It is FINALLY Summer!   Walking Sendai one afternoon this week and this is what I saw - 

I'm hoping this means we might be done with rain for a little while.  We've had so, so much rain, and I know we needed it, but, wow, I'm ready for a little sun and some time in the hammock.  (on a side note, everything is really green and beautiful here.)

                        

                                  

I'm not the only one who is grateful the skies have finally cleared -  Ben enjoyed a raspberry popsicle after Church on Sunday.

I love kids with blue tongues! 💙

And the warm weather hit Iowa where Jonathan and Sayre enjoyed playing baseball.

I love Sayre, when he hits the ball, both the bat and the hat going flying in different directions 

Eilis started her summer making Great-Grammie's strawberry jam.  I am so happy the tradition is being carried on ~

It looks to me like she could go into business

Jake had a backyard campout - I'm not sure if anyone stayed outside with him - maybe Milo? 😀

Blythe on her first day of work as a lifeguard - kids beware!

And Paul just got his learner's permit - everyone beware! 😁

Kim took her friend, Selena, to Cardiff, Wales for a Harry Styles concert this past week. What a great way to be a missionary!  A little of the backstory - Kim and Selena work together in the office at the elementary school.  Selena is diabetic, and in March she had an episode and almost went into a diabetic coma.  She is a super Harry Styles fan, so Kim and Chris arranged the travel so they could attend the concert.  

Adam, Cory, and family just got home from a week in Utah.  Cory's nephew, Andrew, was getting married so they were able to spend time with family - they saw Heather, and Ruthie, and went through the Saratoga Springs Temple. 

I love these photos that Adam sent - 

Cousins -Paul, Katie, Jake, Andrew, Sammi, and Lily

Breakfast smores with Aunt Ruthie

Saratoga Springs Temple

   

Love these smiles!

Am I the only one in the family that hasn't been to Yellowstone National Park?   Josh took this photo coming home from Montana last month.  Yellowstone has always been one of the places I would love to see.  I know there are some in the family who are not road trip fans 😊, but I think because I grew up taking lots of road trips with my Dad and grandfather, that it is something I love to do.  Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore (for a second time), and Mesa Verda are all on my list . . . maybe next year ~

And, couldn't end this day without a photo of our favorite missionary!

If anyone would like to drop him a note or card this is his address - 

California Anaheim Mission, 2500 North Bristol Street, Santa Ana California, 92706

A Last Thought ~

To Finish up tonight I wanted to add a couple of more thoughts I read in Our Savior from Self-Doubt.  Like the creation process, we don't have to reach the final stage of our perfection before we experience God's love and feel God rejoice in who we have become thus far.  We trust that the Lord would say to us what Alma said to his son Shiblon: "I say unto you, my son (or daughter), that I have had great joy in thee already, because of they faithfulness and thy diligence, and they patience".  Alma didn't find joy in his son at that moment for who he would become but for who he was already.  Likewise, God finds joy in us now.  I know God loves us too, no matter what our weaknesses and imperfections my be.  Do we have a long way to go until we become like Him?  Absolutely.  He knows that, and so do we!  But we can find joy by cherishing this day and knowing that God rejoices in our progress this day as well.  The next time we have feelings of self-doubt and consider giving up on ourselves, or the next time we consider giving up on someone we love, please remember that God will never give up on us.  And He will never give up on the people we love.