Camping! 2020 8/23 & 8/24

August 24, 2020 | Stacy

As soon as Stewart got home from work this morning, we headed out for camping near Lake George, NY.

We set up camp in the rain… and, as always, we realize that all campgrounds are not created equal. But we figured it out and got on to eating.
I do love cooking over a campfire, and tonight’s dinner of hot roast beef sandwiches did not disappoint. We made sugar cone “smores” and enjoyed the campfire.

Morning comes early for us.

After a chill breakfast of pancakes, etc., we headed to Lake George to peek around. It was fun surprising the kids with a game of mini-golf. What is normal to a lot of families is not normal to our “big” family. I actually heard one of the older kids telling one of the younger kids they shouldn’t ask to play mini-golf, because it is so expensive. It was with a tremendous amount of joy that we blew their minds pulling into the parking lot.

Here is a photo of Johanna and Katriel with the winner of the mini-golf.

(Yes; that’s me.)

After golf, we parked the van and wandered around by the fort and the beach. We tried to get ice cream there, but they were not interested in working with us to insure a peanut-free experience.

We headed back towards camp and stopped at the Stewart’s Shoppe, which provided us with amazing flavors and GREAT experience.

Back at camp we had taco’s in a bag for lunch.

And daddy found a way to set up a hammock. I took a book to the pool so the girls could swim.

We made friends with the ducks!

And we had some sort of hot dog/croissant meal for dinner.

Working hard? Hardly working?

August 22, 2020 | Stacy

Stewart was able to work at Mendon Ponds Park again this summer. He did an assortment of jobs. Filled water bags to water trees, put down mulch, paint, clean, chop.

I wish I had a photo of Nigel from his job. He worked at Penfield Country Club doing groundskeeping. Each worked 40+ hours per week and I am so proud of their work ethics.

This weekend marks the last days for them for the year.

Stewart is 20! ??? !!!

August 20, 2020 | Stacy

Somehow, Stewart turned 20.

Noelle came up around the time he finished work and joined us for dinner. There were games and gifts and lemon squares.

And this is a photo of him from work. I am very proud of how hard both boys worked this summer. Stewart worked daily 7AM – 3:30PM at Mendon Ponds Park, and then would come home for a while Take a nap. Eat. And head to FedEx for 10PM – 1AM. Home. Sleep a little more… and repeat.

Nigel graduated.

August 8, 2020 | Stacy

Sort of.

His last day of classes at FLCC were in May.
His graduation date of June 6 was changed to August 8.
I sent his last quarterly report to Victor in June.
He got his letter of completion in June.
We had a small gathering in July around the same time we got the letter that said his August 8 graduation was canceled.
He was so over it all.

So – he agreed to don his cap and gown and go for some photos in the church garden.

Love this boy.
I’m so proud of him.
What a hard year.

I trust God has prepared a path for him.

Bathroom upgrade!

July 26, 2020 | Stacy

Last year we decided we would not take a vacation in 2020. (Thank you, LORD, for leading us that way!) We knew we needed to invest in the house a little and update some areas. We’ve already put in new lights and I’ve painted or stained a number of rooms and fixtures.

The old, ugly shower was way out of our league however, and we hired Cunningham Remodeling to fix that. He was able to come and assess during lockdown, but he couldn’t do any work until the governor allowed it.

This is the old room.

I pretty much shopped every chance I had during lockdown. It’s funny how busy Lowes was throughout April and May. It was always crowded and it was nice to see people out and about.

My friend Diane fielded a nice handful of questions along the way.

And then finally Tom and Judah were able to come and do the bathroom.

They started on June 29th and finished on July 7th, pausing for a three day weekend.

They set up this plastic buffer to hold some of the dust out of the bedroom. We had to zip ourselves into and out of the bedroom. It was like we were glamping.

Tab spray painted our light fixture.

After they finished with the shower and the floor, it was John’s turn.

We’d had to wait MONTHS for our sink top/vanity to arrive. I ordered it in May and it kept getting backordered, for, you know, virus reasons. The plant in Indiana that makes them was closed.

When they finally arrived John was able to finish our side of the bathroom.

We wanted to do a ship lap look like we’d done in the laundry room a few years ago.

And then we made some shelves and I had to go to Greece Lowes for the last large round mirror (in my price range) in the region.

And I LOVE IT!

Camp Cherith Day three

July 22, 2020 | Stacy

We made it through breakfast without rain.

And then in CAME with a vengeance.

I momentarily considered calling it a day and heading home, but we decided to just wait it out, and I’m so glad we did.

Amidst just a drizzle, we did our nature activity. Our leader for this was the director of the camp.

She was such a delight to talk with. We had a number of friends in common.

We examined some pond water, and Katriel found a tadpole! Someone found a snail!

Our last activity was hiking. First we found some quotes and scriptures about being in nature.

We had our last meal – a lovely lunch.

And then we went to the Tuck Shop and purchased some souvenirs and ice cream for our trip home.

IT WAS SO AWESOME!

Camp Cherith day two

July 21, 2020 | Stacy

We woke by 7 to a glorious morning and headed off to breakfast by 8AM. We came back to our cabin to do our devotions, and then we went to our first activity, which was swimming. I didn’t take my camera. I sincerely enjoyed, to the core of my being, my conversations with the two women who are swim instructors/life guards. One was from FL and one from IL. I was so soothing to talk with them and find they felt the same way I do about this “pandemic” and the lockdowns. They also were so encouraging to my reluctant swimmer and they played with Katriel and their cool toys. Our family had the WHOLE POOL to ourselves.

We headed back to the cabin to prepare for our next activity.

ARCHERY!

Our wonderful archery instructor does this FOR FREE every summer as a ministry. God bless these leaders. I am just in awe.

My girls are naturals!

Tab shoots left.

I even took a turn.

WE WERE HUNGRY!

Then we went outside for our post-lunch devotional activity.

This one focus on how we need people in our lives to support and encourage us.

We had cabin quiet time. Here she is reading her Bible storybook to me.

Finally we had a craft period.

Again, we had a lovely adult leader who met my girls where they each were at for crafting. Different than at home, where mom is all about calculating the mess, our leader was all about helping them see their vision come to be.

We hurried back to the cabin for swim suits and we were at the Tuck Shop the moment it opened for our daily ice cream.

Tab used free time to read while we hit the pool again.

Dinner was delicious.

We played on the lawn a bit.

Then a game before campfire games.

Our family was the only group to finish the map relay race on time. Tab is an expert mapper. (It runs in the family.)

Devotions and treats.

And SLEEP!

Camp Cherith

July 21, 2020 | Stacy

NY has a lot of Christ-centered camps that operate year round, with a special emphasis on youth camps in the summer.

Covid stole that from most of them.

Camp Cherith, in Western NY decided to offer family camp for units traveling together. Each group got their own cabin and their own dedicated bathroom facilities and dining table. We also got to rotate between activities over six times slots on three days. They also provided us with post-breakfast personal devotion material, post-lunch family devotional material, and after dinner songs and campfires with testimonies and games.

We left our house around 8:30AM to be at Cherith by 10AM.

We unpacked, played a game, and then decided to drive by Houghton before lunch so that the girls could see where Stewart goes to college.

There were some yard games set up.

There were also bees.
Katriel got bitten, or stung, or something.

People responded with help, and after some ice and a topical medication, she felt a little better.

After lunch we did an activity to demonstrate what happens when we “poke” people with our words.

We signed up for our activities for the next three days. Today we would have time to go out in the canoes.

Afterwards, some of us used freetime to swim, and Tab set up her reading station in the back of the van.

Dinner was at 6PM. We took a different route.

A few mores games.

Then at 7PM we went to the pavilion and each group rotated through the four games they had set up for us.

Then we had songs. Smores. A testimony.

Bed! We were the good kind of whooped!

This isn’t a normal Butler vacation, but this is not a normal year.

Worth the work; worth the wait!

July 18, 2020 | Stacy

This project started on May 15th.

With nothing before me but TIME, and the recent success of stripping and staining the vanity, I thought it would be worth the effort to strip and refinish the kitchen cupboards. We knew it would take a lot of elbow grease and time, but it would still be a LOT more affordable than a kitchen redo. (We could never afford a redo!!!)

Unfortunately, despite the right materials and the right process I could NOT get the stain lifted from the doors. I pondered my options and then decided that the best step at this point would be to use the same process I used in the laundry room two years ago. While it wasn’t plan A, it was a solid plan B.

Weeks and weeks and layers and layers.

First – the kitchen has too many doors and drawers for me to lay them all out in the basement at once. I divided it into three unequal parts. I went by sections that made sense.

It was sloppy living for a while.

And the basement was a little uncomfortable. Thankfully we had some large boxes that our treadmill had come in that we could use to stain in.

The second section was the largest.

Every surface had to have three coats of gel stain each applied three days apart. Then it needed three layers of sealant, each three days apart.

And let’s remember that each door has two sides.

I tried to stay right on top of it, but life did have me miss a day or two.

Still – it was a real pleasure to put the whole thing back together.
In the process we also decided to leave the doors off the large cupboard and I put peel and stick wall paper inside.
I am very happy with the end result.