Tomatoes

I planted three little bitty tomato plants in June and just look at what we have now! Send homemade spagehetti sauce recipes! Quick!!

Bern and I are going to Petaluma this weekend for a Carson/Ramsey/Thompson (partial) family reunion. Don't know who will be there, but I will post pics next week.

Have a great last weekend of summer!

Back to school

Monday the kids in the neighborhood got dressed in their new clothes, picked up their new backpacks and headed out the door for the first day of school. I stepped outside just in time to catch the Lego family on their way and took a family photo with their camera.

The Crow Canyon crows are back in the neighborhood, following an old instinct that began when this place was an orchard and they could grab some of the the harvest at this time of the year. The mornings are crisp and cool, followed by heat in the afternoons. It's homework, soccer practice and youth group season. It's time to run to the store every other day and pick up more of the stuff the teachers say the students have to have. It's Busy Time!! This Saturday the mall will be full of kids and moms buying the clothes they put off buying because they didn't know for sure what was going to be cool yet.

This house is still echoing with voices of my own children, getting ready and heading out to Walt Disney, Pine Valley and Cal High. I see myself laughing and urging them to stand still for just one moment while I snap a picture of them. I still feel the thrill of the first day of school, the sense of promise and excitement, anxiety and hope.

I wonder if I will always feel the same way at this time of the year, that it is a time of new beginnings.

Time has a way of softening the edges of memory so that mainly the joy remains in the frame. What I remember now is the pride I always felt, and the hope that my kids would be happy and growing through the new school year. It was an adventure waiting to be experienced by all of us. It was a unique time of the year, loaded with anticipation.

It's nice to see that the first day of school is still basically the same in the neighborhood. I miss the joy and hubbub, but it's other peoples' turn now and I can live with being a spectator, mentally editing out the hard stuff and believing that...

it's just magic to go back to school.

Happy Birthday in Texas

Here is a picture of Whitney, who had her birthday August 28! She is one of my heroes, having dismantled her California life, moved to Texas and stuck it out for more than a year now. She is making lemonade out of all the lemons that landed on her plate those first several months. As you can see from this picture, Andy is nuts about her. Happy birthday, Whitney--- a little late. Watch for your birthday box in the mail! We love you!

From my garden

Morning Glories--Glorious!

Happy Birthday, Stephanie!

Today is Stephanie's birthday!! Happy Birthday, Steph, and happy dress-making!

You sure are cute!

Camp photo

Here is who was at Houseboats.....
Back Row:
Jonathan, Brian, Chris, Skyler, James, Preston, John, Chance, Kat, Kacy, Reid, Addie, Neal, Elijah, Andrew, Stuart, Jasmine, Brett & John Dodson,
Front Row:
Lisa, Melanie, Adrienne & Riley

....just in case you know any of these kids or staff....

Parte deux, What I Did This Summer

Got back yesterday from a week at houseboats! It was an awesome camp and Jonathan did an amazing job with it. He has the sweetest high school kids and a great staff to work with. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I was so tired driving home that I had to stop and take a nap at a truck stop. Abby had the best time ever, running free when we were on shore and being played with and petted constantly by the kids. She loved wading in the water, although she doesn't especially like swimming.

John Dodson, the camp speaker, asked the campers one question at the beginning of the week: Are you giving your life to things that are temporal or eternal? Then he spent the rest of the week helping them think that through.

Today I am overwhelmed with gratitude that my own kids have chosen to give their lives to things that are eternal.

Preacher

August 12 Bern was invited to speak to the Russian Baptist Church in San Francisco. The topic was "Bear one another's burdens." For the complete text, email him. It was a great message. Pictured above: The church at 1300 Balboa Street, Pastor Nicolai Gusenkov with Bern, and Bern preaching.

Big week coming up

This week I will be going to houseboats camp at Trinity Alps!

No this is not a flash from the past. On Monday I am driving up from San Ramon to meet Jonathan's high school campers who are, of course, driving down from Portland. He needed one more female staff person---and just happened to know one who had some experience with summer houseboats camp at Trinity Alps. (I can't believe I am falling for this again.)

This afternoon Bern and I went shopping for decorations for the houseboat...and candy...and pirate stuff. Then I stocked up on trail mix. Tomorrow I will putting together my stash of art supplies and first aid stuff, followed by a ton of sun screen. I hope I still have my old swimsuit and board shorts.

I shared with Jonathan and his staff that I no longer do heavy lifting, no longer pull tow ropes with house boats attached (because, really, why should I?) and probably don't jump off of roofs into the water anymore. I will help with cooking and supervise cleaning (all that red beach dirt :-( ) and I will LOVE spending time with the girls. I also look forward to meeting and spending time with the people he works with at his church.

So I will be blogging again sometime next week, with pictures of this adventure.

I can't wait to go to houseboats!!!!

Thanks, Jonathan!

Day in China Town

I went to the City today, all by myself and ended up spending most of my time in China Town. It's commercial, like all of San Francisco, but somehow it feels more real than the rest of the retail areas of the City. At about 4:00 p.m. I was at the Broadway end of Stockton Street where there are a lot of food markets. People were shopping for fresh food for their dinners and I couldn't see another caucasion in sight. It was awesome.

What I did this summer

Today we had our last Bible study in Mark. This is part of the group of 6 or 7 ladies that has been gathering in our home since June, studying 2 chapters of Mark each week. They have been an absolute delight to meet with.

I have also been meeting weekly with a group on Monday nights to do a study called The Mind of Christ, by T.W.Hunt. (I don't have a picture of them yet). Imagine what a great summer this has been, studying the mind of Christ on Monday evenings and the life of Christ on Thursday mornings!

As my friend Sachiko (far right end of photo) said, "You should just teach the Bible all of the time and not do anything else". Mmmmmm. That would be the best life possible!