Way too Long...

Ty's winning picture!

Okay, I know it has been way to long since I have updated this. It is funny, because I love to read other peoples blogs, but it is so hard to get mine updated! Lets see, I guess I will start with our summer. In June as most of you know Jon was in Turkey for 2 weeks. If you would like to read his tour journal go to the ministry section of our web page. The boys and I had a busy 2 weeks at home. We did swim lessons and VBS. The last week the boys had VBS at one church in the morning and then again at our church in the evening! We survived the long weeks without Daddy, and were glad to get him home again! After that we spent a weekend in Talladega, Alabama. Why you ask? Well we had a OM retreat. It was fun hanging out with people from OM and getting to know others better. This is something OM does every year. In July we spent a week on a vacation (just the 4 of us!). We drove up to Williamsburg, Virginia (about 8 or 9 hours). We spent 2 days exploring Colonial Williamsburg. It was loads of fun. This was my third time there, and I still loved it! We were there for the 4th of July. The firework show that night was incredible! Even Jon thought it was the best one he ever saw! From there we drove about another 2 hours to get to Washington DC. We spent another 2 days walking around visiting all the monuments and museums. It was fun showing it to the boys. They really enjoyed the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. We took 2 days to drive home. It was a great trip! We did miss getting to California this summer, but decided we really needed some time just the 4 of us and to explore the east coast while we are here! When we got home we had about a week to get ready for Jon's parents visit. They were here for 2 weeks. We had a great time with them. One of the weeks that they were here was a mission week for our church. We did lots of community work. Jon and his dad were able to work together, which I thought was great. As always, it was hard to say goodbye to them. It seems like such a long time in between visits with family.
The boys started school again the 2nd week of August. Ty is in 4th grade and Devon is in 2nd. They love school and were glad to get back. I was glad to get them back as well! :) They are both in Scouts again. This year Jon and I are leading the Wolf Den (Devon's group). Tomorrow night is our first meeting. Pray for us! Ty is also playing baseball for the fall. His first game is on Saturday. He has been practicing hard and is excited to play. There is a guy from our church named Kevin, who has been giving him batting lessons. I think it will really help Ty! Ty also won 3rd prize for his age group in a photo contest at the Tyrone Founders Day. We are proud of both of our boys!

As for Jon and I, life is good! Jon is getting ready for a trip out to New Mexico to do Crowns. I am trying to get my Southern Living at HOME business really going. We are taking the boys to Mississippi next month with our church to build a Katrina Relief House. I will update you on that later (how it went). We are happy and God is so good! Thank you for your prayers for our family!
Family picture in the World War II memorial, Washington DC



Devon and Ty had fun playing lawn games in Colonial Williamsburg!