Boatin'

We love heading to the lake each summer - we talk about it all summer with great anticipation. We're finally here - we've already enjoyed some great time on the boat.

The kids are loving the water - swimming, splashing, jumping, tubing.

We Love Summer!!

Summer has been flying by! We are packing things to head to Table Rock Lake again for the week - I thought I'd post a few random summer pictures before I'm overwhelmed with pictures from the lake. Things we've been loving this summer:

Reading - one morning the kids were enjoying the shady spot and took out a stack of books for Emily to read! We've been checking out lots of American Doll books from the library - a perfect way to spend a hot afternoon!


Fishing - one night we caught 19 fish! :) Actually, Pat does all the work - we just reel them in and smile for pictures!

SWIMMING! Our kids have had such fun in a nearby pool - some of our good friends kindly invite us to join them often at their grandparents' pool! Wow! does that water feel good on these hot days!!

Dressing up and swimming sometimes happen at the same time! Nice shoes Jenna!

Baby Kittens! We had two pregnant mommies and now have 10 new babies to watch!!

Flat Stanly

We have two Kadens (Caidens) that we love - one lives right down the road and we love to play with him and his family - the other is a cousin that moved last fall to Indiana. The kids love him and miss getting to play with him regularly. We got an exciting letter early in May - "cousin" Kaden had sent us Flat Stanly. His class sent them to someone and asked us to take him on an adventure - our struggle was that we had too many fun things we wanted to do, so he went on several adventures. We took him fishing - he really liked to play with the worms, but he only caught one little catfish. Then he went out collecting wildflowers. We also took him to the McPherson County "All School's Day parade" A tradition I knew as a kid every year. It's on a Friday, so Emily was still in school, but the rest of us went. It was a cold, windy and rainy morning - but we think Stanly still had a good time - he kept smiling at least!!

Super-dee duper big!

As heard at our house this afternoon:

Jake: Hey Emily, I know someone who is Super-dee duper big!

Emily: Uncle Brandon?

Jake: No

Emily: God?

Jake: Yeah! God's super-dee duper big!

Uncle Brandon is the ultimate in big at our house!! Hope your days are going quickly in Cyprus, bud!

Christmas is coming!

We're getting ready for Christmas around here. The kids were proud to wear their new Christmas clothes. I took advantage of that and tried to catch some happy smiles! We're enjoying the anticipation and trying to keep our hearts focused on God's greatest gift.

The kids have been told that the real truth of Christmas is Jesus (not Santa) despite what I want to say. I just can't lie to Emily when she is truely seeking the Truth. However, both Emily and Jake have said several times through this season that they wish Santa was real. What a dilema for the romantic in me who loved believing in Santa!!

Still here!

Life's been busy - not a great excuse - but this hasn't been top on my priority list lately. However, I still check other blogs regularly and am getting a bit tired of our Easter picture, SOO... This is a small bit of fall.

We went to the corn maze with my mom a few weeks ago. The fun part about bringing her along, aside from many important things Grammy's are to their grandkids and daughters, is that there were some pictures of me with the kids! :) I didn't hold the camera the whole time :)

Easter

It feels like life has been in fastforward for several months. We are feeling settled in our new home and finding a new routine in our own space!! :)

Easter was a wonderful weekend filled with family, beautiful weather and too much food! :)

I enjoyed the enthusiasm our kids had for soaking up the Easter story this year - Jake asks so many probing questions about things we've been discussing in family devotions. I am challenged to provide answers that encourage him to continue to want to learn more.

Britton is getting bigger and more fun each time we see her. What fun to have a cousin to "play" with. Pat and Matt and the kids:

While we waited for Grandpa and Grandma to make a wonderful meal, the kids had such fun playing out in the yard and running through the wheat. Getting them to stand still for a nice picture wasn't possible. Here's what we got :)