A few more pics

These are just a few more pictures from last week.

Our "make a face" picture

The boys helping blow up balloons for my sisters surprise baby shower.

My sister's husband playing with the boys...I'm suddenly not needed when "Big Josh" is around.

The boys playing with my cousin's son in their pool.

My cousin was so excited that we stopped to see them.  It was a fun visit.

Where to begin??

We went to a croquet tournament that my sister's husband's side of the family has every summer.  (Tony was on a missions trip to Canada this same week)

I spent a lot of time with my hand on my sister's belly...she's 7 1/2 months pregnant and this is the first time I've seen her since Christmas.

We stopped by my cousins house on the way home.  Her son is a year older than Caleb.

We returned home to this.  There was a huge storm in the area where we live.  (The main/busy street in front of our house was blocked off from Monday until Thursday while they fixed the electric poles).  We're very thankful that we're all safe and that there wasn't very much damage. It's hard to imagine what people go through who lose everything.

Since we didn't have electricity, we stayed at my parents' house for a few days.  It gave me and the boys extra time to spend with my sister and her husband.  

My mom and I had a baby shower for my sister before she headed out of town.

That's all the fun we've been having since last Saturday.  There are a lot of fun pictures to share, so I'll start posting them  this week.

Happy 30th Birthday Tony!

Tony's in Canada on a missions trip on his 30th birthday (Wednesday). Roaming charges are horrible, so I might not have the chance to talk to him...so I figured I could write it on here in case he checks it. Happy Birthday!!!

We're staying at my parents' house (with a dial-up connection) for a few days because of a big storm and no electricity at our house, so I'll have some fun pictures to post pretty soon.

And fun on the 4th

The boys and I went down for two days (one night) to visit Tony and the youth that he took to a huge music festival for the week.  The boys' favorite thing to do was to hang out with the older "kids" and throw rocks into this little water overflow pond.  They spent hours doing this.

Playing in the kids' tent

Caleb got a snake painted on his face

Sportin' their new t-shirts

They had so much fun getting to hang out with dad.

Getting tired from all the sun.

Caleb helped Tony and some of the people from the group we went down with hand out packets for Compassion Intl.  They all had glow necklaces and bracelets so people in the crowd could tell who was handing out the packets.  Caleb put them all together when they got done.

Joshua got too tired and was out before Tony and Caleb made it back to the camp site.

Caleb tried staying up for the fireworks, but he fell asleep in a chair around 11:20, about 10 minutes before the fireworks started.  (They did see fireworks the night before, so they didn't totally miss them this year)  In the morning both of the boys said that they really liked camping.  They want to go again soon.

Fun on the 3rd

On the 3rd of July the boys and I went downtown with my parents for their 4th of July celebration.  (Tony was at Cornerstone-I'll have a few pictures of that later)

Joshua getting a tatoo

The bouncy slide they went down again and again and...

Lookin' good

We ran into Caleb's friend from his kindergarten class.  They drew with sidewalk chalk together.

We also watched fireworks afterwards which the boys really liked.  They were definitely tired by the end of the night. 

Seen in the Light

"You look hot!"  That's what Tony said to me as my parent's were riding in our van with us.  "You can't say that with my parent's in the car" I said as my face turned red.  "But with the light shining in the window, you look hot."  So even though I wasn't expecting it and even though I got a little embarrassed, it still made me feel special and loved to hear him say that (normally he says stuff like that privately).  The next day I was thinking about what Tony said and God put a thought in my head.  God is light.  In Him there is no darkness.  Like Tony saw the light shining on me through the window, God sees us through his light.  God knows we have flaws, yet we are beautiful in his sight...in his light.  Just as I felt special and loved by Tony, God wants us to know that we are special and loved by him.    

Summer fun

The boys with Noah that I take care of.

Caleb's new pet, wormy.

Joshua chillin'

The boys' new haircuts (they're trying to look tough)

anniversary continued...

Ha, ha...yes Sarah, we were very young when we got married.  It rained for a little while on our drive up to Minnesota, but the weather was beautiful once we got there.  We spent Friday at the Mall of America, but we had a chance to eat lunch out on the patio you can see from our hotel room on Saturday.  The book I was reading was a Passionate Life.  I liked it because I need visuals to help me remember things, and this book puts visual shapes to help remember the principles it talks about.  On to the pictures...

We're just eating breakfast here, but wanted to try out the new camera.  

The amusement park in the Mall of America is no longer Camp Snoopy.  I don't think a lot of kids even know who Snoopy is.  It just changed to Nickelodeon.  Dora and Sponge Bob are definitely something that will draw those kiddos in.

This is the restaurant that we ate supper at in the Mall of America.  It's called Kokomo's.

The next pictures are all from Underwater World at the Mall.

This is one of my favorite stores...this chair is great!

This was the wedding that we went to.  The bride is the one who was in the Jr. High small group and Sr. High youth ministry that we helped at while we were in college.

Our anniversary

Tony and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this weekend.  

 One of the girls that was in the youth ministry that we helped at in Minnesota was getting married, so we took a few extra days and celebrated our anniversary while we were there.  My parents were super wonderful and paid for our hotel while we were there.  What a blessing!  Our hotel was really nice.  There was a door between the living room and bedroom which was nice because I could come out and shut the doors while Tony was still sleeping in the mornings.

This is what I did in the mornings...it was nice to get up and have nothing to do...just sit and relax and read.  Tony got me a new camera for our anniversary, so I'm actually figuring out how to use it here.  I used the timer.  He also donated clothing, fruit trees, food and supplies through World Vision as a gift.  He wanted to buy me a necklace, but knows that I'm not a big fan of spending money on jewelry, so he got me this-the perfect gift, instead.  

The hotel room also had a full kitchen.  That was nice because I could put some of my food that needs to be refrigerated in it.  We had some leftovers and could reheat them in the microwave.  They had dishes, silverware, bowls, and containers too.

Here's the view out of our window.  They have grills so people can cook out if they want to.  

They also had a great hot breakfast in the morning (They even had a few things I could eat and Tony had a big variety to choose from).  We weren't there long enough to use it, but they also have free washers and dryers.  We thought it was cool anyway.  It was such a relaxing weekend. It was fun to spend time in the place where we spent the first 3 1/2 years of our marriage together.  (I'll post a few more pictures of what we did when I have more time.)

Awards night

I've had these pictures for a few weeks, but haven't had the chance to put them up yet.  The boys go with Grandma Pam to the Awana program at her church every Tuesday from September to April. 

Joshua with his friend Peter who he talked about every week.

Caleb with his first Skipper book award.  He was always so excited when he learned new verses and could add new jewels to the crown on his vest.

I hope the verses and stories they are learning now will not only be in their heads, but will change their hearts.

Entertainment at it's finest

What can keep you laughing for over a half-hour and make your sides hurt from laughing so hard?  Kids.  They are the best entertainment.  Sometimes the boys like drinking their milk out of straws.  Tony's cousin also taught the boys a different use for a straw.  So after they're done drinking with the straw, they like to do a little trick with it.  You put one end of the straw in your mouth and the other end under your armpit.  You blow through the straw and it sounds like farting noises.  Pretty soon the spit starts making it's way down the straw and all sorts of interesting sounds start to come out.  Tony and I just sit at the table and watch and listen and laugh our heads off...at the sounds and at the boys laughing at themselves.  I know that not everyone will appreciate this fun activity, but if you have kids that would like it, or you just want to try it yourself, let it fly.

Another cute conversation

Caleb:  Hey mom...you know what?  You're really a kid.

Me:  Oh yeah, why's that?

Caleb:  Well, really we're all kids down here on earth...and God, he's the adult.

Me:  We're all God's children?

Caleb:  Yep.

Me:  Pretty cool, huh?

Caleb:  Yep.

What was that?

Tony told me this conversation he had with the boys:

Tony: What did you talk about in Sunday School?

Caleb: Pagan.

Tony: Pagan?

Caleb: Pentagon.

Tony:  (Trying to figure out what the Pentagon has to do with church)  Do you mean Pentecost?

Caleb:  Yeah, that's what we talked about, Pentecost.

This is why it's always a good idea to talk to your kids and make sure they understand a story/lesson (or whatever) someone else teaches them.