Skip to main content

Summer So Far


How is your summer going?  We are nearly halfway through ours and a lot has happened.

I usually try to take the kids' pictures on the first and last days of school.  Somehow, I only got Makayla and Ricky coming home from school on the last day.  They were both happy (probably a little silly) and ready to begin summer . . .


The day after school got out, we welcomed our visitors for Ricky's baptism.  Grandma and Grandpa Mergenthaler were able to come as well as Grandma and Grandpa Gudgel.  Great Grandpa Gudgel (my Grandpa) was also able to come.  It was a great weekend.



 After our guests went home, I had one week to finalize my preparations for girls camp.  Can you believe I didn't take one picture of camp?  It was Emily's first year, and she really enjoyed it.  I didn't love camp as much as I have previous years, but I hope I was able to help make it a good experience for the girls.

While I was at camp and for the week afterward, Rick's sister, Anjee, and her two cute kids came for a visit.  I can't believe I don't have any pictures of their visit either.  We love Anjee, Josh, and Kelsey and we were so glad they came to Iowa to spend some time with us.

The kids have been participating in the library's summer reading program.  I am kind of behind in helping them with that.  Emily has been working out with the girls' high school basketball team.  She likes the open gym time, but is still getting used to weight training.  She feels like a wimp, but doesn't realize that, given her size, she is very strong.

As usual, we have had our silly moments.  Each of the following pictures could have been pretty funny blog posts if I had the time or energy to post them.  Since I didn't, we get to play a game . . . "Write Your Own Caption."  Feel free to make up your own stories to go along with the following pictures.  Share them in the comments.  Come on, it will be fun!

OK, I can't resist telling you what is going on in the above picture . . . The kids are eating Easter candy that the neighbors had thrown away.  They had found an unopened bag of jelly beans on the curb with the garbage and brought it home to eat it . . . embarrassing/gross/desperate or what?!?

 Oops! . . . .I didn't mean for that baptism picture to be in with the "sillies." Don't feel obligated to write a caption for this one . . .

Besides going going to the park, camps, library, etc., we have spent most of our time hanging out at home.  The kids like to swim and play in the sprinklers.  I haven't gotten out the water balloons yet, but we have them.

 How is your summer going? Please take a moment to heed Ricky's advice . . .
If you will be outdoors, apply sunscreen liberally!

Comments

Chelsey said…
I think you would have found my kids doing the exact same thing. Luckily we have no neighbors. For now at least....
Debbie said…
Looks like you have been busy. We are also doing the library thing too. But my boys are excited for Disneyland and Tyler can't stop talking about hanging out with Ricky and Andrew. We are looking forwarded to see you guys and counting down the days.

Popular posts from this blog

Back To School Meanies

 Letter From the Nest August 15, 2025 https://open.substack.com/pub/lettersfromthenest/p/back-to-school?r=48qui&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web One August, more than twenty years ago, at an evening book club discussion, my “older” friends (now I look back and know those women were the age I am now), were discussing the woes and triumphs of back-to-school season. One woman was anticipating her youngest child’s senior year of high school. She said, “For more than two decades, our lives have revolved around the school district’s academic calendar. I don’t know how I will plan my life without knowing about school breaks or holidays.” I remember her bittersweet tone as she anticipated freedom from school schedule constraints but also mourned how those constraints guided her choices. What would she do? Other women joined the discussion, wondering if their kids would have good teachers, if they’d be able to balance volunteering in the classroom, how to streamline school supply pu...

My Legacy Stinks

 Letters from the Nest https://lettersfromthenest.substack.com/p/my-legacy-stinks Lately, I have been asking you, “What will you do to make Sunday special?” This is me encouraging you in your worship without giving you a prescribed list of things to do. One thing I do differently on Sundays is that I read a Sunday book that’s “different” than the fiction I read during the week. Usually, it’s a religious book, but sometimes it’s an inspiring biography or narrative nonfiction with an uplifting theme. My Sunday book for the past few months has been “Both Things Are True,” by Kate Holbrook. This collection of essays explores a range of topics, including faith, forgiveness, women’s roles, trials, history, and more. Each chapter contains a dichotomy that fuels the discussion. For example, the chapter on forgiveness explores both the concepts of forgetting and remembering. Last Sunday, I began reading the chapter entitled "The Weight of Legacy," in which she discusses the dichotomy ...

Lyme Disease??

Let me just preface this by saying that I am soooo grateful for good health insurance. I have been to the Dr. for the kids lately so often, that I am embarrassed that they recognize our family when we walk in the door. So, here's Ricky's story. A couple of weeks ago he was extremely sick. He had a fever for over a week, complained that he couldn't move his legs, and ended up with an awful looking rash all over his body. We went to the Dr. 2 times for this. The first time, she said, it was a virus and it should run its course. When Ricky was getting worse, instead of better, we took him back in to a quick clinic where the nurse diagnosed him with strep (even though the short test was negative). Well, after a priesthood blessing and antibiotics (which we discovered later that he didn't even need to take--and in fact they may have made him feel worse), he got better. Then, last week, I discovered a new, crazy rash on his legs which continued to grow, turn purple on the in...