Church Picnic

Our church had its annual picnic last Sunday at a local park.

I personally really like this location because of its proximity to the playground and the shade from all the trees, something that is very important when your annual church picnic is held during the hottest month of the entire year.

It's a potluck, so everyone brings sides.  Hey look, a salad that has lettuce in it!

(I'm still not entirely resolved to the Midwestern tradition of calling a concoction that is drowned in whipping cream and topped with candy bars a "salad".)

For my Southern friends, you will get a kick out of this. 

No one else seemed to get why the sign made me giggle.  (Please notice the accompanying sugar bowl on the side.)

Someone very patient took the time to create a large number of highly desirable water balloons.

She doesn't look too happy at being refused, does she?

Mister Mike brought the main entree, which was a fabulous pork barbecue.  The flavors were incredible.

He's a man after my own heart.  I do love me some barbecue sauce!

Time to eat!

After we ate, there were some fun games involving water balloons and a three legged race. 

Snicker snicker.  I am denying having anything to do with Rob being wet.  I was standing several feet away when it happened, and so cannot be held responsible.

The Balloon Toss

There didn't seem to be too much incentive to throw the balloons at the partner's hands.

What a special church we have!

Stripping at the New Pastor's House

Hee hee, that has a really awful sound to it, doesn't it?  However, I can assure you, nothing untoward happened and the only thing that was removed was wall paper.

 

Our church has been very blessed to have gotten a new pastor, Justin C., and before his family moved in we wanted to help them out by stripping the wall-paper off the walls of one of the rooms (Brianna, his wife, had mentioned it as something she intended to do before putting the furniture in that room).

Jenn and Stacey were my two compatriots.  Despite her broken foot (my son thinks she has a Transformer limb), Jenn climbed on top of the ladder and buckets like a trooper (or an Autobot).

 

Every picture I have of Stacey is blurred.  This was not my camera's fault.  The woman moves at the speed of Superwoman if Superwoman ever decided to switch from fighting crime to fighting grime.

Notice my picture is not blurred.  Grime is something which I have learned to befriend, rather than wage war against.

Taaa-daaaa, all done!

To finish up the home coming present, we all chipped in and got a few pantry items to tide them over until they had a chance to get their own grocery items.  (Jenn and Stacey were actually the gals who did the shopping.  I just gave them money.  I'm all about letting people do the work for me.)

Welcome to the Frigid North, Justin and Brianna!

Kid's Ministry Kick-off Party

Last Wednesday our church had a kick-off party for the Kid's Ministry (we have a summer break). We had such a nice time. A family in our church hosted everyone at their house, which is a beautiful place out in the country. It was warm enough for the kids to swim in the pool, and afterwards they warmed up by the fire pit and cooked hotdogs and s'mores. Great fun!

Pumpkins, People, and a Party!

Our church got together last Sunday afternoon for a wonderful time of fellowship. First, we met at Happy Joe's Pizza Place to get something to eat.
(Well, the adults came to eat. The kids came to play the games.)
After the kids were gorged with sugary sweets and soda, we took them to Rob and Stacey's house to let them wield sharp implements on innocent pumpkins.
(Just kidding. Only the adults had the knives.)
Thankfully, it was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon, so the kids didn't have any need to be indoors.
The adults didn't seem to have any desire to miss the beautiful weather either.
Hmmmm, who's this mystery man?
For the little ones who might not have had any interest in carving a big pumpkin, there were tiny pumpkins ready to be painted. Several children were also painted.
Little Luke was very good at demonstrating exactly what sort of face his pumpkin should have.
"We want our pumpkins to have MEAN faces!"
What sweet children.
The older kids decided that the piles of pumpkin goo were just too much fun to ignore, so they began a game of "catch the pumpkin guts".
Later in the afternoon the guys went inside to watch the Bengals beat (cough, cough obliterate in a humiliating fashion) the Bears.
The Bears fans weren't so happy.
Still, despite the crushing defeat, it was a lovely afternoon spent with great friends!