Father's Day

I don't have photos of either of our dads, but they know we love them. :-) We went over Mom and Dad Arnold's for a BBQ and strawberry shortcake after church. It was low key and relaxing. Kari's story time before we ate was pretty cute.

First Days of Summer

Lots of kids around our house in these first few days of summer. I love it. I admit I didn't love it when Kari's melted crayon experiment with a balloon went wrong and made a huge mess in my kitchen...but I do love having everyone home and neighbors and friends around, too. I brought 8 kids to the school playground on Friday. There was a swing for each of them!

Last Day(s) of School

Happy summer! My last day of school pictures are not neat and tidy, but it feels appropriate for this season and our life these days. Yesterday was the last day for all but Kari. She’s done today! I forgot to take pictures in the morning yesterday and caught Grant and Aubrey when they got off the hot bus. Joel went to a friend’s house after school with some buddies, and he jumped in their pool with his clothes on, hence the dripping wet photo with bare feet.  (He’s grown 3 inches in the last 6 months!) I forgot to get Kari’s photo this morning (she wasn’t sad), and she’s going to a friend’s house to swim after finals and then to a tennis lesson, so yesterday’s quick-snapped photo with her to-be-burned stack of school work has to do. 

I picked up Russell and Ellery after school, and they are going to be spending the next two days at our house while Brian finishes up at work. Emily checked in today to Serenity Lane for rehab down in Eugene. This is such a long-awaited answer to prayer! It's just surreal. We've wanted and prayed for her to get help for so many years. Hopefully, this will get her on the road to recovery and restoration of relationships and health. 

End of School

The lunch countdown began the last week of school. We had concerts, field trips, assemblies, and field day. Joel and Kari had back-to-back nights of band concerts. Joel and the trombones had a special song that featured them. It was pretty fun. It also was very hot in that gym! The Barlow auditorium is being renovated, so we had to have our concert at West Orient where there is no air conditioning. We were all very warm by the end. I didn't take any photos of Kari at her band concert, but it was shorter and in the Reynold's auditorium which is air-conditioned. :-) Kari found out that night that she has been moved up to Symphonic Band, the highest level band at Barlow. Now she had to/gets to play at commencement next week. She knows a few other freshmen who got moved up, so at least she's not all alone with the upperclassmen.

Aubrey had a pretty fun last week of elementary school. Promotion, ”breakfast” and water park field trip, and running a station for field day with friends. On to middle school in the fall! 

Field day was a 94 degree day, and it was toasty! Aubrey had fun running her "Breezy Beach Beats" station with two friends. I hung out with them for most of the day, helped set it up and take it down. The bubble machine was a big hit! In the afternoon the middle schoolers were outside, too, and it was cute to see them all lined up at the fence watching the younger kids. Grant came over and said hi to Joel and his friends. I love that the two schools are just across a field from each other. 

Cstone Retreat and Baptism

Another great year with our church family. Jonathan Martin spoke on servant-leadership, and it was powerful. Joel and Aubrey were both baptized at the retreat, too. Grandpa Arnold baptized each of them, which was so special. We're so proud of the commitment they have made to Jesus and that they are choosing to grow and are maturing in their faith.