Saying Goodbye

You know when all 3 cell phones in the house are ringing at 1:00 in the morning that something horrible has happened.  In the middle of the hustle and bustle and excitement of the beginning of the new school year, we learned that our sweet 17 year old nephew had tragically taken his own life.  Jeremy was a very troubled teenager and lost his will to live.  Even though he had been having difficulties, it was still a shock to us all.  Jeremy had such a sweet soul and just about every memory that I have of him involves him playing with or holding one of his little cousins.  He loved little kids and even though he struggled so much, he had such a gentleness about him. 

The funeral for Jeremy was yesterday and his 18th birthday was today.  We knew that it would be yet another terrible day for the family.  However, one of Jeremy's friends came up with the idea to gather friends and family together at the grave site to release balloons  (Cole and Alex were both worried about the effect that releasing balloon would have on the environment but I assured them that this one time it would be ok and we would do extra recycling to make up for it :-) ) 

Mike's brother who was grief striken just a day earlier found a renewed energy and a purpose to keep him busy. He brought banners and huge tanks of helium and one of the teenagers brought a birthday cake.

 It was an amazing sight to see people coming from all corners of the graveyard towards Jeremy's grave with arms lifted high carrying balloons.

 Family, friends, and people from all over the community gathered and wrote messages on the balloons.  We celebrated Jeremy's life, and finally, we all sang "Happy Birthday" to sweet Jeremy and released the balloons into the air. 

Please pray for our family during the coming days and weeks- especially for Jeremy's parents and sister who have a very difficult road ahead of them as they have to learn to live without Jeremy in their lives.  Please pray for God to give us the right words when Cole and Alex ask questions about their cousin's death.  This is the first time that they have dealt with the death of a family member.  We just hope that something good can come from this tragedy.  God is amazing and we pray that He will use Jeremy's story to reach others. 

Sand and Waves

Now that summer is winding down for us and the school year is quickly approaching, we took a beach vacation with my mom and step-dad. They rented a house just south of Myrtle Beach for us to spend the week. At first, the kids and I were the only ones to join them, but later in the week, Mike surprised the kids by showing up late one night.

We spent most of the time playing in the sand and the water. 

The kids got new boogie boards and even Anna Grace learned to ride the waves with the help of her big brother and Daddy.

We had a really relaxing week of just spending time at the beach and then playing in the pool whenever we needed a change of scenery.  There were lots of games of "Monkey in the Middle" that even my mom and step-dad joined in on. 

We ate most of our meals at the beach house, but we did eat out a few times.  We loved this really great place to eat at Myrles Inlet that had a long boardwalk connecting lots of fun restaurants. 

Gifts to the Orphanage

Just a quick post today.

The kids and I have been working on putting together a box of gifts to send to Anna Grace's orphanage. Last summer, I decided that each summer we will send some things to the children in the orphanage along with some pictures and an update on Anna Grace. We had fun gathering together new clothing and toys for the little babies and Cole gathered some of his little Bakugon toys for the older boys in the orphanage. We are really hoping to be able to go back to visit Anna Grace's province and orphanage someday, and we hope to keep a relationship open in the meantime.

Camping, 4th of July, and More Camping

We have been enjoying summer in our camper during the last few weekends. We have to come home during the week so that Mike can go to work, but when the weekend comes around, we are back off in our camper. The weather has been so hot, that we have been looking for cooler weather in the mountains. The kids have enjoyed splashing in the cool mountain streams and we have found some really amazing waterfalls.

Alex is the most adventurous of our kids (though Anna Grace would do more if I would let her) and he is the first to try a new sliding rock, rope swing, or swimming hole.

Once Cole gets brave enough to join in the fun, he has a great time, but he typically watches the fun for a while before he gets up the nerve to join in.

Both boys really had a great time swinging from this long rope into the cold mountain river water.

Our campsite was right next to a little stream stocked with rainbow trout. Mike thought that it was really cool that he could throw little bits of hashbrowns or whatever he was cooking and the trout would come right up to the edge of the stream to eat.

We had to leave our camper at the campground to go home for the week so that Mike could go to work, but we still had a good time during the week celebrating the 4th of July.

A local business in our town hosted a 4th of July celebration at the park, so we packed a picnic supper and a big blanket to eat and watch the parade and fireworks.

At first, Anna Grace was scared of the fireworks. She has a fear of all loud noises including the flushing of public toilets. Last year, we skipped fireworks with her all togther. But, after a few minutes, she came around and decided that the fireworks were not so scary.

Finally, when the work week was over for Mike, we headed back to our camper in the mountains. This time, Mike's parents joined us at our campground. We were able to spend time with them and eat meals together in between our adventures.

We started the weekend off with a hike to a 100 foot waterfall. The hike was really long and very hilly, but the views and the cold mountain water at the end made it worth the trip!

Anna Grace had fun trying to catch the little minnows swimming along the edge of the river while the boys climbed on the rocks and played in the deeper holes at the base of the waterfalls.

One of the falls that we went to was supposed to be a sliding rock. It turned out to be a short slide followed by a huge drop off into a deep water hole! Alex took one look at the waterfall and said, "I'm doing it!" In order to get to the top of the water fall, he had to scale the side of it hanging onto a long rope. Mike had to climb behind Alex and give him directions, but it did not deter him.

He was so proud of himself when he made it to the top!

As soon as he landed, he wanted to go again!

On Saturday, we took the kids on a little tubing trip down the more calm part of the river. I don't have any pictures of that trip since I don't have a waterproof camera, but all 3 kids had fun and it was much more relaxing than our Friday hike! These are just a few pictures of the kids playing in the creek around our camper.

Mike and I really hope that our kids will remember the fun times that we are having in our camper and enjoying the beautiful world that God gave us.

Camping at the Lake

We just got home from a weekend camping trip at the lake. Our campsite was right on the water so the kids spent most of their time playing in the lake and on the sandy shore. We met another family from our church, so Friday night we all made a campfire beside the lake and roasted marshmallows while the men did a little fishing. On Saturday, the kids played in the water at our campsite in the morning and then we went out in the other family's boat for the afternoon. I think this is a great picture of Mike. We are about to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary and he is just as handsome as the day we met. :-) Alex was so excited to get to take a ride behind the boat. He first rode with our friends' 9 year old girl. Then he rode with Mike and had a blast trying to jump waves and go airborne! Anna Grace was not very happy that she was too young to ride behind the boat, but she did have a good time jumping into the water and trying to learn to dive from the back of the boat. It is hard to believe that this is the same little girl who was terrified of the bathtub just 2 years ago! Finally, after some convincing, Cole took a ride too. By the time his ride was over, he was bouncing and having a blast with Alex. We are tired from our fun weekend at the lake, but we have a busy week ahead with swim lessons, an orthodontist appointment for Cole, a dentist appointment for Anna Grace, and several evening meetings. Plus, Mike and I are hoping to have a date night for our anniversary.