family visit

we haven't done a whole lot of traveling this summer, but the kids and i took a road trip to visit my parents and grandparents last week so hardworking dr honey bunny could get in some real boards studying (prayers appreciated for the monster test that is IM boards-aug 6th). thankfully my awesomeness of a sister came with me so the child-adult ratio was pretty good! and plus, it was good to catch up with her a bit as she and her hubby get ready for another move. and plus, my sweet parents let us squeeze in a couple old-school runs on our neighborhood courses from days gone by. my parents were so generous and helpful. the kids did art projects in b-ma's studio, picked peaches in my dad's orchards, and we swam every day. and my dad even filled up my gas tank, tires, and vacuumed out our disgusting van!

 we even took a day-trip over to visit my grandparents...my grandma recently turned 90 and then promptly had a heart-valve replacement.

we have so much to be thankful for...these days of time with people we love, new and old relationships. it was good to go and so good to come home to daddy/husband and get back to whatever "normal" life is.

 here is some footage:

always good to see rufous the great

 marble-works with papa is always a treat

gg-ma teaching marit backgammon...they played this for quite a while as mar loved all the counting!

telling marit about her child-hood wood-stove.  how we all loved playing with it when we would visit.

ice cream for the young...

and just a little less-young

thank you sweet sister for all your help and companionship!

great uncle jim took marit and graham on a kayak ride. graham kept saying "i've never been on a boat before! this is so exciting!"

four generations on my mama's side

more water

been doing a lot of water activities around here and i actually brought my camera once. water is so stinkin' fun!

5

how did we go from here:

to here so quickly?

this is the first birthday of any of my children that i have felt a palpable feeling of sadness. i just feel time rapidly passing. i know the many days and moments that i have allowed to pass without intentionally entering in and being grateful. i want to hold on to marit's littleness and cuddle her up and treasure these days when she asks so many questions and views life with very pink glasses. when i ask her to please, please stay little she looks at me sympathetically and says "i'm so sorry, but i have to grow up to be a big woman." and i have to recognize my failures in parenting her, plead for God's grace and help, and carefully let her grow up.

sweet marit, you are a treasure. we are so thankful for the gift that you are. we praise Jesus for your cheery, curious, expressive nature. we pray that you would walk with Him all your days. as daddy always prays for you, we pray that you will hear "well done, good and faithful servant" at the end of your life . we are excited for the new things that being 5 will bring...learning to read on your own, violin lessons, more responsibilities and we hope it is a joyful year for you. we love love love you!

at marit's request

well, we have a FIVE year old in the house now.  ever since we visited a nearby children's museum earlier this year, marit has been dying to go back (particularly to jump in the belly and slide down the intestine of the enormous boy exhibit).  in lieu of a big party this year, we snagged a few of her (and graham's) besties and made a day of it for her birthday.  it was fun and i wish we could have taken all our friends with small children because they were so cute pretending together...doubled the fun for them.  

apparently marit is in to donuts

the butterflies were a hit!

putting those lug nuts back on...mr handyman

dancing and drumming in africa

fishing in africa

marit sandwich:)

happy healthy hips

today we rejoice and give thanks as marit's hip saga comes to an end. she has not worn her brace for a couple years now and i just assumed we would keep having annual x-rays. nope. we have been released by the pediatric ortho department for good (at least until someone breaks a bone or something). i found myself getting a little teary on the way home thinking about our hip journey and God's care and goodness through it all. it got me thinking about life's bumps and bruises and how a God who can heal and restore could surely prevent us from the bumps in the first place. i certainly do not have all the theologically correct answers for why we must endure the consequences of a broken world when the purpose seems unclear. but i do know that he uses the bumps to remind us that we are not in control of our existence, to draw us to His side (which is for our ultimate good). it must be His goodness to prevent our lives from being frictionless and easy so that we will acknowledge our desperate need for Him and His tremendous grace in our lives.

we are thankful to be over this little bump for now...here is a little trip down memory lane...
harness days (miss that kitty)

brace days

the doc says we are good as long as her legs can go 180 degrees...

swimmin' 'n' dancin'

for the first time, marit and graham had some organized activities this summer. they both took swimming lessons and we are so proud of our little fish! marit can pretty much swim anywhere now and graham is doing great too. we have been swimming almost every day because it is so stinking hot so i'm thankful for their improved skills! here they are on the last day when the parents watched

with their amazing teacher who also happens to be our neighbor

miles keeping it real during the final lesson

marit also enjoyed a nutcracker ballet camp at a nearby ballet school. she loved every second of it!

and for the record, summer is exhausting. graham demonstrates this during his nap the other day. this is the progression as marit and i tried to wake him up.

*now we are thinking about starting to plan for the fall and our first real homeschool year! i'm trembling thinking about it....

*and yours truly can now play a very squeaky version of twinkle on the violin in preparation for marit to start suzuki violin lessons (parents had to learn a bit first so they can reinforce the lessons at home).

*adam started his new residency and LOVES it so far. we are thankful. this week he completed disaster relief training, but he won't let me post the picture of him in a hazmat suit...

summer goodbyes

we've been saying some goodbyes this summer.  i've never been very good at that...selfishly wanting to keep all the ones i love close.  it turns out, marit is a little like me in that way and she has cried many tears over our dear next-door neighbors heading out to seminary.  we have been so blessed and encouraged to look to Christ by this precious family as they have walked through much in the last few years.  it has been such a sweet time for our young families (including many others in the neighborhood) to grow along side each other.  the kids miss these over-the-fence conversations, i miss the in-the-midst-of life-teary-heart conversations that would happen while chasing children and such.

i had to borrow this picture...we are so thankful for you guys!  praying for you, planning to visit, and knowing you will thrive where you are because your hope is in Christ alone.

this week we were privileged to host my brother tom and kelly and fam for their last night in georgia as they are moving to maine.  we have loved having them less than 2 hrs away for all of tom's doctorate work and it has been such a delight to see little cousin relationships form and develop as we have each added children.  not just family, these dear ones are some of our closest friends.  now they will be 20 hours away, but we are saving and planning to visit at least once.  as adam prayed that morning, we are thankful that God calls people to be lights for Christ in all places.  and while we miss those that go to new communities, we are so thankful to be a part of the larger body that does not cherish earth as our eternal home. 

marit and aida soaking up auntie char char's creativity

caught these tired expressions and they made me laugh...moving is hard work!

the six okie grandkids