After an exciting week of visitors, the Strawn family is back to it's quiet old self now. When I say 'quiet', I only mean that we are down to having just 5 people in the house, and not a dozen.

Since last weekend's big hail storm, I've done little around the yard to clean up and this week, the mess awaits my undivided attention. Not to mention the camper, which has been turned in to the insurance company, who is swamped with requests right now and will be here sometime in two weeks to look at it. Until then, we have plastic bags duct taped to the roof and some bright green foam sealer on the inside to keep the water out. It'll do.

On Monday, after an eventful Rodeo Sunday night that included 6" of rain water across the entire arena, and Cousin Lea standing outside under a rainbow colored umbrella in my EMS coat watching the whole thing, it was time to say goodbye to her. Eden was not very happy that Lea was leaving after "only being here 3 days" but was glad to know that Jonathan and Emma were staying "lots more days".

Tuesday was a funeral for the preacher. Well, not his, but you know what I mean. That being an all day ordeal, the rest of us hung out and tried to work on the camper and get the house picked up and in running order.

Wednesday after swimming lessons, Allen, Jonathan and the three oldest children loaded into the the car and headed for the wide open spaces of Wyoming. I opted to stay at home (a rarity, I know) and have some quiet time. I'm so glad I did, as Elia and I enjoyed a quiet afternoon, folding laundry, mowing the yard and generally doing whatever we wanted. I guess she does that every day anyway, but I don't usually get to. They saw Gurnsey State Park, as well as the Oregon Trail Ruts and Register Cliff.

On Thursday, the rest of the crew showed up. Grandma, Aunt Karen & Aunt Janet all rolled into town shortly after supper time. After a brief tour of the premise and showing grandma all my 'used to be' flowers, we had a wonderful supper of beef stew and biscuits.

Al and Jonathan played their little futuristic war game all night, Jon and Emma leaving for home around dawn. The rest of the Michiganders stayed all weekend, and on Friday, we took a drive around the State Lakes, then drove to the cemetery at Chimney Rock, followed by a trip to Scottsbluff Monument, driving around Roubidoux Pass and showing them the local sites there. We enjoyed a pizza dinner at Frank Park before dropping Al and the kids off at HiWay 92 Raceway for a night of races. The race was Lars' 3rd this summer. It didn't make the headlines two weeks ago because I forgot, then with the storms last weekend, I forgot again, so now I am announcing it. He loves the race track and the roaring cars, but thinks the fireworks are too loud after the race. We don't pretend to understand him, either. This week, my clan hitched a ride back to Bridgeport with friends, but it was a late night, which made Saturday a cranky one for the kids.

Saturday, the last of the company began packing up for their long trip home. Al grilled out burgers and sausages while we waited for Janelle (Sarah's 1st cousin once removed) to come from Wheatland, Wyoming with her mother, Bea, who had hitched a ride with the Krafts on their westward migration. They arrived around 1:00p with Emily, Janelle's oldest daughter and we had a lovely time visiting and catching up on the last ten years. By 2:00, everybody was ready to move on. Janet, Karen, Bea and Grandma left in one direction and Janelle & Emily went in the other direction. The Strawn's all went inside to find a bed to rest upon!

Sunday was service in the morning, followed by the Baptist Church New Building dedication, with a cake & punch reception afterwards, followed by our church picnic in the park. We weren't home all day, but I didn't have to fix a meal, either!

Now it's back to normal around here. I am anxiously awaiting the end of our road construction, which will give us a paved street that will be difficult to keep my kids off of, but will hopefully cut down on the amount of constant dust on my furniture. I miss sitting on my front porch, watching the cars go by and waving. Am I turning into a small townie??

Blessings on your week to come~