I’m thankful my hands are finally letting me get a post done about Katie’s birthday! I’ve been very slowly creating collages over the last week, and am glad to get to post them.

About 8.00 on Katie’s birthday morning, we got a call reporting that a customer (for whom we had installed a water softener and filter in February) had water all over her basement). It turned out to be not our fault at all, but Jonathan had am unexpected two-hour round trip to her house, plus some time to diagnose the problem and help her clean up some of the mess. So we had some extra time at home that morning before leaving on our planned trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. The kids read, played carpet ball, got pedicures from Aunt Beka, played with blocks, etc. It actually turned out to be a lovely morning.

We departed for the Gardens around noon, and stopped on the way for a lunch treat courtesy of Aunt Beka and Uncle Eric (in absentia). Then we headed for the gardens! It was a very hot day (the time/temp sign I noticed on the way home said 100′), and all things water were a decided hit. Despite the heat, I think we all enjoyed our outing very much. Here are some pics:

Katie had requested ham for her birthday dinner, along with corn and peas and the most important cake and ice cream. Beka, Georgia, and I got everything ready for her birthday dinner the day before: ham (in loads of butter and brown sugar) that cooked in the crockpot while we were gone; pasta salad with peas, corn, and cheese; and applesauce. I’d also done the cake the day before. It was delightful to come home and have everything ready!

And then, on to the cake, ice cream, and presents!

It was a fun day for everyone. Katie thoroughly enjoyed being the Birthday Girl, especially sharing the day with Aunt Beka and The Cousins.

Grandpa and Grandma Smith were out of town on Katie’s birthday, so she got to enjoy another birthday-ish evening last night. It was a good thing she needed to open presents from the Smith g’parents, because it reminded me to pull out what Papa and Gramma Byrd had sent weeks ago (oops!). It was great to catch up on Dad and Mom Smith’s recent North Carolina vacation, and Katie loved all her new presents.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps7WANXhZXA&rel=0&border=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

Sweet Kate’s birthday was Tuesday, and we had a great celebration day with The Cousins and Aunt Beka. I’m eager to tell all about the day and share pictures, but my hands are not permitting me to do that right now. Hopefully soon!

We are loving having Beka and The Cousins here to visit. They arrived Friday evening, and we get to have them with us until Wednesday morning. The Blessings and The Cousins are wearing themselves out every day having fun together.

The kids cleaned and began to fill the pool (aka stock tank) on Saturday, and had to stop midway through because we were having water issues. But the half-filled pool doesn’t bother the kids at all, and they have been thoroughly enjoying it. Meanwhile, Beka and I have been thoroughly enjoying sitting in the sun beside the pool playing lifeguard.

We all went to church this morning, and the kids were terrific! Beka and most of the children sat along one side of the chapel, and it was fun to watch them. They really did a great job of being still and paying attention.

After church, we hopped in the van and the truck and ate leftover pizza for lunch on our way to Wal-mart for some groceries. Our trip to Wal-mart, while a bit crazy, was actually a lot of fun. The kids were well-mannered and cooperative (yay for them!), and we all enjoyed the two sample stands of ice cream. And I giggled, wondering how many people wondered if Jonathan was there with his two wives and eleven children on Fathers Day.

We had a fun relaxing afternoon (even Jonathan, who mowed for a while). Then we made seafood chowder for dinner and cookies for dessert. Yummy Fathers Day meal!

Here’s a collage from Saturday’s pictures. Somehow I didn’t take a single picture today.

I’m beyond thankful for the fathers in my life.

The greatest Father of all, my Heavenly Father.

The best earthly father I could have asked for, my beloved Papa.
And the wonderful father of my Blessings, my lover and best friend, Jonathan.

First of all, I’m going to admit right off that I realize that Google’s browser, Chrome, has its challenges. It has issues dealing with certain types of media, and just this week, it started doing a bizarre thing when I want to print stuff. But I just can’t make myself leave and go back to Internet Explorer. I’ll use other browsers when I have to, to get a page to work right, but I’ll put up with that hassle in order to keep my Chrome.

Here are some screenshots to illustrate two reasons why I love Chrome too much to leave.

1. I love the “New Tab” tab. When I click to open a new tab in IE, I get this uninspiring view (and that’s the improvement that comes with IE8!):

Oh, but when I click to open a new tab in Chrome, I get this:

Those lovely little boxes are links to the most often recently used websites. I’m very predictable, and 9 times out of 10, what I want is going to be right there. Love that. Note, none of your blogs are there, not because I don’t read them, but because they’re in my Reader on my homepage.

2) It’s wonderfully minimalist. Look at how much room the actual webpage gets in Chrome (on the left), compared to IE8 (on the right). I am claustrophobic, and I guess that applies to the things I see in my computer screen as well. When I need to use other browsers, I feel like I’m cramped… like I should duck or something.

The advertisement for Google is rather incidental… they just happen to be who makes the browser I like best. The shameless plug for my photo blog, Yesterday, on the other hand, is totally intentional, and I hope you decide to follow it/put it in your reader/check it every day for the rest of your internet days (or for as long as I manage to be faithful to posting on it).

Last night, I had the joy of seeing some dear friends whom I hadn’t seen in a while. Tracy, Heather, and I were at KBC together in the ancient days, and while Tracy and I have stayed in touch through the years, we’ve only recently gotten to catch up on Heather’s life thanks to Facebook and blogland. I hadn’t seen Heather since Rex and Shawna’s wedding almost 11 years ago – and then, only for a few minutes. Tracy and Heather hadn’t seen each other in 23 years!

We had a lovely evening catching up and enjoying each others company (and the amazing food) at The Cheesecake Factory last night. The weather eventually made it evident that it was time to leave our outside table and head for home, but it was a sweet time.

The wind was really whipping by the time I hiked out to the van, and I was thankful that I didn’t get drenched on my way. What was obviously a large storm system was moving in quickly, and I thought I might have some heavy rain on my way home (I had about an hour’s drive ahead of me).

Within minutes, it was truly pouring. As I got out of the city, I could see less and less. The water moved in waves across the road toward me – it seemed a bit like driving in the ocean. I considered pulling over to the side of the road, but I could still barely make out the white line, and I was going slow. I figured as long as those two things held true, nothing bad could happen.

Less than a half mile from where I made that decision, the world seemed to explode. It takes far more time to describe what happened than it took to happen, of course.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! It was as if several people set off rapid-fire, overlapping gunshots directly outside my window. The world shook with each “firing.” The light was brighter and more intense than I could describe. The whole left side of my body felt numb for several minutes, while the rest of me hyperventilated!

Initially, I thought that the van itself had been struck by lightening, which actually is possible. In hindsight, it seems more likely that the lightening struck one of the mile markers along the highway. I was in the right lane of a 4 lane divided highway, and I’m certain the lightening was not as far away as the median.

I briefly re-considered pulling over, but I was too scared. I think I thought of myself as a sitting duck if I pulled over. Plus, I wasn’t sure I could have made myself get back on the road until the storm was over, and I desperately wanted to get home.

It was a wild experience, to be sure. What a display of my God’s awesome power! I was shaking most of the rest of the way home, and was so thankful to reach home safely.

… a real post about Davey’s birthday. It’s just that I overdid it in the garden yesterday, and am in the midst of my first big arthritis attack. At 35. I’ve known it was coming since I was in my late teens/early twenties, but still…

Anyhoo, while the swelling in my hands has gone down quite a bit since yesterday, to type more than a few words is quite painful, and I think I’m already over my limit.

Hopefully back and loquacious as ever tomorrow!

Little Noah Estes is headed to the hospital again tonight, with what looks like another central line infection. If you don’t know about Noah and his family, you can read their blog here – Our Quiverfull. And whether or not you have time to get to know them, please pray for them.

Our plans for Stephen’s birthday:
Jonathan take the day off work; sleep in; have something yummy for a late brunch; leave for Little Indian Creek Conservation area with Dad and Mom Smith between one and two o’clock.

What actually happened:
Jonathan took the day off work; we slept in; Jonathan got a much needed haircut. When he got in the shower, he discovered we didn’t have any water. He spent the next several hours figuring out the problem (switch on the pump went bad) and fixing it. I spent the next several hours trying to put together our picnic supper without any water. Thanks to our beloved neighbors, things came together, just later than I had hoped. We finally left the house at around 4 o’clock.

And we proceeded to have a terrific time!

Some friends mentioned Little Indian Creek Conservation Area to us last year. We visited once last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. The creek is crystal clear and is, for the most part, quite shallow. But there are areas where the water gets deeper so the kids can get some swimming practice. There are quite a few gravel bars, lots of trees, and turns in the creek, so multiple families can string out along the creek and each feel like they have a private space.

Since we arrived late in the day, it wasn’t long until we had the whole area to ourselves, which was fun. Here are some shots of our frolics:

And the birthday boy in his new floatie suit (mostly):

About the time we started thinking about our picnic supper, it started sprinkling. As we discussed what we might do about our picnic supper, it progressed to raining. So we headed to the van, where the kids changed into dry clothes. By the time that project was finished, it had stopped raining. We decided to see what we would find driving further into the cons. area, because there were signs about camping only in specified spots. We thought perhaps we would find a nice place to picnic.

Something I learned about conservation areas vs. state parks in Missouri is that when cons. areas have camping spots, they’re free. At least when they are “rustic” camping spots like at Little Indian Creek. There are several camping spots spread out near the gravel road that runs through the area, as well as a good-sized loop of camping spots around the “privies,” which are actually composting toilets, something I found very cool. But my thing for composting toilets is a tale for another day, I suppose.

Back to the birthday story… we found a camping spot that still had some wood in its fire pit, and spread out our quilts and food while the guys built a fire. We had a lovely picnic!

And then we headed home for cake, ice cream, and presents (not necessarily in that order). Stephen loved all of his goodies. He was also very tired and didn’t make it all the way through his cake before being carried off to bed. We were glad that we had him open presents first!

All in all, though the day ended up being much different than the one we had planned, it was a wonderful day. We all are so thankful to have this precious little boy in our family, and we thoroughly enjoyed celebrating his birthday.

And perhaps next year, I’ll manage to post his birth story!