Summer is Here!

(The wicked blogspot has thrown some of the pics out of order- sorry!  The stained glass windows are backward and they go with the end of the post- sorry!) This is a little fun post to put up some pics of what we've been doing lately. Nathan's mom came down for Kathryn's birthday in April. I shelled out and got a bakery cake since Kathryn wanted flowers on it this year. I hate doing that, because my family loves the taste of my cake. After seeing the joke the bakery gave me, it won't be happening again. In fact the center of the cake had fallen in, so they just covered up their mistake with extra icing. OK, so I actually enjoyed the middle, because it was about 2 inches of icing and 1/2 inch of cake- ;o) We also went to Logan's, or as Kathryn requested "THE PEANUT PLACE!" I didn't realize that they picked up on it being her birthday, and decided to do the whole restaurant announcement thing. Poor Kathryn. I wish I had a picture of her face. If she could become invisible in that moment, she would have. She's at that 'everything is sooooo embarrassing' stage. When they jokingly asked her to SING, I honestly thought she might burst into tears or faint dead away. Her face was sooo white!

Then came Easter. We keep it pretty simple around here. (No offense to those of you who grew up with the whole Easter basket thing) I love it that they aren't worried about what THEY ARE GOING TO GET! for this most special holiday of the year. Honestly, the marketing is ridiculous. So they get some special candy at the breakfast table, and they color eggs. The rest of the day is all about church. We feasted with a whole bunch of church folks at Connie Snodgrass's house after morning worship service- yum! Love Easter!

Now that we've finished 1st grade, we're trying to do something special each Monday of the summer. This past Monday, we took a jaunt to the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman. This is a unique walk-through exhibit constructed by a monk. You can read more here

Anyhoo, there is still a monastery on the grounds, a cemetery for deceased 'brothers' and a private school. The kids loved how big they felt next to most of the exhibits. And they got to go to both the Great Wall of China, Rome and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in one fell swoop. So here you go:

. They also had a walking path to the cemetery lined with shrines showing the last moments of Christ's life. It began with the trial and ended with His body being placed in the tomb. I don't understand why the Catholic ends there so often. THAT'S NOT ALL, FOLKS!!!! So glad to serve a Risen Lord! We also visited the Catholic cathedral in town where the smell of incense was heavy and their values are placed in stained glass: