The Newest Member of the Virkler Landscape

So a couple weeks ago, I was walking through the gate to go the backyard from the front. I noticed a small plant, that had leaves that looked like some type of vine. As there are many things growing everywhere at my house, I didn't pay too much attention.

Yesterday, as I was leaving my house, I happened to notice one of my small trees had fallen over, I made a mental note to set it by the side of the road later that evening for trash pickup. When I walked back along the side of the house, I discovered that the tree hadn't just "fallen" over, but had been pulled down and uprooted by the now enormous squash-looking vine. This is so crazy to me, as I have not planted any vine this year (my mother in law said I had no room in my garden for such a beast, and by the looks of this thing, she was right!), and a month ago, this plant didn't exist. Although it is flowering, I don't know if it will fruit so late in the season, but I'm curious to see what will come forth. This area doesn't get a whole lot of sun though, so my curiosity might all be for naught.

To help peak your curiosity to the level of mine, I thought why not make this a little contest of sorts? So I figured I would maybe give a $5 Target gift card to the winner who correctly guesses what my plant will become (Sorry it's not much, but my husband just paid for some surgical equipment and a conference, and until he is reimbursed by the hospital, we must watch the budget- but since this could be a little while until we find out the answer, maybe I will surprise the winner with an increased amount!). If more the one person guesses the correct answer, I'll just randomly choose from them. Since there is no guarantee the flowers will even fruit, you can also guess that we will never know. The little giveaway will end when I discover what the plant is! I included a couple more pictures below for all you botanists that would want an upclose shot of leaves/flowers with a possible fruition(?)

 Happy Guessing! :)

Conferences and a Haitian Reunion

...Such a blessing!

Though I didn't get to attend. So I guess it's just hearsay. I'm super bummed to have missed them though, but I am grateful my son decided to take a 4 1/2 hour nap and catch up on his sleep! I caught a ride with Tom H, who was heading down anyways for some world relief meetings (He also wanted to rub it in anyways that he was able to have his cousin's grandchild in his vehicle). The next few days was just hanging out with all my wonderful relatives again. Even though we had just been down here a couple weekends ago, I really didn't get to spend too much time with my cousins, but this trip I was not only able to spend time with them, but also their new spouses! My dad also flew out (along with some ministers from Phoenix and Magdalena), and my aunt Janice had a packed house this weekend, what with her family, my dad, my in-laws, my aunt Jane and me!

 

For his part, Liam did really well this trip. He napped in the car rides, and loved playing and getting spoiled by all my cousins. I think his favorite part was getting his own blueberry yogurt cone- a treat from both grandpas!
So much for trying to limit this kid's sugar intake!

 fresh sweet corn- this is becoming a summertime favorite for Liam!

 road rage- reminds me of his Auntie Katie

eating froyo with grandpa Joe

popcorn with grandpa Stan

his first time driving a combine ;)

unfortunately, its a case

 the epitome of comfort while shopping with Kelly and I

On the way back, Tom and I stopped in a small town outside of Toledo. There, we met Joel and we went out to dinner with Dr. Rudolph, a Haitian doctor that Joel worked with down at Bonne Fin hospital. I was able to meet his wife and little son and we all went out for chinese food together. I think Joel, Tom and Dr. Rudolph enjoyed catching up again, but the highlight of that evening was when Daniel, the son of the administrator that used to run the Bonne Fin hospital walked in to the restaurant and sat at a table near ours! It is truly amazing how God works- here this boy had been traveling from Canada back to school in Georgia, decided he was hungry at 10pm, got off the highway, past other fast food restaurants and 2 Chinese places that were near the street, to go 1/4 mile off the road to ours to get food!

Picnics and a Prayer Request

This weekend has been absolutely gorgeous! I think God gave me a cold first summer in Michigan, and then a sweltering early summer this year to help me more fully appreciate these beautiful summer days of late! And I am!! A young brother from Lacrosse has spent the summer out here and will be returning this week to Purdue for school in the fall, so it was the perfect excuse for the Detroit church to have yet another one of their lovely picnics at McNamara. Everyone was instructed this afternoon to bring their bikes, and young and old enjoyed a lovely bike ride after dinner. We also enjoyed homemade peach ice cream and the usual kickball/frisbee and tree-climbing ;)

Our elder Mark and Bev were even able to attend for a short period tonight, and Joel and I reflected on the drive home the little things that they do to help show support for their congregation and enjoy the fellowship, while also realizing their boundaries in making sure they left early so that they could have some quiet time this evening before they travel to Rittman tomorrow for conferences... on that note, please be prayerful for wisdom and discernment of God's direction for the elders this week during the annual fall conferences, as well as for travel safety, unity, etc.

Gateway

The Lemon Shake-Up Stand.
As is tradition, they auctioned off the last one
... it sold for $750.

I think my husband is rubbing off on me. I cannot in any other way figure out how in the world I am carrying on such a busy lifestyle- and this being without him!

Anyways, this past weekend was the annual Gateway Woods Auction in Leo. Since we have been traveling the past few weekends (and are planning on continuing this routine the next few weekends), I figured why not hit up the Leo sale on one condition- I would not be driving! Randy Gasser happened to ask whether or not I was planning on being a med resident widow last weekend (which I was) and told me that if I wanted a ride, there would be room for Liam and I in their vehicle. I was grateful for the offer and took them up on it. So we headed down Friday night, and returned Saturday evening. (And Joel really wasn't home at all while I was gone, so I didn't miss too much :)

It was fun being at the sale again. I am sure I definitely did not enjoy it as much as my husband would have, but I know he was well-missed, as most everybody asked me whether he was there, and I saw so many disappointed faces when they were told that he wasn't. Some highlights were definitely seeing Amy, Kaits, B and Megs, as well as all my lovely Phoenix friends that I have missed so much! The weekend was a little bit rougher on Liam, as he had too much fun with Brady to really nap in the vehicle, and playing with the "new" toys at the Stieglitz's to want to sleep Friday night, but eventually my little boy tuckered out at the end of the auction and was able to salvage a short nap- the rest of the day he lived on everyone's attention, his mommy's arms, softserve, and the lemon shakeups!

Watching firetrucks with Brady on youtube.

 Great Advertisement.

Set up a sand/water toy and allow the kids to play with it, before you auction it off!

It was great seeing Uncle B who is on a brief vacation from Jamaica!

 Megan, Natalie and I :)

He fell asleep towards the end of the auction, and was able to sleep to the very end-

the Settlers game that sold for over $300!

Rested up, he decided he needed a cool "refresher"-

one of Randy's diet coke's did the trick!

Javan and Josie

This past weekend my cousin Josie got married. Joel actually had the whole weekend off, so we took the opportunity to visit some friends that we haven't seen in a terribly long time. I didn't take too many photos this trip- it seems that whenever my son is on the loose, it's best to follow after him versus worrying about snapping a photo. He did fairly well on this trip, though he was extremely exhausted. This mommy made the terrible mistake of switching him to his upright car seat for the trip. For most of the drive, I could hear "tuck... tuck... tuck" coming from the back, as my husband sped past the semis. That combined with late nights and early mornings made for one tired baby, who actually took a four hour nap on Monday.

 A reminder of the wonderful customer appreciation sale I was missing out on... ;)

Javan, Josie and Eric.
I stole this pic (and the next two from him)

Julie and Z & J's little boy Zion.

 Jacob and Bethany.
They are the ones that got married in May, when I didn't have Eric around to steal pics from later :)

Playing with cousins

 Uncle Glen with Moriah, Z & J's little girl

Look at those eyes! Doesn't he look worn out?!

Liam definitely was able to get a lot of attention throughout the weekend. My uncles (and cousin Arthur) won out however, as he pretty much wanted to be held by them alone- it must be the Greenbank touch!

 Sweet corn eaters

Uncle John walked us out to the car, Liam didn't want to leave him to come to us!

Anyways, we had a blast with Jon and Kelly, though we were definitely not out there near long enough. It was good to also see a lot of my relatives, as well as Steve and Lisa again too. The only bummer is we missed seeing Isaac and Britt, but she was having a baby, so I can't be too disappointed ;)

Relaxing after a long Sunday

Liam's fav toy at the Zollinger household.
I'm sure J & K are glad we are gone so they don't have to hear it's obnoxious sounds any longer... :)

Of Birdseed and Boys

Once upon a time there was a little man made out of bird seed. He had been given to a certain Mommy by her secret sister at church to stick outside so that her little boy could enjoy watching the birds come to the back porch to eat.

One day, while this certain Mommy was pulling up beets from her garden for dinner, she turned to check on her little boy. He was staring up at the little bird seed man hanging from the shepherd's hook. She smiled thinking how he would like watching the cardinal, finches and sparrows eat the dropped birdseed tomorrow morning. That thought on her mind, she turned back around and continued picking beets; suddenly she realized that her little boy was being abnormally quiet. She once again looked back, in time to see her little boy pulling the birdseed man from his mouth. Upon closer observation, the startled Mommy realized that her son was holding a now headless birdseed man!

The Mommy called out the little boy's name and a chase ensued, as the little boy ran away from his Mommy, still holding the birdseed man. Fortunately, all's well that ends well... the Mommy caught up with the little boy, fished the broken head out of his mouth, and figures the rest will reappear eventually.

Moral of the Story: If your little boy loves to eat, he may be willing to eat whatever he sees anything else eat.