Casa Blanca: The Joys of Summer!

Felicia and Ruby stayed with us for a few days, definitely a highlight of my summer.

The first day Ruby was here, we made oatmeal cookies. We enjoyed them all week.

Ruby is pretty good at measuring and cracking eggs.

I wanted Ruby to see my St. Francis Garden, so the next day she helped me water.

Watering the beets.

Ruby liked picking the peppers, but her interest in the garden ran out pretty quickly.

The monkey bars...

the rolling barrel...

the hanging bar...

and the climbing wall were much more fun!

Linda Nelson is a special friend who enjoys children, so we invited her to join us for an evening with Valentino's pizza.

Linda was patient and willing to play Candyland.

After dinner there were bubbles and bedtime stories.

I'm sure Felicia enjoyed this as much as Ruby and Linda did. Both Olivia and Felicia have very fond memories of time with the Nelsons!

During an evening with the Fowlers, Ruby spent time with her cousin, Gracie.

I took Ruby with me to the neighbors to feed the chickens and collect a newly-laid egg.

We visited Frank's grave. The concept of Grandpa Frank is still somewhat puzzling, I think.

Selfie of Ruby and me.

Ruby enjoyed time with Papaw Rusty.

After shopping for new jeans, Ruby and I enjoyed the drive-through at Arby's.

This is a rare treat for Ruby.

One afternoon Rusty tied on canoes and loaded the paddles and pfds. We drove to Wildwood Lake.

Felicia and Ruby are waiting to climb aboard.

Ruby did an excellent job of sitting still.

Felicia did a good job of paddling too!

Felicia got to spend some good time with her close friend, Andrea.

Andrea let Ruby draw on her head---a very special privilege!

Shortly after the Caviezels left, Rusty and I celebrated our seventh anniversary.

We went to Dish, our favorite restaurant.

Rusty had the Mango Duck.

I had the Shrimp and Scallops.

and Rusty bought me roses!!!

The Fourth of July is unbelievable here in Lincoln. Even though the fireworks are only legal on July 3 & 4, people start shooting them about a week ahead of time. From our deck, one has a 180º view of non-stop fireworks for about two hours. We invited good friends, Sissy and TC to join us for brats and fireworks.

Rusty grills brats and pineapple while TC and Sissy hang out.

On July 6 my sister, Darlene, and her husband, Tom, joined us for five days. Dar and I enjoyed a nice bike ride along the Antelope Valley trail. We stopped to bask in the glory of the Sunken Gardens. They were exceptionally beautiful this year.

Dar was impressed by all the renovations that have happened in the Sunken Gardens.

In addition to koi fish, the ponds had pretty water-lilies.

Uncle Jeff brought my metronome sculpture, purchased in Florida, to us in May. It is a fun topic of conversation.

Tom and Dar were interested in how long the pendulums would swing, and which one would stop first.

Tom used a timer and found that they would swing for just over an hour.

Dar watches to see which ones are still swinging.

Dar and Tom have just retired, so we celebrated with champagne and appetizers on the patio. Then we went to a top-rate restaurant for dinner.

We had a lovely dinner at Billy's.

The Catholic population at UNL has seen quite an increase in recent years. A $12 million-dollar Newman Center was recently completed. Dar and I stopped in to check it out.

The inside is very pretty! It seats 650.

Dar and I are very close to our Williams cousins. We were fortunate to arrange a dinner in Omaha where six of us were in attendance. We had a great time retelling stories from our past.

Di, Missy, Jerry, Dar, Jack, Cheryl

In the little redbud tree right outside our guest bedroom, Moma Robin built a nest and laid 4 eggs. Three of them hatched. While Dar and Tom were here, it was fun to watch them grow.