London Strawberry Festival-- June 23, 2012

 2011 London Strawberry Festival Queen Salena Stewart and Chelsea

 Abbi, Chelsea, and Brandi

 Chelsea and the little Chauncey-Dover Festival royalty

 Chelsea, Abbi, and Brandi

 Brandi, Abbi, and Chelsea with the other over 125 festival royalty who were visiting the London Strawberry Festival!

 Brandi, Abbi, Tiffani, and Chelsea

 Tiffany (Vinton County), Chelsea (Athens County), and Miss Madison County

 Brandi, Abbi, Caitlyn, Tiffani, and Chelsea

 2011 Highland Horse Queen and Chelsea

Chelsea and the little Strawberry Festival royalty

Ellie-Kate's first t-ball practices-- June 23, 2012

Pickaway County Fair-- June 18, 2012

 Chelsea Meagan poses inside the Pickaway County Junior Fair Building

 Chelsea Meagan got to help with the cake auction right before the parade and crowning ceremony.

 Madison County Fair Queen and Prince, Champaign County Fair Queen, and Chelsea

 Brandi, Abbi, Scioto County Attendant, Chelsea, Champaign County Queen, and Clark County Queen

 Chelsea and Madison, the 2012 Ohio Fairs Queen

 Queens from Pickaway County, Champaign County, Ohio Fairs Queen, Clark County, and Chelsea-- the girls all knew each other from the Ohio Fairs Queen competition back in January, 2012. Champaign County was the second runner-up, Madison was named Queen, and Chelsea was in the sweet 16 :)

 Chelsea and Abbi with the new Pickaway County Fair court

Lovin' ice cream after the festivities at the Pickaway County Fair-- June 18, 2012

Saying good-bye... June 16-17, 2012

 On June 7, Grandma passed away at age 95... Even though she suffered a stroke in early May and then wrestled with increased loss of vision and hearing, it was still sad to say good-bye on June 16. We love you, Grandma! We took the above photo at Converse Cemetary shortly after the graveside service on June 16. After the service, we went to "the Cow Place" for dinner and then back to Warsaw.

 On June 17, we started the process of saying good-bye to Grandma's house... I cannot tell you how many times that I ate at that table or sat in this kitchen...

 Grandma's piano is the cornerstone of her living room...

 Grandma's den featured so many pictures on the walls, Grandma and Grandpa's recliners, and treasured momentos... When I was in middle school, I slept on this couch after we moved to Warsaw, and I remember seeing the "eye" in the pictures behind the recliners :)

Grandma's bedroom...

I remember dashing to the step and pounding on the doorbell when we would arrive for a visit at 1040 South Buffalo. I will never forget her post office box (63) or her phone number (267-6993).

The cousins pose outside of Grandma's house-- Phoebe, Britti, Emmy, Ellie-Kate, Brodie, Chelsea, and Grandma B.

Friend Mini-Reunion-- June 16, 2012

 Shari, Christie, Michelle, Corinne, Britti, Ellie-Kate, Emmy, Carolyn, Chelsea, Patti, Sandy, Lisa, and Crystal

 Lunch at the Boathouse Restaurant in Winona Lake-- June 16, 2012-- Corinne drove 18 hours for a visit, and we all turned out in force to share memories and renew connections :)

Christie, Corinne, Lisa, and Carolyn
Shari, Crystal, Crystal, Patti, and Michelle

What a week!!

Vacation Bible School is always so intense, but really intensely fun as well. Throughout the week, we arrive by 4:30, rehearse, eat with our church family, and enjoy drama, music, crafts, games, snacks, movie time, and the store. Our theme for VBS this year was "Amazing Aviation," and our skit featured two pilots vying for sponsors in a national air competition. I played "Rosie," a tough airline mechanic with a firm faith in God. At the end of the week, Rosie got to lead another character to Christ-- very cool!! During the week, we balanced interacting with the kids, signing our character cards, and frantically rehearsing for the next segment of our ongoing skit. We really went crazy with our special effects this year... explosives, visual comedy, and sound effects...

Meanwhile, Chelsea served as a "flight attendant," and Emmy and Ellie-Kate got to enjoy all of the stations. Britti covered for Chelsea on Tuesday night, and Roger came as a visitor on Thursday night. Thus, VBS-- 2012 was very much a family affair :)

Can't wait until next year!

We love VBS! June 12, 2012

 Ellie-Kate and Carter enjoy traveling as a train and eating snack-- June 12, 2012

 Christie, Jeremy, Phil, Tim, and Amy-- we were such characters :)

Patricia, Jenna, Tess, Madison, and Emmy enjoy their last VBS as participants!

Say YES to VBS! June 11, 2012

 Christie as "Rosie," an airplane mechanic in the 1940s, for ABC's VBS-- June 11, 2012

 Chelsea and Ellie-Kate at VBS-- Chelsea served as a pre-school "flight attendant," herding four little kids around to their rotations during each evening.

 Emmy, Ellie-Kate, and Chelsea-- June 11, 2012

 We had a "blast" at VBS... The hair spray wasn't horrible... the make-up wasn't horrible... the bucket of charcoal all over my head and face weren't horrible... the stress of knowing that we were actually using explosives backstage at church wasn't horrible (ok, it was, but...); however, the powdered chocolate that I had to spit out to simulate smoke was downright nauseating! I literally lost my spaghetti right after I got off of the stage!

 Emmy, Christie, Chelsea, and Ellie-Kate pose after Monday night's VBS

The charcoal took two showers to lose, but my hair returned to normal after just one :)