Summer Adventures

I'm not very good at blogging in the summer.  I'm just having too much fun gallivanting around with my family.  A major benefit of working as a teacher is the fact that Scott has the summer off!  A downside of working as a teacher is that Scott works another job in the summer to make more income for our family.  Have I mentioned how thankful I am that I married such a hard-working man?  Seriously.  He's amazing.  Scott leaves the house around 6:45am in the summers and get's home a little after noon.  He builds stonewalls all morning with two of his teacher-friends from school.  It's an awesome gig and we're really grateful for the extra work.  It's also pretty flexible, so we still have lots of time together as a family.  Here are just a few of the fun things we did the second half of June...I'm playing catch up here.  Bear with me!
Lots of concerts on the various local bandstands!

 Scott has been working many afternoons on finishing this never ending painting project!  We (He) are ALMOST done!  No more ugly green!

 I've been playing soccer twice a week and loving it!

 Goofy boys...

 Little hands...

 Micah's a little hesitant when it comes to tree climbing!

 Lots of playground time...

 We love these two buddies!

 We have been swimming almost every afternoon! 

 Eating some yummy treats at the local Farmer's Market

 We had fun visiting the old railroad station/historical society...

Sailing with Pop is always a blast!

 Camden's learning how to steer the boat!

 Brothers...

 Clara came to visit for ten days and we had such a blast with her.  Lots of cousin time!  (More pics of our time together in my next post!

 We've just loved watching this little girl grow big and strong.  She's such a sweetie!

 Kisses!

Let the adventures continue!

Our Christmas

What a wonderful whirlwind of a week we have had.  We've been back and forth between our two families houses, spending lots of time with parents and siblings, singing Christmas carols, eating good food and generally enjoying the season.  It really is the most wonderful time of the year.  Our kids have been pretty exhausted (we tried to have dinner with my family tonight and Micah cried the entire time only stopping to say, "suuuper tired" over and over again until Scott finally had to bring him home early).  It's been a full week, but we are so thankful to live near both of our families and to be able to enjoy this beautiful time together.  Here are some highlights of the last few days...
 My parents living room...

 Clara and Camden checking out the tree...

 Cousin love...

 Story time...

 Our annual Christmas Eve gathering with our dear friends, the McAllisters.  First time ever to be hosted at our house, but so glad we could all be together (including my Dad!) this year. 

 Camden knows most of The Night Before Christmas by heart already and had fun reading it to Micah in their Christmas jammies...

 Our little tree ready for Christmas morning...

 6:00am and we were ready to go!

 We had tons of brand new books to pass onto the boys thanks to the generosity of hand-me-downs from the family I used to babysit for in college.  They take very good care of us! 

 Ready for the snow!

 After an early morning at our house we headed over to the Allenby's for the rest of the morning.  We sure love our new little niece, Mylah...

 Micah and Pop...

 A new Mama and her baby... :)

 After nap time at our house, we went to my parents to spend some time with my side of the family. 

Camden showing my parents the adorable little trivet he made for them with his handprint on it...

 Camden was very excited to give Clara the little bracelet he made for her.  They are pretty cute together!

 Micah was very tired by the end of the night...poor little guy. 

 The next day we visited with both families again and made (and ate) cupcakes for Jesus' birthday (a tradition that our boys love to do!).  These guys are pretty adorable with little Mylah, and I'm so excited that my little girl will have a cousin just 4-5 months older than her!  YAY!

 Decorating cupcakes...

 Happy Birthday, Jesus!

 Merry Christmas, friends!