Summer Fun

Lots has happened this summer: the kids' big trip to CA for Camp Grandma, two birthday parties so far, and our church's move from our rented facilty to our new purchased building. Also, we've had 37 days of 100+ temps and no rain so far, and the 10 day forcast doesn't offer any hope for a break.

I thought I'd post photos of Sam and Abbie's birthday parties, for fun. Sam's birthday came first, and this year he invited three friends. They even spent the night. It went well; they really wanted to play their nintendos together, and I'd say it was one of the more low maintenance parties we've had. Here they are decorating cakes. We also went swimming in our neighborhood pool, as a way to get cool and drain off some energy. Happy Birthday Sam!

Yesterday we had Abbie's party. She invited 8 friends; it was not a slumber party! Madeline introduced us to a really fun game she played at another party. We divide up into teams and design dresses with newspaper and packing tape. It is really fun, and all the girls get to be creative. At the end we lined them all up and awarded three first place awards in three different categories: Party girl, Classic, Scarlett O'Hara. Maybe you can guess which was which.

We also swam and ate dinner and had a water balloon toss. Much fun was had by all. Happy Birthday Abbie!

On the GOZ front, we moved at the end of July into the 215,000 sq ft building that we are purchasing. Only a portion of it is finished, so right now there is no nursery or children's ministry during service. I am enjoying a break from the weekly pressure of making sure that all the teachers are in place for the babies. But I'm taking this time to pray and plan and recruit for when we open back up with the permanant nurseries. We've got a beautiful garden to wander in, and the dining hall building is up and running. Each week before service we are having "Warrior Practice" where the elementary aged kids come to worship, hear the Lord's voice for themselves, and hear the Lord's voice for a friend. It is such a neat exercise. Today we prayed for each other, and one of the dads who was there too. I'm enjoying getting to go to that, and to service with my kids!

This week we begin pre-registering our kids for school. Madeline will be in High School this year! Ahh! That happened fast. I think she'll enjoy it, if she doesn't stress out too much about her school work. She's been taking violin lessons this summer. I think we'll continue them during school too. They make such a difference in the little things.

Abbie is not going to do band this year. We decided that Drama and Art are more her style, so she's going to participate in the school plays. I think she's a natural actor, and her lungs are extra large, which we learned when she was able to hold a note on her baritone longer than anyone else in band. I'm not too surprised, and this skill carries over quite nicely to vocal projection, which will serve her well on the stage. :-)

Sam does less, of course...those elementary days were good! But we'll be watching to see where his interests lie. Two more years of elementary for him, and then off to middle school. Last year he got really good at reading, so this year should be good. Although 4th grade can be more challenging.

Will starts his job back up this week, with the first day of training on Tuesday. It feels like this summer has flown so fast. Maybe because we didn't do a month long trip like last year. But I'm looking forward to the structure and cooler weather that fall brings. Maybe I'll even get back into planning menus. Summer kind of throws everything off track.