JOHNS BROTHERS CONQUER MT. EVEREST!

Ok, not quite Mt. Everest, but perhaps someday?

We went out on a family date the other night to Dick's Sporting Goods. It may not sound like a fun time, but it was! First, we had to get new soccer cleats and then we were off to the climbing wall. Trevor had gone before with Grandpa, but this was Ryan's first time.

Here they are before their big climb.
Ryan getting hooked up and taking in the size of the wall.

I, being the scared, pessimistic mother was shocked at how well my baby did! Ryan started and kept climbing all the way to the top, where he pushed the little red button and the cuckoo clock went off - so the whole store could here that someone had made it to the top.

And here he is propelling down - I guess my baby is a big boy! He had such a great time!

T-Lou getting ready. Last time he only made it to the red shark, so he was determined to get past that this time. He is also pretty competitive - you know if there is a contest he wants to go last, to see how much he has to do to WIN! So, really his goal was the top, like big brother.

Here he is rounding the shark with little difficulty. Still going strong, he passes the shark and is inches from the bell, when . . . .

We hear his all so familiar ear piercing cry coming from the top of the mountain. We cheered and encouraged him, as did the rest of the crowd that had gathered to watch our tiny adventurer climbing. But, to no avail, he could not move an inch further. So, down he came.

Here he is at landing, doing his notorious eye rub - which always goes along with a cry!

He was so mad at himself he would not smile the rest of our time in Dick's. Here he is with his award stickers - we laughed at his placement of them on his shirt!

Well, we will go back again and I know that someday he will conquer that mountain! If any of you live near a Dick's Sporting Goods with a climbing wall. You have got to try it out! It is not that expensive and Tuesday is two for one climbing!

Morning, Partner!

Trevor has been coming down in the mornings dressed and ready for the day! Here is one of my favorites from the past week.

Not only does Trevor come downstairs dressed before breakfast, but he makes his bed, too!

It's So Sad To Say Goodbye. . .

To summer . . . we started school yesterday. It was a good day. I really felt the Lord's grace, as I sought to teach three and manage a very busy one year old. It took us a long time to finish. We started school at 8am and did not finish until 3:30. This morning they woke up excited for school to start - oh, what a joy to my heart!

And To Friends . . . our dear friends moved to MD so that their dad could attend the Pastors College. A couple days before they left, we had our last play date with them. Here are the boys enjoying a popsicle together. We miss you all SO MUCH! It seems strange to be doing school without you just around the corner to team up with for outings and field trips!

A Hot Summer Day at the Zoo

On Wednesday, we met some friends at the Zoo. I forgot my camera, so thanks to Jessica for these pictures! Where's Sophia?

Trevor pulled Nate and Anderson in Sophia's wagon almost the whole time!

Here are the boys in front of the bird display. This was taken shortly after we had watched the zookeeper feed the meerkats and the foxes. That was very cool - the boys really enjoyed that! The Zookeeper was so friendly and told us lots of fun facts about the animals.

We cut our trip short due to the heat. Instead of visiting the farm animals we let the boys play in the water near the entrance of the zoo. They loved it. Ryan's favorite was to sit on the spray and then when the other kids ran by he would move so the water would spray them!

We ended our day with a picnic at the park - it was so hot nobody had to change into dry clothes! We had lots of fun with our friends the M's, R's and S's!

Our little Wolverine

Here is Cai opening his birthday present from Gramma Dee Dee and Papa.

His very own Michigan Wolverines rocking chair!

This is his favorite way to rock!

Visiting the States?

A few weeks ago, Kris & I went out to dinner with our friends, Lake & Courtney. We went to their favorite Mexican restaurant. While we were there, we had LOTS of laughs and took a LOT of pictures, so our waiter asked us where we were from. He then followed his own question with, "Europe?" Oh, did we get a good laugh!

For those of you who know Kris sometimes has a difficult time being understood by his waiters/waitresses - this night was no exception - they brought him several different kinds of jalepenos and finally Kris just took the 3rd kind, not wanting to frustrate the waiter anymore!

Here we are at our table.

The reason for our many photos? A bet or should I say dare that Kris gave Lake. Kris told Lake he would give him $5 if he ate these two jalepenos, but he couldn't take a drink for 2 minutes. Lake, didn't even hesitate, he just accepted the challenge.

Here he is eating them.

Watching the clock.

Getting pretty hot!

Chugging his sweet tea!

Lake wins! (After all that he went through, Lake didn't want to take the $, but I told him he had to!) He's so sweet, he gave it to his wife.

Fun with Friends

The boys had their friends over on the spur of the moment a few weeks ago. We brought them home with us at 3:30 and they stayed til 8:30. They were all super excited when the moms agreed to their request.

Here's T and Gord having a contest: "How long can you keep the weight above your head?"

The whole gang - they have been friends since birth, well since Ryan and Emma were 1. It is amazing to see them and their friendships grow through the years.

Cookie time.

The A-Bomb and the H-Bomb (Anderson and Henry)

After dinner and dessert we played Life. It was all of the kids first time playing and they loved it.

I saved my favorite picture for last: so precious!

For those of you who may not know this - these are the children of my dear friend, Joanna. Each of our children are the same age and except for Emma, we have all boys. It is so neat how the Lord has ordained our friendship. To have someone to walk through this season of life with is such a blessing. We did not have Peter that evening and so there aren't any pictures of Cai and his buddy this time!

Church Picnic

Every year our church has a picnic at the beginning of summer. We usually have it at Triple R Ranch, but due to rain it was pushed back a few weeks and held at our church. This picnic is always such a highlight for the kids - lots of games, snowcones, horserides and fun!

Our church also uses this picnic as a way to reach out to the community. The boys heard the pastors say, "Invite your friends to join us at the church picnic." Well, they did just that. Ryan and Trevor invited the boys that they always play with in our neighborhood. Cody and Marcus are a little bit older than Ryan, but they wanted to come. They came to church and then the picnic afterwards.

One of the boys' favorite games this year was jousting. Here is Ryan waiting in line with his friend Durant.

Ryan and Durant fighting.

Here's Trevor and his friend Gordon waiting in line.

And here they are putting on their gear.

Anderson enjoying another snowcone. (I think each of the boys had 3).

This year Anderson was the only one of our boys to ride the ponies. As you can see, he loved it!

Cai did really good, considering the fact that he didn't have a nap. I wish you could see his shirt better. Aunt Katie and Uncle Sean bought it for him for his birthday. It is a heart with "Mom" written in the center of it. It looks like a tattoo. So cute!