Abby is 4 years old!

I can't believe it! My baby had her fourth birthday this summer, June 30th. As usual, we just had a big family pool party and loved on the little princess. We are so blessed to have so much family here and we had a great time! Abby was so happy to be home to celebrate with all of her cousins!

Uncle De and Aunt Sharon gave us this great candle they had got. It was a big flower that you lit and it bloomed, then turned and sang "Happy Birthday." As you can see on Justin's face, the kids thought it was great!

Abby's big present! Her first bike!

I love this picture of Kate! A tribute to her personality!
My sweet princess! Happy Birthday!

Okay so I have promised myself...

and that is never a good idea! But I have promised myself that I will get caught up on this blog before October hits. You know how it goes. Sometimes you get so far behind that it just seems way to daunting to even try and get caught up. But I really do want to do those fancy blog books, so I will do my best to hit the highlights from the last 4 months!

Road Trip Home: The Last Stretch

From Jefferson City, the rest was a lot of driving. I don't even totally remember where we stopped. But it was so good just to be with Jason, to talk about our year in MD and to talk about our year ahead of us. We listened to Chris's send-off sermon and reminisced over so many memories. Our one big joke from the trip was when we passed the billboard for the restaurant for "throwed rolls" in MO right after we had already stopped for lunch. This restaurant, I don't remember the name, was voted the best place to pig out on that one TV show! We talked about it the rest of the day! We missed our chance to eat at "throwed rolls"! Otherwise it was pretty uneventful, thankfully!
But I had to get the camera out for this one...

We made it!

Road Trip Home: Fourth Stop

We were able to stop in Jeff City, Mo for our next stop and spend the night at my Grandparents house! I love my Grandparent's and cherish each visit we have together. Although I am bummed the visit was so short, it was so good to see them! Thanks for dinner and donuts! We love you!

Road Trip Home: Third Stop

After Michigan we drove a couple of hours to a suburb outside of Chicago to visit another lovely part of my family! My dad's sister Kathy and my Uncle Chris and my cousins Ben and Maggie. Again, we had a great time! They took us to this great local children's museum the first day and to Zoo the next. The girls had a blast! We had a great time making and sharing meals together and talking till late at night. My Aunt Kathy is another self-made historian in the family and has kept great tabs on my Grandpa's side of the family. We spent hours talking about our history and scouring photo journals. My sweet grandmother died when I was a toddler and it was so good to hear stories about her and look at some of her beautiful photographs. Thank you so much Uncle Chris and Aunt Kathy for such a WONDERFUL time! I hope it is not to long till we can come again soon!
From Chicago, my parents flew the girls home with 10 suitcases, a BIG carseat, and a Ginormous double stroller! Talk about servants! This allowed Jason and I to drive the rest of the way home by ourselves!

The Children's Museum:









The Zoo:

Road Trip Home: Second Stop

My mom was the camp photographer in Battle Creek and I haven't gotten any of the photos yet. So I will add them later.
Our second stop was to drive up to Battle Creek to meet up with my parents, the girls and my Uncle De and Aunt Sharon. My Aunt Sharon is my Grandmother's sister on my dad's side. Battle Creek is kind of like a family homestead. There is so much history there! My Great-Grandparents bought this place right on the lake and it is breathtaking! I don't even know how to summarize all that I saw and learned there. My Great-Grandmother was a local historian and an expert on Sojourner Truth. With her talents as a historian, she has kept amazing records and journals of both her life and my Great-Grandfathers. My Great-Grandfather was a doctor and enlisted in the Airborne during World War II, even though he was significantly older. He fought in all the major battles, received 5 battle stars, the assault arrowhead for D-day, and even received a bronze star at the Battle of the Ramagen Bridge for heroic service in action. What was so amazing was my Granny kept such great photo albums, memory books, and diaries. She even has his diary from the war! Also, my Grandad must have had his own camera because in some of the albums she had his very own pictures of the war and the places they went. Including pictures of D-Day -1! Can you believe it! What an amazing treasure! I would love to go back 10 more times and read those diaries!

It was also great to just visit with De and Sharon, take the boat out on the lake, and watch Abby LOVE going fishing! Thank you so much Uncle De and Aunt Sharon for such a fabulous time!

Road Trip Home: First Stop

We had a pretty sweet deal for our road trip home. We packed our minivan all the way up to the front seats, so there was obviously no room for passengers. My parents rented a minivan and took the girls with them in their car. We broke up the trip into three and four hour drives for the first couple of days with the kids. Our first real stop was in Michigan. Part of Jason's childhood was in Livonia and I have family an hour away in Battle Creek. My parents drove to Battle Creek with the girls and Jason and I got a night to ourselves in Livonia. He showed me his elementary, junior high, and high schools. I saw his houses and where his church used to be. The best part was meeting old family friends of his, the Carnes. They let us stay with them and it was a blast getting to know them. Chuck was this great mix of selflessness and hilarity! From lighting this cotton fluff on fire in his grass, to shooting me with this homemade marshmallow gun, to hearing great stories about how he and his wife Linda truly served and loved his family.
Unfortunately, I somehow didn't get a picture of Linda, but here is Chuck!



Jason's High School Football Team