8 Years

Eight years ago we began our "happily ever after!" There have been a few highs, a few lows, a master's degree, a big move, two amazing sons and the promise of much, much more joy ahead! We love all of you that have supported us along the way!

Family Camp

Each summer, our Christ the Victor Churches gather at Morning Star Ranch for Family Camp! We have one English-speaking church, two Spanish-speaking churches and the families from Club4.12, our English-speaking youth program. This year we had 80 people laughing, learning and growing together as the family of God. While it is a lot of work for our family personally in preparing for camp and teaching sessions, it is also a lot of fun to get away for the weekend and play! I enjoyed myself more than I thought to take pictures for the most part, so I don't have as many as I normally would, but here is a sample and then a video that I put together for the ministry. 

Ben looked a bit over-protected since he chose to wear the swim wings and ride in Nate's boat.

 Nate was NOT a fan. The water was cold and crowded and he let us know he wanted no part in it.

 He came over to tell me about his Daddy putting him in the water. He was very serious!

 He finally ended up like this as we watched the loud pool raucous.

 We took a little stroll that ended up being too long for my napless little ones. At one point I was pushing the stroller and Ben was on my back. Not wise planning! And the sun was beating down on us. Live and learn!

Helping Daddy run powerpoint and sound.

Watch the video here.

We are so grateful for our church family! Even though some don't speak our language nor do we speak theirs, there is an unspoken bond that unities us together in Christ!

STL

This past weekend we were able to take our first trip to St. Louis. Ryan was asked to come give their staff a 4 part training following the recent church plant school. None of us had ever been to St. Louis, so the boys and I tagged along for the ride. It is about an 8 hour drive for us. The boys always do great on the drive, but this trip was a little rushed since it was just a weekend. We drove all day Friday, Ryan did a session that night, three sessions on Saturday and then we drove all day Sunday. 

While short, we had a great time. I took the boys to a really cool place, Magic House, on Saturday morning. There were tons of hands-on things for the boys! We also were able to enjoy some adult conversation with the other missionaries in St. Louis after putting the kids to bed or during and after dinner. The STL staff took great care of us and we are already hopeful of going back again someday! 

Rest stop along the way.

 Magic House

There was a huge tree slide of sorts that started on the second floor and went to the first.

This picture proves a point. Ben insists he is older and wiser than he really is. He couldn't stand on the hole a little smaller because he insisted he was tall enough for that one. Obviously not!

Amazing water table.

 

The 2 year old and under area.

 A fully stocked grocery store.
It had a cash register with play money and the scanner beeped when you moved items across it!

 Shopping

 Automotive shop.

 Veterinarian Clinic - Nate loving on a cat.

 Ben getting the cat's measurements.

 The fishing pond.
The kids could "catch" a magnetic fish, take it off and then put it back in the pond on the other side of this area and then watch it float back down to the pond in the river in the floor with plexiglass on it. I don't know if that makes sense, but it was super cool.

Awesome sand table.

Net tunnel in the littler kids area!

The tunnel led to the slide.

Nate crawled up to the top of the slide on his own, but got his foot caught under himself. He screamed! I had to climb up, free his leg and then he slowly slide down. I had enough time to grab the camera, but forgot the flash so it is blurry.

 Head gear was a fan favorite when playing with friends for some reason.

 The best part of home - your own bed!

Riverfest

Each year Wichita's big deal is the Riverfest. It is a week-long carnival type atmosphere and for a $5 button you can enjoy free entertainment, all the fried food you could ever want and some other activities for minimal costs. For our first Riverfest in Wichita we took our three month old baby to the fireworks, but we haven't been back until this year. I encouraged our family to enjoy it and I think we did!

First stop - the parade.
Jodi, a missionary friend, and I have two kids each and we packed our dinners and kids and braved the crowds together. We had a great time!

Our great spot along the parade route until people starting standing in front of us! Ben intentionally turned for the picture. Ugh.

 Nadia's chair was a huge hit!

 There is room in my lap for two!

 There is room in Ben's lap for one!

There is room in Jodi's lap for two too!

 

Ben and Nadia doing a little street dancing during the parade.

Another day we took a family trip to Riverfest. We bought Ben a ticket to ride a horse and then he freaked out. So, Nate rode in his place. After walking around for an hour or so we started to leave and Ben put on his brave face and decided to ride if Ryan would ride with him! It was a big deal for Ben.

 We saw Curious George. The boys waved and were so excited...from a distance. When we got close they both freaked out. I forced Nate to try because I thought he would warm up. He didn't!

 With our $5 Riverfest button we got in free to the Wichita Wingnuts baseball game. We arrived during the second innings (after naps) and the boys lasted the whole game! We even ran (walked) the bases after the game! It was also "Bark in the Park" day so there were dogs everywhere. They were a welcomed distraction. And it wasn't very crowded so the boys jumped from bleacher to bleacher without distracting anyone and we enjoyed the game. It was great fun!

See ya next June Riverfest!