Summer Pictures Part 3

Here are yet some more pictures of our family times this summer. This time it is from one of our trips to the zoo. We had a great time and the weather was actually not too hot that weekend. The pictures don't really need a caption so here we go.

A Couple of Monkeys, a HSM Cheerleader, and an Army Soldier

You might be wondering what in the world that blog title has to do with, well it is what my kiddos are going to be for Halloween this year. Yes, I have already purchased their Halloween costumes this year. You see I read a lot of blogs about couponing and money saving tips (my friend Melissa got me hooked), anyways I read a blog that featured a costume sight that offers 5 costumes under $5 dollars everyday. The costumes offered change every 24 hours. The first day I logged in they had 5 different star wars costumes, gag me (that is for the benefit of my sci-fi geek husband). Impatiently I waited for the next days wares and Jackpot! I was able to get all four of my kiddos costumes they loved for under five bucks apiece. Score one for mom!

Linda got a HSM cheerleading outfit that came with 29 pieces. It is actually from the Disney store. It has pom-poms, earrings, tattoos, megaphone, microphone, and more. Jamie has been fascinated by the military for months now. He even checks out books on the branches of the military from the library and brings them home to pour over. He loves seeing pictures of his Uncle Jeremiah in his uniforms. To honor this Jamie got Army fatigue coveralls. They look and feel like real fatigues complete with an US Army patch and an American Flag patch. Adorable, I can't wait to show his uncle the pictures.

Noah and Mina got Animal Planet monkey costumes. They are very plush costumes and are simply adorable. They are definitely going to be the cutest couple of monkeys I have ever seen. I can't wait to get pictures of all of them in their costumes. I am ending the blog with stock pictures of the costumes, these will have to hold you over until Halloween.

Summer Pictures Part 2

I am continuing in my promised picture series. Today is the rare set of photographs that have none of my children featured in them. Jake and I were given tickets to the Casting Crowns concert recently. For those of you who are regular readers, I have featured their songs in previous blogs. Their music really hits straight to my soul. Especially their song "Praise You In This Storm". A former coworker and dear friend remembered that I loved the band and sent us tickets in the mail with the instructions to have a date night with each other, we deserved it. Jake and I both did a little jig with joy. Jake had never been to a concert before and Casting Crowns is one of his favorite bands. The days seemed to creep by and finally the big day arrived. Jake and I could hardly contain ourselves. The show was amazing. Our seats were amazing, the whole night was amazing. We were only about six rows back from the stage on the side. I actually got to shake the drummers hand! The most amazing part was worshipping with 3,000 other believers. I have to say I cried a lot. The biggest tears came when I looked over during one of the songs and saw my husband on his knees, eyes closed and hands raised. I sank down and lifted my hands and praised God for bring that man into my life. He is an amazing man of God. He grows so much each week. Are there struggles sometimes for him? Sure, but I know he loves God with his whole heart and that spills over into his relationships with me and his children. The husband is supposed to be the spiritual leader of the house and Jake is all of that. The past several weeks he has been getting up at 5:30 on Fridays to go a men's Bible study, he gets us up for church, and reads a Bible story to his children at night before bed. I am so humbled by his service to his family.

Anyways,here are pictures of the night. They are not all the best pictures as it is hard to take shots with tears in your eyes, but the gist is there. If you have never seen this band in concert, I highly recommend that you do. A big thank you to Tommie Jean for the amazing life experiance.

Summer Pictures Part 1

I have hundreds of pictures that I have been meaning to post and I finally got around to uploading them. So the next few blogs are going to be a picture update of our summer.

Today's pictures start with Jamie and Linda's first day of school because there were only a couple of those pictures. Next are the ones I promised with Aunt Dianne and cousin's Zach visit. As you will see the kiddos had a great time playing together and were sad when they had to be seperated.It was a wild, loud, and crazy time and you know what, I loved every minute of it.