Week in the Cities

A Spark Cousin Wedding + Spark Family Reunion + Mission's Weekend at Wooddale Church on two sequential weekends...we decided to take some vacations days and just stay in the Cities in between. It was a 90+ degree week and the Sparks have a pool, so, WINNERS!!

Brett and Kirsten Spark are married! The boys asked to wear boy ties!!!! They were fascinated with watching the bride and LOVED getting down on the dance floor. What a fun night!

 This was a highlight...the boys did so well through the ceremony and being that it was an outdoor wedding, we gave the a little longer leesh:) 

The boys got some good bonding time with their Spark cousins the next day at the Spark Open Family Reunion! Ezra turned three in August and Isaac turned one in June.

We had a great week swimming, finding Pokemon, hanging out with Mimes and Gramps, and Steve and I did some triathlon training!

We took the boys to see Finding Dory! 

 Date Night! We went to a brewery, another restaurant for apps, and yet another for dinner! Then we walked around downtown Stillwater and visited the spot we got engaged.

 Shannon and the girls came to Stillwater and spent the night during the week. It was so fun to swim and play and visit with the Carroll cousins!

 Twinning 

 Papa and Nana watched the boys a couple of days while we had commitments at Wooddale Church for their missions weekend. We spoke to the 5-9th graders and had a booth on Saturday and Sunday. Nana and Papa took the boys to tour the new Viking Stadium! We were a bit jealous:)

JSSM:Road Trip Home + WI Dells

We broke up our trip home with a stop in the WI Dells. Tim's parents got a 1 bedroom spot at a resort through a time share presentation and generously booked us an extra room. It was nice to not have to do the trip all at once.

 Feels like we spend A LOT of time in this minivan! 

 We stopped the first day to see Tim's Uncle Rob. He set up a picnic for us at a park off the highway!

 We made it to Toledo, OH the first day. Love seeing how the boys sleep:)

 The Roorda's also stayed in Toledo so we had one last night to hang with our buds. 

 Day 2 miracle: 3 sleeping boys!!

 The resort was celebrating the 4th of July when we arrived so the boys joined in on the action! 

 Day 2 we spent a lot of hours at the pool and the boys got to tie dye shirts at the activity lodge. 

 Day 3 we went to the Circus Museum and saw tigers, elephants, and a great show! 

After some good rest and bonding time with Steve and Bev, we left and drove another 8 hours home. Our minivan now has 221,307 miles on it!

Boys Time Treasure Hunt

During one of the last weeks of Summer Mission, we had a women's night one night and then the men had a special night the following night. During women's night, the dad's had the boys and they went ALL OUT with a pirate treasure hunt.

It started with each family being given the following scroll:

Needless to say, our boys were REALLY EXCITED!

They all met up and were ready to go!

 They followed clue after clue which eventually led them to the beach...

 At the beach they had to dig for a treasure box! Inside were gold doubloons, treats, popcorn, and a pirate movie that they went home to watch!

What a night and fun memory for the boys!

Jersey Shore Summer Mission: Last Couple of Weeks

This post is going to be long but there are just so many highlights! We had THE. BEST. SUMMER. MISSION. EXPERIENCE!! We have just so much to thank the Lord for, big and small. From changed lives to ice cream cones. From incredible friends to sunsets. From opportunities to step out in faith and trust the Lord more, to good guacamole:) This summer exceeded our expectations in so many ways! Here are a couple more pics and memories from our summer...

Dunkin' Donut Saturdays with the Roordas!

 8 boys to play with

 An incredible staff team to work hard with and play with as well (here we are playing putt putt golf) 

 The ocean! I can't say enough about the ocean! 

 Killing the Giants week where our staff and students initiated almost 1300 spiritual conversations on the boardwalk! 29 placed their faith in Christ!

 The staff women! We got to live below all of the single girls and it was so fun to spend time with them. I got to train a girl as well. This was at a women's time that I spoke at.

 Staff day off at the waterpark!

We wrapped up our All for One week with a staff versus student softball game. It was so fun to play again and a bonus that we won!

 Our boys were able to be a part of some of the mission. Here they are helping with the International Dinner which was a learning experience to demonstrate the availability of the gospel around the world.

Ice cream!

 I just LOVE my family! So fun that we get to do together! This was at our final banquet.

 The 6 UND students that came with us this summer!

 These 3 students (Hannah, Per and Somer) watched out kids throughout the week so the moms could be a part of staff team meetings and sharing on the boardwalk. They were incredible with the boys and it was a blessing to be more hands on in ministry!

 Our whole group! Students, staff and kids. 

Sunsets on the bay!

 Weekly time with the leadership gals!

 Bonding with this sweet family!

And last but not least, sushi from Xinas and fish tacos from Surf Taco. MMM!