Super Summer Mash-Up

Josh has started coaching high school soccer all the way this week (their first game is today) and that makes me feel like the summer is really over.  The kids have settled back to life in school and now Josh has returned to his high school home away from home.

2011 has been a rough year (not just for my family, it seems to have been a trying year for a lot of people thus far) so it is nice to be able to sit back and remember some of the fabulous moments that speckle the year as well.  I have the greatest people in the world to spend my life with and good or bad that makes every day an incredible adventure. 

Me chowing down on chicken strips.  Don't you love those All-a-Dollar sun glasses?

Aubrey, Parker and Bryce loving life at Lagoon.

Even waiting in line can be fun with the right attitude.

This AWESOME bike showed up at an event Josh worked at Miller Motor Sports Park.  Can't you just see me cruising the neighborhood on that baby.  Don't you love it?  I love it!

Josh got to be a part of this sweet lady's baptism.

Isn't he adorable! (that was a rhetorical question....I think he's adorable)

G cannot be in a picture without making a face, here he is enjoying the beach at Mantua.

We forgot our swim wear but still had fun in the water.

Logan building stuff in the sand.

Aubrey ready for the first day of school (which started July 25).

Gavin developed a love for peeling skin this summer.  He was thrilled when anyone
got a sunburn or when his Dad's feet were peeling.  Strange (but adorable) duck.

We all had a wonderful summer together.  What a great way to spend life
(together I mean, not stuck in a cage).

Life is always loaded with struggles, that is just the way things are.  People always say that those trials are a way for God to show that he trusts us.  I believe that God cherishes each of us and gives us opportunities to grow and learn, but that doesn't mean I love to struggle.  Thankfully, God knows us well enough to give us what we need to help us through our problems.  Sometimes he boosts our strength so we can get through something or sometimes he sends us angels (usually in the form of other people).

Always, He litters our lives with spectacularly ordinary, but beautiful, moments that remind us of His love and devotion to us.  Through it all, His major work is to help us return home to Him, we just have to learn to love the ride.