{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}  :)

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. 

{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.

{iPhone Rewind} :: April

We got a new expansion pack for Carcassonne, and everyone was excited to dive in! :)

Maddie and I got to visit the Goat Farm again this year, and we had such a fun time with the sweet babies!

Love spending time with my girl

"Look, Mom. I'm a robot!"

The boys have been making bird feeders at Relay Boys

They have also been LOVING playing Laser Tag at Relay Boys :)

The kids were so helpful and decided to clean up all their bikes/balls/outside toys in the garage! I was so impressed :)

White House crafts in anticipation of our White House tour!

Braiding Maddie's hair

Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's!

Our little fox friend was hanging out in the cul-de-sac again

Aiden was SO excited to get a watch. He asked, and asked, and asked for one...and then he waited, and waited, and waited for it to arrive {all 2 days of Amazon Prime shipping haha}. 

Wisdom from Grandma made it to Mike's sermon :)

Quick snapshot from the soccer sidelines

When you take a ball to the face and take it like a champ until you walk off the field and just need a Mama snuggle for a minute

Easter 2026

He is risen!

For Easter this year, Mrs. Rita {our Children's Director at church} gave us an egg-dying kit {along with some other fun Easter goodies}, so on Saturday we got to test it out. I'm not sure if the kids were more excited to dye the eggs or eat the hard-boiled eggs haha. 

Sunday was a long, full day {especially for Mike}. This year, the church had the sunrise service and 3 Easter services, and Mike was preaching. We are still doing Easter baskets for the kids, and they were excited to run downstairs to find the goodies waiting for them. They each got a chocolate bunny, a craft/creative item, a new book {or coloring books in Maddie's case}, and new Yoto cards. They also got a LEGO-compatible Resurrection Set from Bible Bricks to share.

We loved getting to worship and celebrate with our church family. We had family worship {so no Sunday School this week}, and it was great to have all the kids and families in the service together with all of our visitors as well. 

A quick photo before church...because I never know if we will be able to get one AT church ;)

I sure love them...and they're growing too fast...

We were able to get a family photo after all!

The rest of the day was spent resting, playing board games, and crafting with their new kits :)

We are so thankful for Jesus, and for the hope we have because He walked out of the tomb. 

Because He lives,

I can face tomorrow!

Because He lives,

All fear is gone.

Because I know

He holds the future,

And life is worth the living,

Just because He lives!