Caden turns 7!

Our sweet Caden is 7!!  We celebrated with friends a few weeks early this year so his buddy Douglas could join before their move.

We had a movie/bowling party this year.

 

Caden, Andrew, and his two best buddies (Nathan and Douglas) went to movie together, came by for cake and ice cream, and then it was off to Bowlmore lanes.  I'm now a huge fan of small parties!

 Happy boy, happy day.

 Present time.

A picture for his desk.

A few days later the celebration continued - this crew was off to Redskins training camp with their cousins!

And then came the family party.

It isn't a party until Monie arrives!

Will was very excited.

OC Cousins!

 Such a FUN surprise - Jennifer, Hector, and Natalia joined us all the way from Mexico City!!

Present time = excited boy.

The day was beautiful - we sat out front and played yard games for a long time.

And ended with watching the Mexican national football (soccer) team play.

We flew to Seattle on Caden's actual birthday, and got to continue the celebration there (pics of that to come soon!).  Caden was wished a happy birthday by both the flight crew and pilot over the intercom :). Very fun.

Caden, we love you so much buddy.  You have grown up so much this year!!  Learning to read, swim, ride a bike, and your heart for others and tenderness toward the Lord continue to be such a blessing to us.  You are such a special boy, and I could't be more thankful to be your mom.  Praying that you continue to grow in your knowledge and understanding of how much you are loved, how much your savior has done for you, and that in this year of transition you would come to trust him even more fully.  What a gift it is to be your mom :).

Seminary Reunion!

 What it gift it was to reunite with our dear seminary friends.  We met up at a house in the mountains of PA in early July, and soaked up every moment.  12 kids, 8 adults, and so much to catch up on.  It was sweet, sweet time.

Dave, Walt (pastor in Southern MD, David (church planting in Boston), and Jon (pastor in Pittsburgh).

We missed the Kessler's the Scott's!

These boys had so much fun together.

We looked at out this hill - a perfect spot to watch them RUN.

And lots of room for soccer.  Apparently there was a penalty ;).

These three were born just a few weeks apart - so sweet.

Playing at a nearby state park.

I think he sprained his ankle on this jump.

Hangin.

Hiking!

We found a creek to play in!

Love these ladies so much.

Will with his first sparkler.

These two - so sweet.

Run, buddy, run!

We were at a wedding on the 4th of July, so it was fun to have some firework fun!

Kids watching the mom's do burpees.  My arms were sore for days.

On a date. =)

Look whats come of 9 years post seminary!  These kids had so much fun together.  Caden printed and framed this picture right after we got home.

On our way out of town we stopped at an animal "park".  

An anteater!  With an impressively long tongue.

Bears.

Petting a pony.

An alligator got Andrew.

The whole crew.  What a gift these friends are.  So incredibly thankful for this time together.

Lovin Summer!

I seem to always forget how much there is to love about Summer.  The lack of structure, routine, and time to myself makes me anxious as we head in, but once again this Summer, it has be SO wonderful to slow down and embrace the fun of this warm season.

The end of June brought an incredibly fun weekend away for me at the Gospel Coalition Women's conference in Orlando, FL.  How could we NOT go to Disney!?!  This was SUCH a fun night!!

My roomies Liz and Lyn - such sweet times together.  It was an amazing weekend of drinking in the gospel, and connecting with wonderful friends, old and new.  So thankful for this time.

While Mom's away, the boys will play.  Dave was very brave, and brought the boys on the YCF camping trip at Greenbrier State Park.

This was one of their favorite weekends EVER.  

What made it even better was to have their teachers there!!!  Will's two preschool teachers (Ms. Caley and Ms. Steele), and Caden's Kindergarten teacher (Ms. Minnick).  This was amazing for them.  We have a video of these three doing piggy back races with our boys - so priceless.

Will swimming with Ms. Steele.

Fishing with the big boys.

Loving the new raft!

A few days later, we celebrated our 14th anniversary with dinner at Birch and Barley.

The food was great, and they were amazingly gluten free friendly.  So thankful for 14 years with my love, my absolute favorite person in this world.

A few other fun Summer moments so far:

Geo-caching with our our next door neighbors Loui and Dahlia.

Playing with our neighbor's grandson, visiting from CA.

Visiting with the Hopkins family, and meeting their new little boy Jimmy!

We took the plunge and joined a pool this summer.  The best part has been built in playdates with several of our dear friends, and SWIM TEAM.  We entered a whole new world.  I wasn't sure how into they'd be, but Andrew loved it!  Here he is with Will after swimming freestyle in one of his home swim meets.

Caden did pre-team, and continued working on the basics.  He's now jumping off the diving board and swimming on his own to the side, which was my goal for him for the Summer.  So proud of him!

Getting their trophies at the swim team banquet.

 The Summer polar vortex came at a perfect time.  We were done with swim team, and ready for slow lazy days at home.

We snuck over to the cathedral on Monday for a picnic lunch.  The fish pond on the bishops garden is their favorite.

Such a beautiful place.

Hammin it up.

The picnic spot.  Will was very insistent that he NOT be in this picture ;).

Love this garden.

The next day they wanted to have their own Olympics.  They ran back and forth across our yard 100 times.  Caden was getting warmed up here ;).

Picnic dinner with the Smith's.  We soaked up as much time as possible with these dear friends before their move to Indiana.

A sleepover the night before we had to say goodbye.  These two have done absolutely everything together since they were born - infant nursery to Sunday School, to Fourth School, and soccer.  They have an incredibly sweet and close friendship.  I couldn't ask for a better friend for this boy.

Sending them off on their vacation to Canada.  They get back after we leave for Seattle, and then are gone for good before we're back :(.  This was one tearful, SAD goodbye.  I can't express how much we have loved and cherished this family and their sweet friendship, and I really can't imagine life here without them.

 We had a mopey Monday after saying goodbye to the Smiths, but managed to get out Tuesday to go berry picking.

The hunt for blackberries was on!

Loved meeting up with the Palma's (Will was too busy picking to stop for this pic).

We managed to get a pic of the moms!

Another super sad goodbye - the Holloway family is off to NC.  This family's friendship has been a sweet blessing and encouragement to us - we will miss them! :(