2011 in Pictures: June

I'm hopelessly behind on my blog, so let me just start at the beginning of the summer and see if I can share with you some highlights month-to-month.  It was a crazy-busy summer; we traveled a great deal and were booked nearly every weekend.  But we had a complete blast.

We started out June by hosting our friend Amy and her five kids at our just-opened-for-the-summer pool.  It was great fellowshipping with a friend we rarely get to see (she lives several hours away now), and to get to know her kids.  My best friend Sara came with her kids as well.

Then Katie had her last day of preschool for the year and had to say goodbye to two wonderful teachers as well as her friends.

That weekend we traveled to Danville, VA to celebrate my grandma's 85th birthday.  This time to honor Grandma doubled as a family reunion.  My grandma was one of 8 siblings, and so was my late grandfather, and even some of his family members came.  I hadn't even met some of them, and got quite teary when talking with his nephew, who talks just like my grandpa did.

My grandma now has a "sweetheart," Bill, who is wonderful and a true gift to her.  Here he meets my brother Jason.

 

 

 

 

On the way home, we stopped by Katie's good friend Elizabeth's birthday party:

That week our mentor couple, Dave and Gloria Farah, came to visit from their current home in Dallas.  They are so dear to us.  Katie refers to them as "Grandpa Dave and Grandma Gloria."  They even brought gifts for the kids.

The next day we hosted Katie's 4th birthday party on a riverfront.  She had a blast and was joined by many of her closest friends and their families.

Here's a video of Katie being sung to and then trying to blow out her candles:

That week we took my mom out for her birthday and I spent got a few cute videos of Joshua, the first of him showing off his new phrase, "Oh man!", and the next of him giggling at Mommy.

That weekend we used a GroupOn to go to a nearby petting zoo, where the kids got to pet several animals, feed goats, milk a cow, go on a hayride, and see animals that I wouldn't have expected to see at a local farm. 

 

   

 

 

Katie was selected to ring the bell to call the pigs, as you'll see from the video.

The next day I went to a Monkees concert with my high school BFF Abbie -- here are a few videos (the rest are on my YouTube page if you're so inclined to watch them):

Next up: DISNEY WORLD!! But we'll save that for another post.

The Great Eye Report

Today we took the kids for their eye checkups.  Katie has been seeing her eye doctor since she was five weeks old; Joshua has gotten periodic checkups since birth just to ensure that his sight is fine.

Both of them got great reports today.

Katie still has astigmatism in both eyes, and is nearsighted in her right eye.  But things are looking fine, and the doctor says that her eyes seem to be more similar in color than they were before (she has had different colored irises ever since the initial bleeding in her iris at 5 weeks).  Instead of every 6 months, we've now been cleared to wait a year to see the doctor again, unless we notice something else going on.

Joshua is apparently a bit farsighted in both eyes, and has a small astigmatism in both eyes, but not enough of either for further concern.  So the doctor says he shouldn't need to see Joshua again unless we or the pediatrician notice anything else going on.

So, great news!  I love reading the Bible story of the blind beggar to Katie and explaining how God has healed her eyes just like Jesus healed the beggar's eyes.  Praise God for his healing and grace to us!