Project 365, End of Summer Edition, Part 1

This posting once-a-month has become a habit I'm hoping to break soon. I don't want to sound like a broken record but my excuse continues to be ALL THE TRAVELING, often without internet. And even when we do have internet, I'd rather be spending that time with the friends we're visiting!

What I discovered when I finally sat down this morning and started sorting through photos was that I have too many to share in one post. So let's begin with Part 1...

Back in July we realized we needed to start carving out some time with our kids. Between our busy weekend schedule and their busy weekday schedule, it's not easy finding a time when we can all get together. But by planning ahead we were able to get together on August 13th at our son's house in Elkhart. Jon has become quite the smoking guru and after working with a smaller store-bought model for a year or two, he and Ivan built a monster smoker this summer:

We thoroughly enjoyed the meal, but ever more the time with Jon and Natalie...

as well as our nephew, Stephan, and his wife Karen...

and I'm sure you recognize Kyle and Tina in the background.

On August 17th we visited an older friend, Don, who is 90 and still going strong. He has a unique ministry -- he bakes bread to give away! And we're not talking about a loaf here and a loaf there. This man is SERIOUS about making bread! He has picked up industrial size equipment, like this ginormous stand mixer:

He mixes 15 cups of bread flour with 11 cups of cracked wheat (which he gets directly from the farmer and then cleans, toasts and cracks) which makes a whopping big chunk of dough!

Don also has a machine that kneads the dough and shapes it into loaves ready to pop into the pans. Unfortunately I failed to take a photo of that process because we were having too much fun :) Don made a delicious lunch of grilled cheese (using homemade bread of course) and tomato soup, and then gave us a couple loaves to take home. He makes bread twice a week and gives it all away -- that's 26 loaves per week!

While in Jackson one day we decided to grab a bite at a little Mexican restaurant that makes their own tortillas and the MOST AMAZING carnitas ever. Be still my heart! Marinated in a secret blend of herbs and spices and then slow cooked until the meat is falling-apart-tender, these tacos are sooooo delicious.

They generously sprinkle freshly chopped cilantro on top, which makes it even better!

Ivan met an old friend for lunch one day. We go back over 30 years with John. He and his wife were instrumental in our choice to homeschool and we have stayed in touch although we haven't been able to get together very often.

So that takes us through about ten days, wherein I missed many other photo opportunities with friends because I was too busy talking and visiting to remember to take pictures... even though I make sure to carry the camera every where we go, with good intentions to document everything with a photo.

Not sure I'll improve, but one can make goals and hope...