Vacation

Working on the church.

Fourth of July Sunday.

The boys on Sundial bridge in Redding.

Anna in an apron I bought her. Isn't she gorgeous?

We went up to Washington for vacation at the end of May and beginning of June. We enjoyed time getting to see all of our family. I just thought I'd post some misc. pictures that I've been taking from our vacation, time at the river, etc.

Jeremy has been doing a lot of physical work on the church. We discovered several months ago that having a nursery without a bathroom attached does not always work well!! So the board okayed some changes. With some help from 2 other men, they switched the nursery with Jeremy's office, which had a bathroom right next to it. So they cut a hole in the bathroom to give it a door right into the new nursery, filled in the hole of the old door, cut the old nursery in two parts - one part Jeremy's new office, and the other part the new copy/storage room. We even painted the new nursery and Jeremy's new office with paint that had been hanging around the church. I think we had to buy 2 pints of paint! We are in the middle of planning for our VBS August 2-6. We're also knee-deep in planning for our new AWANA club starting in mid-September. Please be praying for us as we have our VBS and start this new ministry at the church this fall!

Village Missions conference

Rob and Josh with two of their friends from conference. Their dads are both VM pastors.

Josh riding in the canoe.

Rob's team with their boat.

In June, we got the privilege of going to the VM Southwest District summer conference in Graeagle, CA. It's in north eastern California, an hour or so away from Reno, NV. These are called mini conferences, and really mirror the conferences that the Mission used to put on for us. The only difference is that instead of the Mission paying for us to go, we pay for it - but our church reimbursed us. But the kids really enjoy going, because they each have their own classes to go to, and have friends that they know that they only get to see at these conferences. We all had such a good time! One of the golf courses in the area give a free round of golf to those pastors and wives that want to golf while we're there. Jeremy got to go both this summer and last summer, and really enjoys that time. Apparently it's a really nice golf course (about $150 for a round of golf usually). We found a really nice little lake right in the middle of town. I guess it's called Mill Pond. It's got a nice swimming area with a long shallow area for the kids. And right next to the swimming area, it's grassy, so it's nice to sit and watch the kids. The only downside is the only restrooms are port-a-potties. I hate those things!!!

Rob was in the youth group at conference this year. The youth pastor of the Graeagle church teaches the teens. They have their own class during our morning sessions, but join the adults for the worship times in the evening. This year, the youth pastor split the teens into three teams. Each team was assigned to make a boat out of cardboard and duct tape. Then on Thursday after lunch, we all met at the Mill Pond to watch them race across the pond. They had two canoes out in the pond for anyone that might sink halfway through. Josh got to ride in the canoe with the youth pastor. Rob was so disappointed because his team's boat sank as soon as he got into it in the water. He already has plans for a different boat for next summer, should the youth pastor decide to do it again.

Rob's 12th Birthday

I am going to play catch up. I didn't realize it had been over two months since I'd last posted a blog. So I have lots of events to add pictures from and share about. The first one is Rob's birthday, which happened to only be 6 days after Josh's in May! Oops! But since he doesn't read this, I don't think he'll be upset!

Usually every year, the weekend between the boys' birthdays, we have a combined party and invite all of their friends. We had to cancel this year because everyone was sick. So we didn't get to do that. It was a little disappointing, because we even had some of their friends from Washington coming. But we still had a quiet family party for Rob. He got a Seattle Mariner's pillow case from Mom and Dad, a new outfit from Nana and Papa, and a PSP from Mom, Dad, Nana and Papa. He had been saving for one, so we helped him out. He had to pay us back for $40 of it, though, but the rest was paid for. He was so excited! Also, when we went into Redding in May, we had a little party for Rob, Josh, and two kids of some friends of ours whose birthdays were also in May. We had fried chicken and jojos, and an ice cream cake. It was fun. (Don't worry, Mom, you'll get all these pictures!!!)