summer in review

Summer has come and gone with the blink of an eye... 

just a tiny little segment of my vapor of a life. 

 Many memories made and moments I hope not to forget right away.

So here I document once more.

finally.

I was thrown into summer after this thrilling event: graduation.

photo credit: Elizabeth Lapp

A week later found Elizabeth and I at Soldiers of the Cross in Holmes County, Ohio. 

...talk about uncomfortable...

We knew barely anybody. 

And we were scared.

But we survived.
And got to know all these wonderful people.

photo credit: Renita Overholt

And what a life-changing experience it was!

Just four days after I came back from SOTC, my family left on a trip of a lifetime-- headed to the great wide West for three weeks.
Here are a few pictures from the last week of our trip that I missed on my posts about it back here.
We stopped in Iowa for one short evening to see some pretty awesome friends.  We girls went out for supper then walked to a cute little ice cream shop.

photo credit: Trina Yoder

The day before we came home, we were in Indiana with cousins. so much fun. We were all happy to see Susanna again, and give her a tour of our humble, [huge] abode.

  

 We came home end of June.  It's still hard for me to believe that I was actually in Utah, Arizona, Colardo!, the Grand Canyon, and many other spectacular, incredible locations.  

Just four days after we came home, my Half left again for five whole weeks.  She attended summer term at FB in preparation for teaching school this fall.  It was sad to see her leave again.  

I worked long and hard at the store during most of the month of July.

We had a week of Vacation Bible School in July.  After the last night, about half the church people met at the Fuzzy Peach to enjoy their delicious frozen yogurt.

The next week I bought a car. :)  And a few days later I drove to West Moreland County to spend the day with my cousin Janae. 

My stressful adventures of the less-than-two-hour drive out there were a direct result from the fact that my manual-transmission driving skills were not yet up to par.  Somehow I did make it there and back home safely.  

We did have a delightful day together... spent some time at the park, went out for coffee, did a bit of shopping, and took a little walk through a small town.

That weekend I left with my sister Amanda and Lillian and Elizabeth for Perry, NY to help teach VBS at Silver Lake Mennonite Church.  We stopped at FB Saturday night to see Erika and Renita before heading on up to New York on Sunday afternoon.  We had such a good time hanging out with Renita and Erika again, and seeing where they live and study and hang out. 

We were in New York until Friday, and loved our time there.  

We had a ton of fun hanging out with their youth group and the other teachers for the week!

 I loved my wonderful group of kids.  They were so eager to learn and got so excited about the Bible stories.  They asked amazing questions, and I was so inspired by them.  It was sad to leave, knowing I may never see them again.

 Lillian, Elizabeth, and I stayed at Destinee and Andrea Stotlzfoos's house.  We had such a party with these amazing girls.
It was so good to get to know them better!

The week after we came home, we had a spa party at our house with the school girls.  We had such a fun night together! 

That weekend was church camping.  such a fun time of just being together. 

board games, singing, frisbee football, double dutch. food.

 

The next weekend found most of our church in Lancaster for Drew & Yvonne's wedding.  

 We youth girls got a special table to ourselves and had much fun together that day.

The next week, Mom and us three girls spent a day shopping in Holmes County.  

We bought a map and felt like real tourists, cruising through the countryside. haha.

 

And I was delighted when I discovered the sundae bar upstairs in Walnut Creek Cheese. :)

 Two weeks later school started. 

And so summer ended.  

My summer was so very full.

But it was so good.

I did so many things I wanted to do for a long time.

And they were all so worthwhile.

"Be happy for this moment, for this moment is your life."