cousins//

/Pictures from Jerrell + Jen's wedding 7-21-17/

/Cousins are usually the first friends we have as children. They are the best of two worlds because they are family and friends at the same time.... No one will ever understand your crazy family like your cousins do!  Cousins are the first friends you make and the only friends guaranteed to be there for the rest of your life!/

- Author Unknown 

stay-cation ...

Sometimes you take a blogging siesta without even trying it...that's kind of what I just did. But anywho, I'm back with some pictures of our "stay-cation."

 ....we went to Cabela's during the day. Dad enjoys showing us (esp. the little girls) all the animals. We then shot at the gun range 😄

... trying out some cots 

 ... bubble blowing contest...wonder who won? 😋

 ... we went to a lovely diner by the river for lunch...sadly, my meal wasn't so good 😑

 ... we then checked out the train station that used to operate. They had really neat, old, train cars.

... we took some pictures on the not-used-anymore tracks 

... we then slept at our rental house at the end of our lane. This was the one that the roof was taken off in the storm, and it is finally finished!! It was cool to sleep in a brand-new-old house 😃

summer ||

A July 4th picnic calls for some baking done by yours truly || 

Check out the cute little Mennonite girls (get why I'm saying that? 😋) ||

A yummy taco supper dinner outside under the shade ||

a family fishing night with freshly dug worms (Tiana was the first one to catch a fish!)  ||

All the rain and warm weather has the corn shooting right up! It is so gorgeous!! ||

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"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good and His love endures forever."  Psalms 106:1

It isn't always easy || weekly encouragement

Life isn't always easy. Sometimes social media makes everything look great and grand. But it's not always all the fun pictures and things we write about. Life has its ups ↑ and downs ↓ and through it all, we need to cling to Jesus. Things haven't been easy lately....as some of you know, I struggle with tummy issues, and sometimes they flare up, and I get really discouraged. Why do I have do go through this? Why can't I just be normal? That is how I feel. But like those around me have been reminding me, "What is Jesus trying to teach through this?" I'd like just to wake up, and feel great and never have to not feel good again, but as good as that sounds, that's just not how things go. So, lately, I have been wanting to just grow closer to Jesus, just to continue to trust Him through everything. To be constant in prayer (Romans 12:12), and to be fully alive with Jesus. To learn and dig deeper into His word, to be able to minister to others. So I am encouraging you, and me, to be fully alive with Jesus, and to think on Him, study His word, and be in prayer constantly. It's not easy, but with His help, we can accomplish oh so much!! So, to each one of you, wherever you are in your walk with Jesus, whether you're in an up ↑ or a down ↓ look to Him each and every day, and ask Him for wisdom to keep on with this life. Blessings, friends!