Nebraskan Cherry Pickers

We have been eating blueberries, blueberries all week - yum!  Blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes and just a healthy handful here and there.  Our U-Pick produce from Monday is down to just a couple cups now!  So we decided to cherry pick today to get another batch of fresh, yummy goodness in the house.  Last time the siblings banded together to wear their Alaskan shirts, which I thought was so cute.  This time I kind of encouraged them all to wear their Nebraskan attire (from Papa and Mama Ruth). :-)

Heading into the orchard.

Getting right down to business - picking and...

...taste testing!

Homemade donuts from the orchard's bakery to go with our sack lunch.

300 year old walnut tree!

Alaskan Blueberry Pickers

Today I took the kids blueberry picking for the first time (we were sad to leave daddy at home working, but hopefully we can do some more U-pick this summer all together).  Unrelated to blueberries, the kids had decided to wear the 1 shirt that they all have (Alaska shirts from my parents).  So with matching shirts on and buckets in hand, we drove 30 minutes south to berry pick!  We had a great time!!!

Heading into the blueberry patch!

Noah swiping blueberries from mommy's pail

Teamwork!

Noah eating blueberries...again

Our stash - just over 5lbs.

Walking back to the van.

Eating our sack lunch before we head home.

Independence Day 2014

Yesterday was fun, fun, fun.

"Gushing Smoke"

The only way to restrain 'em - buckled down! :-)

Pop-Its, Noahs' style - stepping on 'em

The stash

Tired baby E with g'ma

Tired baby Z with DeeDee and Joy

Chilling with Uncle Brad

Watching the parachute come down!

Papa handing out Pop-Its

They ran a good show :-)

Last hurrah before bedtime - a sparkler!

A good day to be 2

This week we celebrated Noah's 2nd birthday - what a big boy. :-)

Birthday pancakes

Big sister got a new seat!

Some neighborhood friends came over to play.

Walking them home.

Giving it a try - can't pedal, but fun to just sit. ;-)

Ice cream!

A package from afar (thanks Papa and Mama Sovilla)!!

Family Camp!!

In mid-May Scotty and I got to have a quick visit with some good ole college friends. Last time we saw them was at their wedding in 2005!! Since then they've had 4 kids and we've had 3, so needless to say a lot has happened in our lives. Shortly after they left, they called to invite us to Family Camp - the ministry they work at - as some last minute housing had just opened up. It sounded wonderful (we had hoped for some solid family time away this year).  Our schedule was clear, Scotty got approved for the time off from work, so on June 9th we headed a couple hours south for a much anticipated vacation!!!

The week ended up being better than we could've imagined.  A lovely room to stay in, lakefront access every afternoon, 3 delicious meals a day, and some amazing Bible teaching about God's character and Word.  They assigned us a "family assistant" who was there at our beck 'n call to help with the kids all week long; she was a sweetie and the kids loved her.  Wednesday night was a "Breakaway" event in which we had a 4hr date (couples' dinner in the lodge, and then the opportunity to go off campus if we pleased).  Here's the recap video for the week we were there (there are a few glimpses of us). ;-)

Our dear "Miss Moriah"

Joy just lived for beach time!!

Found a fishing spot for our "Breakaway" - peaceful :-)

Micah, far left in hoodie, loved jumping in on any camp activity!

Protesting going on a boat.

Beautiful!!

Lots of walking for his little legs, he did great!

A baptism took place for 7 people while there - very cool!!! PTL.

This was, hands down, amazing - such a refresher for us.  The kids got to rub shoulders with other kids all week long, Scotty got some solid time off of work (much needed break for him!), we got to enjoy Michigan beauty ("fun in the sun" after a long winter was wonderful), I took a sabbatical from cooking/cleaning :-) and the 5 of us just enjoyed being together.  This was indeed a gift from God through our friends.  

The campus is beautiful and the food was so, so delicious; the staff has such a beautiful culture of service.  If you're looking for an affordable, much needed break, consider Family Camp! Registration for 2015 is now open and filling up! http://lifeactioncamps.com/

Driver's Training

With the Midwest winter finally behind us we are outside a lot (whenever it's not raining, that is). ;-)  We have dusted off the good ole stash of toys, and some of our favorite wheeled items are under new ownership!  Joy's a Speedy Gonzalez on her trike, so for more of a challenge she's been practicing on Micah's old 2-wheeler with training wheels.

Micah still manages to squeeze into the Gator, but it is actually just the right size for the younger two now.

As for Micah, well, don't feel sorry for him.  Though he's had to say good-bye to the Gator, he recently received a Quad as an early birthday gift (from g'pa and g'ma Ruth), and he.is.loving.it.