July 2019

Cottage life

Lexi and Isaac watching the fireworks

Driving Aunt Beth's boat

Boat ride to the ferry for ice cream, Great Grandma came along

Blew a tire on our way home

Jee and Julia

Badlands

Peyto Lake

View of Jasper

Many rainy hikes. And Julia didn't want to be in this picture

This doesn't happen at home

Bull moose on the trail

Cliff jumping at Horseshoe Lake

-I went in for allergy shots and had an anaphylactic response to the dust mite shot. They had to give an epi pen, etc and call Nate to pick me up. Once home I broke out in full body hives, had to go to urgent care and get a steroid shot and take more oral steroids.  It was a scary experience and I am no longer doing the dust mite allergy shot, still doing the other 4 allergy shots.
-We went to the cottage on Lake Wisconsin. Grandpa/Grandma J and Steph/Ben were also there along with some extended family. It was a wonderful weekend. The weather was beautiful, kids swam non-stop, we did water sports, watched fireworks around the lake, and enjoyed time with family. On our way home the waverunner trailer tire blew out. Thankfully we were near Jee's family so they picked us up while Nate and the older boys fixed the tire.
-Julia spent a night with Jee's family in Indiana.
-Nate has been working on the kids bathroom. Took out the old vanity, the tile floor and tile on the walls. The bathroom is almost finished!
-Our family went to Glacier, Banff, and Jasper July 13-27. It was about 4,000 miles total and we pulled the pop up camper. We have a separate photo book for the trip. Many memories were made!

June 2019

Caleb, Gavin, Eli, Jacob, Nathan, Ashton

Heritage Camp

Parade of Nations

Dolphin and her counselors Scrappy, Lottie, and Dobbie

Bucket, Megalodon, Danger

Isaac, Luke, Levi, Isaac L., and Efeson

-We celebrated Caleb finishing 8th grade! We had a party with the families of his friends. The Melcher's hosted the party at their cottage on Lake MI.
-Nate was installed as an elder and will serve for 3 years.
-Caleb has a summer job- doing yard work for a couple from our church. He works 1-2 times/wk for about 2 hours each time. He is paid well and they are flexible as to when he works- a great first job.
-Caleb finished driver's training and now has his driver's permit.
-Lexi took swimming lessons for the first time and learned alot! It was an outdoor pool and the weather was chilly, thankfully the pool water was warmish. Stephen was supposed to take swimming lessons too, but came down with croup. In June. What?
-Julia attended Maranatha's Praise Days VBS and made/decorated a beautiful cake. Stephen wanted to attend and make the rocket ship, but croup.
-We celebrated Nate on Father's Day- made his favorite foods and kids wrote notes for him.
-Caleb went backpacking on Isle Royale for a week with 7 other boys and 2 men. We made a separate photo book of his trip, but the weather was great, he enjoyed backpacking and he had fun with friends. Unfortunately he and 2 other kids came down with the stomach flu on the drive back, so he spent the 10 hr van ride throwing up. Yuck. But he loved the trip!
-Julia, Stephen, Lexi and I attended Heritage Camp in Grand Rapids. It's a day camp for internationally adopted kids and their siblings. Julia was in Korea camp and the littles and I were in China Camp. Stephen thought camp was great. Lexi was a little wary, but still enjoyed the week.
-Isaac and Julia attended Camp Kesem for a week. This was Julia's first time sleeping away at camp. We were a little nervous sending them as we did not know a whole lot about the camp and staff, etc. And that it is a camp for kids whose parents have had cancer made Isaac a little unsure- like are we talking about cancer all the time? The kids had a blast at camp! The counselors were high energy and there were non-stop fun activities. Everyone at camp has a made up name. Isaac was Megalodon and Julia was Dolphin. Whenever a counselor called someone by the wrong name they had to eat a bite of baby food. Julia and Isaac both said they would enjoy going to Camp Kesem again.