June

Summer's in full swing. We have attended vbs, had playdates, gotten a new puppy, been in Monticello for a week, gone to a car museum (to get pumped up for the CARS 2 movie), had family here for several days, started Grace in swim lessons, and more. Mom and I even went to an Emmy Lou concert! We have been blessed beyond words. Sure there have been traveling woes...we packed 5 people into my mom's altima and traveled a 3 hour trip in 6. There have been nights that sleep was interrupted a lot (I won't show you the picture of me to prove it). There have been time-outs (and times I should have been the one there). But woven all throughout it, there have been family and friends with hugging arms, delicious homecooked meals, and big yards for running, romping, wagon-pulling, chasing, and rolling. It has been great! Now we are getting ready to settle down just the 4 of us and enjoy our 4th of July together. Plans tba but I'm thinking a museum or the zoo will be involved!

Grace, her best friend, and her bf's miracle-sister! :) Another reminder of how we should count our blessings!

Closing ceremony at VBS...Go Grace!

I stole away with the boys, their wagon, and my camera.

Girls just wanna have fun!






Praying for the requests this summer that have come our way. We have a close friend who was in a horrible accident and lost half of her ankle and some of her leg bone. She is an inspiration to many, including me. Hopefully she will come home after 2 wks of hospitalization this weekend, and she needs prayers for healing so as to avoid another major surgery. She is also expecting and in her first trimester! We see the miracle in her life and her daughter and husband's lives as they were barely hurt! As for us, just today, we have seen evidence of God answering prayers in our little family and providing for us despite my doubts!!!

I hope all of you enjoy the remainer of June and have a happy independence day. And remember, while it is cliche, it is also true: freedom and protection have never been free. We have so many niceties simply because we live in America. As the years have ticked by (long days but somehow SUPER short years), money has gotten tighter while our "stuff" has gotten older and worn out. The furniture is stained, scuffed, scratched, and while I long for new stuff, I wonder...am I spoiled? I know the answer to that, and the answer is shameful. I hope I can teach my children to be ever-mindful of these things because it is easy to forget and take it for granted. I can't help but think of all the places in this world where freedoms and liberties are nonexistent, not to even start with lack of healthcare, child support systems, clean water, variety of food (if any), sanitation. A friend once said "Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours." I guess when it comes down to it, what breaks mine isn't that some people don't have what they want; it's that some people don't have what they NEED. I WANT new furniture. All I need ... that I have. I'm humbled.

I'll close with saying thank you for servicemen and women before and during our lives, including our grandfathers Jack and Bill who served in the US Army and US Navy respectively. We will be waving our flags this Monday with thoughts of them in our minds and thanksgiving in our hearts for sure.