There is Too Much: Let Me Summarize...

Pictures are worth a thousand words, right?  I'll have to add a few captions, though -- if for no other reason than that I know my memory -- even of terrifically fun or important things -- is not as good as I'd like to think it is! And it's not likely to get better... (grimace) So, in the interest of recording and remembering when I'm a little old lady in my nineties, I give you:

Summer (So Far) 2021

We drove out to Idaho to pick up the boys at the minor seminary and made a vacation out of it, 
staying for a week and a half at a cute little cabin on the shores of Twin Lakes, only a few minutes
down the road from Mary Immaculate Queen Church. We got to visit with a lot of friends, old and
new -- and had a perfectly wonderful time! Not nearly enough time to just sit in the chaise lounge
you see pictured here, though... We are determined to make this trip again and stay in the same place!

Gabe and William. The good life.

Hanging out with a couple good seminarian friends, Matthew and Lionel. You had to know smores were involved.

Croquet is definitely a man's sport. Especially the way these guys play it!

Long story accompanies this picture! Ill try to make it short, though... 😉 On the way home, our car broke down -- about six hours south of Rathdrum in a town called Idaho Falls, Idaho. We were stranded
for five days, waiting for a part to come in! Providentially, though, we were only a couple hours from
Fr. Philip's weekend mission -- which he usually only serves once or twice a month -- but  this was the blessed weekend!( No accidents in the universe, right?) So, we got a rental car and drove over to Boise, got to meet the wonderful parishioners there and spend a little more time with Father as an added bonus!

The Sunday happened to fall on the feast of our dear St. Anthony!! And we happened to be carrying with us two little kittens the boys adopted from some Idaho friends ("We need fresh barn cat blood" they said.), so we were able to have them blessed -- with the help of a super cool trad named Anthony!

This is how the kittens traveled the whole long
way back to Iowa. We joked that they had more
room than the boys did. (And they did! No joke!)

Once we got the car going again, we headed
back home, via Yellowstone National Park.
Here's Old Faithful -- being faithful.

We Did Finally Make it Home!

And then we got to host one gathering after another -- after another -- after another. First Father Philip came to visit for a week, then Sister Antonia came, overlapping Father's visit by a few days, then Monica's family came for a visit during Girl's Camp week -- and all throughout that time, there were campfires and barbecues and jaunts down to our favorite ice cream haunt -- and sing alongs and work parties -- and Michelle's birthday thrown in...

Granddaughters Daria, Ella and Claudia -- and good
friends' little boys, Joseph and Robert O'Shea. All
the Littles LOVE the RV!

Good old friend, Gerard Brinkoff and girlfriend 
💓 Michelle.

Work Party #231B:Building the deck and stairs for the RV. Much safer now! I'll have to find a photo
of the finished product to share at some point. These guys are amazingly good carpenters. Funny thing
is how much it still always amazes me, as a home school mom, especially -- that these guys learn stuff
that I don't know about...  Like: How'd y'all get so good at this when my back was turned??

With our on-sight grandbabies, Margaret Mary and Clara, on the RV steps (before the re-build)
I'm not sure if I've mentioned anywhere on AWTY (hmm...) that Dominic (son #4, our electrician)
and his wife, Monica, remodeled the upstairs of the old farmhouse, making it just short of an apartment (sans a complete kitchen) -- and are now living with us. The loose plan is to see if living here at the old
place is a good fit for them -- and if it is, we will sell them the house, but continue to live on the property in the RV (plus, hopefully, eventually, an RV shelter with storage and a bonus room). It's 
been a complete WIN for us, having them here. We love it! We're hoping they decide it's a match for them, too -- but if it isn't, we'll extend the offer to the rest of the kids to see if we get a "bite" before we
make any other plans. It's the time of life for us to be downsizing in every way, though. Retirement is coming!

Beautiful Michelle (I call her "Shelly" 💗) Twenty-six years young!

Sister Antonia Marie got the chance to reconnect with all the granddaughters!
She is like a magnet for them! Actually, for all of us! She is and always has
been a ray of sunshine! (fuzzy pic, though. ugh.)

And my beloved old home- soundtrack!

Gatherings, gatherings...

At Christy Cream here... Before the children had
ice cream all over their little faces...

William, Fr. P, and Dan

At the Fourth of July Party at Michelle's. Being goofy.

At the Girls' Day Tea and Painting Party. 💕

The tea set up.

Savories.

Scones -- and Sr. A's home-made lemon curd and
faux Devon cream.

The sweets!

More "sweets." Daria and Ella painting away.

The painting set up. We endeavored to
replace the old worn-out signs on 
the garden "guide post."

Here are the finished products:

What it looked like with the original signs -- painted in '16.
( Look how little everyone is...! 😢 )
We haven't attached the new signs to the post yet -- but I'll maybe
 remember to share a photo when we do!)

You had to know that there's a good deal of this
that goes on around here in the summer time --
especially by this son.... (and his Mom!)
Tucked up in a cozy corner of the RV, reading
the Don Camillo Omnibus this day. 😊

A Few Shots of the Grounds Mid-July

From the top of the "Hobbit Hill" next to the swing.

From the RV patio, over the "window boxes."

"Margaret's Garden." All flowers with a couple kale and beans -- and a rogue pumpkin up in the weeds.

Over the tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos to the right of the berry garden. See the cool antique hand
plow I found at Goodwill -- of all places?

The new St. Joseph statue in the corner? 💓 Gabe is designing a shrine to build for him . We're hoping there'll be time to finish it this summer! Dan and I love this spot we call "the Sunken Garden." If there is a breeze to be found, it finds its way in here, oddly enough.

The RV -- porch and steps almost finished.

A different trip to the ice cream parlor. And William's patented
"stupid face." 😜 I'm not sure if he knows how close he got 
right there to having this ice cream cone stuffed right up his nose.

Up the hill from our house. We were driving home from Christy Cream after ice cream, when,
right before the turn onto our road, Gabe says, "No, no. Turn up on Cougar and follow it up to the
crest of the road and we'll catch the sunset." And darned if he didn't have it timed exactly. This kid.
Lovely memory now, of standing on the dirt road, the sound of crickets and birds, a little breath of a breeze, and a perfect sunset show, compliments of God, Himself -- and Gabe's sixth sense.

Work Party # 323A: Power Washing the house
before painting it. (Boy, was this needed!)

Mowing on the new "Zero Turn." The old mower
finally kicked the bucket and the boys all decided
 it was time to invest in a better machine. They are
all enjoying it thoroughly. (Mom calls this a WIN!)

Found this lovely St. Anthony on sale at 
Cosgrove (Omaha). Now trying to decide
where he needs to go...

Work Party #324A: Finishing out the "Pub" facade. Photos
will definitely be shared when this project is finished!

Ongoing work on the gardens -- mostly by Dominic and Monica who are enjoying their first gardening
experience -- and rocking it! Here you see one of my favorite glimpses from the RV window: an early
morning father/daughter garden check. Looking at a tomatillo here? Maybe a pepper or a cherry tomato... Monica has already put up several quarts of pesto! The taste of summer!

A meme I made to thank the boys for all their hard work, repairing and painting the house. There is
still work to be done, but, goodness, they have put their hearts into it -- and Dominic is a stellar
"foreman," such a good leader and mentor to his little brothers. It has been such a blessing for him
to be here with them this summer. It's a crazy thing about big families that smaller families don't experience, the big gap between the top and the bottom of the family. The oldest children sometimes just don't get the chance to really bond with the youngest within the home atmosphere -- so opportunities like this are golden! Later this month, our oldest son, Paul, is making an opportunity to get to know his youngest brothers by setting up a camping adventure, along with his son, Gavin, to the wilderness of northern Minnesota -- and plans are in the works for the boys to fly over to Germany next summer to spend time with Kevin in Bavaria. I love that they are making this happen, all the brothers! These relationships amongst them are living treasures that have to be tended -- and it pleases me no end to see them tending them. 

 So there you have it, June and July, 2021:

Summer-ized!