Take Me to the River...

We haven't spent much time at the family river property the past few years, and we were able to make a trip down to the Shenandoah on Saturday to spend the day with the Frank Family. The kids had so much fun in the water (Grampa had fun too)...

Brody and his cousin Conlin

The man.

Doing the silly face contest with Daddy

A leap of faith to Grampa

So much fun

Man to man on the dock

Skyla's second fish! She was so proud and kept throwing it back in

and reeling it back again and again

Praise Baby

One of the best things we've ever purchased for our kids is the Praise Baby DVD collection - I think there are four or five of them now, and they're basically Baby Einstein format, but with worship music and a mix of patterns, pictures and real people/animals. Grady has now discovered them and will sit and watch them for a half hour or more! I love listening to the music and feeling that my baby is learning about Jesus even at two months old...

Summer Fun

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a homebody. I love spending time at home and have no problem going an entire week just hanging out in our yard and in our home. But I do have two social butterflies who love to go out and do stuff with their friends! So we've been doing some fun summer activities. Last week we went to a free Veggie Tales Pirates movie, then played in the fountain afterwards. And another day we went to Burke Lake Park and rode the train, the merry-go-round and had lunch & ice cream. I love seeing the joy on the kids' faces while they have a blast, and I love that they usually walk around holding hands while they do stuff.

Yes, fully clothed - trying to keep the water from popping up

Brody had no problem getting right in the water spray!

Skyla, Brody and Elena getting up their courage to join the "big kids"

I love this picture. My little man.

Burke Lake Park - riding the train

On the merry-go-round. This is the first time Brody wasn't scared.

Give Me a V - Give Me a B - Give Me an S!

We did VBS this year for the very first time, and we are SO glad that we did. We loved that the kids were learning about Jesus and having a blast with their friends at the same time. All the families in our small group did the same VBS at a small local church (our church doesn't do VBS), and each night while the kids did their program, the adults either sat outside and had dinner and played board games, or went out to dinner. We had fun too!

Brody LOVED dancing to all the worship songs. "I will not be afraid!"

Skyla with her friend Jacob from small group

An impromptu game of ring around the rosy

Guy Time

Kevin & Brody have been spending lots of "guy time" together this summer, with lots of trips to Home Depot, working on projects together and going for runs in the morning... Brody LOVES hanging out with his daddy! And I just love watching the special things that each kid does with Kevin - they both absolutely adore him. Last night during her prayer at dinner, Skyla thanked God for Grady and Brody and "my very special daddy who I love" (no mention of Mom). Thanks.

Dad's Birthday

Today Dad would have been turning 60 years old. It's so crazy for me to think that it's been almost four years since we lost him. He only knew Skyla for nine months, and I will never forget the look on his face when he walked into the hospital room and met his first granddaughter for the first time. She melted him. It's really hard for me every time Skyla talks about how she can't wait to see Grampy in heaven (we always say, Yes you can wait honey!)... and that Dad never met my two boys. He was such a wonderful grampa in the short time he got to be one, and I do feel really blessed that Kevin knew him for several years and we can both share lots of stories with the kids about their grampa. But I still really miss him. Our family has always made a really big deal out of birthdays, so growing up we would always ask Dad what he wanted to do to celebrate his birthday - he never wanted anything more than to spend time together as a family - usually doing a picnic at the beach or at the canal.

So while I can't believe he missed out on his 60th birthday, I also am SO thankful we had such a rich 56 years with him and that he did get to experience being a grampa even if it was for a short time. Happy Birthday, Dad.

Out and About

Before Grady joined us, I was a little nervous about how I would do taking three little ones to the grocery store, the playground, parking lots and all that stuff. It's actually been working out really well, especially since both Skyla & Brody have been so helpful with the baby. My friend Jess took this picture of me walking up to her at the playground up the street from our house... Grady has been very portable and cooperative with all our outings. :-)