Mom's 60th Birthday Celebration

 My Mom turned 60, so we planned a formal night out to celebrate!  

We were so excited to surprise her with a limo to drive us to several destinations that evening.

 

 

 

Celebrating! 

It was just so fun to get to ride all together all night! 

Our first stop was Eastborough Park, a beautiful park with amazing landscaping.  Our friend, Jeff, came to take pictures, and he did a great job! (Thank you,Jeff!)

We had to get a little silly. . .

So thankful for this man in my life! :)

 

Then, it was back to the limo to move on to the real entertainment:  Fine Dining at Newport Grill!

Those who know me know that I am a down-home farm girl who likes her pretty simple food.  I like pizza, hamburgers, ice cream and chocolate.  So, I decided ahead of time to try to be adventurous in my culinary selection.  Many of you will be proud to know that I had the swordfish. . .

. . .and I even tasted this salmon. . .

 . . .AND I tasted this raw tuna.  I'd say that is pretty good! 

I didn't get to taste this halibut, but it looked quite yummy with that giant mound of butter on top!  

Once our tummies were full, we headed outside to enjoy the live band while the limo came.  

Since the sun had gone down, we were able to turn on the laser lights in the limo!  It took us back a few decades!

We headed to Larkspur to end the evening with Live Jazz and dessert!

We had a fabulous time eating scrumptious desserts like this and just enjoying each other's company.  A highlight was Marc & Adam breaking out into a Psalty sing-a-long, overtaking the piano player in the background.

Overall, I hope my mom felt blessed.  I know that I did.  I'm so thankful to have a great family with which to celebrate.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

Camp Week

Last week, we sent Jackson off to his first week of camp with several of his friends.  We were excited to see if he enjoyed the experience.

   

After setting up his bunk, he endured a picture for his mother before rushing off to the pool.  This was the last we saw of him! 

The next day, we sent off Sydney to Super Summer with the youth group.  Again, we were so excited to see how this week would impact her life. 

 

That left Raegan and Isaiah home, and we tried to make the most of our time.   

Raegan fine-tuned her piano.  She just started learning a couple weeks ago, so she was diligent this week and improved a bunch!

We had a play date with our international play group!

In the over-100 degree temperatures, we tried to stay cool.

And, yes, we visited our garden enough to harvest a few zucchini.. .

. . . and check on our watermelon plants!
 
We finished our week with a play date with Elias & Brenda.  We loved our morning with them!

Popsicles are always welcome on these hot days!
Raegan was happy to have her cousin with us.

By the end of the week, we were all excited to welcome back Jackson and Sydney.  It was even more fun to hear them bubbling about their weeks.  It was fun to hear Jackson tell us about his first taste of independence.  He seemed to thrive, and we are proud of how he jumped right in to camp life.

Sydney's heart seems to have been challenged to truly live out her love of Jesus.  We are excited to see how that plays out in everyday life.  

The week was a good one for everyone, but I am glad to have everyone safe and sound at home because I am just so thankful for each one of them. 

Random June Events

 Happy Father's Day!

  

The kids were excited to get Chris the movie, Courageous.  They enjoyed watching it, and we both cried through it again!  It is such a great movie.  See it if you haven't.  It is so challenging.  (To get sappy, I'm so thankful for my hubby.  He is a great father to our kids, and we are all blessed by his commitment to our family.)

 We are still following Jackson's baseball career!  This has been the first year of kid-pitch, and they have done pretty well.  Jackson had a great game pitching the other night. 

We've also been so blessed by friends who have fruit trees.  Here are some of the plums we've picked!  Oh, they are YUMMY! 

Tomorrow, the two older kids head off to summer camp  So, there is more to come; for now, though, I'm excited to be caught up!

Garden Update

We are still going strong with our garden. 

  

The plants are growing, and we are having a fun time visiting each day to water and weed! 

 This week, we planted pumpkins.  We are hoping to have lots of orange this fall! 

 We also got to pick our first produce!  The zucchini was ready. . .

 . . .and it was yummy! 

Summer Fun!

 Summer is here!  Actually, it has been here for a couple of weeks, but it finally feels like summer!  Here are a few fun things we've been doing:  

Chris ran in the River Run last weekend.

The girls and I had spa day, complete with oatmeal masks, cucumbers on the eyes, and cucumber water to sip! 

We've been watching many baseball games.  For Isaiah, it is all about the snacks!

This past weekend, we ventured back down to the Riverfest to watch the Fireworks Finale. 

This week, we took Sydney to her favorite camp.

She was excited to go with her friends!

This weekend, we were excited to get to do an "extreme makeover" on our new church!  We painted all afternoon, transforming the building into a pretty nice-looking place!

This will be the super church room!

This will be the entry way.

 That's been the past couple of weeks!  Summer is so great!!!

The Music Man!

 

At the end of May, Sydney was again blessed to be a part of the CYT production of The Music Man!

   

She had a great time being a townsperson and a Wa-Ton-Ye girl.  

We were all amazed by the performances of these kids.  The music was fantastic, and they all did such a great job. 

More Outdoor Fun

On one of our great evenings, we headed to a neighboring pond to do some fishing.  Unfortunately, our poles did not work well; however, we still managed to have a little fun. 

Isaiah just loves to watch the bobber.  One day, he will get lucky!  

 Sydney got a nibble, but she couldn't quite reel it in. 

 

 Raegan LOVES to fish.  She has never caught one, but again--one day--she will get that bite! 

 This time it was Jackson's lucky night.  He was all smiles as he pulled in his fish! 

Another day, Raegan helped Chris mow the entire lawn!  

Good job, Daddy, for patiently walking behind.  

And, look at that smile.  So sweet! 

 GARDEN UPDATE:  The corn is growing!  We go water several times a week.  It was so fun to see the seeds turn into plants! 

 So far, everyone loves to take his/her turn! 

 Raegan's favorite past time at the garden is catching butterflies. 

 We are trying to combat the deer who apparently are very attracted to our tomato plants!  But, hopefully, between the deer spray, a fence, & cages, we can keep them out long enough to grow some tomatoes!