Exciting Things Happening While We Hold Down the Fort

Firstly, my dad is living his best life at this very moment. 

He was invited to go as a helper to hunt gators at the Sabine Refuge (they've got to keep the population down). He and two other guys are camping out this week. I think they've gotten 37 alligators so far. He called today to tell me about it; he's going to get a gator or two to take home with him. So when I visit in October, I get alligator! (He forgot a cap, so he tied a shirt on his head ~ he will definitely burn without something on his head.)

Speaking of dads, Phillip's dad had a heart attack a few weeks ago. The doctor went in and put stents and he was out in a few days. Paul is back at it almost like nothing happened. 

Amos graduating from the residency program. 

He is now youth minister at the Kuna location of Eagle Christian Church. We're excited for you, Amos!

We have four little kittens under the house, and they will not come out for us. So sad.

This momma cat isn't as good as our original momma cat. Abigail would bring her kittens to us to get them used to us. And this momma, Hattie, doesn't do that. At least they still keep the mice at bay.

This was a wash stand that Paul remembers in his home from youth. He and Elayne had it in their home, and they gave it to us when they moved. That particular green didn't work in the room we have it in, so I stripped it down to the wood and repainted. There was a yellow color beneath Mimi's green and a blue in some parts of it beneath the yellow. It says Waters Furniture on the back of it, a famous store in town (sadly gone now). But some of the Waters family built this house that we currently live in, so kind of neat that a Waters' piece is back in a Waters' home.

Working on it on the back porch.

The finished product!

We tried to match the paint to the chair bottoms of the dining room set from Paul and Elayne. The seat bottom cloth is a dark green with a lighter pattern embroidered on it. So it can look like a very light green when light shines on it. But the piece of cloth I took to the paint store matched up perfectly with Mountain Moss (which I love! This color makes me happy). I wanted to get the dresser/stand done before school started because it holds some of our school supplies. 

Jonathan had friends over for his 21st birthday. They played Mafia.

Charcuterie for snacks and peach pie for his candles.

The very next day after Jon's party, we moved Phoebe down to her apartment in Linn, MO.

We girls had serious doubts about the boys fitting all of her stuff in the truck, but they really pulled it off.

The boys putting her stuff in her room.

I love this couch. It's so comfortable! 

But it was a beast to get out of the house. It may have involved taking the door off its hinges and a few chinks in the wall.

We had dinner at a pizza place and said goodbye to our girl. She and Ainsley are rooming together while Ainsley is going to State Tech. It is hard to let your kid go, but it's so nice that she's only an hour and a half away. I think we've seen her about every week since she moved.

The boys took off for a trip to Dayton, OH to visit the National Air Force Museum. They stopped in Vandalia, IL and Vandalia, OH to get pictures.

This is the CH-3E.

My dad's dad flew on this plane as a mechanic in the Air Force. 

He was in Saigon, Korea, and flew into Thailand to rescue people. (Or did he fly into Cambodia to rescue? I'm going off of a talk I had with Grandma a while back....)

Grandpa's plane.

The boys also saw the type of plane Grandpa died on, but I don't have that picture.

Harrison in front of an F-15. 

They had a really good time.

Phoebe and I went to Hermann to see a group do Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. There were only 6 actors with lots of costume changes, which made it different and interesting. 

The boys built a box to hold Harrison's air-soft gun supplies.

And they made fruit gummies.

And Jon bugged his brother.

And Phoebe came over to say goodbye to Jonathan before he took off for residency in Boise.

We are so thankful he made it safely after 20 hours of driving.

And he is having dinner this very night with Lanaya and Amos in their new apartment!

For our anniversary, Phillip and I stayed in Hermann. We toured the oldest (?) house in Hermann and I snatched a picture of this blessing that hung in the kitchen. 

The English words of the Blessing.

After the Day's Toil and Burden 

and the World's Hardships

Man needs, for Rest and Repose,

a Place on Earth

Where, far from the Tumult of the World,

He can say: I am at Home.

 

Chicago and Boys in the Pulpit

July brings the heat! 💦

But there's plenty to do indoors or in water. And I still have to step outside throughout the day when the air-conditioning gets too cold. It's like a heated blanket out there.

Lanaya Elizabeth and Amos went to a small town parade for the 4th of July. And they have news! Amos took a ministry position at Eagle Christian Church in Boise, so they plan to stay up there for a while. We're excited for them! We're glad they'll be around while Jonathan does his residency there over the next year. And it's a beautiful place to live, I know. 

Congratulations, Amos!

Mimi and Papa shared a meal with us for the 4th of July, and Phillip read the Declaration of Independence as he usually does.

Just an update on Elayne: She had a heart attack in June and had an emergency stent put in for a 99% blockage. Then this week she had two more stents put in the main artery. She's up and at it though, doing really well. 

I thank God for my in-laws! I couldn't have asked for better. I enjoy their company and the way they care for anyone around them, especially their family. Elayne has taught me a lot by her example and her stories. It's a joy to live near them.

We finally took that trip to Chicago that we'd been telling Phoebe about. We figured we had better do it now since she's moving out this weekend. 😭

She loves art museums and Phillip thought she would enjoy The Art Institute of Chicago. 

We got up early Friday and stopped at a McDonalds for breakfast ~ there was a group of farmers having breakfast, and it was so great! We sent a picture to Papa who also has his group that meets at the Dairy Queen every morning.

Monet's Haystacks. This museum has six of the twenty-five.

We got to Chicago around 1:00 with a truck trying to overheat, lots of traffic to navigate, and a threatening pan-handler that Phillip dealt with in the Chick-fil-a. 

Once we got in the museum, I could calm down a little, and I absolutely loved all the art we came upon that I actually recognized. 

This was the most crowded room. It is a large painting, but I don't think of Seurat as being more famous than, say, Monet or Picasso or Van Gogh. Hmmm. Maybe just because Sunday on La Grande Jatte is so large.

I have to say that I know all I know about art for a couple of reasons:

 1. Phillip enjoys it and watches videos about it and has books about it, and so I learn a lot from him. 

2. Homeschooling. We do Art Study all year long, once a week, studying three artists per year. We use Ambleside Online and Picture Study Portfolios. 

When you don't know a piece or an artist, you just don't care all that much about art. But when I saw a piece I instantly knew, it was like meeting a friendly face: "I've seen you before! I know you. And now I get to see you face to face." 

Phillip and I spent Friday with Phoebe at the museum until it closed. Then we dropped her off when it opened Saturday and she spent all day there again until closing time. 

She loves John Singer Sargent, and there were so many there! They were all over the museum. She and Phillip often recognized his style before realizing it was actually him. Probably Nighthawks was my favorite piece to see, although it's hard to pick. I really enjoyed the whole experience of coming upon piece after piece that I recognized.

We stayed at The Palmer House hotel, which was just a block or so away from the museum. It was built in the late 1800's as a wedding gift for Potter Palmer's bride. It burned down in the Great Chicago Fire just 13 days after opening. But he rebuilt it (who has that much money!?). Mrs. Palmer collected Impressionist art and had a number of Monet's Haystacks which she eventually donated to the art museum in Chicago. 

Also, supposedly the brownie was invented in the kitchen of this hotel. Phoebe and I shared one and it was so good! Very worth the $8. It looks fudgy, but it's more like a light lava cake in brownie shape and you can't be allergic to nuts if you want to try one of these. Delicious!

A ceiling fresco in the main dining area of the hotel. 

Phoebe and I were going to eat dinner there Friday night (Phillip wasn't feeling well). We sat down and looked at the menu and thought perhaps it wasn't for us that particular night. The only thing that looked good to her was a chicken dinner, but then I pointed out the sauce and sides of some kind of Greek or Mediterranean origin and she was unsure. So we told them thank you and scooted out to the little Express food area and bought only slightly less expensive deli items (and had that wonderful brownie).

We had breakfast at Pittsfield Cafe which is in a skyscraper built in 1927. It was neat, but there was no air conditioning, it being in a courtyard. 

After we dropped Phoebe off Saturday, we went to Millennium Park. Again, it was hot. There were so many people. I had to go through security three times because my bag kept beeping. But I did enjoy walking the park and especially seeing this beautiful butterfly garden contrasted with the buildings. 

(Speaking of security ~ I don't think I've seen a Target that had you walk through a metal detector and have security guards everywhere. Bathrooms have codes for entry [which we could never find on our restaurant receipts!]. Chik-fil-a had a security guard standing outside. You would think security would make you feel secure.... it did not.)

On the way home Sunday, we went to church in Naperville with Uncle Earl and Aunt Pat and Debbie and Mateo and saw Dave and Sue for lunch. (Phillip's cousins/Elayne's brother's family.) That was a fun, relaxing time with great visiting.

There is absolutely no place like home.

Double rainbow from our front porch.

Harrison has been busy. He preached at the Farber Presbyterian church one Sunday and did an excellent job. He was in charge of the whole service because it's a more liturgical style, so he lead the singing, the prayers, the readings, the sermon. 

And he has gone with Jonathan twice to do the children's sermon at the two churches Jon preaches at.

Harrison is driving! We found a street in town named Harrison, so I had to get a picture.

VBS!

All the kids helped, but I didn't get pictures of all of them. Phoebe and Jon helped lead groups. Harrison was kitchen help, and I was in the nursery this year.

 

This was Phoebe's first time going to CIY. I hear from her friends that she was DONE by Tuesday. But she made it through and enjoyed the time with her friends ~ when they could get her to come out of her room, that is. 😅

Jonathan preached at our church this morning and did an excellent job. We're very proud of him and the work he's putting into his weekly sermons.

I was in nursery last week, but Phillip also preached at our church last Sunday. So all the Gore men have been in the pulpit this month!