Grice Journal: In Which Life Happens

Summer is nearly upon us with its hot, humid days, bright blue skies filled with giant clouds like white cotton candy, the harsh, but somehow soothing sound of insects at night... Summer is freshly picked sweet corn, buckets full of green beans to can, swimming on those 90+ days, reveling in the ground shaking boom of thunder, the awesome sunsets, freshly cut lawns, the rustle of corn leaves in the fields, fresh scented laundry from the clothesline, sitting out on the front porch after a long day's work, flip-flop weather, the sound of children's laughter as they play on the lawn...

I could go on and on, but I won't bore you anymore. 😊 I've been so busy, I hardly remember what has happened. So, I'll let the pictures tell the story of our busy lives...

These guys are so fun!

Dorks

Barn swallows are pesky, but they sure are pretty!

Sweet little Tups

We youth went to the Rock Cut one Sunday afternoon.

The water was over the rocks again.

The boys built a dam out of loose rocks. It was pretty neat to see it actually change the course of the water!

We hiked across to the sand bar where we went off roading in the mud. Some people sank up to their knees!

Investigating the beaver dam

Later, some of us went to Ry's for supper and ice cream. This little Bloopie girl is so cute!

We've been getting together to practice our SOP songs as much as possible the past couple months. We leave tomorrow for Wyoming, so hopefully we're ready! 😳

Isn't Iowa gorgeous?

Mom and Dad took Doughy and Lynna to a tractor show that Living History Farms was putting on. They loved it!

Our peonies were beautiful this year!

Gus loves being scratched under the chin.

Chupps had Loui up on Skype one Sunday. We had fun passing her around and talking to her. We even sang a couple SOP songs for her!

Mom and I clean this house that is filthy. I don't think they ever clean in between times. This pile is from the living room and dining room. Actually, that's not even all of it, Mom had sucked up a pile of dirt with the vacuum for me. I wear a size 6.5 shoe, so you can see how icky big the pile of dirt was.

I made two gallons of iced coffee one day. We kept one and I took the other over to Chupps. It sure was yummy!

I got my braces on May 17! They're called Invisalign braces. They are quite different from the wire ones. You can read about them here if you wish to know more about how they work.

Our valley has an amazing view!

We invited Gram over for tea and scones one morning.

The sky was the most interesting blue I'd ever seen. These pictures don't even do it justice.

*These are un-edited cell phone pictures*

I bought a vintage stove from Salvation Army. Any ideas on it's value? It's a gas Cribben and Sexton Universal.

Ry and Kels invited us over for cake and ice cream to celebrate Katelyn's 4th birthday.

I can't believe she's four already!

She couldn't wait to open her big present!

Ryan and Kelsey bought her a really nice rocking horse off Craigslist. The lady they bought it from said her grandfather handmade it.

She loved it!

This was a sticker on the bottom of Dad's sandal. No offense to you Californians, but, do they seriously have to warn you not to chew on shoes? Do you get cancer of birth defects out there? Seriously?

This little guy is just too much!

He couldn't keep his pants up. 😄

Mom and Dad were in MO last weekend for an ordination. Dad was asked to preach a couple messages for them, so they made the trip into a late anniversary get away. We kids had fun by having a junk food supper the last evening they were gone. Yummy!

All ready for church!

We take Ellie to her church every Sunday morning. Whichever boy happens to be along walks her to the car. My brothers are the best! 😍

Josh and Leon bought a zip line for our homeschool picnic this year. Josh set it up in our tree line to try it out. We all went out Sunday afternoon to ride it. It was kinda scary climbing about 13 feet up the ladder, turning around and trying to sit on the little round zip line seat. It was also extremely windy! The ride was fun, though!