Picker's Post: Summer So Far

We've had a fun summer so far! Following Kennedy's birthday party, my mom and Dave came for her actually birthday. We had a fun time at Purina Dog Farms and the World Bird Sanctuary with them. They bought Kennedy a bike for her birthday and she has been having lots of fun with that. Her other favorite presents were a Barbie laptop, mp3 player, and new TwinkleToe tennis shoes from her Nana and Papa! Nana always comes through with cute shoes for the girls...if you know Jeremy's mom, you know why! :)

The following week was pretty uneventful, although the girls did help the youth group at a carwash to raise money for Joplin. Jeremy ended up taking a group down there to help with tornado cleanup. He said it was unbelievable all of the damage. While he was there, one of my very best friends in the whole world, Lindsay, came to visit for a few days. She has two daughters close in age to my girls. We had fun hanging out, swimming, slip-n-sliding, and going to the Magic House.

This week, Jeremy has been at church camp all week, so the kids and I made a spur of the moment trip to Peoria to stay with my mom and Dave for a few days. It ended up being perfect timing, as our old church was having a VBS that the girls attended. They had a great time in the "wild west" for a few evenings. Thanks Kristin and Aaron for doing such a great job!

While I was home, I got a very unexpected Facebook message from the mom of my boyfriend in high school. It just so happens that I may have given him my class ring in high school...against my parents wishes. It also turns out that he lost it when we were 16 or 17. He thought he lost it at church and we had dug through trash and vacuum cleaner bags looking for it. Well it turns out a few years ago they were laying sod in their yard and one of the workers found my ring! It's still in perfect condition too! So I met up with her and got it back, after having thought it was gone forever! So that was kind of crazy!

We have a pretty low key week coming up, followed by Jeremy leaving for a mission trip to Honduras on July 8. I really didn't want to stay home with the kids by myself that week, and was wanting to go visit my in-laws. However, I am too scared to drive all the way to Omaha by myself with 3 kids...especially with one that needs to eat every 3 hours. It also turns out one of the main roads I would need to take is flooded, meaning back roads are necessary. However, I have the most awesome mother-in-law in the world, and she is flying to St. Louis, hopping in the car with us, and helping me drive her back to Omaha! Then a week later, she is driving back to St. Louis with us, where the next day we will put her back on a plane to Omaha! She must really love us! :)

Here are a few pictures from our last few weeks.

Lindsay and me