We Love VBS!!

The church around the corner had VBS last week. They had classes for both of my kids ages. We could walk there. It was from 8:45 - 12:00 - 5 days. It was free! Need I say more?

The girls had a blast. This is the first time (since they're five years apart) that they could both be a part of the same activity. It was so nice to hear them chatting about the songs and the people from camp together. I'm so thankful for this church and the impact they have in our town. So many kids from Emma's school attended their VBS - and they all brought more friends each day! When Lila found out on Thursday night that Friday was the last day, she cried sincere, sad tears! :( Thank you, corner church, for reaching out to my children and the kids of our community! Now we've opened the door to invite them all to our church for 5th grade camp in August, and youth group in the fall!

Abby, Emma, Shannon, and Maddy

Lila, Kate, and Megan

More of Emma's crew

15 Years of Wedded Bliss

Ryan and I celebrated our 15th anniversary last week. We actually got away without the kids for 24 whole hours! This is the first time we've ever gone away for an anniversary, and it was nice to just be a couple for a little while. We used one of Ryan's free hotel stays and went to Annapolis. What a cute town! Everyone we told that we were going there said, "Really? Annapolis? Why?". My answer was simply that I looked on a map to see where we had never been together that was within a 2 hour radius. It worked out great! The waterfront town was beautiful. We had drinks at a dockside restaurant, strolled the shops, and ended with an awesome dinner at a steakhouse.

I'm so thankful for the husband God gave me! We're also thankful for our family that is more than willing to take shifts in watching our kids!

At "Pusser's" for drinks

Our Happy Hour view

The town with the harbor at the end of the street

The happy couple - 15 years later!

Low-Key Celebration

Lila continues to recover nicely from her surgery. We've definitely had some ups and downs, but overall, she's doing great! Since most of her recovery took place over the long Fourth of July weekend, we didn't make any exciting plans.

Weekends without plans are a rare treat for us! The four of us enjoyed being home together and spent lots of time at Grammy's pool. Since our local fireworks were cancelled due to budget concerns, :( we had casual family BBQ's and watched the fireworks different neighbors were setting off.

Here's Lila - our pool-headed American Girl. For those of you who aren't aware of this tradition, Ryan is proudly wearing his Old Navy 2002 4th of July shirt. You can't tell in this picture, but he has used fabric paint each year to neatly cross out the previous year and add the current one. It's pretty much a collector's item now, and he brags about never giving Old Navy another $5 for a flag shirt.

The girls are waiting for the neighbors to do something cool, since we didn't have any cool fireworks of our own - only glow bracelets that Ryan threw up in the air to simulate fireworks. :)

Here we all are watching the faint spark of the neighbors' dwindling "firework flower".

Oooooh! Ahhhhh!

This neighbor had good ones!

Tonsil-Free!

They're gone! Lila no longer has tonsils or adenoids, and I couldn't be happier that it's all over!

She had the outpatient surgery this morning. We arrived at 5:45 am (pretty early after our late night galavanting with Miss Tessa!), and they wheeled her away from us at 7:00. By 8:00 we were in the recovery room with the "best patient ever". She didn't shed even one tear through the whole ordeal! She was nervous, but we prayed with her, and the "giggle juice" took the edge off before we had to leave her.

She woke up when we entered the room, greeted us with a huge smile, and said, "Mom, my throat doesn't even hurt!" She was overly pleasant and polite to everyone who checked on her, and Ryan and I were very proud of her. The staff all told us she should be the poster child for tonsillectomies. We saw and heard lots of kids not coping nearly as well. :( They sent us home around 10:00, and she's been resting and enjoying the spoiling ever since. Movies, visitors, milkshakes, presents - she thinks the surgery was worth it! Let's hope it stays that way! She's on tylenol with codeine and an antibiotic for now. We can't wait to see how the sleep apnea improves - she's sleeping quietly now. (If you know Lila, quietly sleeping is a rare thing!)

Thank you for covering our family with prayer! We truly felt His presence.

before...

after...

now...

Summer Begins

We have really kicked summer off with a bang! School ended for Emma just last Friday, and it seems like we've been non-stop ever since! I guess we'll settle down a bit now since Lila had her tonsils and adenoids out this morning. We'll have no choice but to take it easy for few days.

Here are a few photos of some recent happenings:

Emma's Piano Recital

A great visit with "old" friends....

...and our kids

4th Grade End of Year Party

Last Day of School Treat with Aunt Becs

(Lila made her the styrofoam ball necklace - just defending her fashion sense!)

OC with Miss Katie and co.:

Surfer Girl - Lila

Surfer Girl - Emma

My beautiful daughters

Baltimore with Miss Melynie and the girls:

Rainforest at the Aquarium

Inner Harbor

Dinner overlooking the harbor

LBI with Adam, Courtney, and Tessa:

Girls enjoying dinner together

You gotta love when Adam takes you to the rides! :)

Blonde curly-heads on the ferris wheel

So great to see friends that live far away but are always close to our hearts!