Reunion!

Every year Bob's family has a reunion in the beginning of September. Bob's brother Tom has a beautiful property and always hosts us. Bob has 3 brothers and 2 sisters and they were all there, along with quite a few nieces and nephews.  Laura and Aaron and girls were able to come, Heather and Andrew didn't come as it was held 2 weeks after Connor was born, so they weren't quite ready for an outing like this.

This cute artwork was done by Tom and Bonnie's granddaughter and was hanging in their garage, where we were gathering to eat.

Bob spent a little time talking to Alaina and Ruby.

We all brought something to share, and the guys grilled some brats.

After supper the girls and some cousins went to explore the woods.

Tom gave us a demonstration of his new sawmill. It's been getting a lot of use as he has many trees on the property and he can use this to prepare his own lumber.

Some of my sister-in-laws and I decided to take a walk around the woods too.

Tom has built rustic wood chairs and set them out on paths in the woods.  Bonnie has been making signs with phrases and verses and has put them along the paths.  It makes such a pretty place to walk.

We then joined the others around the fire pit.

The girls were busy playing games.

It was such a nice night to sit around the fire.

When it got dark, the kids had a great time with glowing bracelets and necklaces.

It's always nice to connect with family and we had such a nice time doing that.

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

I like sheet pan meals.  They are usually so quick to put together and I haven't had a bad one yet!  Here's one I made a few weeks ago that was a hit. It has both chicken and kielbasa in it, which Bob really liked, but you could do it with just one meat if you wanted.

Sweet and Sour Sheet Pan Meal

1 pound chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 package kielbasa, cut into rounds
2 green peppers, sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 can pineapple, drained
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 jar sweet and sour sauce

Place all ingredients except the sweet and sour sauce and pineapple into a bowl and stir until everything is well coated.
Place on sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Then put pineapple pieces over everything and bake another 10 minutes.
Top with the sweet and sour sauce and serve over rice.

Wordless Wednesday

(Squash being harvested - looks like Fall!)

 

Shopping with the Girlies!

I'm sharing an overdue post today.  This actually happened about 3 weeks ago, but life has been busy and I never shared it.
Every year I take the girls on a day out shopping before school starts.

I let them decide where to go for lunch.  It used to always be McDonalds, but they are growing and changing.  This year they wanted to go to the food court of a nearby mall where they have the "best french fries and burgers".

Here we are, having lunch.  And the fries were very good...

After lunch, we stopped at Icing, a place with jewelry.  They each got some earrings.

Then it was time for shoe shopping. Shoes get harder to find, the older they get!  We found some that we were all happy with though.

Here's what we found for Alaina.

And here's Ruby in hers.

We stopped at Target and found a few shirts.  Alaina was being goofy and modeling hats, but we left the hats there.

Our last stop was at a frozen yogurt place, which they always love!

The next week I got these sweet thank you's in the mail.  You know those hand made cards are the best!  I'm so glad I get to spend this time with them, it's a blessing!

I'm back!

 

Thanks for the prayers, concern and check ins following my surgery. The surgery took place on Tuesday morning and went well.  It took a little longer than expected because there was one very large stone and the area was inflamed and irritated.  But, I was still home that afternoon.  I spent the rest of the day sleeping.
Bob took good care of me, getting meals, doing dishes and laundry and making sure I was resting.
I'm glad it's done and am planning to be back at work on Monday. and will also be back to visiting you all!

Labor Day and a break

 

Happy Labor Day to all of you in the United States!

I'm planning to take a break this week as my gall bladder surgery is scheduled for Tuesday.  It's planned to be done outpatient, so if all goes well, I'll be back home Tuesday evening.

Thanks for your prayers!  Hope to be back soon!