Where did July go??

I cannot believe it is August already! I have to register the kids for school on Tuesday. Bryanna will be in 8th grade and Andrew will be in 5th grade!

I will just update you on a few happenings....Andrew went to Indiana with my mom and dad and attended the Baseball Camp at Notre Dame. He had a really good time and loved spending time with his cousins. He learned alot about Notre Dame's history and saw where is grandparent's grew up. I was so glad they all had a good time!

Bryanna flew up to Boston to spend a week with her mother and her 2 little sisters. She really enjoyed herself and brought back lots of pictures to show us.

We spent a week in Connecticut with Bill's family the last part of June, first week of July. We took my sister Chris with us. We visited Boston, Mystic, CT, Newport, Rhode Island and saw lots of sites. Andrew loved all the history of Boston and Bryanna loved all the shops. Unfortunately, the Red Sox were not in town so we did not get to a game but we did all wear Boston T-shirts. We took the "T" into Boston and then took a Duck tour around the city. It is a vehicle that drives on land and also goes in the water. We had so much fun on this tour. The conDUCKtor invited the kids up to steer the vehicle so some of them timidly went up to sit on the seat and hold the steering wheel. Of course, Andrew goes up there and grabs the wheel and turns it and scared the conDUCKtor....In Mystic, CT we went to an aquarium that had whales and penguins. Some of the exhibits were inside and some were outside. What a fun day we had. It was rather hot but we still enjoyed ourselves. We found a little village of shops to go to and Bill found some Marie Osmond dolls in one of the shops so I did get to do a little bit of doll viewing. No buying though because the prices were very very HIGH. We went to Bill's sister (Jacque) house for dinner that night to help celebrate her husband's birthday (Mike) We had a good time with them as always. Thank you Jacque, Mike, Ashley, and Balto for your hospitality!!! Wednesday was Bill's grandma's 90th birthday so Bill's mom had a surprise birthday party for her. Gram was really surprised and she looked so cute with her birthday hat on. I had the pleasure of sitting with one of Gram's friends and her and I really enjoyed ourselves. "Someone" kept saying her name was Clara but it was really Terry......I was also introduced to Bill's cousin and her 3 children and to Bill's uncle and his wife. We had a great dinner and a good time was had by all. On Thursday, we visited Sturber Village which is a village where you are shown how people lived in the 18th century. We learned alot this day and the kids made candlesticks. If you have never been to Newport, Rhode Island, it is a must see place on your places to go. What a lovely place with lots of mansions! I know my cousin Kim would love this place. We walked around and had a nice lunch and saw all the boats, mansions, and the church where John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline were married. We also walked on the "cliff walk" which overlooks the ocean. We also went over to see where Jacque (Bill's sister) went to college and some of the places she lived. Some of my favorite moments of our vacation were.......lots of walking and sight seeing.....Chris getting locked out of the camper.......Chris getting locked IN the camper......watching the kids make candlesticks.......walking through the cemetaries in Boston.......experiencing Celtic Fever......sitting with a new friend on the "T"........trying to catch a chipmonk.......yelling at the kids at the playground......spending time with family.....our vacation went by much too quickly but the memories will last a lifetime!

The month of July was spent mostly working and taking the kids to camp. We also lost a couple of people during the month. First was a friend of mine I went to high school with. Her family was heading to see her father after a week's vacation at Disney and they were hit head on by another driver. My friend, Debbie, was killed instantly. Debbie's husband and her son were injured and are still in the hospital. Debbie's daughter is with her grandmother. If you could say a prayer or 2 for this family, I know it will be appreciated. Debbie was one of those people who always had a smile on her face and could always brighten your day. She will be missed by many people. The other person that was lost was in a motorcycle accident. My niece Caroline has a friend named Barbara and Caroline, Barbara, Bill and I were all down in Charleston, SC to attend a concert. When we came out of the concert, I had a message to call my mom immediately and Barbara had several urgent messages. We had to get Barbara home right away because her parents had been a motorcyle accident in West Virginia. What was a fun evening had turned into a miserable ride to get Barbara home. Caroline went with Barbara and the next day we found out that Barbara's dad was killed instantly and her mother was injured. Barbara's dad, Charles, did not have on a helmet but her mother did. If you could also add this family to your prayer list during their time of sorrow and recovery.

I just returned from a trip to Charlotte, NC for a conference. I won't say I had a wonderful time because I was extremely homesick but I did learn alot. OH, I also met Ty Pennington from the Extreme Makeover-Home Edition. He was staying in the same hotel I was in and he came up to the front desk because he had lost his key and I looked over and saw him. He is very very tiny, I think Andrew is bigger than he is. He was very nice though and signed an autograph and took a picture with me and we also shook hands. I reminded him about the house he did here in the Myrtle Beach area. I also sat next to Humpy Wheeler at the ball game I went to with my friend but just to be on the safe side, let's just say he is not very approachable. I went to dinner at the Lowe's Motor Speedway with the whole conference group and then my friend from Charleston and I went to a Charlotte Knights baseball game where we were harrassed by the team mascot, Homer. He was a dragon and very cute.

Well, if you are still reading, I graduate in ONE WEEK....I cannot wait and maybe after that I will be able to learn how to post pictures to this blog. Stay cool if you possibly can, it is near 100 degrees here and just makes you sick to go outside. Take care!!!!!