I can't believe summer is almost over. Schools around here started back last week. It's not a big change for our family seeing as we don't have children in school. However my sweet sisters started back and I will definitely miss having them come spend the day with me or calling them to run errands with me. It sure makes a Wal Mart trip easier when you have "helping hands" :) (Sidenote: Zack did start back to seminary today though! He works so hard and we are so proud of him!!)
Our summer has been fun and busy! Looking back now it is hard to remember what all we have done. June flew by as it always does with Vacation Bible School squeezed in there somewhere. I volunteered as the "camp nurse" this year and have told myself I probably won't do that again. I felt pretty useless the entire week only bandaging up one scraped knee and tending one bloody nose. Thankful there weren't any other incidents, but I will definitely try to teach in a room next year. I love VBS and felt disconnected from it all sitting in a room waiting for injuries haha! Zack worked with 5th and 6th grades and enjoyed himself. He was wiped out after that week!
July was a little busier: We had an engagement!! My sister Kimberly got engaged and we threw them a fun party at Java Jolt. They are getting married next May and we are very excited for them. I am sure you will be hearing many updates seeing as she will have the most precious ring bearer and flower girl on the planet :) Pictures from the special day are here : ( https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.1958941245627.2101710.1005630080&type=1)
We had our annual Freedom Fest at Eaglepoint for July 4th. It was Honor's first time to see fireworks. She seemed to enjoy them. Asher loved them! He still talks about seeing fireworks at church! We took a trip to the beach for July 4th. It was the first trip we have taken by ourselves without family. We usually go to Panama City with my family once or twice a summer, but this time we went all alone. It was wonderful and fun. We stayed for 6 days and enjoyed doing nothing but playing at the pool and laying on the beach! The kids really enjoyed it. Asher loved swimming at the pool and Honor loved playing at the beach, so that was a challenge not having everyone happy at the same time. On a sad note I took 3 pictures on this trip--all on my phone! My mom's camera, which we usually have in our possession, broke! I feel like this summer has slipped by with almost no captured memories. We are saving money to buy a new one but for now we are thankful for our iphones! Now for another BIG Family announcement, we found out on our beach trip that......We are expecting another baby!! We were surprised and feel SO thrilled that the Lord would bless our family with another little one! When I found out I was pregnant with Honor when Asher wasn't even a year old yet, I felt a lot of anxiety about how this would affect our family, if I would be a good mom to two babies, guilt over not having enough time with just Asher, etc, all probably reasonable fears at that time as our family was expanding. However, I have felt NONE of that this time around. I feel only pure bliss at the thought of mothering another sweet angel. My children are my biggest blessings and we know that the Lord's ways are higher than our ways and for that we are so grateful!! We trust that the Lord will continue to meet all of our physical needs as well as provide everything we need to know and the wisdom required to raise children "up in the way they should go" as Proverbs 22:6 says. So July ended with a bang. We shared our news with our families a few weeks after we found out and with our friends a little while after that. I am thankful that I am out of the first trimester!! I have had a time with this one, probably feeling the worst morning sickness out of all my pregnancies. My sweet husband has been a saint! He has been such a blessing helping me out as I have neglected many of my domestic duties these past few weeks. But thankfully I feel like I have rounded the corner and can hopefully put sickness behind me and start gaining some of my energy back.
The rest of our summer was packed with playdates, school days, lazy Saturdays and just lots of fun :) The kids moved up in their classrooms at school this past week. Honor is officially in the one year old room and Asher is in the threes! Crazy that in November I will have a three year old!! Honor went for a check up at the doctor and she is the picture of health, weighing in at 20 pounds 9 ounces and 31 inches long. Healthy growing girl! She continues to delight us with her sweet personality. That is what I always tell people--she is just SWEET. While Asher is all boy and you have to basically hold him down to get any sort of affection from him, Honor will go out of her way to give you a hug or a kiss. She is our sweet little princess! She is a talker and already has so many words! My favorite word she says right now is "bear". It is too cute. If I can figure out how to load video from my phone I will put one on here of her naming animals out of her word book. Asher continues to be ALL BOY!! He is 100%, 100% of the time! I love it and can't imagine our life without this little tornado :)
Well that's about all our news for now. Hopefully I will be better about updating in the coming weeks! "But as for us, we will bless the LORD, from this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord!" (Ps. 115:18)
