A SURPRISE from East Africa!

We have been keeping a secret from our kids, that our good friend and brother Eliud was flying in from Africa to be in Caleb and Carrie's wedding this Friday.

So today, Caleb stopped by to have the boys "help" him carry some boxes from the trunk....and this is what they found..........

What!!!??? E-L-I-U-D!!!!!

Couldn't have been more excited!

still in shock..

friends and brothers!

the girls were equally as surprised!

I love surprising our kids!! This was a great one!  The boys reaction was, "This was the best present!"

And once, they heard he would be staying with us....it was even better!  We are so thankful for Eliud, he holds a big place in our hearts and our family!  We look forward to spending much time with him..he is a blessing!

"Happy Birthday Erik" Part 3 of Vacation pics

In June we had the awesome opportunity to go on a family missions trip.  We headed to the poconos to become short term missionaries with Joni and Friends.  We had the privilege of working with families who have children or members of the family with various special needs.  Well, while we were at Camp in August on our vacation we ran into the Miller's who just so happened to be at Joni and Friends and now at Camp of the Woods the same week we were there.  

Not only was it fun to hang with the Miller's, but we walked away being incredibly blessed by them!  They are a family that loves the Lord and are committed to serving Him right where God has put them.

Erik turned 23 while we were at camp and we all got the privilege of being a part of his birthday party!

Dan, Erik, and Lisa

how sweet is this, Erik loves his mom

We love you Erik!!

Erik your smile lights up a room.

Erik, couldn't wait to get his hands on some yummy ice-cream cake!  Thank you Erik for allowing us to party with you!

 Dan shared a few words before we sang.  Thanking the Lord for the gift he gave them in Erik and what a blessing he is to their family!  Amen to that!

We love you Miller's and are so thankful to God for our new friendship!  Looking forward to more times spent together!

COTW Part 2 Vacation Pics

We had a great vacation this year even though the 2nd day Bob came down with pneumonia.  We didn't know that until halfway through the week.  But this picture below pretty much sums up where he spent a lot of his time.  We were so thankful for the care given from the camp nurses who both happen to be nurse practitioners with just an absolute heart to serve us in any way they could.  The nurse even came to our cabin throughout the night to give Bob breathing treatments.

Cass diddy!

the girls in their sand castle competition

Gracie sizing up the competition for the water balloon fight

Gracie, Karis, Carrie, and Maggie enjoying a hot dog ride

sisters

what a beauty!

Nate and Caleb eating an ice-cream cone together

Bob playing checkers with the girls

Rachel and Jayden

A little art time

Uncle C telling scary camp fire stories

Gracie and Diddy always up for a pose

Hyun and Rachel

Andy and Erin

Cass sitting with me at the campfire.  Bob was sick as a dog:(

"The Voyagers" Part 1 of vacation pics

The boyz have started some traditions in the last couple of years.  They look forward to these every year.  Now, when I say the boyzzzz that would mean Uncle Caleb, Robbie, Nate, and Caleb. 

The first tradition is to swim to the dock(pictured below)in the pitch dark of the night.

Here they are all pumped up for the big swim at night!

Below, they are excited for yet another year keeping with tradition(can you see the testosterone??)

The second tradition for the boyz is making a grueling, long trek to the island(1 mile from shore) you see below on the inflatable hot dog.  Last year they made it about halfway there, which considering they had only one oar and found a cain while in the middle of the lake, I would say....eh pretty good.

This year they have 3 oars and a bat(don't ask)!  So they are feeling quite confident that they will make it to the island in record time(less than 2 days)and without any casualties.

So here they are.....before the big trek all geared up and ready!!

They are off!

looking good boyz!

not bad, destination is in plain sight!

uhhhh ohhhh.....where's the island?  Unfortunately they fell prey to some vicious winds that caused them to get off track..... Well, take a look at the video for yourself:)


They did manage to get further this year.....and I'm thinkin next year they just might reach the island!!
They had a blast and love this adventure!

The "4th" of July, Celebrating Our Independence!

On Sunday, after church we headed over to Aunt Deb and Uncle John's for a fun picnic with family and friends.  The kids got to swim and the adults stayed cool under the tents.

The hostess with the most-est, Aunt Debbie! Her entire house was decorated with patriotic everything from rugs to dish towels to even both bathrooms!

Uncle Junie and Uncle Tom

Aunt Barb, Sue, Aunt Deb, and Aunt Mae

Grammy and her girls

Natey boy( i hope he lets me call him that forever)

Maggie-pie

Gracie-girl, Gigi, gidget, beetle...

Robbie, Rob, robbers, robbie bobble(yeah that ain't gone go over much longer:)

Daddy and Gracie snuggling

We headed home to do the sparklers and as you can see Bob is so very patriotic with his pj flag pants

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend we had some good friends, Mark and Taira and their two precious girls come down to our camper to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend with us.  We had a rip-roarin time that was packed with lots of fun things to do.  Warning: there are many pics in this post.....enjoy!

My cute family sitting by the dock just fishing.....ahhh the life!

yukking it up in the water:)

My four beautiful kiddos.....missing the 5th one though!

My great friend, Taira.....we are two peas in a pod! love you T!

Mia.....I mean....can you get any cuter!!!!!!

Nate and Ellie had a great time on the beach together!  She liked having a big brother:)

They were so cute playing

The guys roughing it up in the ocean and playing with the kiddos :)

The girlies!

Nate....what a cute kid

Mag-pie and Mia posing for a pic

ahhhh love this girl!

Surrey races......this crew against.....

this crew...somehow Gracie and El aren't in the pic

fishing.....sand sharks were caught

Daddy kissing his little, little, little fish...I think we could almost put that in a fish bowl it's so small

But this guy caught the biggest fish of the day! Striped bass, 10lbs. 28 in. he won the prize!