Our First Camp Out!!!! July 15-16 (Raymond's backyard)

And the picture taking begins. I love this shot of Cody watching at Sherry's feet as she takes pictures of the first tent going up:)
Cody sure does get lots of attention. So, which Raymond will he choose? hehehehe
Sven got to sleep in the tent with his girls, minus Lucy who was hanging out with the moms. He said "If you tell the kids they have to sleep if they want to camp again, they do pretty well!"
Thank you Travis for letting Brent and Elli share your tent.
Andrew and Caleb, since they are so big, got to sleep in their own tent:) They were up late and then early:)
Elli was trying to put this pole together to help. She didn't help for long before the fun of the evening took over and she ran off again. Thankfully, these guys know what they are doing!
Everyone run!!
The little girls are pushing the big girls. Thankfully, the kids were playing nice and the big girls did push the little girls:)
Smores!
It only takes a spark...to get a fire going:) Travis played, we sang, Lily and Elli danced. Memories!
Yes, we put the kids to work, no, this was not work. They were pretending to build a fort:)
Thank you Sven and Paula for planning and preparing for us to come and invade your yard. It was a great time full of great memories:) Yes, Lucy, thank you too!
Some of our best moments are spent with our best friends. Thank you also Travis, Sherry, and Cody, for making this night so fun!
Hey, look, I was there too!!!!
Elli and Madilynn crawled into the "fort." (Originally made by Andrew and Caleb, overtaken by the girls:)
Getting ready to sleep. Travis and Madilynn allowed Brent and Elli (on an air mattress of course) to join them in their tent. We just may have to get our own one day! The girls were restless and finally fell asleep around midnight. Elli was cold and slept curled up against Brent's back all night. Sweet! The moms slept inside, and yes, we were the last to hit the hay!!!! What great memories and what a fun time. Lily was the creator of this weekend with her request to have a camp out. So glad it worked out.

Summer Fun

Elli and I went to the Kettering Rec last Monday. We had a great time! She wanted some oce cream so I let her pick, and she chose this oreo covered ice cream bar. It was very messy, but thankfully she finished before the LOUDEST thunderstorm I have heard in a long time. It was a bit scary walking to our car trying to beat the coming rain.

At one point during our day, Elli was watching a family with three or four kids playing together, got really sad, and then said to me, "Mommy, I wish I had a brother or a sister." I cried and then she said, "I mean I know I have two brothers, Michael ad Jesus, but I wanted to play with one now." I want the same thing for you baby girl, but I love playing with you!
Elli really wanted to catch lightening bugs. We got a jar, she put in leaves, poked holes in the foil, and I caught bugs:) She was quite delighted with the process though!
We got to spend another day with the twins while Leah "worked." She was so bot busy, that we really spent the day with Leah too, including a trip to the pool! (Luka, Wesley)
Elli is such a good cousin. She loves them and is very good with them.
Our garden has gotten very big. We have gotten cucumbers, onions, peppers, and peas. We will pick tomatoes and beans very soon. The cantaloupe are getting huge, just not ripe yet. We did have one of our large sunflowers fall over in the last storm. Sad times for the sunflowers:( Cannot wait for our melon. Hope it is yummy:)
Look how tall that flower is! To think this thing started from a seed. I have thoroughly enjoyed the gardening adventure and we have already started working on our plans for next year:)

Baby Shower for Jenna, Sat July 9th

Elli was helping Jenna with the presents.
Love seeing Jenna's belly. This baby will be here soon, and we cannot wait!
Just a picture showing some of the ladies celebrating. Everything was beautifully done!
Jenna's in-laws (in-loves) threw a wonderful baby shower for Jenna at Cedarville. They did a wonderful job. Everything was beautiful, and it was a lot of fun.

EAT MOR CHIKIN

Kyle, Seth, and Meg joined us for the madness.
Little cow. What a cutie!
All this for a free meal. It sure does taste better when it is free:) It was fun to be part of the craziness. Elli refused to wear the cow "bottom" as she put it. (The utters!)

July 4th

Precious!
Also precious:)
The gang at Dayton fireworks. Fireworks make me so happy!
I only took one picture of the fireworks so I could spend the rest of the time oohing and awwing!

That morning we went to Berry hill Farm to pick more blueberries. Brent was able to go with us this time.
She was telling me how she found some delicious ones!
Seth enjoyed eating the berries, off the ground:)
Getting serious about his work.
Kyle, Meg, and Seth came too. We got enough for blueberry desserts, blueberry jelly, and frozen berries to use later, plus a lot for munching!

4th of July Pool Party at Heather and Gary's

There was a quick rain shower forcing us all out of the pool, but the sun came back out. Heather and Elli were taking a look around for a rainbow and a quick peak at the flowers.
The twins were a good entertainment piece for the party.
Posing with Gonga and Papa.
Hugs for great grandma.

It was a great party. Lots of people, delicious food, and great time swimming:) Thank you again Heather and Gary!

Comfort Inn in Bellville with a water park!

Brent tried to climb on the crab, but as you see it was easier said than done:)
Love this picture of the two of them playing underwater. She was exploring:)
We all took turns coming down the slide. Some with more splash than the others.
Our little dare devil. She would go down the slide and say, "Catch me. You never know what I am going to do!" We had a good time even though the water park was more of a pool with a slide. It made the weekend even more fun for Elli!

Family Reunion, Malabar Farm in Mansfield, July 2nd, 2011

The huge rock at the end of the cave. Cool how it got stuck right there.
The crew entering the cave.
There was a bit of a tight spot. Jenna and baby made it through just fine:)
Most of the family members who made it through the cave. The "aunts and uncles" took their turn later in the morning.
Kyle, Seth, and Larry came through a bit later. There was a crevice in the roof of the cave and I took this picture looking down on them.
We were able to have a baby shower for Jenna while there. What fun to celebrate the coming life with family.
Family picture before heading out. We then went to visit Randy and ended the evening at Grandma's house for root beer floats. It was a great day.

July 1st, 2011, Columbus Zoo

Elli posing on the tiger. All the real cats were sleeping, but we had fun looking for them hiding in the shade.
One of our favorite animals is the Okapi. It is such a funny looking thing. It leads to great discussion on God's creativity in creation.
The polar bears were awake and playing. We went down to the underwater viewing area to watch the bears jump on the glass.
This one was playing with the balls and discs. So cute!
The bear would jump off the glass below, up to the people in the viewing area. The kids there were loving it. So were the adults actually.
Poor little goats. Elli got to all of them, I think, brushing their hair.
Of course we had to ride the carousel. Such a big girl she is.
This baby elephant was fun to watch. He was playing in the water, swimming, flipping, etc. The mama was pacing back and forth though until he got out!

We decided to spend some family time together on our 11th anniversary, so we went to the zoo. Great way to spend the day.