Christmas in September

We celebrated Christmas with Greg's Mom & Stepdad on the 18th of September. They were in town from Arizona. We did our celebration at the Potawatomi Zoo. We ate, laughed, played football, laughed, opened gifts, had cake, laughed, went in to the zoo, laughed, got soaked in the rain, laughed.... You see the theme here. Everyone enjoyed being together for an early Christmas...in the rain. I guess that is better than the snow!

Dinner with Grandpa & Grandma

Here are the kids with Grandpa & Grandma at Applebee's for dinner!

September School Projects

Yes folks, school is in full swing! Hope has entered the 5th grade. Jonathan has entered the 2nd grade. We decided to keep on homeschooling. We love being together and I love seeing the lightbulb click on and light up over my kiddos' heads!

They are doing Astronomy for Science this year. They made a great model of the planets (yes, we did include the Dwarf Planet, Pluto). It is hanging in our hallway as a reminder that our Gracious Creator God holds everything all together!

August Salsa

Ok, so what do you get with a garden full of tomatoes, jalepenos, green peppers, and cilantro? Well, you add a little onion salt, lime juice and voila......salsa!

Sweet corn

We have 51 (and counting) ears of sweet corn from our garden! Didn't think it would even grow in our soil but I was mistaken! It looks yummy!

Introducing.....Frankie!

Well, here she is!! Frankie, the pet turtle who has been living with us for about 3 weeks now. She is a Map Turtle brought from a lake in Michigan. Jonny has wanted a turtle for what seems like an eternity. We thought it was a faze and he would shrug it off, but no. It persisted for over a year maybe even two. We didn't think he would take care of a pet of his own so we waited it out. Finally, we caved! Jonny now has his very own pet turtle. He takes wonderful care of her. Yes, we are sure it is a her even though she has an androgynous name. She has a slight handicap. Her one eye is damaged along with a foot and claw but she is a cutie! Cutie as turtles go. She has a nice aquarium with all the turtle stuff she needs, in Jonny's room. She just moved in this week. She was previously living in a rubber tote on the deck. But thanks to the generosity of a friend, she has a nice glass aquarium with a filter and light and rocks and yada, yada, yada. She likes to be hand fed by only Jonny. And he loves her deeply. I'm sure better pictures will follow.

Singin' for Primetime~ Aug. 10, 2010

Our kids were part of a small group that sang for our church's Primetime (55 & older ) luncheon ministry. They blessed us with a gospel medley of "Blessed Assurance, When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, & Amazing Grace". They also recited Psalm 23 for these folks. What a delight to see your kids ministering to others!

My Garden

This is my little green sanctuary! I spend lots of time in my private paradise. I love the smell of tomatoes, marigolds, green beans, corn, peppers and herbs. It has been a great place to pray, sing, and meditate. The birds don't mind my off-key voice! We are reaping a bountiful harvest that will be preserved thru canning and freezing, another one of the things I enjoy about living in the country!

"I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; surely I remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds." Psalm 77:11

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!!