Thanksgiving Dinner

Why are we having a thanksgiving dinner in September? Because it's always a right and appropriate time to celebrate and give thanks for what God has done! Tonight is Aaron's last night of his mandatory year of the night shift. It hasn't been fun for any of us this last year, being on such opposite schedules, but God knows that fun isn't always for our good. Sometimes, well, a lot of the time, fruit comes through struggle. God is always faithful and we knew that He would bring us through it - stronger than when we started. Thank you Jesus, for protecting Aaron and protecting us at home. Thank you for how You make us stronger and mature us along the journey. Every good gift comes from you!

Psalm 52:9
"I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones."




Sparking grape juice is a REALLY big treat!

Elle turns 3!

Someone turned 3 yesterday! We celebrated with cake and ice cream in the evening, and opened gifts with Grandma and Grandpa and crew. Elle will have a 'real' party on the 11th that she'll share with Grant, but it was nice to focus just on her last night and celebrate 3 wonderful years with her! One of her favorite gifts was from Uncle Wyatt - a tiny coffee mug and coffee creamer. Hah! Such a coffee connoisseur at the age of 3!



The 'terrible two's' were anything but terrible. Elle is a sweetie who loves to entertain and make us laugh. She is the queen of funny faces and random statements. She is great at helping Mommy with baby Ivy and is super protective of her! Earlier this summer we took the family to Shakespeare of the Green and decided to leave at intermission. As we were walking out, Ivy(who was in the stroller) dropped her pacifier and a nice gentleman picked it up for her. As he was giving it to Ivy, Elle apparently thought he was trying to steal her, because she quickly ran up to him and started clobbering him with her shoes, screaming, "NO NO NO." The poor man(who was already slightly intoxicated) was so taken aback. Elle was genuinely distraught and we really had a lot of trouble convincing her that he wasn't trying to take Ivy. It was one of the funniest things I've seen her do. Hilarious, and good to know that she is so protective over her siblings.

Apparently 3 is the charm, because this last week Elle has decided on her own to stop using diapers, and today there have been no accidents so far! It might have something to do with the princess underwear Grandma bought her for her birthday yesterday. :)

I am excited to see Elle grow and mature this next year. So many fun things for her to experience this year, including starting AWANA cubbies next week!

Bible Pictionary

This week has been so hot that even the kids don't want to play outside for more than 15 minutes at a time. I can hardly blame them. I love summer, but 110 degree heat index is a little much for me too. We've had to find activities to do inside, and tonight we played a sort of Bible Pictionary. Rylan and Bree drew their favorite Bible stories(with a few helpful hints from Daddy), and I got to guess which story their art portrayed. We awarded candy prizes. Here are a few of my favorite pieces of art from the evening.

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

Exhibit 3

Exhibit 4

Exhibit 5

(1) - Daniel in the Lions' Den - by Rylan

(2) - Eve, in the Garden of Eden - by Bree

(3) - David and Goliath - by Rylan

(4) - Jonah and the Big Fish - by Bree

(5) - I have no idea...Elle called this a "stroll-ba"

July, the Fourth!

Proud to be American!

The prep started on Saturday. Cammi came over and we worked on party favor rockets exploding with candy!

Here they are! The kids did most of the work themselves. This was the first project Rylan and Bree learned to use a hot glue gun on. Mommy was oh, so, proud! :)

Rylan's special project was strawberries dipped in white chocolate and blue dusting sugar. They tasted amazing!

So pretty!

This cherry pie made me feel VERY American! :)

I think the most fun was all the prep before the actual holiday. I just loved spending time with the kids, working on these projects and getting the chance to talk about our American heritage with them. I feel amazingly blessed that my parents spent so much time making sure I understood what it truly means to be an American and knowing our great nation's history, how it was rooted in faith in God. I hope that I can impart that to my children too. How blessed we are to live in a country whose beginnings speak so clearly of the favor of the Lord. I pray that our family continues to live our lives as a testament to that, and never forget to seek His precepts above all!

Rylan, Bree, and Elle all helped to make these yummy jello parfaits.

Each family at my mom and dad's Independence Day Barbecue came prepared with a reading, poem, or song to share. Wyatt presented a dramatic recitation of the Gettysburg Address, our kids sang 'God Bless America,' and there were many other beautiful readings we enjoyed listening to. Here is Rosalee, sharing some tips on flag tradition and etiquette.

Of course we had sparklers! Really smoky ones....

Grant was extremely fascinated by this trailer hitch.

Ivy made it through about half of the fireworks before going to bed, but the noise didn't seem to bother her at all!

I have no idea what you call this ball-on-rope, rung game, but the kids really enjoyed it!

Bree had fun with the bottle rockets!

It was a simply beautiful holiday. We are forever indebted to the men and women who gave their lives, so long ago, and today to secure our freedom. How wonderful it is to live in America where we can worship the Lord without fear!

Monster Bash!

Rylan had his 6th birthday!

Daddy made some awesome monster cutouts for the party!

We had funny monster hats

And lots of friends to play with. In true little monster fashion, several sand and water fights broke out! :) We even had a water balloon war.

Of course Aunt Michelle made a pinata!

Mad monster dash for the candy!

We enjoyed food from the grill,

And munched on monster cupcakes for dessert.

What a wonderful evening it was, filled with family and friends there to celebrate! Happy 6th Birthday, Rylan. We love you so much and you bring joy to our lives as we watch you grow and mature.

Under All That Hair

Yes, there actually WAS a boy hiding under all that hair!

And isn't he handsome?!?!

At the Car Wash

"Fun" Summer family activities. It's amazing what you can pass off to small children as fun. :) Slave labor, anyone? Actually, I really do enjoy washing cars, and the kids had a super great time. It was pretty fun watching them play in the soap and water. On a random side note, man, there were a lot of dead bugs on that truck. It was like a massive bug graveyard.

Elle Marie - Our cutie bug!

Elle-Bellie is 2 1/2 and up to plenty! Pretty much anything that Rylan and Bree can do Elle tries to accomplish. She loves to try and quote their AWANA verses with them, sing the alphabet song with them, color with them, build tinker toy objects with them. You get the picture. Basically, she is turning into a big girl overnight and it's very bittersweet. Last week she started speaking in the first person and now it's, "I need a drink," as opposed to, "Elle needs a drink."

Elle is a singer. She is always humming or singing a tune! She has an awesome sense of humor, even at the age of two and is always entertaining the rest of the family! Her favorite person is Aunt Michelle. I think it's because she makes her so many sock monkeys!

Elle is the queen of funny faces!