their courage was amazing to watch!
stepping out in faith comes to mind
what a fun free activity for the kids! 
even Eugene was having a blast amidst not being tall enough to reach some of the support ropes he ventured all over it! Already getting excited for next summer :) Anyone want to join us for a week of camping????
Dad doesn't usually get to enjoy the best ice cream store ever but our quick trip up allowed him to indulge with us~ he was pretty happy (he didn't eat both, one was mine and he did give it back!) Yeah for Mackinaw Island Fudge! 
Lots of fun playing with cousins and friends at the park
We hit the right week ~ Vacation Bible School ~ with over 300 kids there its tons of fun to enjoy. The only hard part was Grandma couldn't fit them all on the golf cart, the boys were thrilled to ride scooters there (amidst Grandma's safety concerns they did great!)
This was our home sweet home -- a little cabin with just enough room to sleep most of us, Grandma kindly invited the older girls to her trailer to enjoy sleepovers with the cousins!
So thankful to enjoy a few beautiful days on the beach and spend time with family. We ended up leaving Ria and Eugene there - NO we didn't forget them! Then they could enjoy the rest of VBS and summer fun for a week while we went back to work another convention! Gr and Gr brought them back home for the big 1st birthday party... more on that later!
We are so excited to welcome another cousin on the K side!!!
My youngest brother Daryn and his sweet wife Kira had their first child, a beautiful baby girl Emmry Ann ~ we couldn't resist getting up to meet her, so between conventions we snuck a "little" side trip in (whats a few more hours in the car?!)
Sweet little blessing!
she'll have lots of cousin fun in years to come I am sure!
We are thankful to God for each life He gives. And we treasured the moments we were able to share with her ~ we'll have to get back soon as I am sure she won't remember meeting us!
If you aren't familiar with Whit's End then you have never listened to Adventures in Odyssey! From the time we talked about working the CO convention the kids were hoping to visit Focus on the Family while we were there, thankfully it worked out! We ended up spending almost 5 hours there! 
Into the IMAGINATION STATION (aka elevator!) when we got out we had traveled to a wonderful place.... Whit's end :)
There was a great toddler room where the little one had lots of fun too! 
Here the kids are in Whits office
One of the highlights was getting to record their own Adventure in Odyssey
Here is CASEY one of the characters in the story
And this is JAMIE they both did a great job with the help of 
the sound crew who, got to make lots of sound effects: horses galloping, doors shutting, drawers, pencil sharpeners, sidewalks, gravel and more!
Into NARNIA!!! 
thankfully we found the lamp post so we could get home!
And last but not least was a stop at the Soda shop -- Y U M! 
Tutu even got the got the "to die for" Wodfamchocsod :)
Eugene -- meet Eugene :) We were happy he just ate and didnt talk our ear off YEAH!
Yes, we shared a Sunday which made for a scrumptious end to a wonderful day!Joshua 24:15
15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Thankful for the many freedoms we are able to enjoy today in the good ol' USA.
the right to raise our children to know the one true God,
The right to gather with believers and worship our Lord,
The right to have our voice heard,
the right to go where we want to go
the right to smile freely :)
the right to wave the American flag
which stands for freedom
and we won't forget the men who died to give that right to us
And we'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today,
We traveled to Denver CO, the mile high city, while there we squeezed in a trip to the Denver Mint getting a tour of the only US government department that MAKES $ (ha ha) 
We also toured the capital building, including a tour of the dome (yes up there ~ see the tiny spiral staircase? no we didn't climb that but we were right next to it!)
From there it's an amazing view of the mountains!
After the homeschool convention, we spent Father's day in Rocky Mtn national park.
This had been a lake higher up on the mtn which broke through and is now a river; amazing the power of water, the boulders it moved were HUGE!
Ahh the view is just spectacular ~ yes I was just a wee bit nervous ~don't worry there was more of a ledge beyond them :)
Even Chuck did pretty good being up so high 
As we climbed higher and higher we were so thankful for a vehicle that could transport all of us. The thought of being in a covered wagon and attempting to cross these mountains is about impossible!
We made it to the highest point 12,000 something and enjoyed the snow at the top :) 
Hang on for you life! 
as we began to descend many of us suffered from the usual altitude dizziness and headache however when we got down everyone was feeling fine, with the exception of mom :( Maybe it was being overwhelmed with gratitude for all the modern conveniences that we have, or the grasping of this incredible blessing our family has to do all this traveling in between working or maybe it was just a plain old case of altitude sickness but I was knocked out the whole ride back to Denver, moaning along the way and wishing we had a bed in the van! when we finally reached the hotel the kids enjoyed dinner and a movie in the hotel "living room" while I crashed in our room! Didn't wake up really until morning at which point I felt MUCH better!
Especially knowing the history of this song.... it seems very appropriate to close with it.
