Five for Friday--The Growing Big edition

1. A few years ago, when I was the compassionate service person in our ward, I started making up "welcome bags" for the new families that were moving into our ward...

I've still continued doing it even though I have a different calling now. I love putting these bags together and since we've had several new families move into our ward recently, welcome bags have been on my brain...

Here is what I've been including in each one...

• Hershey bars--(Hershey, Pa)
• Pretzels--(did you know that Pennsylvania is the pretzel capital of the world?--the hard pretzel came into existence in 17th century Pennsylvania when a baker's apprentice fell asleep while pretzels were baking. When the Master Baker was about to throw out the "hard pretzels" he decided to taste them first. He liked them so much that he decided to sell them.)
• Brochures/Maps-- (I pick them up from a local hotel as well as have some sent to me)
• Tasty Kakes--(delicious sugar filled hostess like cakes--made in Pennsylvania)
• Crayons--(Easton, Pa is where the Crayola factory is)
• Local Information--(A typed up a list of doctors/pediatricians, dentists, hair salons, grocery stores, veterinarians, etc...)
• Ward Directory--(a picture directory of everyone who is a member of our church congregation)
• Fun Things to Do in the Doylestown Area list--(a typed up list of festivals, events, scenic drive suggestions, etc.)
  

2. Look what was lurking in our zucchini patch! Have you ever had a zucchini go this awry?! It's beyond massive!!




3. I hosted a lunch yesterday for my friends Jenny Orchard, Olivia Webster and her daughter, Rachael. I couldn't resist taking a picture of these gorgeous hydrangeas...there's not many things out there that are more divine than freshly cut hydrangeas...I love the punch of those chartreuse plates...





4. This was one of Jake's summer highlights. He passed the band test to swim independently in the deep end. I could tell he was so nervous, but was trying to act like it was no big deal...
He was so proud when he passed it. He's been wearing the band around constantly. This has spurred Reilly (who is years away from passing the band test by the way) to wear her own form of a makeshift band made from an old hair tie.






5. This caterpillar transformation has been truly amazing! The eggs were hard to see...but then about a week later, I went in to check on their progress, and noticed that something had been eating the milkweed leaves...

I don't know why it shocked me so much to see actual caterpillars munching the leaves...







They had voracious appetites. We could actually hear them crunching the leaves when we put our ear up to the jar. They grew almost before our eyes...


Two nights ago, we noticed that the caterpillars had crawled to the top of the jar and were hanging in the form of a "J". When we went in to check on them yesterday morning, we saw that they had formed into a cocoon...


Now we're just waiting to see the transformation. Nature is truly a remarkable thing...

***Do you have any other suggestions for the welcome bags?

***Have you ever seen a zucchini that big before?

***Have you ever observed the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly?