School is a Vacation!

 In July, Chris had to take a class in Kansas City for three days, so we all tagged along!   
We found out how difficult it is to find a hotel that will accept six people!  But, Hampton Inn and Suites was awesome, and we will definitely stay there next time.  They went above and beyond to make a couple of things right for us, and we ended up getting one of the two nights free!  Any of you who know me know this pretty much made my week! 

 We all loved the great kitchen area where we made most of our meals.  So convenient! 

Making ourselves at home.

 The first morning while Chris was in class, the kids and I were able to visit my college friends, the Deckers.  We had an impromptu adoption play group complete with water toys, watermelon and yummy sandwiches.  I was so thankful for Jenn's hospitality, and it was so fun to connect. 

 That night, we went to eat barbeque at Oklahoma Joes.  Boy, it was YUMMY food!  Then, we went swimming before heading to bed.  Slumber party! 

 The next day, the kids and I stayed at the hotel all day. After eating a yummy breakfast, we headed to the pool. We ended up spending three hours there; it was the best day! 
We went back and forth between the hot tub and the pool. The kids just had a great time! 

 Then, when Chris got back, we headed to the Royals game.  We found this to be the best family-friendly event!  We got to meet our friends there. We brought our supper/snacks and water, and our tickets were only $5 each.  The game was a great one with lots of hits and runs.  Then, Billy Butler hit a walk-off homerun in the 9th to win the game!  

The trip ended up being a really great little "mini vacation", and we were really thankful for the time away from home.  

Oh boy--have I really not posted since July?!

The Rest of July

 O.k.  I obviously have a lot to catch up, so I will just dive in.  Here is our Ethiopia group summer party.  We had a fabulous time eating. . .

 swimming. . .

and jumping off this super fun water trampoline!

 Jackson's baseball team had a rewards party at Pizza Hut.  It was fun to see the boys again. 

 Our garden continued to grow.  Unfortunately, our corn crop didn't produce 

--yes, we were soo sad!--but the watermelon and cantaloupe made up for it! 

 It was YUMMY!  

 Gram took us to see Singin' in the Rain  It was fun! 

 This summer has brought about several changes for Sydney. She was super sad to say goodbye to her youth group friends on the last night of youth group.  Here is part of the gang.  She also had to say a bigger goodbye to her sweet friend, Karen, because Karen's family was moving to Delaware.  Sydney will really miss all of her friends who have moved (or are staying at River). 

 Jackson's passion of the summer has been airsoft.  He has spent many hours outside shooting our neighbors (with their permission, of course!), Chris, and even the girls at times.  :) 

 

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.