summer car shows & one award

Two summers ago Terry got the 1977 Chrysler New Yorker fixed up well enough to drive safely around town. We don't actually drive it much so he entered it into two local classic car shows. He actually won the first one he entered! 

Terry drove downtown to the Police Department's Cruiser Car Show early in the day, July 13th, and registered, luckily finding a spot to park the old girl. Our friend Eli, a policeman, encouraged Terry to enter, otherwise we probably wouldn't have known about it. 

The kids and I joined him a couple hours later. It was quiet fun to walk around and take it all in. The kids especially enjoyed this beach buggy. We had just seen a show about them not long before. 

Who would've thought that after an entire childhood of despising our old station wagon I could ever possibly think they were cool. But it happened. 

Art Alley. 

The police put on a presentation about their K9 dogs. I vividly remember sweating down my back it was so hot. 

We decided to let the car sit until the end of the show and went home to have pizza movie night. After finishing our pizza Terry got a phone call informing him that he'd won an award! We booked it down there.

They gave away awards for the best-of cars of their specific decade. Terry was passed over for the 70's but won the orphan award for the car that's cool but doesn't quite fit anywhere. The reason he ran to the stage was because the announcer kept encouraging all the winners to "rush the stage," but they were all so old that they just took their sweet time getting up there while we all clapped for them. Terry finally rushed the stage, the young buck.

The trophy is on top of the car. 

Our Mexico mission trip bus driver Jerry happened to be walking by so we visited for a bit. 

The car had been running enough to drive but actually not running well. Terry described the problem as a chugging. Turned out two or three of the cylinders weren't hooked up! Once he fixed that, it ran so much smoother and was more reliable. So we went for a little joy ride that night. 

Trouncie needed to check it out when we got home. 

The very next weekend, July 20, Terry entered into a very small show at Hardware Hank. No awards were given but it was kind of fun him. 

He put the car to work giving out gospel tracts. People seemed intrigued by the car so he had lots of conversations. 

The kids all got free root beer floats and we enjoyed walking around the parking lot to look at the all the cars. 

getting the old girl out...and more spring

By "old girl" I mean our 1977 Chrysler New Yorker. Back in December we had parked it next to the garage for the winter. On April 29, after the kids' piano recital, Terry brought the car out for the spring and summer. She started right up!

I am the one who likes the car most of the two of us. Terry's always thinking about selling it. I guess we really don't drive it much, but it's such fun!

Rawr

Gotta love the hood ornament.

Shiny chrome.

The dash.

It doesn't smell as bad as it did last year! That's progress.

That night we took the old girl out for a date, a birthday party for Brent. It was also prom that evening so I totally felt like we should be going too in our sweet ride.

The next day, after church, it was such a gorgeous spring day that we drove the Chrysler down to Canyon Lake park. 

Luna always enjoys drives.

We took a walk out onto the little jetty and Luna enjoyed eating the goose poop.

It was a perfect day.

We ended up down by the biggest playground and then played frisbee. It seemed just about everyone was out that day. It might have been the first really fine day that spring.

Oh, and as an add-on, when Terry went to church the following day, he discovered Steven and Prae had left him a little surprise.

Taking just one cup out made it crumble. Slow motion video is fun for stuff like this.

Terry really appreciated their gesture as he'd been feeling a bit discouraged. So sweet of them. 💙

Beautiful rainbow a few days later.

With the warmer weather, the kids were spending copious amounts of time outside. Yay, mommy loves that! One day I looked out there to discover Ezra climbing up the outside of the slide for the first time.

It's pretty high off the ground... 

They were obsessed with it for a couple days. Too bad I deleted the fun stop motion video of them going up and down. I had just read that boys need risk in their lives so I let them go for it.  

Irises coming up! They'd grown a lot in the two weeks since they first appeared. 

December smatterings 2017

I have a bunch of random pictures from December like this one of Samuel with his new reading cards. By the way, Samuel is doing much, much better than last year at school and especially reading.  He can actually blend the sounds, read the words, and retain what we've read in the past. He's really getting it! 

I like this adorable picture of Luna. She looks like a stuffed animal! So fluffy!

We hadn't been on a date since our September birthdays so after Nathan and Ana left, we really needed to get away. Noah babysat for us and did great! He is nearing 13 after all. This picture makes me smile and laugh so much. Terry was just being a dork and hamming up for the picture, but his expression is so blank. Then his hands seem too small for his head because he's leaning forward. It's so funny! 

Unfortunately for Nathan and Ana, they discovered Thorin had fleas right before they came to visit us. They did absolutely everything to avoid bringing any fleas with them (and I think they succeeded), but just to be careful, we decided to treat Luna and Trouncer. Here they are getting their flea baths. 

Trouncer "loves" getting baths. But it's good. He's been getting baths every week or two since we got him in September to keep down on the pet dander and avoid allergens for guests. It's good for him.

Cold wet kitty. Evie chased him down and took his picture.  

That night while Terry and I were watching a show, Luna and Trouncer found each other and snuggled for body warmth. So cute. 

We decided to winter the New Yorker on the side of the garage.

Stunning sunset one night. 

I squatted down to get some of the barbed wire in there. 

Swirly clouds! I think this is my Facebook cover photo right now. 

There was so much light reflecting off the clouds I could see very well for the time of night. Those deer were keeping an eye on me. 

Rewind to the day that Nathan and Ana arrived, November 20, which was also the day that Jazmin left for South Africa for a month. She was doing mission work there, helping and supporting a single missionary girl. Zoe and Sherrie were going to join her after three weeks (Kate later decided to go too).

David and Jazmin saying good bye.

Jazmin's trip to South Africa is the reason I have so many random photos from this month. We would talk back and forth on Messenger and I would include photos from whatever we were doing, which most often was school since our mornings were her evenings nine hours later. So here's a sneak peek into our school days. Noah and Evie work at the table Nathan made a few years ago (2013!!). Trouncer likes to lay on their books.

Samuel, Ezra, and I usually work at the little coffee table on the other side of the room by the couch, so we can snuggle. :)

Stinking cat sitting on my laptop! I sprayed him with water to teach him not to do that.

While Jazmin was sweltering in 100 degree African heat, we had some of our first snow.

I think a couple days later we got a little more before it warmed up and melted. While it was warm it was the perfect weather for building stuff. Evie had built that wall out of the brick form Terry got a while back. 

Noah beginning his snow ball.  

Luna loves the snow. She goes nuts for it, racing all over the yard, perhaps because she grew up in it last year when we first got her. 

Exhibit A

I believe this was Trouncer's first time experiencing snow. 

He looks fantastic with his black coat against the snow, but he's not a fan of the cold.

Evie built her wall so high that it began to fall down soon after.

One of their big snow balls, Noah's I think.

Zoom

Samuel on his own snow ball.

I don't know why I took this photo but I had sent it to someone, either Terry or my sister, and it's funny.

The week before Christmas break I sewed and patched nine pairs of jeans at my mom's house. It was exhausting. I didn't want to go to Youth Group that night.

The ninth pair were the clearance jeans I had bought on Terry and I's date. They were good (and cheap!) jeans but I just couldn't handle the rips (too cold) so I patched them!

Mid-December Saturday lounging.

I called Noah a cat-whisperer but really the cat does this to anyone, including me just last night. 

Trouncer hilariously fell asleep and his head drooped into Noah's neck. Ha!

Later in the day my mom stopped over and helped me make fudge. The last once or twice that I've attempted to make it I have failed. I think I've heated it too much and scorched it. She made sure to not do that. Thanks mom!

More cat snuggling the following Monday while Evie watched her Math video.

Later that day Jazmin and the girls (Zoe, Sherrie, and Kate) returned from South Africa!

We arrived just in time to see them disembarking. What fun it was.

Afterwards we ate at Applebees as a special treat since we were given a gift card and then shopped at Best Buy later for a sound bar for Terry's folks.