Dear Friends and Family,                         

Here we are right in the middle of summer and enjoying it to the fullest!  This is the time of year the kids become part fish and spend most of their time in Grammy and Papa's pool and I spend most my time finding local produce to freeze!  And in the evenings, when it's cooler, we all work our horses.

For 2 weeks all three kids took swimming lessons in the morning.  Of course Kendra and Bryce did well in their lesson levels and passed their class with flying colors.  Then there was little Wade.  He absolutely loves the water (much more than the other two did at his age),  however staying by his teacher and the rest of the "students" was a challenge.  He would stick around long enough to do the required task, and then he was off to run and play and splash and swim in the kiddy pool.  Needless to say I spent most of my time chasing him and continually bringing him back to his class!  The last day was the kid's favorite "fun day".  The older 2 went down the big slide and Wade displayed all he had learned with his favorite being the "cookie dought"stroke; "reach, scrape and eat" and plugging his nose to put his forehead in the water!  Funny little guy!

Right after swimming lessons my kids and the Butcher kids (my sister's family) rushed to change out of their swim suits and ran over to Vacation Bible School at the Nazarene Church.  All the children just loved it and had many stories to tell about what they had learned.

This was Kendra's second year attending the kids Performing Arts Camp, directed by Travis' cousin, Treva Reichert.  She does an excellent job!  In one week, kids ranging in age from 3rd to 9th grade learn a whole play and perform it on Saturday.  The name of the production was "On The Radio". The kids did so well!  I was so proud of Kendra and to see the growth in her from last year was amazing!  She really came out of her shell and just lived it up on that stage!

As you read earlier I have been freezing produce.  For about 5 days I was able to pick as many Rainier cherries that I could at my Dad's neighbor's orchard.  That was actually the easy part...next came the washing, pitting and freezing.  It was a little time consuming, but well worth it!  Now we are getting blueberries in, which are much easier as there is no pitting involved!  My sister and I also took a day to make several batches of tamales.  I have to say there is a sense of accomplishement every time I open the freezer and see frozen local fruit for our smoothies and a couple tamale dinners too!

Great things are happening in the hearts of cowboys and cowgirls as we travel to ropings, Junior Rodeos, Cowboy Churches, and Rodeo Bible Camps.  We are seeing lives changed from teens to adults who are turning their hearts toward God.  It's as though just when a person surrenders their situation over to Him, that's all God needs to reveal His love and peace and begin mending broken hearts while bringing healing and restoration to a person's life.  We feel so privileged to be right in the middle of it all!

Please hold up Travis, Kendra, and Bryce in prayer as they are in Goldendale, WA at a Rodeo Bible Camp this week.  Travis is ministering at some of the chapel services and giving team roping lessons.  And Wade and I are holding the fort down at home, preparing for the next few busy weeks to come!

With Love,

Jennifer

 

 

 

 

 

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