I love when they have fun together!!!

Drew and Troy were playing so nice together. It was so funny. Troy had such a belly laugh going. This is what brothers are for!! By the way it seems like Troy got hurt at the end but they just kept laughing.

It's OK

Sometimes you wonder how your kids are doing? Are they going to make the right choices? Are they getting what we are talking about?
Ashley does not love reading and I am not the best mother to help her. I went and talked to her teacher and left feeling incredibly guilty(unnecessarily). I worry way to much that she is going to be a student like I percieved myself to be. When I was at my lowest with her, thinking she will always have issues and you know being dramatic, God stepped in. He knew I needed a pick me up.

Ashley came home with a book that her and her classmates wrote."The Most Important Thing"

She began to read it to me and there were things like Neopets, Rainbow, numbergrid, Church, family, jewelry, nametag, and alot more. After reading lots of these I was curious what Ashley would write. We finally got to hers after like 18. I cried!! The title of hers was "Our God" !! I can't remember word for word what she wrote but it went something like this.

The most important thing about our God is that he loves us.

He died on the cross to save us from our sins.

He made the world for us to enjoy ( she wrote more I can't remember it all, but that was enough for me)

Ok, so she is not a great reader, does it really matter. God looks at the heart and I pray that she will keep her childlike faith.

I will keep working on her reading skills, but God just showed me not to worry. He has got it all in his hands. I thank God for a Christian school were she is learning to lean on her Savior. I also thank God for giving Steve and I a rich heritage of faith that we can pass on generation to generation.

Trip to Pennsylvania

We went to Pennsylvania over the long teacher's convention weekend. We went to visit Steve's Uncle Don and Auntie Eleanor. We had such a great time.

We left on Wednesday when the kids were done with school. We then traveled through the night. We arrived at 4 am. The kids fell asleep around 9:30 pm. The trip went really well.

On Thursday we went to the Hersey Chocolate World. We went on a free train ride that showed all the workings of making chocolate. Auntie Eleanor let the kids create their own sundae. It was quite a sight, we had people taking their picture. I think they all loved the fact that the kids were taking time to enjoy lifes simple pleasures.

On Friday, Uncle Don took off work in the afternoon and met us at Chuck E. Cheese. He spoiled them and let them play lots of games and at the end gave them a great prize. After they left CC they went to two different Play Parks. When Steve and I got home, we could tell the kids had a great day of bonding and just plain fun. They were all excited and had a hard time settling down.

Steve and I were blessed to go on a date, while they spoiled our children. We went to Sights and Sounds Theater and prayed that God would provide tickets. He did!!! We also only had to pay 30 each instead of 52. He is able to more than we can imagine. We saw "In the Beginning". It was a production on creation. It was very good! It really made you think about what God really intended when he created the world.
On Saturday morning we got up early and went to Washington D.C. This day was beautiful, although the kids were very tired after their fun-filled day on Friday. We walked to alot of the main places (Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, and the White House. We then drove to the Old Post office and went in the tower and got a view of the city. We ended our day at Arlington Cemetary where we saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier. It was very neat to see everyone so quiet, including my children.
Sunday we went to church and then took naps after Sunday dinner. We then went to Pinchot Lake and went for a walk. It was so beautiful. The colors and the rocks and the kids just enjoying God's beautiful creation.
Monday we started out at 6:15 am and traveled all day. The kids did great and we made it home by 7 pm.

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Iowa - Grandma's 80th

Troy and Abby are always so cute together!

It was great seeing these young cousins that I never get to see any more. They are so much fun. How cute are they all?!

Troy took a picture by Grandpa and Grandma's tree. Isn't he so handsome?!

I had so much fun in Iowa. I love to go back, it will always seem like home. Just Troy and I went and he had so much fun with his cousins. I really missed Steve and Ashley and Drew. They would have loved it.

Now I am home and trying to catch up on life. We had a Progressive dinner on Saturday night(church), we hosted the Salad course. It was a great night. On Sunday night we had Youth Group. Saturday was also our last soccer game for the season. I love it, but so glad it's done.

This Wednesday we are headed to Uncle Don and Auntie Eleanor in Pennsylvania. We are all very excited.

Troy singing

Here is Troy singing to our kitty, Midnight. He loves to sing. Just thought maybe you would enjoy and I'm trying to figure all this stuff out.