DIMPLES DIARIES August 2023 Edition

Hello Friend, it’s been a minute since I’ve been around. You might remember that we ended July and began August with three consecutive weeks of out-of-town guests. It was busy, joyful, and exhausting!

I think I’m still recuperating.

Especially because this week, we have been bathed in crazy hot temperatures. I say “bathed” because it’s the kind of heat and humidity that immediately clings to you when you step outside.

Is this what they call the dog days of summer? What does that even mean? I always think it means summer days when you’re so lazy you can’t do anything but lay around. 😉

Anyway, I was so busy during the visits I didn’t take a ton of photos, but there are enough of them that there’s no possible way for me to share every little thing and every precious picture of my people. So, you’re going to get the highlights.

WHAT WE DID

We have a local petting zoo to beat all petting zoos. Dutch Creek Farm Animal Park is Amish-owned and quite an experience for kids and adults alike. My baby sister wanted to take her 17-month-old, so everyone, except for my dad and my oldest son, spent the morning petting and feeding the animals.

The highlight is the wagon ride, where you each get a bowl of feed, and animals like bison, zebras, camels, ostriches, and more run up to the wagon to eat.

Then we went to Shipshewana and had JoJo’s Pretzels, and all the kids rode the carousel on the 3rd floor.

The following week, we took my in-laws for a pretzel, but neither of them ate one. They sat across the table and watched the Mister and I eat one each. Weird! But they did enjoy the weekend trip to my son’s in Winchester and got to meet some great grandbabies they’ve never seen.

WHAT I ATE

There’s a new food truck in our area, and she parks at area businesses on certain days of the week. These giant sourdough donuts, from Janie’s Donuts, are a MUST-TRY! Served right out of the fryer, they are served warm and not too sweet even though they are dripping in glaze. I highly recommend you look them up if you get to Elkhart or LaGrange Counties, Indiana.

My grandson ENJOYED them, even with his dirty fingernails. As a boy mom, I call that building natural immunity. 😉

WHAT I WORE

Chambray Blouse XL || Jeans 16W; Misses || Sandals

I’m still digging these Madewell jeans, and before it went blazing hot, I wore them with a chambray top. A summer version of a Canadian Tuxedo (denim on denim.) 😉

You can add this to the other six ways I styled them.

WHAT I BOUGHT

Blouse || Carpet Cleaner || Sneakers

Even though No-Buy-July is over, and it wasn’t my most successful spending freeze, I’m trying to slow my roll on purchases of all kinds. Of my most recent purchases, two were necessary, and one was a “Can you ever have enough white cotton blouses?” kind of purchase. 😉

BLOUSE– I bought the XL, and the answer is NO, you can never have enough white blouses.

CARPET CLEANER – We have a couple of really dirty traffic areas in our house, and as I was prepping for guests, I realized my 20+-year-old heavy canister-style Bissel Big Clean Machine was broken beyond repair. I replaced it with this inexpensive upright style from Hoover since I now only use it for spills and to keep up on those areas between professional cleaning. It’s lightweight and easy to use, and I LOVE IT!

HOKA SNEAKERS – These are NOT cheap – ouch! However, as someone with several foot issues and the fact that my feet have been extremely pained lately, even with new custom orthotics, I am desperate to replace my worn-out walking shoes. I’m still testing them out around the house and will let you know if I keep them. They have to be PERFECT for the price.

WHAT HAPPENED

My dad wanted to be baptized in water again, with his family surrounding him while he was here this time. True to his ways, he had it all planned out and gave each one a task of either praying, reading scripture, singing a song (me), or dunking him.

But the most precious part was that my sister’s 14-year-old stepdaughter, who has been estranged from her family for many months but has been back home for a short time, wanted to be baptized also. Her dad and The Hubs both took time in the preceding days to make sure she understood what it meant and that she was ready.

The surprise was when this often sullen girl asked, through tears, if she could say something beforehand, and there was not a dry eye out around the pool, including the Littles, as she confessed having been in a very dark place away from her dad and my sister that led her to seek out the Word and accept Jesus as her savior. She went on to look up at us and tell us that she considered us “her family.”

I can’t tell you everything that happened with her or predict how this will go from here on out. But I think you get the gist because we all have those people or situations in our lives that cause us pain and make us feel hopeless. We hope for them and pray for them.

Today, I want to tell you – DO NOT GIVE UP no matter where you are in the story. Continue to pray, continue to love.

Have a fantastic week!