To Kenya

We took Chad to the airport this morning and sent him off to Kenya for two weeks. He is excited and I am excited for him. The kids are not quite sure. Aaron was bummed this morning, and Ben whined for Daddy a little this evening. I am praying for an amazing experience for him and that God would teach him incredible things in awesome ways. But we are already looking forward to going back to the airport in two weeks to pick him up!

Swim lessons

Aaron, Katie, and Ben took swim lessons this summer, and I am so glad. They didn't really want to go everyday (it was quite cool most mornings) and they were certainly pushed beyond what they thought they could do, but now the pool is so much better! Aaron is swimming much better and learning to dive. Katie is actually going under water by her own volition and making an honest attempt at swimming (though she isn't incredibly successful yet). Ben just jumps right in and can almost swim by himself underwater. It was a bit tough trying to get through those 2 weeks but worth it!

A little catch-up

I've had such trouble getting this post posted. Every time I think I have a few minutes to write, something comes up and the minutes are gone. But I want to do a quick catch-up here. Certainly not everything, but at least I can cover a little bit!



2 boys with fresh haircuts!


Katie and her friend are toothless this summer!


We have had lots of friends over. Here are some boys dressed as superheroes for the afternoon!

My kids have become professional hide-out builders. I think they build hide-outs almost every day which means demolishing the family room, cushions, pillows and blankets everywhere. Katie's hide-out often sports this sign: No boys allowed!

Their other favorite activity this summer has been building with blocks. It is one of the few activities they can all do together. Annie likes blocks, too, but she is the demolition crew! In this picture they have built a zoo together!


In June, we went to my parent's cabin near Snowshoe with some friends. Here we are trying to roast marshmallows without getting them in each other's hair!


This picture doesn't do the trip justice! We actually had 4 moms and 13 kids 8 and under! It was chaos, but fun! We were going to take a full group picture before we left, but that's when we realized that my van tire had a hole and was flat. We ended up plugging the tire just before we left (something none of us had done before) and praying we could make it home safely! Of course, we did.