Aunt Bekah and Uncle Brent came up to visit on Friday too. They were able to sneak in a couple hours with the kids and brought silly bands!!

Friday we spent the day swimming in Nannie's pool. My friend Connie came up to visit with her kids and we had a great time. Kaleb was a little shy about getting in the pool (he fell in Thursday night and had to be rescued by Daddy) but he had lots of fun "pushing" the big girls into the pool. He cracked up every time thinking he had sent them into the cold water.

Sarah's Garden by Kelly Long

I love summer because the TV is off more, the days are longer and it just feels right to read a book. My latest read is Sarah's Garden by Kelly Long. Sarah is a young Amish woman who loves to work in the garden -- it's been her gift from early on -- she was born in the garden! Her older sister marries and she is given the job of working at the family's roadside stand. During the first week of working, she meets Dr. Grant Williams, her new Englisch neighbor and veterinarian. There is an immediate connection and before long, Sarah realizes that she has fallen in love. It’s a forbidden love and could result in Sarah losing her family and community.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical picking up an Amish fiction novel. I wondered if it would be like other Amish novels I have read. Author Kelly Long really surprised me! While the Amish theme was very present in the book, she intertwined several other themes throughout the book. There was the theme of forgiveness, the theme of choice (choosing to grow old in bitterness or gentleness), the theme of honor.

The author did an good job at developing the main characters in the book. There were other characters that didn’t present in this story as main characters, but I found very likeable. I particularly enjoyed Sarah’s relationship with her brother Luke. And at the end of the book there was a sneak peek of the cover of the next book in the Patch of Heaven series. I was happy to see that some of these characters I got to know in this book would reappear later in the series.

Disclosure: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

We had fun playing hide 'n' seek in Great Grandma & Grandpa Cook's house! She has beautiful gardens and lots of fun places to hide in the backyard.

The kids with Grandpa Tim. We had such a good time!

Indiana

During the first weekend of June we headed back to Indiana to see family and friends. It was a quick weekend, but flying helped tremendously to extend our time a bit. The kids have flown before, but this was the first time that they were aware of being on a plane.

By the second flight, we had figured out a handy little trick to making better time changing planes. The kids loved riding on our suitcases and everyone got a real kick out of it.
More posts from the trip coming this week...

Mother's Day... a few weeks behind.

Just got this picture back and my present (The Food Network Magazine subscription) came in the mail this weekend, so thought it would be a good time for a post. Had a great Mother's Day. We ventured Uptown for church - we usually go nearby the house to Providence, but it wasn't Tony's volunteer week and we decided to mix it up. It was fun to see a different campus. Church was great -- yummy hand painted chocolates (thanks Elevation!), 5-minute massages, and family pictures. We got to have our picture taken by Cheyenne Schultz.


After church we had brunch at the Original Pancake House (yummy). Then we headed home, threw the kids in the car and went to Carowinds for the day. Topped the evening off with Mexican food for dinner. And that made for one happy mama!