Laundry Room Remodeled~Aug. 2010

My sweet husband has been working hard on putting in a main level laundry room for me. We used an existing 1/2 bath that is right off of the garage as you walk in the house. He set out part of a wall into the garage to accommodate my front load washer and dryer. He moved the toilet back into the corner, with a nice little half wall for privacy, laid tile, hung beautiful custom cabinets and put in a vanity for the sink. We are just waiting on the counter tops that will be over the washer & dryer and also over the vanity for the sink. It has such a warm, cozy Tuscan feel! He is my "Greg" of all trades. Thanks Sweetie, it is wonderful!!

Hope & Lane

This is a sweet picture of Hope with her little buddy, Lane. Say cheese!!

Swimming...swimming....swimming

Like I have mentioned in the past, our kids love the water. We have done lots of swimming this summer. Hope took her underwater camera to the pool and captured some great "shots".

Bluberry pickin'

We picked 12 lbs of blueberries in about an hour with my Mom & Dad. That is the allotted time for my kids. They work hard for one hour, then, that is all she wrote! They are done! They quit, they whine, they complain, they have to go potty. Yada, Yada! You name it, after that one hour mark, they throw in the towel and are FINISHED!!!! I was very thankful for those 57 minutes of hard labor!! Little do they know, we will go again!

The Fair

This year was a fun year at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair! I don't know if that was because we had free passes, great weather, or just great memories with friends. We were able to spend a day, riding rides with friends. On another visit, we watched an elephant show and Hope & Jonny rode on the back of the star. Looked at the animals ate lots of junk food on all the other visits. The kids both received blue ribbons for their projects in 4H. Way to go kiddos!! Of course, the fair would not be complete without the tractor pull. The Cripe fam bans together, gets decked out in John Deere green, hoops and hollers for our men on their JD's. The men had a great year pulling.

The kids did the pedal tractor pull. Hope pulled 550 lbs around twenty something feet. Jonathan pulled 450 lbs about the same length. They both did great in their separate age brackets. Of course, I video taped it, but no still pics. Use your imaginations, it was brilliant!

4H Projects

This is our first year dabbling in 4H. Jonathan is in "Exploring 4H" and he did a model of an airplane. Brilliantly done in a matter of minutes. Hope opted for a latch hook project. Of course, it had to be of a horse. This took many painstaking hours. She accomplished her task and did a wonderful job if I do say so myself. This has been the year she has discovered horses as a passion and love. With the fair beginning at the end of the week, we will be spending lots of time out there with more pictures to follow!

Mr. & Mrs. James Irish

Our niece Kayla, married her sweetie, James on July 3! Congratulations!!

Finally....the beach!!

We are BIG beach lovers. I think some of that comes from my winters in Florida, growing up. But we just love the water, the sun and sand. We finally found a day that we took off and went up to St. Joe, MI to our favorite spot, Silver Beach. It was gorgeous! Lots of sun and water fun, not to mention a big hole. Greg & the kids always dig a big hole, just for giggles. Can't wait to spend another day there!

Playing in the Rain

Planting Flowers

I have two little helpers that love to be outside. Since our move, we have planted flowers, worked on landscaping and planted a pretty big garden. In this picture, Jonny & I were busy putting flowers into pots for the front porch and the back deck.

My industrious son

Living in our new home has given Jonathan lots of room to play outside. He comes up with the most remarkable scenarios. He was busy playing on our hill when I captured this little work of art or should I say this industrious invention. It included a welding helmet, a wagon, a snow sled and a stick. The story goes something like he was pretending to be a speed racer. He had a script down and everything. He was a little embarrassed to see me with the camera. Probably more embarrassed to see this post but I think he will get over it.

June 2010

June was filled with lots of fun stuff. The kids and I picked strawberries with a friend and her boys. It is kind of our annual thing to do. I worked out well because the next day my sister & I were throwing a 50th Wedding Anniversary party for my parents. Guess what we needed....strawberries! We picked quite a bunch! We had an Open House to celebrate their 50 years of marriage. Lots of family and friends stopped in to honor them. My parents renewed their vows the night before the Open House. They had their Matron of Honor & Best man stand up with them again. My nieces sang together at the ceremony. Hope sang a solo and a friend of Mom & Dad's flew in from Florida to surprise them and to sing also. Jonny had the job of handing out programs to everyone that came. That evening we had nearly 70 people for dinner at an Amish home. Wonderful food! If that wasn't enough, we had the Open House the next day with more food!!!

In the midst of all that, we were buying my parents house and moving them. I think we nearly

died from exhaustion! But it was a great time. I am truly blessed with wonderful parents who have taken their wedding vows very seriously and they have set a great example of faithfulness and commitment in marriage. May the Lord bless them with many more wonderful years together!!

Projects with Dad

My Mom & Dad picked up these little "Catapult" projects from Lowes with the kids. They brought them home and thought it would be fun to put together with Daddy. The master carpenter in this house had no problems showing the kids how to assemble and hammer these little jobbies! They love making stuff with Dad. They will have another project to do next weekend which they are anxious for!

May 20th~Our 16th Anniversary!

Where has the time gone! It is hard to believe Greg & I celebrated our 16th Anniversay! I love these flowers Greg gave me.The colors are so bright and cheery! We were treated to a night at the Hyatt (thanks to points on our credit card), dinner at our favorite Chinese resturant, a movie (which we never do!!), and a fantastic trip to "Indulgence" where I had this delicious Chocolate mousse. Greg said his Lemon Meringue was fantastic! Quite the treat for us! We are praising the Lord for His graciousness to us and the way He has blessed our marriage! I am so thankful for a husband who desperately loves the Lord Jesus and loves me. I love growing older with this man! He's my very best friend, biggest encourager, and love of my life. And he keeps me laughing! I love you, Greg, forever and always!

40/40 Power~The kids' musical at church

The kids' sang in our church's spring kids musical called "40/40 Power". Hope sang a solo in one of the songs and played the character of "Beta Believe" in the drama. Jonny sang with his choir a couple of cute songs. Sorry for the blurriness. My camera didn't want to cooperate.

~The Hole in Our Gospel~

I just finished what I would say was the most life altering book of my life other than my Bible. I would super-highly recommend this book to anyone who wants their world turned upside down! Seriously, don't read it if you want to live just the way you have been. Greg's cousin recommended this book to me and warned me of its effect. Boy, he was right! It will make you examine the way we, as so called Christians, live and what God truly expects of us. Read it only if you want it to change your thinking and your life as you know it.

"Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God."- prayer by Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision and now my prayer.

Baseball in full swing!!

Yes, that number 12, is Jonathan! Baseball season has begun! Jonathan's team is Richmond's Feed Service. They won their first game last night! We are so proud of our little guy. He is really developing into a good ball player! He is playing 2nd base and had some great hits!!

Nephew

Our nephew Jacob came home from a year at Appalachian Bible College. He was home for just a few short days before heading out West on a wheat harvest for several months. While he was home we were able to celebrate as a family, his 19th birthday. Happy Birthday Jake!!

"Actions Speak Louder Than Words"~May 7, 2010

Hope played the role of "Nellie" in a production entitled "Actions Speak Louder Than Words". This was a play that was put on by her homeschooling History Co-op group, lead by my dear friend Kathy. The girls did a fantastic job in memorizing their lines, acting their parts, and having a great time doing it. It was alot of hard work for all involved and it was spectacular! The story was based on the "Samantha" books by American Girl. The girls performed at our church following a carry-in dinner for their families.