August 2017

August started on a sad note.  Two more young deaths occurred in my family, second cousins of mine.  The brothers, ages 11 and 17, drowned in a river.  Many hearts were touched by the tragedy.  I spent a lot of time praying for their family, and we hosted relatives who traveled to attend the funeral.

Yellow balloons were released in memory of the youngest.  They shared a story about how he had commented they must be having a party underground whenever he saw balloons in the cemetery as they drove past.

We will continue to pray for the grieving loved ones they left behind.

A week and a half later, Kylen took hunter's ed as part of occupational education.

It was a long week, but I think he's glad he did it.  We celebrated completion of the class by taking him out for dinner.  I posted more pictures here.

The solar eclipse was a big event!  We wanted to drive to where we could see it at 100%, but Greg couldn't spare the vacation time.  Plus, we were going on a long drive just a week later for a wedding reception.  I wasn't thrilled with the idea of getting stuck in traffic if a lot of other folks had the same idea.  In the end, we watched it from our driveway.  90% eclipsed wasn't as cool as the real deal, but Greg was super excited.  I enjoyed it, and Kylen thought it was neat but couldn't understand the fuss.  Lol.  He's never been a science fan.

Here's a picture Greg got through the solar glasses.

It darkened quite a bit, although it didn't get dark enough to see stars.  The lighting was eerie, like just before a huge storm.  Here's a before and after pic on the porch.

Probably the most dramatic change was the temperature drop.  It went from feeling comfortable to downright chilly!

You can see our neighbors watched from their driveway too.  After it was over, Greg rushed off to work.  I hope someday we get to see one at 100%, but if not . . . it won't compare to the glories of heaven!

The full post about our quick trip to Montana is here.  Pictured below: my cousin Melody with her brother and new sister-in-law.

We had such a nice time hanging out with family the next day, we were reluctant to come home!

That was August, a mixed month of sad times and happy times.  Oh!  I almost forgot!  Kylen got cast as Willy Wonka!!  Performances will be in mid-October.  We can't wait!