{iPhone Rewind} :: July

Aiden's turban nest. He said, "send that to the president." This kid's got jokes!

We had a long stretch of 100-degree days, and the humidity was stifling. Not our favorite summer days...

4th of July flowers from Mike

Maddie was super excited about the free samples at Trader Joe's :)

A beautiful {double} rainbow after a storm

Lunch and a show {our neighbors were having a tree removed}  :)

Happy 15th Anniversary to us!

I wonder how many days are left of seeing this bear on the stairs...

This little guy spent a lot of time climbing around our living room window, flying into our back door, and hanging out on our patio table. I'm pretty sure he was either a baby learning to fly, or he was hurt and needing to recover. I'm choosing to maintain our Disney backyard aesthetic and believe he eventually gained the strength to fly safely away on his own :)

They're both WAY too big to snuggle on top of Mommy, but where there is a will, there is a way...

 

We ventured into Rainforest Falls for VBS this year! Our Super Sloth, Jumpin' Jaguar, and Amazing Anaconda learned all about the nature of God, and it was a fun week full of praising our all-knowing and faithful Creator!

Aiden accidentally left Pooh Bear at a friend's house...and he took a journey to make it back safely home :)

Our little World Cup junkies haha

One of our missionaries from the Netherlands {same one Mike visited earlier this year} has come back to Virginia for the summer, and he taught a class on the 4 gospels: Four Portraits, One Jesus. I always enjoy learning from him, but was doubly excited for this class, as I prepare for our Luke Bible study this Fall!

After almost 40 years of faithful ministry, Milt and Val said "see you later" to our CBC family. We had a sweet morning hearing Milt's last sermon as our Shepherding Pastor, and then enjoying an all-church picnic with family and friends throughout the years.

These two thought it was hilarious to stuff the Pooh bear costume with blankets and have been carrying it around like an extra person. They have been dancing with it, sleeping with it, and I find it propped up in random places. 

Happy 250th Birthday, America!

For the 4th of July this year, we did a few fun things to celebrate America's 250th birthday. I made the kids some red/white/blue popsicles {not pictured}, and we also celebrated with a fun red/white/blue drink! I mixed cranberry juice, Sprite, and blue Gatorade, and the kids thought it was the most fun thing haha. 

We got to celebrate with our neighbors in our annual cul-de-sac gathering. It was super hot, so instead of meeting outside in our driveways, one of our sweet neighbors opened their home for us. It was a fun time to gather with neighbors, with lots of yummy food and good company. We had plans to do fireworks, but it started raining right as we were about to start. We tried again on Sunday, but again, it started pouring down rain right as we were about to start. But third time is a charm! We tried on Monday, and we were finally able to enjoy some fireworks!

Happy Birthday, America!

{iPhone Rewind} :: June

I love this end-of-school-year tradition to pick strawberries at Wegmeyer Farms :)

Our deer friends are back, and they're scoping out our hostas! 

We wrapped up another great season with these soccer stars!

Aiden had a great trip to the dentist!

We started a summer watercolor class, and the kids are loving trying out some new art skills :)

And our little Chippy is back! The kids love seeing our little friend every morning :)

Our sweet girl had a couple of teeth extracted, and she did great! She was still a little loopy on the nitrous oxide and when we got to the car, she looked at herself in the car window and said, "I feel so funny, but I look so normal!" Sweet girl. 

We loved celebrating Mike for Father's Day with gifts, cards, and an ice cream taste test. We love our favorite guy!

The styrofoam ban in Virginia makes Sonic drinks so, so sad...

She's back! And she found the hostas in our backyard haha

Just playing a little "Alamo," rewriting a little bit of history...

{iPhone Rewind} :: May

Mike got to spend time in the Netherlands with some of our missionaries, as well as visit a church in Belgium. It was a great trip, and we look forward to continuing/deepening relationships in both countries.

We learned about the Tabernacle in Bible, and we were able to build it with a Bible Bricks set! I love Eli's complete focus :)

The kids were in charge of watering the lawn while Daddy was out of town...and it went about as well as you would expect. It was mostly Mom redirecting the water flow and reminding them that the water actually has to go ON the lawn, not their bodies :)

Kids are the BEST #nomercy

I had a sweet Mother's Day with cards and flowers and my favorite people :)

Mr. Jesse and Ms. Linda came into town!

His head was cold. Haha. 

We wrapped up the ministry year with our 2 Corinthians study. I love these ladies, and I am thankful for their diligent study.

We just had cold weather and then made it all the way to "feels like 97." A nice warm day for a soccer game. Then it rained, and we were back in the 50s. Gotta love Virginia weather.

We wrapped up our school year! I am so proud of these three and how hard they have worked this year.

Love them.