Chicago and Boys in the Pulpit

July brings the heat! 💦

But there's plenty to do indoors or in water. And I still have to step outside throughout the day when the air-conditioning gets too cold. It's like a heated blanket out there.

Lanaya Elizabeth and Amos went to a small town parade for the 4th of July. And they have news! Amos took a ministry position at Eagle Christian Church in Boise, so they plan to stay up there for a while. We're excited for them! We're glad they'll be around while Jonathan does his residency there over the next year. And it's a beautiful place to live, I know. 

Congratulations, Amos!

Mimi and Papa shared a meal with us for the 4th of July, and Phillip read the Declaration of Independence as he usually does.

Just an update on Elayne: She had a heart attack in June and had an emergency stent put in for a 99% blockage. Then this week she had two more stents put in the main artery. She's up and at it though, doing really well. 

I thank God for my in-laws! I couldn't have asked for better. I enjoy their company and the way they care for anyone around them, especially their family. Elayne has taught me a lot by her example and her stories. It's a joy to live near them.

We finally took that trip to Chicago that we'd been telling Phoebe about. We figured we had better do it now since she's moving out this weekend. 😭

She loves art museums and Phillip thought she would enjoy The Art Institute of Chicago. 

We got up early Friday and stopped at a McDonalds for breakfast ~ there was a group of farmers having breakfast, and it was so great! We sent a picture to Papa who also has his group that meets at the Dairy Queen every morning.

Monet's Haystacks. This museum has six of the twenty-five.

We got to Chicago around 1:00 with a truck trying to overheat, lots of traffic to navigate, and a threatening pan-handler that Phillip dealt with in the Chick-fil-a. 

Once we got in the museum, I could calm down a little, and I absolutely loved all the art we came upon that I actually recognized. 

This was the most crowded room. It is a large painting, but I don't think of Seurat as being more famous than, say, Monet or Picasso or Van Gogh. Hmmm. Maybe just because Sunday on La Grande Jatte is so large.

I have to say that I know all I know about art for a couple of reasons:

 1. Phillip enjoys it and watches videos about it and has books about it, and so I learn a lot from him. 

2. Homeschooling. We do Art Study all year long, once a week, studying three artists per year. We use Ambleside Online and Picture Study Portfolios. 

When you don't know a piece or an artist, you just don't care all that much about art. But when I saw a piece I instantly knew, it was like meeting a friendly face: "I've seen you before! I know you. And now I get to see you face to face." 

Phillip and I spent Friday with Phoebe at the museum until it closed. Then we dropped her off when it opened Saturday and she spent all day there again until closing time. 

She loves John Singer Sargent, and there were so many there! They were all over the museum. She and Phillip often recognized his style before realizing it was actually him. Probably Nighthawks was my favorite piece to see, although it's hard to pick. I really enjoyed the whole experience of coming upon piece after piece that I recognized.

We stayed at The Palmer House hotel, which was just a block or so away from the museum. It was built in the late 1800's as a wedding gift for Potter Palmer's bride. It burned down in the Great Chicago Fire just 13 days after opening. But he rebuilt it (who has that much money!?). Mrs. Palmer collected Impressionist art and had a number of Monet's Haystacks which she eventually donated to the art museum in Chicago. 

Also, supposedly the brownie was invented in the kitchen of this hotel. Phoebe and I shared one and it was so good! Very worth the $8. It looks fudgy, but it's more like a light lava cake in brownie shape and you can't be allergic to nuts if you want to try one of these. Delicious!

A ceiling fresco in the main dining area of the hotel. 

Phoebe and I were going to eat dinner there Friday night (Phillip wasn't feeling well). We sat down and looked at the menu and thought perhaps it wasn't for us that particular night. The only thing that looked good to her was a chicken dinner, but then I pointed out the sauce and sides of some kind of Greek or Mediterranean origin and she was unsure. So we told them thank you and scooted out to the little Express food area and bought only slightly less expensive deli items (and had that wonderful brownie).

We had breakfast at Pittsfield Cafe which is in a skyscraper built in 1927. It was neat, but there was no air conditioning, it being in a courtyard. 

After we dropped Phoebe off Saturday, we went to Millennium Park. Again, it was hot. There were so many people. I had to go through security three times because my bag kept beeping. But I did enjoy walking the park and especially seeing this beautiful butterfly garden contrasted with the buildings. 

(Speaking of security ~ I don't think I've seen a Target that had you walk through a metal detector and have security guards everywhere. Bathrooms have codes for entry [which we could never find on our restaurant receipts!]. Chik-fil-a had a security guard standing outside. You would think security would make you feel secure.... it did not.)

On the way home Sunday, we went to church in Naperville with Uncle Earl and Aunt Pat and Debbie and Mateo and saw Dave and Sue for lunch. (Phillip's cousins/Elayne's brother's family.) That was a fun, relaxing time with great visiting.

There is absolutely no place like home.

Double rainbow from our front porch.

Harrison has been busy. He preached at the Farber Presbyterian church one Sunday and did an excellent job. He was in charge of the whole service because it's a more liturgical style, so he lead the singing, the prayers, the readings, the sermon. 

And he has gone with Jonathan twice to do the children's sermon at the two churches Jon preaches at.

Harrison is driving! We found a street in town named Harrison, so I had to get a picture.

VBS!

All the kids helped, but I didn't get pictures of all of them. Phoebe and Jon helped lead groups. Harrison was kitchen help, and I was in the nursery this year.

 

This was Phoebe's first time going to CIY. I hear from her friends that she was DONE by Tuesday. But she made it through and enjoyed the time with her friends ~ when they could get her to come out of her room, that is. 😅

Jonathan preached at our church this morning and did an excellent job. We're very proud of him and the work he's putting into his weekly sermons.

I was in nursery last week, but Phillip also preached at our church last Sunday. So all the Gore men have been in the pulpit this month!

 

Harrison's Birthday Month

What a great start to summer this June has been!

Harrison had his birthday and turned 15. 

His friend gave him a nice "Happy Birthday Girl" banner to wear and then was the step stool for his feet. 😂 Crazy boys.

Singing Happy Birthday with his two plain chocolate cakes ~ no frosting. I have to say: that's not a bad choice. 

Playing Airsoft. 

With their faces masked and covered, they look like a bunch of hooligans about to terrorize the farm.

Some game time. 

Great group of guys. I'm always glad for my kids' friendships.

We talked the boys into coming with Phoebe and I to see Shakespeare in the Park. A pretty good production of Hamlet! 

We got there right on time (which is late, apparently), so we had very back row seats. We definitely need to go earlier next year. We couldn't see anything really. But they are mic'd, so we could at least hear it. Jonathan enjoyed it more than he thought he would. 

Jonathan has been preaching at two churches in Jamestown, MO every Sunday. He had Harrison go with him on this particular weekend so that Harrison could do the children's sermon. They happened to stop for supper at a little town that was having a fair. So they got some fair food and a goofy picture.

I think this may have been on the way home from the pool. 

A Howitzer the boys built out of Lego.

From the luggage on the floor, it looks like Harrison is about to pack for camp. Or he got home from camp and needs to unpack. At any rate, he's about to pack again because Preacher Boy Camp is next week.

Phillip showing Phoebe how to use his iPad to draw and paint. It's pretty cool what those two can do.

Phoebe bought a Thrift Store couch! It was $45. She rented a Rug Doctor from Dollar General and cleaned it up nicely. We've been using it plenty. I'm going to miss it when it's gone; it's quite comfortable!

Phillip rented a jackhammer and finally got those concrete steps out.

The tractor came in handy on several occasions for this particular job.

I have to show off the biscuit cutter my dad made me. I love it!

And if I'm making cinnamon rolls, that usually means Cody is coming over. 😁 He was here over the weekend, and we're always glad to spend time with him.

Harrison with his mug and sunset.

He took the test for his permit yesterday, so he is now licensed to learn how to drive. 

And we had quite an emergency at church. It was a BYOBucket and BYOWet-vac type of deal. 

Our church basement flooded after the town had a bunch of rain dumped on it in a short amount of time. The drainage system couldn't handle it, and several places in town flooded. Anyway, Jonathan called us saying the basement was flooding and could we bring our shop vac and some buckets. At the same time Phillip got a text sent out to the deacons and elders to come on down and see what could be done. 

We had quite a crew show up!

The teens were so much fun and a huge help. 

Even as it continued to pour in, we scooped or vacuumed up all the standing water. Phillip and I didn't stay the full time, but Jonathan and others didn't get home till 11 that night.

And the next day there was a clean-up party at the church. With all hands on deck, it only took a few hours. 

 

Phoebe's Graduation

We've had some gorgeous days over here.

I was trying to capture this field of Butterweed (Packera glabella). It was kind of pretty seeing this field full of it. Other fields had a few yellow sprouts popping up sporadically, but this field across the road from us was absolutely packed. 

Turns out it is bad for animals and humans to consume, causing liver problems. So don't eat it. It's great for pollinators though.

Then the farmers came and those yellows fields were gone in no time. 

From our house you could see up to 7 or 8 tractors in the fields all around us as all the different farming families planted.

Jonathan and Harrison making chocolate chip cookies.

The boys went to the Kiamichi Preaching Gathering.

Jon kept a good eye on everyone and no one was injured. You never know what'll happen when a bunch of boys gather for a week out in the wilderness.

Harrison and Silas preached in the contest and did really well.

Amos and Lanaya Elizabeth took a trip to Oregon for Amos' birthday. I believe they are in front of Multnomah Falls.

My parents arrived for Phoebe's graduation party. We had some time to kill, so we went to Hannibal. Dad bought us a new Keurig (since ours had just broken that morning), and we visited downtown Hannibal and walked down by the river. 

We also shared a piece of mint fudge from Clemen's General Store. You won't regret a pass through that store.

And finally Phoebe's party came. 

This was my first time doing a Walmart cake, and I don't regret it. Phoebe designed it, my dad picked it up, and it tasted pretty good too. And we didn't have a ton left over, which I was glad of!

The boys and my parents were a big help! Phillip did the slide show (which isn't as easy as you'd think if your devices won't connect to the TV). Jonathan helped fix the slideshow problem. Harrison and my parents helped in the kitchen and with decorating. Absolutely couldn't have done it without all of them!

Phoebe and Ainsley will be rooming together in Linn, MO starting in August. I'm thankful for their friendship!

Thanks for taking the pictures, Bryn!

Then the very next day the church had a Rededication Service. Everyone waited outside and walked in together to see the newly renovated auditorium. A lot of work went into the renovation. We met downstairs in the basement for almost 6 months while it was redone. New flooring, pews redone, new paint, new lighting, new electrical stuff.... I don't even know what all was redone, but it looks totally different and so beautiful! The stained glass windows really stand out now, and we have the original wood floors back.

Phillip spoke briefly and presented a plaque to Bob Moore who donated a lot of time and skill. He headed up the building committee, did the electrical and lighting, and was the de facto contractor.

 It was a lovely service all around.