What High-penned?!?!?!?!

Sooo the boys are apparently going through their summer growth spurts. John came home from camp at my height. Abe is as tall as/taller than dad. Crazy. I no longer have a legitimate reason for calling the front seat.

Be prepared for tall younger brothers when you get out here.

Scout Camp

It was Johnny's first Scout Camp this past week. Dad got to go for most of camp and he says both boys enjoyed themselves quite a bit. John in particular. They haven't been very loquacious ever since they got back.

So John, what did you do at Scout Camp?

"I earned a bunch of merit badges. OK? Stop bothering me."

Abe, what did you do at Scout Camp?

"ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...................."

That's about all that can be got out of them at the moment. From the little tidbits that have been dropped here and there, it seems as though Johnny earned 7 merit badges and is now a Life scout, Abe got roughly 7-8 merit badges and is VERY close to surpassing his troops all time record of merit badges earned by one scout (about 3 more to go), and both boys completed the mile swim. They seem to have had an fun, eventful, and VERY tiring week. The pictures will have to do the speaking for them. We're really glad to have them back home! There's something very comforting about having men in the home.

The HOUSE

Here are the long awaited photos of our new house! I won't keep you waiting any longer.

The house from the front

front and side

the luscious pears that will be ripe when everyone comes out!

the backyard

Kitchen - angle 1

Kitchen - angle 2

Veiw of the house from dining room

a corner of the living room

looking out from the sunroom door

going up to the second floor

the hallway

Mom and Dad's Room

upstairs bathroom

Here is the somewhat disorderly and incomplete tour of our house! I promise it's much cleaner than it is in these pictures because this was a day or two after the moving was over. Sorry about the sloppy arrangement of photos.

A week of Good Clean FUN!

As I lounged about in the luxurious atmosphere of wolf spiders and dirt that is so frequently found at girls camp, the family slaved away in a similar environment of spiders and dirt. Plus mold, and silver fish, and thousand leggers, and all of those other lovely items one is apt to find in the good old VFMAC house. There was a lot to be done. It was the week before the move AND Dad's Art Auction. It was miraculous occurrence. Providence must have been involved. I don't know what went on or how it was accomplished, but upon my return, on June 27th, the house was pretty much packed up and the downstairs, Mom and Dad's room, and the office were cleared out and paintings were hanging. Of course, such saints as Jane McCarraher and Aunt Beverly were there scrubbing down walls and helping unpack stuff into the new officially purchased home. It is most likely that the success of the move and auction are heavily due to such outside help as the fam received through out that week. Many thanks to all that helped. Honestly, there were a ton of people who helped and all contributed of their time most generously.
The Auction was a huge success. It was incredibly enjoyable for all that attended, and it was no a small number who came. All sorts of people were there to enjoyed (and purchase) Dad's art work and to partake in wonderful conversation and food. We were lucky enough to have Micah with us for a week and he played the guitar for our guests. It was loverly. Quite the social and cultural event of the season, I'd say. And of course, a special thanks must be given to Shana for all she did to make such a grand evening possible. It was a great way to finish off our times at our old home.

Getting the party started

Micah: Live and Unedited
Everyone exhausted

Before

After - wiped out

A Week of Good Dirty Fun

Girls Camp, that noble annual event created for the benefit of young women, is long over and hardly noteworthy, especially to you folks, except for that this was my last, as a youth anyway. It was great. No pictures, which is a good thing. You aren't missing out on anything.