On May 10th we surprised Josiah by having a small party out at our house. The weather was beautiful, the BBQ was delicious, and the games of volley ball were superb. The day started off by having our grandparents over for lunch then Lenna and I were off to get dinner prepared. 

Josiah has been such a blessing to me this past year-and I continue to see his faith grow each day. God only gave me one brother, but I'm so glad He gave me him. :)

Hannah's home-made sign for Josiah-isn't it cute??

Lenna and I enjoying the sun out on the deck. No sunscreen for these girls-we actually WANTED to burn. Cause when we burn, we tan. Yes.

Josiah's single balloon-drawn on by Hannah :)

Hannah and Josiah-look at that smile!

Josiah and our grandparents-aren't they cute??

Chipotle Peppers. These are good to spice anything up-and believe me, its SPICY.

Lenna, Grace, and I get a self portrait while waiting for Josiah to come out.

And here he is! Let's take a closer look....

...there we go :) Surprise!

Jesi R. serves it up! Volley Ball makes you do the most funny faces.

And poses, apparently. ;) Go Josiah!

Elita drew this out on the driveway-can anyone guess what it's from??

I told everyone that if the camera is pointed at you-do a random or funny face. Here's Stevens. :P

Love these people :)

Hannah reminds me so much of how I was when her age-at 7, we loooved sports!...and smiling :D

Josiah-"Where is my dog? Me-"Who cares about your dog lets play!" Lenna-"Let us have peace."

Volley Ball players!

The guys messin' around on the tire swing-and yes, this picture is meant to be blurry. It adds to the affect.

The fabulous people who came to help celebrate Josiah's 20th year :D 

Reformation day is here and gone. Crazy, huh? Weeks of preparation take place for an entire weekend and in the blink of an eye, its all over! Despite some weather issues, the weekend was very enjoyable and a blessing to us and those who came. The shocker this year is that I actually didn't take many pictures...like, hardly any at all! Usually, at an event like this I would take at LEAST 200, I took about 50. And, most of 'em were those of friends. Hence, the picture above. :) So anyways, if you would like to see some pictures of the event, you can go here, here, and here. Enjoy!

Last but not least, in just 4 days Lenna and I are flying to Orlando Florida for a little over a week. {8 days to be exact}. We'll be driving to St. Louis on the 3rd, and Lord-willing getting back the 10th. We would love your prayers as we take on the adventure of airports and flying-yes, we're the homeschoolers that have never flown, this is our first time. ;) I heard that the one thing that's always good to have on hand while your flying is gum, so we're stocked. :)

Florida-HERE WE COME!!! :D

*pics of trip to come sometime soon*

This past weekend the annual "Multi-Church Family Picnic" was again held at Providence Church, right here in Morton! This is an event we have every year around the beginning of Fall which is three of our sister churches coming together for a day of sweet fellowship, delicious food, fun games, and group singing. It was one of those events that everyone was looking forward to and preparing for, but once it finally came, it seemed to fly by right before our eyes!

The day started out a bit chilly, but as time went on it soon warmed up and it turned out to be a lovely day. The first half of the day was set aside for the games which was coordinated by the Erber Family who did a spectacular job and kept us all busy with plain old fun. Whether the people played the games, or watched on the sidelines, everyone had a blast and many memories were made. After eating our lunch, we gathered in the sanctuary for some singing and then headed back outdoors for the second half of the day which included the baseball game! This is always our favorite part of the day and that would explain all the baseball pictures I have set up for y'all. Lots of people had my camera throughout the day, so a HUGE thanks to those who took these awesome pictures! :)

Zachary and Hannah looking as cute as ever. :)

(insert caption here)

Splitting up the teams...

....put the goal posts UP....

...line up...

....and begin!!

Human Foosball getting serious!!

SCORE for the green and blue team!!

Sweet fellowship.

Miss Peacy-Pie looking adorable as usual.

Everyone lining up for "Steal the Bacon"! Call me crazy, but this was the first time I had ever heard of it and since I came into the game late, my number was never called and in satisfaction I never once had to run and grab the "bacon".

This is why. :)

Miss Molly-isn't she a cutie?

"Oh sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders He has done..."

Melissa McD. was able to put together a Children's Choir that sang "Come Thou Fount", and they did a beautiful job! Oh the joys of having young ones singing about Christ and His love. I was privileged to play piano for them, so I enjoyed that too. :)

We all know what this sign means-BASEBALL GAME!

Zachary again, waiting on his turn to bat!

Ethan hittin' up a fly ball!

Every team needs a catcher-great job!

Our lovely cheerleaders doing a fabulous job cheering their team on!!

"A" is for Aaron. :)

Guys in the dugout patiently awaiting their turn. Don't they look ecstatic? ;)

Justin is up!

Zachary swings!!

This little guy wishes he could play, but he's just a little too small. :)

While the guys enjoyed their game-us girls decided to start one of our own. Everyone had lots of fun, even though we were far from perfect. :)

The ultimate pitcher, Mrs. Ryken!

"Y'all come back now, ya hear?" :)

Our Summer has been crazy-but its been an amazing ride. This past week we got together with some friends from the Rockford and spent the day at the mall, playing volley ball, then headin' out to a baseball game with our church. The day was filled with lots of laughs, pictures, and a whole ton of good memories. The baseball game was one of the best parts because our church was privileged to sing "The National Anthem". I don't know about the others, but at first I was really nervous. I don't do well with singing in front of people so singing in front of an arena of people was kinda scary for me...But as a friend always tells me, "Just remember *who* you're singing it for. You're not singing for yourself, you're singing for God. For His Glory." So once I remembered that, the nerves went away and everything turned out well. :)

The day was splendid, and here are some pictures to prove it. Enjoy!

It was Anna's 24th birthday-so we decided to make the car fun for her. Happy Birthday, girly!

Us at Monical's Pizza with David in the front. He insisted on being in the picture, so, here ya go. :)

Anna, Megan, Lenna and I goofing off. Gotta love the shades!

The guys and their "friends". :)

I hadn't done a mirror picture in a while, so I thought I'd do one now. I think this one is one of my favorites. :)

*sisterhood*

The gang. :)

What the guys are doing in front of Claire's I have nooo idea.... ;)

Me and my girls. :)

It had *poured* the day of the baseball game. We were afraid it was going to be cancelled, but soon after we arrived at the field the sun popped out and the sky became clear. All that rained called for the staff to get out there and try to dry it up, so here they are.

Look! I see sun! The field is almost done!

The players warming up-go Peoria Chiefs!!

Discussing this and that...

While some intently watched the game....

...others got hugged by the mascot. ;)

The sky was quite pretty after the storm. :)

"He did it."

Me, Megan, and Anna became pretty close this trip. They are lots of fun and always makes me smile. I've known them for less than a year, but it seems like we've been friends forever. I love you two!

Play ball!!

Our crazy gang-thanks y'all for making it a night to remember! :)

A *very* happy Elisabeth. Can you tell? ;)

After the game we all went to Steak and Shake where we sat around talking and eating until around midnight. It was a great ending for a fabulous day. :)