Summertime Stokes' Update!

Well, I'm sadly behind on blogging so I will have to sum up the last few months. Great to see many of you up in Minnesota! Our trip up there at the end of May/beginning of June was way too short and busy and we wish we could have spent more time up there but we still made some good memories. Thanks to those who helped Tim paint on our house up there, too. And it was fun to have two weddings in one week - Tim's brother, Mike's and my nephew Andrew's! Partly, that made it convenient for us to see a lot of people at one time and it is wonderful to celebrate these new marriages.

When we came home, the girls' did a strings camp and then got the opportunity to play for someone's wedding a couple of weeks later. They worked hard and it was a very rewarding experience for them. . . and for us as well. Then Rachel also attended a sewing camp and enjoyed every minute of that; she always has to keep those hands busy and useful.

We also took a short trip up to southern Illinois towards the end of June for a Stokes' family reunion (Tim's dad's side of the family) and though it was short, it was a lot of fun to stay at his Aunt Kathy's country home with the hummingbirds and meet a lot of wonderful relatives, some who we already knew and some we were meeting for the first time.

And now, we've all just been enjoying swimming either at the Y's outdoor pool or our backyard above-ground pool. It's been a beautiful summer after a very rainy spring. Can't complain of too much heat and yet there's been plenty of warm, sunshiny days. It's going by fast, though, when I remember that school here begins August 12! That just sounds way too early.

The main big news we have to share right now for those of you who haven't heard this yet: my parents are selling their property up in Northern Minnesota and planning to move down here and buy a house with us! We are very glad and excited about this, though it is sad that my mom has been struggling with more and more affects of her Parkinson's disease. And certainly, that is my childhood home and I will miss it. But I do hope and pray for a quick sale of their house and hope you will join me! The winters are milder in Kentucky than Northern Minnesota and well, we're here and we love them!

I hope you are all enjoying the summer! God bless!