Sunday, August 27, 2017

We Celebrate Our 17th Anniversary and An Eclipse

A week or two ago we dressed up and went to a new restaurant in downtown Cibolo.
We've been kind of partial to cheese plates since we got one on an evening cruise for our 5th(?) anniversary.



So delicious and so filling!

This is the Linnea flower Phillip painted for me a while back. He had the image printed on greeting cards (linen textured!) for me. The first one will be sent out this week to a little baby girl, newly born, named Lanaya.

This guy came back to see us! I've been keeping an eye out for him. He's our one-legged male grackle. I figure it's the same one over and over. How many one-legged grackles can there be that visit our yard? There's another one who limps; his left claw is curled up like it hurts him. I wonder what causes these injuries? 

We got a 60% eclipse here in San Antonio. My sister got a 90% one in Yakima, WA. We should get a pretty full eclipse in 2024. We will purchase glasses far ahead of the event to avoid price-gougers. 

But Ms. Monica came over to celebrate her birthday that day. Our gift to her was a cake that Elizabeth made for her. A very elegant cake based off of a picture Ms. Monica showed to us. She brought soda pop (Manzana and Fruit Punch), and we sang to her and ate pieces of cake.



Jonathan was our eclipse photographer. 
None of us in the neighborhood could figure out how to get the picture using the eclipse glasses and our phone camera. So everyone passed their phones to him. 


Eclipse shadows as described by World Book Learning: 
"This happens when sunlight passes through a very small hole, as it would through a pinhole camera. Such a tiny opening gathers and focuses the light that passes through it, projecting an image of the light source on the other side. On a normal sunny day, you might notice circles of light projected over the shadows of tree leaves. Those are images of the sun projected through tiny holes in and between the leaves. On eclipse day, these circles will become crescents. Look at the shadows of leafy trees, tightly woven baskets, or other objects that have small holes in them to try to observe this effect. You can also make a small hole with your hands by interlacing your fingers." 


Several families came out during maximum coverage. We had a friend give us a pair of his eclipse glasses, but he wasn't too sure about their certification, so we put them over a pair of sunglasses and it seemed to work out fine. 

I really enjoyed eclipse day! We were in and out during all of the four hours or so of time. We did some nature journaling and had Ding Dong ice cream sandwiches (I found what I could that was cheap, round and sweet). It was really fun to celebrate the day with our neighbors!


Saturday, August 19, 2017

Harris' in Town

Cody and his kids stopped in to see us for a few days after a long trip around the States. We're grateful for their friendship and the efforts they make to see us.

Dinner upon arrival.

I'm pretty sure that's Star Wars they are watching here. 

BBQ and ice cream in Cibolo. 


The girls did some domestic knitting and baking. 

We didn't do too much. They had been traveling for a month or so and were pretty tired out, so we mostly stayed at home and hung out. I took the kids to the hill one evening and we hiked to the top. We went swimming for an hour, we watched movies, we went to church Sunday morning. 

An enjoyable time to renew friendships.


Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Ecclesiastes 3

 "God's beautiful but tantalizing world is too big for us, yet its satisfactions are too small. Since we were made for eternity, the things of time cannot fully and permanently satisfy.*"




There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:



    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

(*from my Bible's commentary)

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Nearing the End of Summer

Elizabeth made Croissants for the first time, and they were THE best! 

Phoebe was working on BB8 for a couple of days there. 

The kids have had lots of trampoline parks this summer between their own birthday activities and others inviting them to birthday activities. This one is Altitude. It's a little more of a drive from our house, but Jonathan likes the openness of it.

I took the three youngers to the skating rink one 1/2 price day. 
Liz stays home from actives more these days and enjoys her time alone. 


At a fun splash park in New Braunfels.