Wednesday, June 15, 2011

broken

Please keep my Uncle Bern and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Doctors discovered a tumor on his brain that is cancerous and inoperable a couple of months ago. He has now begun chemo treatments. God seems to be giving the family the strength and peace that they need as He always does. And we just continue to pray for a positive outcome. One fear that I face almost daily is 'what would I do if something happened to Jordan, Natalie, Ruby, or Charlie.' I worry about others too but I feel I am responsible for these special four (and I'm just a little head-over-heels in love with them). But God always reminds me that there is nothing broken here on earth that heaven will be unable to restore. I really don't know why I feel compelled to write this down. I guess my heart is just a little heavy today thinking of my aunt and uncle. We just never know what hardships life has in store for us. Someday, we will experience that perfect place free from pain and grief!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

silver

We took our annual Silver Lake Memorial Day Camping Trip once again. It was a bit chilly but we still managed to have a good time. Charlie was not such a happy camper. He has allergies so being in a tent for 3 days was kind of miserable for him; he just wasn't himself. Heidi, Jena, and myself enjoyed a Sara Evens concert on Saturday (love her!) and our friends all had a good time on the go-karts that night, maybe a little too much fun which is also a tradition! On Sunday, the sun finally broke through the clouds and instantly warmed the place up. We were able to take the boat across the lake to enjoy the dunes which we were so thankful for. We were only there for a couple hours, though, before we checked the radar and saw a storm coming in an hour. We packed up our tents as fast as we could. Jordan and I were cramming everything into our bags, baskets, and van when we looked over to see that Aaron and Heidi filled their pack-n-play and just threw it in their truck bed (which had a cap)! We packed up just before the rain hit. The girls had a great time. They rode their bikes all weekend and had a blast going to the public restrooms MULTIPLE times a day. They also climbed up the dunes TWICE and enjoyed a couple of boat rides! Maybe Charlie will enjoy camping a little more next year!

Check out all of our crap! Not included in this picture: 2 kayaks, 4 bikes, bike trailer, camping chairs, tarp. Jordan said, "there's gotta be something we can eliminate from this pile," so he removed the hot-dog fork that you see standing in the back.....
....though you can't see it, later I noticed that Jordan had added Ruby's baby's stroller to the pile that was 'too big' to begin with!





baby's getting a tan....


Charlie wasn't so sure at first about this new texture....


....but he decided he loved it!





The awesome pictures are courtesy of Lucas Sweet! Love this one!!








This one reminds me of Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber :)


Alec and Charlie!











Lucky us: we didn't have to wade through the (shallow) cold water to get into Brad's boat to cross over to the dunes!





Another great weekend with dear friends!
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Friday, June 10, 2011

john ball

zoo.

My mom took the whole fam to the zoo on a perfect Sunday in May. It was a 'mystery trip' that she had been planning for awhile. We had a great time, too. We were impressed with the zoo as well, it was much better than any of us had remembered it being! There were kangaroos to pet and sting-rays, the kids fed birds and took a camel ride. Mom topped it all off with ice cream (after having cake upon arriving) and a trip to the gift store. The kids were exhausted after walking in the heat but we all had such a great time. Thanks, mom!















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ice cream





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