Father's Day Weekend and surrounding events

If you haven't noticed, or if you're not from around here, it's been stormy lately. 

I like storms. As long as they're not scary. I'm loving the cloud formations and rolling thunder. 

check out that thunderstorm! 

With all the rain, the river has been getting really high.  The other day, my coworker's and I walked down to the river front.  It was sandbagged and the water was creeping up on the other side. 

Look how high the boat is in the background! 

A couple Saturday's ago, Carli came over and I taught her how to wood-burn. 

She did pretty good for the first time. 

The Saturday before Father's day, we celebrated Grandpa and Grandma's 65th wedding anniversary.  

The wedding dress and suit, 65 years old.

My grandparents are awesome. They have done so much for the family. And, they always have something wise or funny to share. :)

On Father's day we went over to my parents for the evening.  I made my dad take me on a "kitten tour" of the farm. 

Matt climbed up in the shed and found some cute kittens way up in the box.

Not really the safest climbing area, lots of sharp and pointy things to fall on. 

My grandparents stopped by later on and we pulled out my great-grandpa's trunk. 

Some of the finds:

a picture of Woodrow Wilson

a baby dress. We think it may have been my great-grandmothers!

some very, very old tobacco.

an old cigar box

It's been a beautiful start to the summer for flowers.  I keep a rain gauge out by the garden.  Occasionally, I'll send my dad a report.   The fields don't seem to like the rain so much. But, our garden is exploding. 

our porch is such a wonderful place this time of year. 

I took this picture from the church parking lot one Wednesday evening.

If you look closely you can see a second one. 

It was raining, and I got pretty wet, and looked pretty silly.

fresh produce:)  

our raspberries are going nuts!

the garden

Work is going well. Thankfully, the rain keeps me from wishing I wasn't in the office. It's hard to concentrate when it's sunny out, I stare outside wistfully and wish that I was laying by a pool.

Today, I said goodbye to one of my first clients.  He's not the most successful stories I've had, but pretty close. Mainly because of how bad he was to start off.   When I started working, my boss told me that this client was violent, angry, and didn't like women.  He's 6'4" and 250 lbs.  He's been one of my favorites to work with. 

 In the beginning, he didn't want anything to do with me, the agency, or DCFS. Some weeks I'd literally sit in the house, wait for him to come out of his room, and shout "Hi" at him as he pretended not to see me and left for work. We worked up to an agreement that he would meet with me in exchange for a ride to work. We formed an understanding that he had to put up with me so that  I could do my job.  Slowly overtime, I build his trust. Which is huge for this kid.  Today, he thanked me (which is also huge!) for being an awesome caseworker and told me he appreciated everything I did for him. :)   He really has come a long way. 

In Christ

~Michelle