Wrapping up the Summer

Hali and Abby all curled up for the fireworks show at "I love America 09".


Abby LOVES fireworks. Actually, we all love fireworks. Here Abby staked out her area and sank her mini flags all around.



This year we attended the "I love America" fest in Branson, MO. They had an Airshow, music, games and fireworks display. We didn't get home till after 2 AM but it was SO worth the experience.


A little friendly competition between siblings. Nick is still bandaged up. We got discharged the day before from the hospital. Nick was in because he contracted MRSA. Now THAT was an experience. We learned a lot at the hospital. The staff was wonderful and were always willing to explain this or that.

At last a pic of me and the kids. You know you will only see one of these when Dad has the camera. We spent half our day on the Midway.

Skydivers with the American flag. Every jumper had a bigger flag. I am not sure how many actually jumped but my guess is around 20 or so.

Agility at its best. Put Abby up against any boy her age and she will hold her own.

This is Hali and one of her Best friends Allie. They have been soccer playmates for years. I am also good friends with Allie's mom, Suzie. I sure wish they would homeschool!

One of the kid's favorite things to do is fish. Don't ask me why. We don't clean them or cook them. Its STRICTLY catch and release here!

And even Ms. HaliAnnah does her part. One of these days they will actually take the fish off the hook.

For many of the boys that my son's hang with I am simply "mom". This is true in the case of Shane~ Who has gladly been grafted into the family. Shane is a fellow home school football player. He is USUALLY game for anything we set on our agenda and loves to spend time in our house. Here these two are yelling "mom, take my picture".... It went on for hours... until the battery FINALLY died! Shane prefers NOT to come on days when we are learning Chemistry, Calculus, and Astronomy.

Mr. Nick is showing off those muscles he has been working on for years... Just don't get EITHER of the boys started on their "six pac or eight pac"....

One of our favorite summer time activities is swimming. It's great exercise and a lot of fun.

All play and no work? NO WAY! This summer while my new Niece Alley was visiting we worked on lapbooks!

We started with a Tree lapbook since Daddy own a Tree Service!

It's nice to take some time out for some double dating, don't you think? Our friends Pastor Devon and Jen were here visiting for a week from South Dakota. They used to live next door. We conned Nick and Aaron into watching all 7 of the smaller kids so we could go out for dinner!

Abby thinks she is Miss America~ And some day she just might be. If we can keep her out of the mud long enough.

Here is the clan. Its amazing that they were all still enough for a picture! This is my family and Jen's family. Lots of kids, huh?

Since Daddy own a tree service we take "tree swings" to a whole different level. One of the things the boys have been taught since they were young was to climb safely. They own their own climbing saddles and their own safety equipment. Here we are simply having fun. Abby told her dad that since the boys used to have two tire swings in the back yard, she HAD to have one in the front. Hali is shown here in the picture getting her shot at take off.

Hali is checking to make sure that she is geared up correctly.

Climbing saddle + Child= A really great time! Who said Recess was boring when your a homeschooler?

I wonder if I can include this as Phy Ed? Nick is pulling Micah on his first time ever in a tree swing.

Giving Micah instructions on how the saddle fits and which way it goes.

I am not sure which season we are the busiest. I tend to lean toward fall since we have an activity every night of the week, and both weekend days. However lazy summer days don't really exist either. It's so nice to take a look back at the last few months and know that we are really living life the the fullest! We are so blessed to be able to take part in activities with other people. We absolutely LOVE to have company~Love to share our home and Love to share our memories with others!