A Celebration of Cousins

Our weekend was a busy and special one, as we had a reunion with my cousins that I have not seen for several years. My brother was the instigator of the event, and I think we are all grateful to him for making the effort to follow through with the plan.

Kent and Michelle flew in from Atlanta, and Meg and Brooks, with their adorable son Charlie, drove over from northwest Ohio. We all gathered at Ted and Cheryl's for dinner on Friday night, where we were joined by my parents and some of our children.

We enjoyed fun fellowship and great conversation, and laughed at the telling and retelling of old stories as is often the case when family gets together. I believe Jim and young Charlie had an interesting discussion on farming, too. Charlie might even hire Jim to work on his farm someday. :)

The next day, they made the journey over the river and through the woods hills and hollows to our Brown County home on Sweetwater Lake. We are blessed to be able to share the fun of the lake with family and friends. Since I had inadvertently double-booked the weekend, we had family, friends, and cousins galore.

Charlie enjoyed the lake with his dad, and took a ride on Shamu both in the lake,

and on the watermat.

He also tried out the pirate ship.

Yo ho ho!

Inside, Ella was hanging out with Gumbo.

Gumbo is always one of the favorite attractions at the lake, or anywhere he goes.
Everybody loves Gumbo.

The little girls enjoyed some pool time on the dock with David D.

The cousins took a boat ride on the pontoon for a tour of Sweetwater.

Cheryl and Ted.

Michelle and Kent.

Nana and Boomie. Happy Birthday, Boomie!

Charlie, Brooks, and Meg.

Charlie and Gumbo. I repeat, everybody loves Gumbo.

Charlie said he enjoyed himself at the lake so much that he felt like he was at home. So sweet. He will be starting first grade next week.

The four cousins posed for a couple of pictures. Hopefully, next time, we will add my brother Michael, and our cousin Elizabeth to complete the group.

I had a little girl trying for a photo bomb by holding my hand in the picture. I'll take that any day. :)

My mom and dad, the cousins, spouses, and Charlie.

We celebrated Boomie's birthday at dinner, before the cousins headed out. It was a great reunion, and we are already working on plans for the next gathering.

On Sunday, there was time for some rope swingin'. That's Matthew!

There he goes again!

Shelly tried a flip from the platform. She really needs a chair to stand on to give her enough momentum for the fancy stuff.

Abbi is ready to try it.

There goes Andrew.

Abbi!

Darci put together a little collage of Matthew swinging. He's gotten very brave on the rope swing!

He and Abbi also did a little tube surfing back in the cove after tubing. They soon toppled off the tube and had to swim back to the dock. (photo also by Darci)

The new paddle boat works great. That is a full load!

Three cuties on the dock.

And a perfect sunset to end the weekend. God is good.

Sunset Over the Hodgepodge

We're talking simple and sunsets at the Hodgepodge today. Thanks to Joyce for hosting, and always giving us something to think about on a Wednesday. Click on the button to pay her a visit.

Here are her questions and my answers.
1. The first week of August is National Simplify Your Life Week...what's one thing you could do this week to qualify as a participant?
A couple days mid-week at the lake with good friends. Just what the doctor ordered. :)

2. It's also National Peach Month...peach pie, peach cobbler, or please pour me a Bellini?  What's your peach pleasure?
I like peaches just fresh and plain, and son Jonathan loves to eat them like an apple - as long as they're firm. I have a great peach recipe shared by my friend Jill: Peach Batter Cake. Delicious!

3. Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, "Do one thing every day that scares you." Agree or disagree...explain.
I think it is always good to step out of our comfort zone. That sometimes includes doing something that scares us. It's how we grow.

4. What's your favorite household chore?  Yes-you have to name one.
I am not likely to use 'favorite' and 'household chore' in the same sentence. But if I have to, I guess I'll say doing laundry. Because I've had so much practice.

5. Fodors recently listed (what they've dubbed) the ten most beautiful sunset spots in America. Click here to read more and see the pretty pictures, but this is their list:

Butterfly Beach in Santa Monica CA, Mount Haleakala in Maui HI, Old Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe NM, Laguna Beach CA, Hopi Point in Grand Canyon AZ, Four Seasons in Miami FL, Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica CA, Gay Head in Martha's Vineyard MA, Ensign Peak in Salt Lake City UT, and Mallory Square in Key West Florida.

Have you seen the sun set from any of these spots?  If you could choose to watch the sun set this weekend from one spot on the Fodors List, which would you choose?  Where was the prettiest sunset you've ever seen?

I love to watch a good sunset. I have not enjoyed a sunset from any of the places on the list. I would be happy to jet off to Martha's Vineyard this weekend for a chance to see a sunset there.

The prettiest sunsets I have seen are from Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman.

Truly spectacular, and particularly special when shared with family (and Boomie's rum punch).

My favorite sunset photo is this one, taken a few years ago.

And we occasionally enjoy a great sunset right here at Sweetwater Lake. My brother says 'God's showing off' on those nights. What a beautiful world He has created for us to experience. God is so good.

6. What's your favorite or most used app?  If you don't use apps how about your favorite or most visited website?
Instagram. I used to use it just for editing. Now it's my favorite social media. Quick and easy, and so much fun to share photos. 

7. We've recently passed the halfway mark for 2013...write a seven word sentence that sums up your year thus far. 

Keeping faith in the circle of life.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
Two days at the lake with old good friends. Ruthann feeling well enough to come. Dinner at Big Woods. Lots of laughter. Priceless.

Mini

We had to say goodbye to an old friend last week. Our dog, Mini, was the younger of our two golden retrievers. We got the first one, Brees (named for you-know-who, of course), in the year 2000, the year my favorite quarterback led Purdue to the Rose Bowl. She was born to Jim's cousin's dog, right next door, and of course our family thought we needed a puppy.

Two years later, Tom's dog had another litter of puppies, and of course, we needed another puppy. We had lots of discussion trying to think of a name for the second female, and since, at that time, she looked like a mini version of Brees, she was called Mini Brees, or just Mini.

They were a pair, those two. Always together. Brees and Mini. Mini and Brees.

And although they looked alike when she was a pup, Mini grew to be more golden blonde than Brees. She was also much fluffier, and the more affectionate of the two. Being outside farm dogs, they greeted guests, chased cats in the barn, and happily welcomed treats and table scraps from the girls out in the office.

Last year, Mini had a little health issue when I found her down in the barn, and unable to get up. We had her checked at our vet, and, seeing nothing broken, we were referred to an acupuncture/chiropractic veterinarian in a nearby town village.

I loved the old time feel of the office.

Mini was comfortable there, even though she was still not walking on her own.

Although she was an outside dog, when I took her to the vet, she put her head in my lap as if we spent time sitting together on a regular basis. She was just a good girl.

They loved Mini at the clinic, and took such good care of her. They made a fuss over her and loved on her at each visit, as if she was their own dog. 

The treatments helped, and after some resting time at home, she was up and about again.

Around the middle of June, I took both dogs to get haircuts. We like to do that in the summer, so they don't get so hot, and to get rid of the dirty old hair from living outside all winter.

Here is Mini before her haircut. She has always had a lighter face, but you can see how gray she had gotten at age 11.

They don't go many places in the car, so it is a bit of a job to get them loaded up, especially since they can't really jump into the car by themselves anymore.

After the grooming, my friend Judy called to tell me they were ready to be picked up. She also told me that Mini was very thin. It was hard for us to see that under all that hair!

She looked quite different!

I made an appointment with the vet, who put Mini on medication for a heart murmur.
Later that day, we learned that she was also in severe kidney failure. Poor old girl.

We tried a special diet in addition to the medication, but, in the end, her old body just gave out on her. We buried her out by the holly bushes, where several other old farm dogs are buried. I don't know if 'all dogs go to heaven' is a theologically sound statement, but I believe that God has a special place for all His creatures, especially those who have loved and been loved by their humans.
Rest in peace, Mini. We'll miss you. We loved you.

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small.

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.