Friday Favorites: Two Baskets

TGIF!  Happy Friday!  I have been looking forward to the end of this week for awhile now because all my little "chicks" will be home.  After our family vacation, the kids went their separate ways for various camps, college prep programs, vacations and mission trips.  And now (finally) everyone will be home together for the rest of the summer.

Jack had a great time on his local mission trip.  He played guitar with the band, leading worship twice a day.  He also was the counselor for a group of 6 year old boys.  I think this was a learning experience for him  I drove the van to take a group back to their home church on Wednesday, and it was so fun seeing the campers fired up and talking about what a great time they had at camp.  One thing that I thought was really unique about this program is that the college-age interns at our church designed/created all the games and Bible lessons for the camp.  It was truly a student-led mission trip.

And I am really counting down the minutes until Grace comes home Saturday.  This will be her first time flying "unaccompanied" and I'm a little nervous.  On top of that, I am praying that the tropical storm hitting Louisiana will not cause weather delays for her flight.  We will all be so happy to see her!

Here are two favorites from the week.

We are pet sitting our favorite Great Pyrenes dog for the next few weeks.  Poor Albie is a little jealous of this gentle giant, but it's a good lesson for him in humility.  I was blown away by the incredible gift basket Annabel brought over with Boomer.  I'm sharing it in case you need any ideas for a summer fun basket.

First of all, Michael got his very own addition to the gift basket - a nice bottle of whisky.  He love that, obviously.  And I'll enjoy the bubble bath.

Have you seen the "Happy Lady" gift cards at stores like Kroger?  They also have gift cards for teens, men, beauty, etc.  They can be used at a variety of places.  For example, the Happy Lady card can be used at stores like Panera, Bed, Bath and Beyond and Sephora.  It's a great way to give a gift card for multiple stores/restaurants.

 The gift basket included pool towels, beach towels and dog treats.

And some fun cups, beverage boats, candy and a citronella candle.

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Tropical Storm Barry, which is headed for Louisiana, woke us up a little that Hurricane Season is upon us.  I decided to get some things prepared for an emergency.  Hurricane Harvey was (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime event with 50+ inches of rain causing severe flooding.  Most hurricanes and tropical storms in our area have high winds, street flooding and possible power outages.

To be honest, we would be much more likely to evacuate early now that we only have one dog.  When we had two big dogs, one of which was elderly, making the decision to evacuate was a tough one.  But I still want to be prepared at home!

Here are some things we did:

• locate all flashlights and make sure they work
• buy bottled water
• fill large container with gas (if we evacuate, it can be hard to get gas)

I also put together some non-perishable food.  I will keep this basket in the pantry ready to go.  

In addition to the food, I will add a flashlight, matches, candles, wipes, trash bags, 

a few tools, duct tape and a small first aid kit.

If you're looking for a checklist for an emergency kit, you can find info here and here.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to:

Friday Favorites with Andrea, Narci, and Erika

High Five for Friday with  Whitney, Becky, Tif, and Della

Best of the Weekend with Calypso in the Country