current photos:
Throwback from 2008
Look at Brook's hair!
2009
2010
Isabella in Rachelle's glasses
The girls slept in our laundry room & redesigned it for the week!
We made a bride's bouquet for the rehearsal dinner & Brook posed with it, along with my veil!
The saying goes, never go to the grocery store hungry. When I go grocery shopping, I usually stick to my list. I'm a little crazy with my list. I spend just as much time shopping as I do on creating a list & cutting coupons. All that time, & 99% of my shopping days, I come home & realize I forgot something or am informed we are out of something. Oh well, I will be back to the store again the next week. I do sometimes buy a special treat for the family, find a good sale item, or sometimes just a plain weakness. My last time to the grocery store, I had a weakness/curiosity moment.
Let me just say, these are so good! I won't tell you how long it took us to finish it. It may or may not have been in under an hour that they entered our home. No shame. So good they could be a breakfast item, ha!
On a healthier note, I do enjoy fresh vegetables we enjoy in the summer. Our sweet neighbor provides us with vegetables often from his garden.
We had the opportunity to spend some time last week at a friend's farm. The girls picked figs & came home with fig preserves, one of Avery's favorites.
One of the most famous & favorite summer places in Memphis is Jerry's Sno Cones. The girls really like this place, but I admit, I just went for the first time last Wednesday. It was better than I even expected, so I hope to go back before the cold weather arrives.
Sno Cones with Hayden, the Jr. High Assistant
Family photo :)
My latest addiction is tomato basil soup. That is crazy because I just started eating tomatoes about 5-6 years ago. This was our family dinner one night....tomato soup & grilled cheese!
Yum! Makes me excited for fall food.
Hopefully, you'll be inspired for some good meals this week. If you need recommendations, don't forget to check out The Pioneer Woman's recipes. She actually just showed her tomato soup recipe last week. I was a little excited to see it. Happy eating & give thanks!
Our family returned to Camp Palmer last week for camp with our church. Camp Palmer is a camp for the children & youth from our church along with children from Palmer Home, a children's home. This year, Avery & I led the archery activity for the campers. I actually stayed in the infirmary with the nurses. It was a busy place & I became an honorary nurse by the end of the week! I enjoyed not having my own cabin of campers this year. Isabella was in a 7th grade cabin with friends & Brook was in a cabin with girls her age. She was able to spend time getting to know a few girls better. Isabella & Brook both did great & had fun.
It's embarrassing how much stuff we took to camp. Avery & I took our car, while the girls took the bus with the other campers.
Ready for the bus ride!
Ashlyn & Isabella
Brook & Maylen on the first night of camp ready for Western night.
Isabella & I ready for the Western dance. If you are wondering where I get my high fashion, this awesome t-shirt was 50 cents at the half-price goodwill store. We love that place.
Isabella line dancing
Brook with her lasso move
Brook's cabin
Brook's bed
Isabella's cabin
Isabella's bed
The skit this year was Duck Dynasty. Um, my girls loved this.
Phil, Willie, Jase, & Si.
Later in the week, we had appearances by Mrs. Kay & Mountain Man.
Brook rock climbing
She did sooo much better this year!
Brook doing the ropes course.
See Brook in action
Smiling Papa in the background :)
Great job
I caught a sweet moment of Isabella (in the light blue to the right) & a friend walking arm in arm.
Brook & Ellie at the Luau swim party
Isabella with one of her counselors
7th & 8th grade girls with their cute buckets made in beading
Brook & friends at a porch party one night
Brook at archery
She was using her own bow from home in this picture.
My view every morning of camp!
Avery shooting his bow
Isabella & Abbay
Brook's bible study group at night
Hayden (the Jr. High assistant director) & Avery
Hayden lost a bet that it would rain on Sunday, so she had to wear a poncho on Monday.
Isabella at archery
She did great!!
Look at that form!
The only thing that changed here was the release of her two fingers.
See Isabella in action
On our drive home, we passed by the space center in Huntsville, AL. I had to get a photo :)
My 2 campers home from camp...happy, but exhausted.
