The Preamble

I forgot to add that we watched America Rock from School House Rock.  I particularly love the song The Preamble, I get choked up everytime!  I just found the song and cartoon on YouTube  tried to get it linked here, but couldn't figure it out.  Here are the words:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

I Found Your Camera blog

My friend just told me about this blog.  Since I had lost my camera in May, I checked it out.  I didn't see any of my pictures, but thought I'd pass it along.  The more people know about this website, the more people will find their lost cameras and pictures.

 ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com

 

4th of July

This is our fourth 4th of July in this town.  I remembered this year that in our former city, fireworks sales were illegal.  We rarely even got to see a nice professional fireworks show, only snippets from our back stairs.  Since moving here, dh has been having fun setting off our own booth-bought fireworks.   And we have tried to find a good place to watch the big fireworks shows.  In the past, we would go to the park next to the baseball field, where they would have a nice show after the ballgame.  Except they always went into extra innings.  Last year, I decided we should just find a park close to the college where they have the biggest show in town (that I know of).  Well, we ended up buying our house right near there!  So we had a fabulous fireworks show right from our own front yard!  Here are a few pictures:

A great summer meal: bbq pork chops, watermelon, salad, corn on the cob, macaroni & cheese, and yummy no-bake garlic bread (I toasted the sour dough slices in the toaster and spread garlic butter on them, so good, and my house didn't heat up)

Dessert didn't turn out as good as previous years.  I need to perfect this thing!!  But it tasted yummy!

Hanging out in the front yard, with Grammy:

A girl and her cat:

Flag football with Daddy::

Planning the next play:
Sparklers!

Waiting for the big show:

The "mini finale":

I tried to take pictures of the bigfireworks, there were some neat new styles.  But my camera wouldn't cooperate.  I did get this, and wanted to post it because if you look right in the middle,  you can see the crescent moon and it just looked cool as the fireworks were exploding right in front of it:

$100!!

For the first time ever, it took $100 to fill up our van with gas!!  It would have taken a little more, but the machine would only go as far as $100.   Ugh!  So discouraging!  We used our van a lot last week.  The kids had Vacation Bible School, so we drove to church everyday.  Plus, E's car was in the shop all week, so I had to drive him to work and pick him up!  Whew! That's a lot of driving.  But this week, we have no appts, so I do plan to stay home as much as possible.  But hey!  I did notice the price of gas went down by about five cents a gallon yesterday, so there is hope.  Maybe.

Lots of camping pictures

We had a wonderful time camping!  The weather was in the 70s, which is so much better than the 110 they had at home!  The tenting experience was fine.  I was cold the first night.  E didn't really like the inflatable, bouncable mattresses.  But I did, much better than the hard floor!  We went fishing on Friday and Saturday, in two different small rivers.  The second day, D caught two fish and E caught 1!!  They even cleaned them and cooked them.  And ate them.  We had bonfires.  And roasted marshmellows and hotdogs over the fire.  I must buy an old fashioned perkolater for my coffee.  In Yosemite, I always took our electric coffee maker.  We didn't get much hiking done, but they sure had fun fishing and splashing in the cold water.  At one spot, there were millions of ladybugs on the rocks!  I have never seen anything like it.  On our way home, we stopped to see some of the giant sequoias.  I am always amazed at the size of those things!  Some of them have even been growing since the time that Jesus walked the earth!  The oldest living things in the world, right here, just hours from our home!  Okay, here are the pics:

 

"Our" meadow:

Monster campfire:

Team work!

Roasting hotdogs:

Smoke protection:

GIANT Sequoias:

 I got a fish!

Millions of ladybugs:

Gone Campin'

We are going on our very first tent camping trip since our 10yo was a baby!  Since then, we have used our trailer, or stayed in Housekeeping in Yosemite, which has a cabin sort of thing, beds and electricity.  And showers.  We are going up into the Sequoia National Forest, to a campsite that has outhouses and no showers.  For three days.  I used to be able to camp for several days without showering, but the last couple of years, I just needed my daily shower to wake up and feel normal. But I'll manage.  As long as I don't have to touch any fish.  E is getting a fishing license today.  Hopefully, we (they) will actually catch something.  The boys want to even clean them and cook them for dinner.  Yikes!  I remember as a kid, going to our friends' cabin "in the mountains" not too far from where we will be, an hour maybe??  The boys caught some fish and we were walking back to camp.   They asked if I wanted to carry the fish, and for some crazy reason, I said ok.  They handed it to me, mouth wide open, and I had to hold it from the mouth.  Well, that was just too much for this girly girl.  I dropped the fish right in the dirt!  They were not too happy with me.  That was the last time I ever touched a fish like that.  We shall see what happens this weekend. 

When we get back, I will post PICTURES!!!  We bought a new camera to replace the lost one.  I have a handy camera case with a strap, so I can always be wearing it.

 

 

Homeschool Graduation

My family was invited to the graduation of a homeschooled girl.  I wasn't sure if we would go at first, but then I read a blog post about how encouraging it is.  I wish I could find that post, I can't remember who wrote it!  I am so glad we went.  My husband and I were very encouraged in our homeschooling endeavor.  It was a small class, of about 20 or so, plus several 8th graders, who also graduated.  It was held at  a church.  It was very touching to hear some of the students acknowledging and being very grateful, for their parents' hard work and sacrifice throughout the years.  How they were brought up in the Lord, and how they had that foundation to take out into their various life choices, college, work, ministry.  They were encouraged to continue on in the faith, to continue learning.  Some of them showcased their talents.  Some had 3.5 gpa or higher.  All of them graduated under the  private home school option, in CA.  As the Seniors names were announced, they came forward, and their parents handed them their diplomas.   Then the student would stay on the stage a moment as the announcer read all of their accomplishments, and future plans.  That was really neat.  I loved hearing all of the things they were involved in, music, volunteering, ministry, classes in college, talents, etc.  Many are going on to college.  As the blogger before me posted, I encourage you  to attend a homeschool graduation, if you ever get the chance.