Summer!

Well, before I share about our summer, I have to back up and share a couple of things I left out from the month of May...Strawberry Picking!! This was our 2nd year to go with friends. The kids had a blast. Annelise got a basket full! I was impressed with her diligence to stick with the task! Their favorite parts, of course, were eating a few strawberries along the way and eating a fresh strawberry popsicle after the pick!

Caleb did a great job discerning between a strawberry ready to be picked and one that needed some more time on the vine. 

Here's the crew we went with- a busy bunch of munchkins!

And, Date Night for my 33th birthday! We went with a few friends to one of my favorite restaurants, Chuy's, and then bowling! I haven't bowled in a long time- it was a really fun night. 

We bowled in the VIP room! What fun!

Summer kicked off with a memorable event- Kathy and Jim's wedding (Austin's mother)! They were married in Georgia next to a beautiful waterfall. It was a really special weekend. Here is Kathy with her two boys! She looked beautiful!

Caleb and Annelise got to stand up there with her along with Jim's grandchildren.

 

Annelise was suppose to throw flowers but got distracted- Caleb helped! We enjoyed the rest of the weekend with family on both sides. They rented a nice cabin by a river- it was just beautiful. We love Jim and couldn't be happier for them!

On June 11th Annelise turned 3! She had a Hello Kitty birthday party this year, and I made the cake! My 1st! It was really fun.
 Last June Annelise began to cough in the night. We spent the next 4 months trying to figure out why moving from doctor to doctor in the midst of a sea of sleepless nights. We finally ended up at Vanderbilt and discovered she had asthma. It was an exhausting time, but Austin and I are still amazed at the grace the Lord gave us that was undoubtedly from Him. We have walked through some tiring seasons with two babies, but nothing compared to this time of literally hardly a drop of sleep for literally 120 nights. We were so incredibly needy- even Annelise- her prayers would just make us cry as she prayed for God to take away her cough in the middle of the night. As we look back, we are grateful for an answer, for sleep-filled nights, and for God's goodness to us.

Here are the kids eating lunch. Annelise has just grown and changed so much this year. Her curls have gotten curlier and her words have gotten clearer! She doesn't say,"Good Mo Mo," anymore- it's "Good Morning." And she doesn't call milk "mote" books "goops," or granola bars "oh ga ga's,"  anymore either- so sad for us. We have seen too that she is taking hold in her heart more and more the teachings of Jesus. Her prayers for others are just the sweetest heartfelt words; she sings "God is so good" and "Jesus in the Morning" as she plays on her own, and she asks me all the time, "Is God in here, Mommy? I can't see God." She is just a gem- so yummy and we are eating her up!


Here's family at the party having some lunch. With Pa (Austin's Grandfather) in the top picture and Ma (my grandmother) in the bottom picture we have 4 generations represented at her party- what a blessing!

 

After lunch we made hair bows like Hello Kitty's for the girls and leather bracelets for the boys. Annelise is my crafty child. She loves markers, paper, glue, and beads. And her favorite toys right now are puzzles- she's amazing us with some hard ones she's doing.

Here they are showing off their crafts.

Happy Birthday, baby girl- we love you bunches!