Silver Mines

A local park had a community day and the kids had a fun time with all the events.  The adults barely endured in spite of the CRAZY heat that day.

A highlight was making their own jump rope.

Josiah loves his Pawpaw.  Also a glimpse of his incision which is healing up nicely.

Our sweet neighbor and friend, Cammy.

Little Mr. was not one bit excited about his pony ride.

The happy thief.

Out of the Mouths...

My kids think that chewable vitamin C are candy and are very happy when daddy hands them out on a daily basis.

This evening Greta asked me if she could have another vitamin C.

Me: "No, not now."
Greta: "But my belly hurts."
Me: "Vitamin C isn't going to make your belly feel better."
G: "It's not?  What does it do?"
Me: "It keeps you from getting a cold."
G:  Shivering, "I'm cold."
Me: "Not that kind of cold, like a runny nose, sneezing."
G: Suddenly overcome by a coughing fit.

Drewy

My nephew Drew is 3 1/2 and hasn't been very fond of me the past few years.  I only see him a handful of times throughout the year and you think that would be the reason...but he loves Steve and his brother Jeremy.  In spite of my attempts he has played very hard to get.  This past time he was in I was actually able to have a few conversations with him and he let me take his picture and I got a hug when he left.  I'm moving up!!

It was fun to get a few shots of this adorable little guy.  I asked him if he likes to be called Drew or Drewy.  Drewy it is.

These 2 have a bit of a love/hate relationship.  Hopefully they will work out the kinks as they grow older and be good buds!!

Crazy Cousins

Out of the Mouths

My sister-in-law Miranda and 2 of her kids were kind enough to make the trip in last weekend for Claudia's baptism.  When my 5 year old niece, Afton, got home, she was very excited to tell my brother that Claudia got 'sacrificed'.  Looks like you have some explaining to do, Chad.

Greta and Afton had a great time together.

Baptism

This past Sunday we had the joy of seeing our sweet Claudia baptized.  It was such a special day for us.  Extra special that her daddy got to be in the tank with her.

The video is a bit unprofessional but that's what I get for hiring my 10 year old.

I was not sure what Pete was going to ask Claudia or what she was going to say.  He asked her, "Why do you want to be baptized?"  Every time I think about her response it brings tears to my eyes.  It's taken me 30 years to figure this out and am so happy for the work that God is doing in her heart.  In case you missed it, this was a paraphrased version of her response to why she wants to be baptized:

"I was struggling with condemnation and feeling like I wasn't good enough to be baptized and I had to have a really strong faith.  God helped me to see that I had to trust in what Jesus did and not anything that I have done".

16 Years

Yesterday Steve and I celebrated 16 years of marriage.  I think I say this at every birthday and anniversary, but how is that possible??  My how the years have flown by.

We were able to go out for a nice dinner on Thursday evening.  It was so fun to be with Steve and "look  back" together.  We are both so grateful to God for all that He has done to sustain our marriage through these years.  Left to ourselves things would not be pretty.  We know that it is only through the miracle of God's grace that we are able to love and keep loving.  It is with much gratitude to God that we can both say that we love each other more today than we did 16 years ago.

Steve, I am so grateful to you and for the way you have invested into me and our marriage.  You are kind, faithful, loving, gentle, a hard worker, and I'm so grateful for you.  I don't know where I'd be without you.  I love you so much!!

Claudia snapped a pic of us before we went out on our date.