* GRACE *

Summer and Birth

I’ve been busy lately with so many things, I can hardly write about them all. So, I’ll try to summarize it…

Knights of Freedom Summit is through! It was an amazing experience, and I was so excited to meet new people and get out of my comfort zone. I was Volunteer Coordinator, and although it took a lot of leg work, it paid off in the end. With very few exceptions, it went off extremely well! We had very few problems, and nothing we couldn’t handle. I could feel the excitement and the awesome impact that the event was having on these 130 boys and everyone else who volunteered–from a distance from it all! It was simply awe-inspiring. Thank you, Emily, for asking me to help. I truly needed and appreciated it! If you want to know more about the event click here, and if you want to see the wonderful photos taken by my friend, Tamra, click .

I’m still getting into the AYLI Secretary thing. I had been so caught up in the KOF Summit, that the other stuff has gone to the wayside. So, I’m playing catch-up. Gratefully, it’s not a huge deal. I’ll be working on updating the database which will be quite the task. I think it’ll take longer than Diann wants it to, but I have a family life too. I can’t spend all day calling hundreds of people. She knows that, however, so I’m not even worried about it.

I may be released from my ERSA position as secretary this month. We’ll see. They may just vote me into another position. I won’t mind either way. I can’t give it up! I’d have to move far away to give it up again. By the way, for those who don’t know, ERSA is the Eliza R. Snow Association, and it’s the wonderful book group I belong to…and I mean, belong!

I haven’t posted many pics of the kids this summer. We’ve been hanging out at home a lot and working on our school work…because they want to! David has been home a lot this summer because of unemployment. So, we occasionally go out and about as a family. David’s working on his writing. He’d like to become a syndicated writer and write a book. It’ll be exciting to see what he does with it!

I have a garden this year…amazing, I know! We’ve grown tons of zucchini and tomatoes. We also have had radishes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkins, and my favorites: peaches and watermelons. I get at least 3-4 medium-size zucchini a day off of my 8 plants. I get lots of pear tomatoes, and some romas and beefsteaks too. I get at least one cucumber every-other day. We just harvested our second extra-yummy watermelon today. It was so exquisitely tasty! I need to harvest some of my pie pumpkins to cook and freeze. I’ve shredded some zucchini in 2 cup amounts for breads and such later in the year. I froze almost all of my peaches, but I did bottle 9 quarts in sucanat syrup instead of the refined sugar syrup. I made tons of apricot jam (as previously posted) and some strawberry jam earlier this year. I look forward to getting more tomatoes and apples for bottling. My friend, , gave me a bunch of her concord grapes to juice–which reminds me I need to borrow a juicer tomorrow! I’ve been abundantly blessed with a bounty of food this year! I’m so grateful!

My friend, Tamra, went on vacation this week, and she asked me to take her baby (aka Digital SLR Camera and lenses) while she was gone. It’s not only to take care of her equipment, but so I can photograph our friend Julia’s birth if she goes into labor while Tamra is gone. Is it selfish of me to want her to go into labor this week? I’ve played with the camera and lenses a bit. It’s been fun, and it only makes my excitement and desire for my own DSLR someday stronger! So, that being said, I’ve been combing the internet for birth photography and looking back on my own attempt at photographing Tamra’s birth. I wanted to get some ideas for labor and birth shots. I went to Tamra’s birth barely knowing how to use her camera and played everything by ear, literally. I didn’t look at anyone else’s pictures for ideas, and I used auto on the camera. This time I know the basics of her camera and I can use the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings without freaking out about it. I thought it would be fun to get some ideas about what else to take pictures of. My midwife, Cathy, is Julia’s midwife too this time around. I’m excited to be able to work with her again! Both her and Tamra trust me to not mess up the photography, and knowing Tamra’s abilities, that says a lot! If the photography thing doesn’t work out, well, I still may be assisting at Julia’s birth as Cathy’s assistant. We’ll see. No pressure, Julia, I promise! You know I love ya!

I have several other friends, besides Julia, waiting to welcome their babies into the world in the next few weeks. I wish all of them immense joy and peace during their birthing times. Know I’m praying and thinking about you and your families, my dear friends!

P.S. I fixed the theme again. I hope it stays this time.