Weekend in Stillwater

My college teammates and suite-mates planned a reunion weekend in none other than Stillwater, MN! Tim decided to drive down with me so he could get some time with the family and some help with our boys.

We took the boys to Teddy Bear Park before my festivities began. The boys LOVE this place!

 My college roommate, Kami! 20 years later...still friends:)

 The 4 suite-mates. Oh my word, we had SO MUCH FUN! We needed to stop at Target and I was wearing this shirt. The girls saw it on the shelf and minutes later we were making a scene:)

 We spent most of the time walking around downtown Stillwater and trying out restaurants.

 Fun girls! We spent a good part of Saturday taking on dares and being ridiculous. I haven't laughed so hard in ages! 

 I love these girls!! 

 Tim and the boys got some good time with Mimi and Gramps as well as Mike, Sherah, Ezra and Isaac! The boys love their cousins!!

And to cap off the weekend, Shannon was competing in a half Ironman that just happened to be in...Stillwater!! What a blessing to be able to watch part of her race and cheer her on!

Back to School

It is so hard to believe that two of our boys are in school already. Carter started 1st grade this fall and Cooper started Kindergarten.

 Crosby wanted his picture by the sign as well:) 

 No fussing at all when I asked for pictures at their desks! 

 Cooper got a certificate for completing his first day of Kindergarten! He is still not so excited about school but doesn't fuss too much.

 Carter on the other hand was counting down the days of summer and couldn't wait to go back! He got a Viking Pride Award during the first week for working quiet and hard!

 I wasn't sure how Crosby would like be a part-time only child but HE HAS LOVED IT!!! He has helped me with the laundry and shopping. We've played lots of Legos, gone on bike rides, and had other friends over. He pretty much thinks it is amazing so far:)

August Fun!

 We have been taking classes all summer long to get certified to do foster care. Anna was our weekly sitter and the boys really enjoyed her. Love this picture that she captured of them! And the picture on the right is of Tim getting his finger prints done for our background checks!

 As I mentioned in a previous post, the boys have been saving their money for about 5 months now. They finally made what they needed to buy a huge Lego set! They had fun bringing all of their change and turning it into cash. And they had lots of fun for days building a mega Ninjago set:) 

 Date night pics around town! 

 "Hey Mom, if we do a good job in Target, can we do ninja training afterwards?"

 

 The boys loved their time at Vacation Bible School. Our church puts it on every summer and I was able to help this year in the Memory Verse classroom. 

 Fun in the rain!

 We spent a lot of time this summer playing kickball! 

 If you look closely you can see Carter and Cooper in both of these trees. They are climbing buddies lately! 

 I cannot even count the number of hours that are spent just like this: 3 boys sitting around a huge Lego pile! 

 Our dear friends, The Wurglers were in town for a week as they are back from East Asia on furlough. It was such a blessing to spend time as families, to watch the kids enjoy each other, and then to get sitters and go out on a double date!

 The boys have skyped a couple of times with their buddy, Titus, who lives in Arizona. They talk for about one minute and then just take turns showing each other their toys. It is amazing! 

 Papa made us all blowguns and we had a great time trying them out at the park. 

 I've been running a lot in the mornings along the Greenway and have so many pictures like this one. (Yes, I stop to capture the Lord's beauty!)

It's not all fun and games. The boys asked for a picture as they all dressed in red. BUT....they couldn't agree on who would get to stand in the middle. Drama!!!

UND is back in session. As I have mentioned, the boys LOVE being around the students. I brought them to the park last week and they watched the students doing some team building exercises. They were highly entertained!

Cru Leader's Retreat

We had our Cru Leader's Retreat at Turtle River State Park this year. It was a two night retreat but the park is close enough that the boys and I just popped over a couple of times to be with Tim and the students. If I haven't said it before, the boys LOVE being around college students! And our staff team! And they love the great outdoors. So this was a triple win for them:)

 We hiked around a bit while the students were in meetings. So much to explore! 

 Nature selfies with mom:)

 My big 1st grade stud! 

 These guys crack me up. They couldn't wait to show the students their outfits...sweat bands, super hero masks, hats. Classic Spark boys.

A hike with some students and staff to the river! I had the boys during all of the content time but Tim said it went really well. We have some great leader's going into this fall. Praise the Lord!!