Boy, it has been a CRAZY summer for me!  We’ve haven’t gone on vacation, but I’m not sure we could have squeezed one in this year!  It has been so hectic.  Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve been up to.

In June, Melia & Katie went to AWANA camp and had a ball. That was 7 full days of just Michael and me at home by ourselves during the day, and then Brian when he came home in the evenings.  One of those days, we took Michael to see Toy Story 3 in 3-D!  It was an awesome movie, and we had such a great time together.  They were all home for a week and then they went to spend a week with my parents.  Talk about a quiet house!  I almost didn’t know what to do with myself.  Almost.   But I sure did miss them.  As nice as the peace and quiet was, it was nice to have all the chaos back.  They all had a great time. 

In fact, when we picked them on Saturday, we surprised Katie with a small birthday party!  And boy was she surprised!  It was nice to get together with family for a couple of hours and eat cake and ice cream.  It’s hard to believe that she turned 12 this year.   Where has the time gone? 

After that, I spent the next week working on my baby cousin’s wedding cake.  I can’t believe she’s all grown up either!  It seems like just yesterday she was the little flower girl in my wedding, standing up there, looking for her quarters (they showed her were to stand) and swinging her basket back and forth.  But, she’s all grown up and now a married woman.  She had a very pretty wedding and was a beautiful bride.  I wish her and Matt all the love and blessing and happiness that they deserve & more! 

That brings us to this week.  This week, Brian’s sister and her family from Illinois are in.  They actually came in this past Saturday.  We got got together for a cookout at his other sister’s house, and I surprised her with a birthday cake (her birthday was last week).  She had no idea!  So, lots of happy times and sad times in store this week as Brian and his brother and sisters are going through their mom’s things. 

As for me, well, my job has taken a not-so-nice turn and is really giving me grief.  It is causing me to be up until 2, 3, or even 4 o’clock in the morning working and then getting back up by 8 a.m.(soon to be 6:30 with school starting back).  I’m staying exhausted all of the time and having a hard time keeping up with everything.   We’re praying that God will open up a door to somehow allow all of this to change. 

That pretty much brings you up to speed.  Next week, I have one more wedding cake to do that I had committed to last fall.  We also have school starting up on August 9.   Melia, our oldest daughter, will be staying in public school while Katie and Michael will be staying home and we will be homeschooling them.  It’s definitely going to be an adventure!   And then, on to AWANA at church! 

Even through all of the craziness of life, God continues to bless us and watch over us.  I know that He has everything under control, and all I need to do is be stop, listen, be patient, and let Him take the lead in everything we do.