Tag Archives: summer

Scenes from a Good Summer ~ The Grandbebes

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Ode to Summer, for I simply will not acknowledge an autumn which does not truly begin until the  Autumnal Equinox, on the 22nd day of this month sometime in the late afternoon.  Yes, school is back in session.  Yes,  the nights are cooler, some mornings even crisp.  But I must sing of my love for the summer until the last verse fades softly, for it is hard to bear the end…

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.”  ~John Lubbock

Gavin.

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Gavin toyed with an Edward-do, a la Twilight (the movie), before settling on a mop-top later in the summer.  He is such a sweet, freckle-faced kid.  He turned me into Nonna 6 years ago this summer.  This summer we went to the nursery together and I helped him put together his very first, very own planters of flowers and tomatoes (a passion we share).  He changed my life forever.

Hunter.

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My little inquisitive, curious, talkative, adventurer, Hunter, will be 5 soon.  He questions everything, knows something about all topics and is growing like a weed.  This was the summer I had to make a lot of deals with him to get photographs.  If I take one of him, he gets to take one of me.  He is the perfect mix of both his mommy and his daddy and he always asks me, “Did you miss me while I was gone, Nonna?  Are you so glad to see me again?”  I so did and I so am.

Guinivere.

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I call Guini my flower girl.  She loves beautiful blooms and picks them every chance she gets.  She likes to play “flower shop” when she comes to visit.  She is quiet, but decided, mysterious and cuddly – but you have to be ready to drop everything for the magic moment, for it can be fleeting.  We hang out, she’s my girl.

 

Gemma.

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This was the summer of Gemma in the quinitessential yellow sundress.  It matches her vibrancy and her spirit.  I wanted one just like it!  She is hilarious and she is two.  She is very good at it.  But she is also very helpful.  She sunscreened herself before outings, or during “naptimes” or whenever she could - a lot!  She’s my little “sweet petite,” who cannot keep her jeans up since she started wearing big-girl undies!

Averi.

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Averi-baby is on the run.  All. the. time.  Except when it is time to eat.  She and I share that hobby!  From certain angles, I feel like it’s the early 80′s and I’m chasing Tredessa again.  She loves to wear (and break) my reading glasses and when mommy and daddy go somewhere, she asks me, “Where’s mama?  Where’s Rocky?”  Every now and then while we are running around the backyard together, she will stop and tell me the most hilarious story and uproariously laugh at her own joke.  It cracks me up.

These are the 5 smile-bringers of my summer.  Of my life.  I don’t deserve them, and yet they are here.  And all they do is bring me joy.

Related post:  Scenes from a Good Summer ~ Heaven Fest

Scenes from a good summer ~ Heaven Fest

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An Ode to Summer, for I will not to acknowledge a  fall which does not truly begin until the Autumnal Equinox, on the 22nd day of this month sometime in the afternoon.  Yes,  the nights are cooler, some mornings even crisp.  And it may seem the summer is past.  But I must sing of my love for the summer until the last verse fades softly…

“In summer, the song sings itself.”  ~William Carlos Williams

The evening skies are amazing.

“The summer night is like a perfection of thought.”  ~Wallace Stevens

At Heaven Fest this year, we had THE perfect sunny summer morning.  Then late afternoon clouds which morphed into an electrical storm in the offing.  There was supposed to be rain, but lightening just surrounded us instead and gave us the coolest breeze and light show ever!

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www.skateministry.org  Uriel!

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The screen is bigger than it looks!

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Early in the day.

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 Skillet is so cool!

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23,000 people showed up.

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The hip-hop stage was so awesome!  It was packed all day long and there was amazing worship going up!

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 ”Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.”  ~Sam Keen.  This quote has absolutely nothing to do with Heaven Fest, not at least until it’s OVER!

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Every stage had a chaplain/minister who prayed with all the bands.  John Burgess is leading it here!

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We had a Kidz Area this year: petting zoo, face painting, jumpy-things and even a worship stage they could play at.  It was so much fun!

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We never want to chintz on the port-a-potties, and we never shall.

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Kent Henry was here!  What an honor!

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My sweet-peeps, Andy and Leah Garcia, made this shot possible right after Kent and his kids had led us into some deep worship.  Andy set it up and Leah took the shot.  Thank-you, friends!

Kent Henry is not only my all-time favorite worship leader, he was the one I raised my kids on.  Heaven Fest being what it is is due, in no small part, to the worship influence my “tribe” was nurtured on as they were growing up.  Having Kent attend, teach, lead worship and pray over my kids was the honor of a lifetime.  His influence on Heaven Fest is undeniable, whether he is here or not, but it sure was cool to have him come and see the impact his life and ministry are still making on my family and through my childrens’ lives.  Talk about legacy!

The nameless/faceless band at The Sacred Assembly – it was a breathtaking time in the Presence!

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What a summer!  I get to work with 100 other people who lead this deal and it is such a privilege to get to do this thing!  In November we told the Lord yes, in February we started the fundraising, permitting and all sorts of logistical.  By the time summer comes, we are literally surrounded by the world’s most amazing people, walking it out with them.  I love Heaven Fest!  LOVE it!

 

Wanna see about 8000 more pictures?

Tons more photos and youtube videos we found can be seen on www.heavenfest.com. You’ll feel like you were there, if you weren’t, and will re-live the thrill if you were!

40 Nights of Worship and Intercession on Heaven Fest Grounds

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Official announcement and invitation:

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It started on July 7th.  And we will be meeting EVERY NIGHT at Northern Hills Church (location of Heaven Fest) for 2 hours of prayer and worship through August 15th.

 Most nights will be live worship with a band or artist. WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU to come out at least once. When we did this last year, it was amazing! Every single night great things happened!!

July 7 – August 15

7-9 pm nightly at

Northern Hills Church

5061 E. 16oth Ave (highway 7, 3 miles east of I-25) in Brighton, CO  MAP

 

Now-here is why I think you should come~

I got to attend the very first night this past Tuesday and actually co-lead with my daughter, Tara.  And it was awesome!  About 20 people ended up attending, along with a few small children, and it was informal and sweet and there was scripture reading and praying for one another and grandmother types (me) and teen-agers (who read about it on Facebook and came. -I love this generation!) and we were all just one, happy family.

I know.  I know.  You are busy.  You had a long day at work, preceded by one and to be followed by many.  And I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep, but I attended a lot last year and this year started, at least, exacly the same: peace, joy, excitement about Heaven Fest and sunsets more beautiful than Maui (and I LOVE Maui)! 

Kick-off night had rays beaming in all directions in blazing hot pink and mimosa and orange.  We got a double dose as it reflected off the lake where the horses gazed while large birds sailed effortlessly overhead.  Little songbirds on the lightposts in the church parking lot answered our praises to heaven with their own.  Small children played and ran and laughed and also cried and tattled a little, but all kids should enjoy church so much! 

The sanctuary?  Outside, on the westside of the building, the veranda outside the Cafe.  The worship leader and/or staff member leading?  It varies.  The song?  Something to please the Lord and welcome Him here.  The purpose?  To worship Him and pray for our communities and this region and for Heaven Fest and for whatever God wants to do around here. 

If  I’d have been home, I may have missed the sweetness of the still waters, the glory of the Lord in the clouds, the green pastures of friendship with God’s like-hearted people.  I may have missed a glorious summer night and watched re-runs.

Un-plug.  Breathe in some air.  Worship the Lord.  And bring the fam.  You’re welcomed to help us welcome Him.

Not just trying to fill your hours, but to enrich them…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF: Summer of ’09, a return to the song of the joy of the Lord in my life…

THINK ABOUT IT:  Bring your small group each week for the next few!  Oh-and bug spray (they swarm suddenly just as the most raptuous moment of sunset is occurring)…hey it IS the country, sort of, after all!

Mowed the Grass Today

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Very therapeutic, by the by. 

Sprinkle some seeds into a flat round planter base (made to place under a large pot) that has had a few small holes drilled into it and been filled with some lightweight potting soil.  Grass emerges in a few days and must be ” mowed” about weekly.  Lovely to run your fingers through on a summer evening whilst you sip lemonade. 

I wax romantic…because Dave mows the “big” lawn.

Going South

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At exactly 8:34 this morning, a large gaggle of geese flew right over my backyard from the north, heading due  south.    Flying low and loud on this  pleasantly cool, green, sunny morning, I wonder:  whatever do they find to clamor and chatter so raucously about as they fly over?

Thus, the end of the summer has been signaled…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:   When cold winds begin to threaten – make haste to the secret place where life and comfort are found.

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The Case of the Misdirected Sunflower

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Facing est  

Dave and I met and married in North Dakota, where we both attended Bible College.   ’81 was our summer of love.   Our first date was 5.26.81 and we married on 7.23.81.  

The summers in North Dakota are spectacular.   It is a shame you can’t bottle that.   The sun takes almost forever to finally fall from the sky at night and is brilliant throughout the day.   North Dakota is a little, plain, shall we say, in some ways?   And flat.   Conservative.   And there are lots of white houses.

But one thing you see there that is better than anywhere else?   Fields of sunflowers, faithfully and brilliantly holding their gorgeous yellow-orange heads high and seemingly following the sun. True.   In the morning, their little faces facing east, then, operating in heliotropism, they would “follow the sun” until they were facing west by evening.   Sometime during the night, in anticipation of the next sunrise, they’d be facing east again.   A wonder to behold!

I threw a few sunflower seeds in the yard this year and have watched over the past few weeks as the unblossomed buds have heliotroped about, back and forth, east to west, daily.   But when the first 7-foot-high bloomer occured: nothing.   Nada.   It has faced the east and moved not one iota.   “What is wrong, tall flower?” I’d ask.   “Look this way, come on, look over here.”   No response.   It has fixed it’s gaze on my neightbor’s back porch and she rarely comes out.   True, her overly-zealous, fence-jumping  sprinklers do provide the needed waterings, which is why I decided to plant them in the awkward behind-the-pool space anyway.   Still, I am being ignored in favor of a woman who does not care.

Dave asked me if I planted the seeds backwards.   Har-dee-har-har.

In desperation, I Wikipedied this problem and am dismayed to  learn that sunflowers in the blooming stage (maturity, it seems)  are no longer heliotropic, but frozen in one direction, usually east, meaning all of my sunflowers will benefit some one else, as I will only get to gaze on their hinder parts.   This is indeed disturbing and so unlike, I am quite certain, their North Dakato fields of cousins.

But the case is solved.

I love the backyard, though…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:   Next year-Cannas!

Iowa Girl

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My “home” state has had a hard summer.   Most recently it has been in a pretty severe heat wave.  

In June, though, much of Iowa was flooded and was declared to be in a state of emergency.   This photo was sent by my old junior high friend, Lorri.   It depicts a highway just south of Mount   Vernon.   The damage done throughout the state has made it hard on city commuters and farmers alike.

Iowa takes a hit with comedians as being a little podunk or backwards, but it is a beautiful state where things grow easily  in the rich, black soil and summers are sweet.   Kids enjoy a good educational system and  chase lightening bugs in warm weather.   Corn on the cob, in the self-proclaimed “Corn State” is the sweetest you’ll find and I have lots of wonderful relatives who live there,  all city folk!  

I was born in Des Moines and lived there until I was 10.   Then we moved to Davenport for about 3 years, then on to Cedar Rapids, where I spent 8th and 9th grades and a couple of months  of 10th grade.   After I married Dave, we lived in Sioux City for 2 years.   So even though less than 18 years of my life total were spent  in Iowa and my parents and siblings haven’t lived there for more than 30 years, they were important ones for me.   Does that make it my home?   I last passed through there on my way to somewhere else in 1997.  

I read an apt description in an Oprah-recommended novel once, that when you move a lot, “home” isn’t a place, it is a collection of experiences and stories and people.   Where I am “from” sort of changes each time my parents move.   Even though I have never been to Springfield, MO that I recall, they just retired there, so I guess that is “home” now in some ways.   But deep in my heart, I am an “Iowa girl.”

I  wholly and truly love corn on the cob, too…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF: Plan a trip to go back to Iowa.   Explore roots.   Remember.   Understand.