Soccer

Seth and Gavin both got to experience playing on a soccer team this spring. They loved it!






Seth was a great defender, and Gavin was great at offensive play and scoring. It was fun to see them enjoy playing so much and to see Seth grow in confidence. He even scored twice in their last game. We have enjoyed kicking the ball around with them as a family, too. Here is one of my favorite pictures...Seth was melting after his game, so Daddy sent him over to sit in the shade of the tree to cool off. :o)!

4th of July Weekend

We got to go camping this weekend. I biked most of the way to the campground before dark overtook me. We were joined by our friends, and we love camping with them! I took my camera, but was too busy trying to squeeze in bike rides and not miss out on anything. It was HOT the first day (97 - 106 on my bike computer) and I was staving off heat exhaustion the whole four hours I was out there going into the wind, doing hills. Total miles was only 25 for the whole time.

Friday after my ride we spent the rest of the day at a water park. Everyone had a blast. Saturday morning I woke up early and the temp was in the 80's. 26 miles of hills in 2 hours. We went to a safari and got to see elk, buffalo, and other great animals that no longer inhabit the plains. Amber and I took off for a girl's afternoon - ice cream and Bible study in the air conditioning! The awesome Daddies took the kids swimming at the state park beach and bathed them for us.
We had a fun time playing games after the kids went to bed, and then the rain really set in. Can I just say that our tent needs to be sealed? we loaded out at 5am! The good news is that we made it to our home church this morning! After family nap time we headed out to a minor league baseball game and stayed for the great fireworks.



This was one of those peaceful perfect moments when you are all together and doing well and enjoying life together. It was particularly sweet because of the many summers it has been since Andrew could be with us, and we know he is leaving again soon. We are so thankful...

Biking update.

I am probably not going to meet my training goal of 1000 miles before the ride, but I am getting stronger every day. Now that I have to be doing longer rides I get a sick feeling in my tummy before rides. I am overcoming a lot of fears. I have survived my first wreck, learned how to put my chain back on and repair or replace a tube. I have had to take cover from a storm with the tornado sirens going off all around me. I am very nervous about this ride, but glad for the challenge and opportunities. Please pray that I can be as prepared as possible, and that I won't get so dizzy biking first thing in the morning as I have been. Thanks for all the encouragement and support.

Andrew's Hockey Championship Game

They WON! The whole team had been growing moustaches for the play off season. Andrew's parents were here, so we all wore rally moustaches to the game.


















Someone got a better team photo and picture of our immediate family in moustaches, but I will have to post that later.

Field trip day.

Safety day at the base fire department.










Tour of the USCGC Gasconade.


You can see from the flooded gangplank that the river was already flooded. This whole area is now under water.

















Not too often they let a pirate aboard a Coast Guard Cutter!














The boys really liked sitting in the captain's chair.






Going up the stairs out of the engine room.








Picture from the barge looking back towards the cutter.








The boys ended up having a great time and one of them told me they were going to be in the Coast Guard when they grow up.

Bag, in purples for a dear friend.

First post from the iPad

This is a test using blogpress app.