Father's Day

We had a good day and were thankful for the opportunity to express our love and appreciation for our own fathers. Stefan and I especially enjoyed giving Daddy some royal treatment. Ok, well, it wasn't quite as royal as I would have liked but I still managed to get the smoothies made in the morning! Around 11:30 Saturday night we had to make an emergency run to pick up Brooke (see previous post). Her Mom ended up having to have an emergency surgery during the night and we were glad to be able to help out by watching Brooke. She stayed with us all day on Sunday. Brian's gift didn't quite get done on time so I am dragging father's day out and will give it to him sometime this week! (I'll let you know when I give it to him!) I really should have gotten a picture of Brian holding both Stefan and Brooke as he was such a huge help with keeping track of the two of them at church and stuff.


Stefan and Daddy enjoying breakfast smoothies

Enjoying some cuddle time right after Stefan's nap and just before we left for choir practice and church.

Playmate for the day

We enjoyed having Brooke over for the whole day today. Her Mom had to go into the hospital so Brooke stayed with us. She will be back again tomorrow as well. Stefan had fun playing with another toddler, and Mommy decided that life with two toddlers is definitely way more busy than with just one!

Oh the things we saw...

There were lots of fun things to see today on our walk. I'm pretty sure, though, that the favorite was watching the cars and trucks go by on the highway under us. Stefan got quite a few truckers to honk their horn for him so he was pretty thrilled about that! As you can see we had an eventful walk. So much fun!

French Bread, Anyone?

And yes, it's homemade!



Well, today I tried something new. I made this bread at home. I love French bread, but at about $3 dollars a loaf it isn't something we get too often (uh, or should I say ever). So, today, I ventured out and made it on my own. It was a little bit of a process, but well worth the effort. I think Stefan thought I was starting a game with play doh when I started throwing the dough down on the table. (The recipe said to do that, honest!) I realize it isn't perfect, but for my first try, not too bad. It tasted wonderful, and I will definitely be doing it again!

Fun family excursion

We started off by stopping by our library to look at and check out some books for Stefan. I had to get a picture of our library. Isn't it so cute? It is very tiny, so don't expect to find lots of great literature there, but it does have a nice children's section that we take advantage of frequently. From there we headed to get our free ice cream at Friendly's.

This says it all about what Stefan thought of the ice cream. (Well, actually his was frozen yogurt)

We stood in line for a little while to get our ice cream. The freebie deal was a definite attraction. Once we had our ice cream we headed to a nearby pond to sit and enjoy it. All three of those places are less than 5 miles from our house, so it was an easy and fun little outing.

Making muffins

He dumped...

and he mixed!

The finished product...don't they look yummy?

Mmmm...so good!

Stefan helped with the entire process. I was surprised that he didn't get tired of helping and want to run off. I really can't believe that my baby is old enough to be helping out in the kitchen.

Lunch with friends

Stefan and I enjoyed lunch today with my friend, Sarah, and her kids. Stefan was of course royally treated and spoiled to death. Here you see him playing with Hope (Sarah's youngest) and helping out with the vacuum (cleaning up the mess he made at lunch no doubt). I enjoyed chatting and visiting with Sarah.

Supervising from the window

Some men were outside mowing today. Stefan watched the entire process and had a lot to say about the job they were doing!

Bathtime Games

Stefan loves water. Apparently enough to just dump it on his face! I have a feeling he'll be liking a pool this summer!

Freebie Alert!

Brian saw this advertised driving by a Friendly's on his way to work the other day. I looked it up and sure enough it's a free ice cream day at any Friendly's. If you have one near you be sure and stop in Saturday afternoon and treat your family to ice cream (free!). You can be sure we'll be stopping in!

Our first cookout of the summer!

Today we enjoyed a nice cookout with some pastors' families from the area. Jared & Julie Heatherly hosted us at their church, Calvary Bible Church in Westport, MA. Jon & Janelle Nason from Manomet Bible Church in Plymouth, MA were also there as well as three families from our church. We had a god time even though it was a little short. We had to leave fairly early because Brian had to get back to teach at the conservatory.

An apple a day...

...keeps the doctor away! If that really is true, we should be in good shape. Stefan loves apples and he has just started eating them like a big boy. So much more fun than when they are all cut up.

More from our weekend

On the way home from OH, we were able to stop in Calkins, PA to visit Brian's brother, Erik. He just moved there last week, so we were really happy to be able to see him and his new place. It is a rural area. Beautiful countryside. We were glad to meet the pastor's family whom he'll be working with as well as eating dinner with him at another family's home in the church. We spent the night with him and took off early the next morning to get home in time for Brian to teach.



The three guys! It was great to see Erik again!

On the left is Erik's new church. It was built in 1850! There is a bell in that steeple, but we didn't get to hear it! The other two pictures are of his house. It is huge and has so much character (like you would expect of an old house). I'm not sure how a guy by himself is going to fill it up, but hopefully he won't be too lonely in it. We enjoyed being way out in the country--quite a change from the Boston area!

OH/PA Weekend

We had a great time visiting with our friends, Shaun and Pam Christy, in New Castle, PA. We arrived there Thursday evening in time for dinner after about 11 hours of driving! Stefan did really well on the trip thanks to many stops and a dvd player someone loaned us! Shaun and Pam are caring for Shaun's mother and we enjoyed meeting her. They have also added a "daughter" since we last saw them. It was really good to see Miriam Zepeda. She is 17 now--hard to believe--I knew her as a young girl! We were only there a short time, but we were able to see a good bit of the area and taste some yummy Amish baked goods. Stefan thouroughly enjoyed the donuts and the apple slush! Shaun and Pam's cheerful and giving spirit were such an encouragement to us. What a ministry they have with their family and caring for his elderly mom, as well as being parents to a teenager.

From the Christy's we headed to Madison, OH. Unfortunately, I was NOT very good with the camera. Forgot it on a couple of occasions and then I guess we were too busy talking to actually take many pictures. We enjoyed getting to know Chris and Lori Anderson and their 4 daughters. The girls were great babysitters and Stefan had a great time! We also spent some time with Joe and Hannah Tyrpak. They took us to see the place and monument where the train crash that killed P.P. Bliss happened. The bridge is in the background of where the guys (and kids!) are standing, but it was getting dark so you can't really see it. We really enjoyed visiting their church on Sunday and getting to meet some of their church family.