Door County 2008

Another year has come and gone for our annual Door County trip with the kids. We opted to rent a condo this year instead of hauling our ridiculously large camping trailer which made us look like the Beverly Hillbillies. It was much more relaxed and comfortable and I think we had a better time with not having the pressure of everything that goes along with camping. With our group getting bigger each year, I'm sure we will have challenges getting everyone and everything just right, but I guess that is how memories are made. We took in a show at the folklore theater which was a hoot. We will definitely do that again next year. We finally made it to the beach this year. The weather was perfect and I think Kaiden had the most fun playing and we enjoyed watching him. We ate enough ice cream to last us a year, had some great food, had to go shopping, took in some of the sites and saw the most spectacular sunset of the season.
The weather was so perfect the whole weekend. We were able to spend our last day enjoying the Cave Point Bluffs and the tower at Peninsula State Park. Kyron was such a trooper in his pilots goggles as Doug would call them. Doug and I are looking forward to going back in October with mom and dad to see the fall colors.
But for now it is back to the grind.

They're starting to look like little boys

We had so much fun over the weekend playing with our little boys at dads birthday party. They don't look too much like babies anymore and soon enough they will be calling us by our rightful names, Grandpa & Grandma. Oh how the time flies.

Celebrating 25 years

Even amidst the busy schedule we have during the summer months, we still managed to get away and spend some time celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.

It never really seems like it has been 25 years until we see how old the children are and now they are getting married and having children of their own. God has truly blessed us with a wonderful love and a great family. We were able to go on a sunset dinner cruise which turned out to be one of the most spectacular nights of the whole season. Getting away is always refreshing but never seems to be long enough. This time of year doesn't allow for much time off so I am looking forward to our 2 week vacation this coming winter. I pray the Lord blesses us with another 25 years together to love Him and serve Him.

Congratulations KYLE!

June 1st. Kyle graduated from Lincoln High School. We are so proud of him and all of his accomplishments. It was a really nice service and all the kids from church who have grown up with Kyle were there afterwards hanging out and taking pictures.

Kyle has had a little change in plans now that he is graduated. He knows that being a police officer will always be here for him at any given time. He feels that God is leading him to attend Rockford Master's Commission in the fall. I've always felt that Kyle was called to be in the ministry somehow but now that he has changed his plan so late in the year, he is really going to have to step it up to be ready in the fall. If the Lord wants him to be there then who am I to worry about it.

Anyway, Congratulations Kyle, We love you and support you in what ever it is God is leading you to do.

Love, Dad & Mom

Ryan Earns GMA

Last Wednesday night at our Royal Ranger awards ceremony, Ryan was awarded his Gold Medal of Achievement along with 6 other boys in our Outpost. This is the highest award you can earn in the program and a lot of work went into him achieving it. We are so proud of you Ryan for all you have accomplished. May God richly bless you for all your efforts.

Love, Dad & Mom

Happy Mother's Day

Why is it when Mother's Day rolls around, all I want is for everyone to just notice what it is that I really do all the time being a mom. It's not the gifts and the well versed cards that really matter, it's hearing your child say "I wouldn't be where I am today without you mom".

I guess, in their own subtle way, they have already told me so. You see, none of my kids ever felt the need to, or follow through with the thought of, running away from home. They knew I would always be there for them. None of my kids ever had to run with gangs and try to find a purpose for who they were. They knew I always told them that they were somebody special. None of my kids ever had to lose themselves in alcohol and peer pressure because they couldn't handle what was going on at home. They knew they had parents that loved each other and especially loved their kids. I never had kids who ever said they didn't believe in God. Proverbs 22:6 says train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. I know the Lord helped me to do that well. I guess if I sit and really look back over the years, things really take on a new perspective. Was I ever a perfect mother? Not by any means. Were my children always perfect? Not in any sense of the word. Yet through the years I have come to learn from my own mother (who was by far perfect in a lot of ways), of her consistency in being a mother, and her faithfulness at bringing us up to know the Lord. I knew as a very young girl that I wanted to model that for my kids and then go even farther, giving them a reason to want to pass on what they saw in their home to their own children.

Although I get tired from being a mom at times and the enemy is constantly jabbing me to throw in the towel, I know now that I just need to sit back and look at where my children are today and silently hear them say, " I wouldn't be where I am today without you mom".

Thank you Lord.

What a beautiful day

Well, I think it is safe to say now that spring is here. What a gorgeous day today and I think the plants thought so too. So many of mine are trying to find their way out of their skin. I love this time of year. Just replanted my rhubarb in the garden planters we are making. I sure hope

I still get a crop out of them this

year after ripping them out of the

ground