I thought weekends were supposed to be restful?

I guess whoever decided that never met our family. We had, as usual, a weekend of chaotic fun. Friday night we had our awesome new Pastors of Student Ministries over for dinner. Kevin, Brenda, Adam, & Kayla Dolbee are some of the most fun people to hang out with, even if they're Raiders fans. I will forgive them for that. Although I am praying for their deliverance...





The girls automatically fell in love with Kayla, and covinced her to play every form of pretend play imaginable. Madison decided to make Pastor Kevin work really hard for a smile - no big surprise there. Katrina decided to show off her new gymnastics skills, which immediately created the need for the "we do not do flips in the living room and show off our underwear when the new pastors are over for the first time" discussion. Violet was in rare form, taking solo steps for applause.





That's right - I forgot to mention this! Violet is finally walking! Hallelujah, glorious day! She took her first solo steps last Sunday, and has gotten more and more confident as the days pass. She even walked into and out of church holding Katrina's hand this Sunday. After church, she realized that all the QuissenSaunderDolbeeBerry teens (my new nickname for all the pastoral staff teenagers - since they usually roam in one big herd) were admiring her, so she decided to gain applause and adoration by walking, solo, back and forth across the stage.





Back to the weekend...





Saturday morning, Jerome had to show property, so we went to a few yard sales with the Randol clan, then back to our house to tackle Sommer's girls' 4-H projects. We put together their display boards for the fair and enjoyed a bunch of conversation in the midst of "working".





Saturday afternoon, Katrina got to go to a friend's birthday party. So, while the little ones slept, I made Jerome help me tackle some yard work. We have a tree that is supposed to be a tree, but due to lack of trimming had become a 20 foot tall bush. We trimmed back all the extra limbs until we had a relatively tree-looking creation. I also cut Jerome's hair. So I guess two overgrown bushes were trimmed Saturday!



After Katrina got home, and we all had dinner, we headed into town for one of our favorite summer activities - Name That Foreign Tourist. We walk around downtown and listen to the tourists' conversations, trying to guess where they're from. It actually does help the girls learn the differences between languages, and it's just plain fun to watch all the tourists!





Sunday morning was church, and a ton of fun with a herd of high schoolers. We absolutely love the teens in our church. And, while we can't physically be there on Wednesday (youth) nights anymore, it doesn't mean we can't harass them on Sundays. I feel like I have a herd of little brothers harassing me, but I love it. They are too fun.





Sunday afternoon, while the girls napped, we successfully avoided doing housework. In Jerome's words, "The Tour (the Tour de France) was calling!". After naps, we went back into town and got our rear ends toasted in softball. It was not pretty. We got run-ruled. I thought Jerome & Billy were going to cry.




But they were still able to admit that even a bad day of softball is better than a good day of work. And, because our lives do not slow down just because of the work week, I am finally posting a weekend update, when the next weekend is almost here. Oh well. Happy Thursday Everybody!