Snapshots of Summer

Here comes another long post of pictures: it's our summer in review!  I have to admit I was hesitant to want to do this post because pictures can take so long to load...but then all the memories came back and I'm excited to share them!

So here it is..our snapshots of summer!


Clay and me at the Staff Appreciation Dinner in June.  Each summer my work hosts a staff appreciation dinner at some fancy schmancy restaurant.  It's fun to get dressed up and go out for free.  We also get a gift every year.  Last year it was multi-colored bud vases;  this year it was a little crystal flower from that Schwartzscoffy's place.  It's not that I'm ungrateful, but my flower is in the closet because I'm just not sure what to do with it...

 I think I'm cool because I put a braid in my hair.  We went up to the closest part of the Adirondacks for a day and found this nice water.

 I also think I'm cool because I wear this glowing tank.  It reminds me of those glow-worms from childhood (my tank doesn't actually glow).

Clay and Stu out golfing.  I think this is a sweet picture :)..one of those that will get printed and just sit out and eventually get worn because it gets picked up and looked at and brings back good memories.

 A sunset at Onondaga Lake Parkway..also what we refer to as our backyard since our real backyard is two interstates.  Clay and I had nothing to do one night so I put on my pistachio colored dress and we went to dinner and then got sherbert and raced to the park to watch the sunset.  It was romantic and fun and reminded me of college.

 Another view of the sunset..compliments of Clay's picture-taking skills.

 Our yam.  I was convinced I would one day cook the thing.  Sometimes I have a hard time throwing things away.  I know you're judging me right now but I don't care.  It started out as just a yam but then it would make us laugh when Clay would threaten to throw it away if I didn't use it and then buds started appearing and then sprouts and then longer sprouts and it basically became a bush in our kitchen.  It was a bit of a space-taker but I liked the memories it was making.  I finally threw it away in October (this picture was long before October).  This makes me smile just thinking about how absurd it is.

Clay on his birthday in July..isn't he just a cutie patootie?!  I think so!  He had 5 candles on his cake since he was turning 25 :)

 Stu found these t-shirts in a magazine to personalize with our name.  I think Clay is embarrassed to wear it in public but I wear mine with pride.  However, we are nervous about labeled clothes continuing..

 Us in Pennsylvania at a park near Pittsburgh.  We made it work out to visit with Kevin and Jenny on our way back from our trip in July to Illinois.  Oh the summer tans..how quickly it turns into pasty white as I type this in early November..

Finally, a video to cap it all off.  And this is how we probably spent the majority of summer:

We truly are blessed.  I know I often wonder why the Lord has us where He has us rather than elsewhere, but how can I not see the goodness of Him in our lives even in these few brief snapshots?  We have absolutely beautiful summers (my hair even stays straight up here), we have two great jobs that allow us to do fun things, we have families that take time, money, and energy to invest in us and visit us, and we have each other (just to mention a few).  God is so so good.