40 years of marriage & Dad and Mom are still in LOVE! What a wonderful evening of laughter, fun and joy we had together!

Joshua and Stephen began school this August! With much anticipation and lots of school supplies later, the boys started school without a hitch! Anna even wore her backpack for the three minute ride from our home to their school to drop them off their first day of school. They were so handsome!

Roller Skating

We took the family roller skating a few weeks ago and it was hilarious! We could not help but laugh at the sight of our family scooting along the roller rink. The boys were flailing and Anna was taking it all in stride! It was such a good family night! We loved it!

First Day of School

The day has come to go back to school! The boys were nervous and excited all at the same time! Joshua was excited to see his friends but sad that summer family fun was over. Stephen wanted to just stay home and play with Anna! But once at school both did fantastic and loved their teachers and new friends! They are growing up so fast!

Anna had to put on her backpack to take the boys to school. When we got home from taking them, she took off her backpack and wanted to get back into her pj's!

Camping

This past weekend we were finally able to get back out into the great America and camp. Well, maybe not great America, but a State Park in South Carolina! We took our new camper, after our pop-up was ruined in a storm (on Stephen's birthday!). We were able to get a bigger camper which proved to be very nice! The State Park we chose had a working farm based on how people in South Carolina would have had to have lived I believe at the turn of the century. The kids had a blast!

There was a tractor show at a local church by the campground that we were able to see Saturday morning. The kids loved the playground!

Monkey Stephen

 Hanging out waiting for Dad

 At the Living Farm

 Outside the main house at the Living Farm. Anna told us, "Farms have beds and babies!" There was one large bed in the one room log cabin and a baby bed next to it. She totally lost sight of the kitchen, stairs to the upper floor. All she saw was the bed and baby bed, good enough for her!

 Feeding the chickens (on the other side there is a sign that says please don't feed the chickens - too bad we came up from the other side!).

 Learning how to make clothes - Josh thought it would just be easier to go to the store!

 Anna disappointed it wasn't her turn again!

 Cotton Mill

 My fearless two! Ready to do it all if they could hold hands!

 One of the few times Josh smiled while on the boat! He didn't like the rocking from people moving!

Nervous Nelly!

 Out right silliness!

 They were done taking pictures! Can you tell?

Monkey Joshua (not sure why this one ended up down here!)

Forever Friends

The first part of July, we were blessed to be able to take a trip back up to Indiana where I am from for a family reunion. While we were there, we were able to meet up with friends of old! Celebrating with Courtney and Brian, their engagement was great fun! Catching up with Courtney, Brian, Lindsay, Libby, Uncle Bill and Aunt Rhonda, Stephen and Melissa was refreshing!

At the Engagement party, once people started to leave, Libby, Tara and I drug out a sleeping bag and watched the heat lighting in the summer sky. It was great to laugh, talk, watch the lightening, eat good food and celebrate in a new beginning for Courtney and Brian! It was such a great time!

Summer Fun

The summer has begun and we are having a blast! We had our first family vacation this year! We went to Florida! We stayed within five minutes of the beach on the West Coast, which allowed us to see through the water! The kids loved seeing fish and dolphins! A couple of weeks later we were off to Indiana, the place I was raised.

Going back to Indiana with my family, was a relatively nostalgic venture. Introducing our children to family and friends was nice. We were able to introduce them to most of our family, a lot of friends it was definitely a whirl wind tour. We had a family reunion while in Indiana. It was great to play with cousins our children had not met and catch up with the adult cousins.

While in Indiana, we had the great honor of celebrating the engagement of Brian and Courtney. The evening before the party, Mary and I left our hotel room to meet up with friends at Uncle Bill and Aunt Rhonda's house. We played games, laughed and just hung out. I hadn't been in the same room with these people in 11 years and it was seemed as though time stood still. As though we hadn't gone our separate ways, embarking on very different journeys, becoming very different people than we had dreamed we would be. But there we were, sitting in the living room laughing, remembering old stories and in my case, receiving healing in my heart from missing my friends for so many years! What a great week we had! I cannot wait for the wedding!

But summer is not over yet and I cannot wait to see what it has in store yet for us to enjoy!