Click here to view our Family New Years Letter.

Merry Christmas! ~With Love from the Bush Family~

Thanksgiving with Papa Tim and Grandma Sandra. We include some very "Christmas" type activities in our celebration!

Uncle Josh and Aunt Lia!!!

Assorted Photos~November 2010

~My dad was kind enough to come over and put some outlets outside for us so we could hang icicle lights. I also caught him with two of the kids for a quick photo. Esther, our climber, loves getting into and out of the little chairs we have and she's so proud of herself! She also likes to stand on them but obeys when we tell her to sit. We made applesauce/cinnamon ornaments and I let the kids decorate them with glitter glue and "sparkles" I had in my craft drawer. It was one of those gorgeous days where it was almost 70 degrees so we did our messy craft outside! Tyler still loves trains so we went to Sebring to see the model railroad they have there. It was a big hit! Hopefully we can make this a tradition since it occurs in November- before the big holiday rush. The last photo is Tyler at Grinders on his Birthday for his special birthday dinner- Burger Bites with ketchup and pickles and smiles. ~

Halloween 2010 This year it turned out that there were no work parties and we completely missed the trick-or-treating in Alliance. We saw some information about a church near our house doing trunk or treat so we planned to go there. They had probably 25 vehicles, all decorated and we collected candy from each one and voted on our favorites. Tyler voted for the Cleveland Browns, Grace voted for the Barbies, and Esther (via Daddy and Mommy) voted for THE Ohio State Buckeyes. Inside they had photos, crafts and snacks. It was a wonderful time and even though it was cold, the kids loved it. Enjoy a few assorted pictures of the kids at home, and out.

Tyler is SIX!! It's hard to believe that is has already been six years since we became parents! Tyler is a wonderful boy who loves the Lord. I pray I can say that 12 and 30 years from now. He's learning to read and while he's not so fond of school (because of the writing), he does enjoy learning things and new experiences. He's very helpful, kind to his sisters and excellent at making up stories and playing pretend. Math, History and Science are his favorite subjects right now but he also loves listening to any stories we read. He continues to be very sweet and outgoing with both children and adults. He enjoys AWANA and his Sunday School class very much and loves to tell me stories of the funny things his friends say and do. I love that he has friends but still loves his sisters and enjoys playing with them and teaching them things. Not always things they should be learning, but he takes seriously his role of older brother and protector. He's got a temper and is into full time negotiating. Direct obedience is not his strong suit but he's learning. I often find myself in prayer confessing to the Lord and thanking him for sending me a real picture of (dis)obedience. Daily I remind Tyler that just as I have to obey the Lord without knowing why, he too must learn to obey without knowing why. I often want God to fill me in on his plans, and He rarely does. For my own good, he asks me to obey him, to do things I don't always want to do, and to trust him- the same things I ask of my children. Oh how parenting shows us where we need to grow!! Tyler is an amazing blessing and we thank the Lord daily for him! We are so blessed to be his parents and we pray that God gives us the strength we need (and the patience and consistancy) to prepare him for life, and help him grow in his faith.

Gary's Birthday

Gary's Birthday was October 26th. We had a wonderful dinner with his parents and he got his favorite birthday cake- pumpkin pie blizzard ice cream cake. It was a big hit with all the kids, however we still have some in the freezer.... that's one of those things you forget about I guess. On his actual birthday, a Tuesday, we headed out to Quaker Steak and Lube. All you can eat wing night has been a favorite of his for a very long time. I think he had a great time and the kids love "the race car place" too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Uncle Josh Bush!

Happy Birthday Grandma Sandra!

Happy Anniversary to the Kelloggs!!

Happy Birthday TYLER SCOTT! Mommy can't believe you are SIX already!!

Happy Birthday Gary!

This blog has missed many events but we've celebrated them all. God is so good! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Now it's time to decorate for Christmas!!

Saturday our sweet Esther Joy turned ONE!

~October 23, 2010~

She's an amazing blessing from the Lord and we are thankful every day for each of our children. When Tyler turned one we wanted an opportunity for family and friends, far and wide, to come celebrate with us (and in some cases meet him!). The tradition has continued with each child's first birthday. Saturday was no different. It struck this mother's heart this weekend that we have an amazing network of family and friends to love and support us and cover us in prayer. Our children are surrounded by Godly people who love them and can show them the Love of Christ and the blessing of living a life of faith, even through trials.

It meant the world to us, to have so many there, and so many more wishing they were there and thinking of us. Enjoy a few photos of our celebration!

Psalm 100

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

² Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

³ Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

It's 8:45 on a Monday night, all three children are in their beds (not asleep mind you, but in bed) and Gary is at this month's Elder's meeting at church. It's quiet. The only noise is the occasional car going down the road, the occasional dog bark from next door, and the ringing in my ears. I wonder if that is always there but I just don't usually hear it? Most nights it's much later before there is this much quiet. This is our "couple" time and by the time two children get up to go potty a few times waking the wee one or a nightmare wakes one and daddy goes to sleep it's nearing or past midnight. The quiet always comes, sometimes it's just more welcome than others.

I find it hard to believe it's October already. The apple calendar pieces are put away and out come the pumpkin ones. Out come the sweaters and bathrobes, slippers and jackets. Socks must be found and matched and put in appropriate drawers and it's high time Tyler learned to tie "real" shoes. We even turned on the heat. I wanted to wait till November 1. That's always my goal... and God tested that even in September! We spent that last week of really warm weather inside hte house bundled up fighting fevers. When Gary woke up Sunday morning and even he was cold, on the heat came. It's set really really low though. :)

We discovered this month that Esther is "a little bit" lactose intolerant. Soy milk has stopped her signs of illness and now she eats as much or more than her sister. I'm having a hard time deciding what to give her to eat because at this age the other two began a lot of cheese and yogurt. Even things like mac and cheese and most casserole's I'm avoiding for now. I never realized how much cream-of soup and cheese I used in my recipes! We see the Dr. this month and I can find out more, but for now i'm keeping her as dairy free as possible. She's a good eater though so fruits and veggies and the occasional pureed meat (yuk) is fine with her. She's a bread eater like me and can't get enough crackers or O's.

She's still sweet as can be. She's found her voice and does yell some but she responds well to direction and has learned not to touch most things. She checks to see if we are watching sometimes, and likes to throw her paci out of the bed... but when it does not always get returned to her, she will just lay down and go to sleep herself. When it does get returned, she rarely throws it out again. She's cruising on the furniture and can let go and stand for several seconds. She prefers to crawl and is getting faster and faster. She tries to pull herself up on everything so we've had to work on boundaries a bit more the past couple weeks-including the steps. She responds to "NO" really well and comes over to see you as if it say "I love you mommy, I just wanted to try!". She's loving and always happy and content. We can (and do!) take her everywhere. She either watches what is going on, or puts herself to sleep. This month, she will be ONE. I can hardly remember a year ago being pregnant. I can hardly remember a lot of things. Ha! She's my sweet angel and her name fits. Esther Joy. She's queen of the house always happy. She loves her brother and sister and they love her too. THey seem to have mixed emotions about her improving play abilities. They love that she can do things, but she doesn't just do what they want. While I enjoy that she cannot yet talk back, they seem to be frustrated by not knowing what she wants when she does make noises, or throw things, or crawl away. It's a good lesson in stopping and paying attention. It's kind of fun to teach Tyler now to pay attention and be respectful to the women in the house, since he's surrounded by 3 of them all day. No wonder he's desperate for Daddy time by 4! As I pray for his future, and his future spouse, I pray some of the things I am trying to teach him now about girls will stick. Stephanie always tells me about things Gary does "I raised him better than that" and I always reply "I know." :) The knowledge is there but the follow through is not always worth the work for men. As long as I can get the knowledge into Tyler i'll have fought a good battle. :)

Speaking of knowledge, these kids are sponges! They love learning and even on our bad and frustrating days, I love teaching them. Awana's has been wonderful and I"m glad we did not wait another year. Tyler seems to enjoy the challenge of memorizing and he's good at it. He loves the games they play and the extra physical activity is great for him. He is also getting to know other children and his sensitive heart comes out when we talk about it. I love that he talks to me. I dread the years ahead when he will not talk to me constantly about the things his friends say and do and what he thinks about it. He seems to remember these things most during Handwriting time when he is supposed to be sitting still, quiet, and focusing. That's my 5 year old BOY! His skills are improving in spite of the fact that he'd rather play all day than deal with books and papers. Once we get going he enjoys it and I try to break it up and offer plenty of breaks. I can see lots of places where he is reading more and more and sometimes he does not even realize it himself. Sometimes it's memorization, but he's learning. He still loves for me to read to him, and I like that. I truly hope his appreciation for literature will continue when he needs to be the one doing the reading.

Grace loves all things "school" and is constantly frustrated that I have to ask her to please go play so I can focus some of my time and attention on Tyler. She's just not ready for what he's learning, and while I allow her to listen to almost all of it, and I give her her own "work" to do, Tyler needs that individual attention. We could get through his lessons so much quicker each day if we could go at his pace. I"m very mindful of him getting bored so sometimes, the distraction of the little sisters needs to be removed. She's writing better and loves to color so that skill is improving as well. She's finally beginning to retain some of her knowledge of letters, the sounds they make, and math concepts. Her language skills and vocabulary are really improving and I'm so glad. She still confuses her words when she talks, but it's adorable and I know she'll get it. She says "anything" instead of "nothing" which can get quite confusing! She also can't open the gate when she's cleaning up toys because she's "full of hands". There was another one today but I can't remember it.

I found an apple orchard literally 3 miles from our house completely by accident. We live about 500 feet from a bar and Saturday, all of a sudden, a hot air balloon was blown up out in front. Tyler was obsessed with why it was there and what was going on and he wanted to see it. I told him that it was a place for grownups and that he could not go and it would not be an event for children. He could not understand why grown ups would want to have a party, with a balloon, and not include children. So finally, I wanted to know what it was too, so I told the two elder to get into the van and I'd drive them down the road so they could see the balloon (it was raining and I did NOT want to walk- it's a very busy road!). I drove a mile or so down the road before turning around just because they were tired and cranky from a day of shopping and no rest time and they wanted to "go for a ride". Turns out, the road I turned at had a sign for an apple orchard! Not too far down the road there it was! It was closed when we went by so Sunday I went back and got a half a bushel of apples for $9. I'm so excited. I've already made applesauce that was delicious, and I did not add anything but water. No sugar- nothing. I hope to find a recipe for a pie filling that I can make and freeze so later this winter I can just roll out crust, throw the filling in and bake. The people were so helpful to show me what kinds to get. It's fun to support local produce!

Gary's home so my random ramblings must end. If you are reading this, chances are very good that you are someone I love dearly and am praying for regularly. As Pastor Dan would say ~Blessings~

a reminder for heather:

for the times I need to just RELAX

Do good weeks always end in bad days? Friday's are rough here at the Bush house. We have started AWANA's on Wednesday nights. Tyler's class ends at "8:30" getting us out the door and home (thank goodness it's a 6 minute drive!) and to bed at 9:30. The kids bladder's get them up promptly at 7:14 every morning, even when they ought to sleep later. So Thursday gets a little rough and I've been putting Grace to bed earlier on that day for her nap. Then we have our Bible Study here (which I love and is going really well!) which ends at 8... but by the time we visit and chat it's usually 9:30 by the time everyone goes home and we get the kids into bed. So when 7:15 came this morning none of the 4 of us left at home were really "ready" to get up, but get up we did. Crabby crabby crabby! Myself included! When they are used to going to bed at 8 or 8:30 and they get two nights of 9:30 it's just rough! I'm beyond glad we home school so that we can start when they are ready and do our learning when they are at their best. I love that flexibility. I love that on days when they will lay in their beds and rest, we can get up at 8:14 instead of 7:14 and we are not late to get anyplace. I don't love screaming tantrums, spilled milk and multiple wardrobe changes, but it's also not the end of the world. I feel like it is in the moment, but when a child in tears asks to just cuddle on the couch with a book, we just throw the clothes and the towels in the washer and hope for the best. There's always half price day's at Goodwill. I'm so thankful to be able to give my kids the gift of my time, and my love and my attention. I appreciate the work Gary does more than he'll ever know. Friday's are a definite time of refocus around here! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some cuddling to do!

Rough Housing with daddy

AHHHHHH!!! with so much fun to be had who wants to sit down a write a blog?! Especially when you have no pictures to post!??!

First of a HUGE congratulations to our dear friends the Stauffers on the birth and adoption of their little guy Zack! We're so thrilled that God has blessed their family again! We love you guys!

Second, Happy Birthday to Tyler and Grace's dear friend Alceo! He's 5 now and starting Kindergarten. He's being home schooled and I will publicly say that having a friend who home schools along with you is wonderful! I hope we can encourage and motivate each other as the year continues.

Tyler has been "doing school" all summer with a few small breaks. Beginning August first we started trying to it at least 4 days per week for several hours (3-5) and I began documenting things more. We're working right now on the Sonlight Preschool curriculum which they love. It's heavy in Read Aloud which is perfect for Grace. I supplement quite a bit for Tyler and some for Grace. She's already showing improvement in many areas and Tyler is, as always, learning quickly. We've ordered the Sonlight K program and will be starting that later this month. There are TOO many online lesson plans for teachers and home schoolers that it's overwhelming! When I want to expand on something and do extra, I certainly can, but I"m glad to have a base curriculum to teach from.

The mighty Queen Esther is standing like a pro! She pulls herself up on everything she can and lets go now! I caught her standing a good foot away from the chair last night and then BAM! She just falls back down on her bottom. Sometimes she falls off balance and ends up laying down on her belly after rolling over. She just looks up, laughs, rolls back over and up she goes! She loves being read to and chasing her siblings and she's obsessed with the wireless mouse and keyboard. So much so that this has taken quite a lot of time and many more 'NO!'s to compose!

Last week we began hosing a Bible Study at our home. We're showing the video series "God Provides" and we really enjoyed our time last week. We truly hope to make more connections with the young couples and families in our church and we decided this was the best way. I love that we're not teaching- just hosting! :) It's good motivation to have the house picked up and swept once a week too.

The kids began the Awana's program at a local church last night. They both loved it and have talked about little else all day. Tyler has one boy in his class he knows from our home church and I'm sure he'll make more friends. I thought Grace might be leary, and she had a moment of uncertainty as I left, but when I went back to secretly check on her, she was fine! She too is very excited about it and glad to have her own verses she can learn.

We celebrated my birthday this week. Ah, 31 is not near as exciting as 30. I will say my 30th year was a big one- I had a baby, bought a house, moved, committed to home schooling, acquired TWO sisters-in-law and a niece! I think this year we'll avoid major life changes and just seek to enjoy life! :) We do love our lives and are so thankful for God's many blessings. I think I sound like a broken record saying that, but it's true. I don't take for granted Gary's job, our home, or our health. We are far from perfect and we have struggles, but we recognize the many ways God chooses to bless us even as he challenges and strengthens us.

We've been enjoying our garden with a few peppers and tomatoes here and there as well as our yard. I do hope we fence it in next year since we'll have three little ones running around like monkeys! I was disgusted with the fact that we went to the fair last week and froze. It's supposed to be HOT at the fair! Here it is September and we're digging out pants and slippers and blankets already! I hate being cold and often times I view Fall as Pre-Winter. I know it's most people's favorite time of year but I'd prefer if we went from 70's to snow on Christmas morning straight back to 70's. We've had a beautiful summer and I suppose it's time to move on.

If you aren't keeping up with the Neely's be sure you check out Jen's blog where she's continuing to be super woman and mom creating all sorts of beautiful things, loving on her newborn and homeschooling. Please also continue to pray for Brooke as she continues her journey and her mom chronicles it.

Have a blessed Thursday!

Tyler and Grace playing trucks.

July/August

Our trip to Amish country was awesome. We had a wonderful time together and it was the perfect trip. The place we stayed was amazing and it was nice to spoiled and pampered for a few days. It was a much needed (and enjoyed) break, but we were ready to get back to our angels! They had a wondeful time with their grandparents and I'm so tahnkful for all the help we had and for the relationships the kids have with their grandparents.

In early August we took a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to see Josh and Lia. It was a really fun time and we really enjoyed getting to see adn spend time with the newlyweds. The long weekend sped by way too quickly! We really did love the Charlotte area too. This was good news to the elder Bush's but we quickly assured them we'd be staying in Ohio, unless God does a huge work our lives- which we're always open to! :)

We also got to see Victoria twice already! Once the day after she was born, at the hospital, and last weekend at their house. It was so fun to see the house all put together and decorated (we'd not been their since moving day) and all the baby stuff out. I got to hold Victoria and feed her too! She's so sweet. The poor dear is colicy though so Shannon and Joshua and quite exuahsted Pray for them. I'm thankful that her crying is colic and not a serious illness. As difficult as colic is, I'm thankful its nothing worse. They are doing a fabulous job with her and it's so fun to see my brother be a dad!!

For the Alliance Carnation days we also attended the Parade, Days in the Park, and the Fireworks. Our church hands out water bottles at the parade so we went to help put labels on them. People in the church purchased several hundred of them but it didn't take us long to get them labeled and in coolers. Gary took Grace and Pops took Tyler while I sat with Esther. Grace didn't make it too far so at the first cooler refill she joined Esther and I roadside. By the time the parade started though, the boys got stuck on the other side of the road! The parade was about half over by the time they made their way back to our seating area. The parade was great and it was nice to have a little one on one time with the girls. I was able to talk to Grace and not have any inturuption. We have a very intelligent young man who likes to answer all questions heknows the answer to, or correct the questioner to change the question to his liking. Grace really enjoyed all the princess and queens- and there were a lot! We went home for naps and then headed back to the Park in the evening for food. The kids love sharing elephant ears with Pops, bless his heart for sharing with two kids who two fist their sweets! We ran to the car as the storm started and spent the rest of theeveing with the Bush's. The rain clouds cleared for a few hours allowing us to catch the fireworks show. We drove to a nearby parking lot and sat outside to watch. We dind't get to see the laser show I hear they had, but the kids don't know the difference and we didn't have to sit in traffic or near any smoking, or swearing or teenager hormones.

This past week we had an extra super special treat of the Pierre's coming to visit and even staying overnight!! The kids had SO much fun with their friends and I enjoyed the sweet fellowship of having Hannah here! I love staying home, but sometimes I do miss being social- Facebook just doesn't cut it usually! I think they had a good time and I hope we can do it again soon while the weather is still nice. We never did get out the pool or the slip and slide!

In Esther news, she's fabulous! She's pulling up to stand now and eating all sorts of things. She's singing and babbling but mostly a quiet observer. I shudder to think what's she's learning by observation, but her sweet spirit gives me hope!

We had our first "harvest" from the garden. If you can call it that. We've had the most of the one thing we don't eat! Somehow I ended up wiht Cowhorn Peppers which are hot. I'm giving them away which is fun. We've gotten 4 tomatoes and so far only Esther and I enjoy them. If we can get what we have to turn red we'll have enough for me to eat and maybe even make some sauce! Our green peppers are pretty tiny but they are growing! We're already talking about doubling the garden for next year and what additional plants we want to try to get. We simply started planning way too late.

Yesterday we went to the Cleveland Zoo and met Grandma Sandra there. We saw almost the whole zoo and the kids really enjoyed showing their favoirte parts to grandma. She read lots of signs to them and answered their questions so the teacher in me took a break to just make it a real family day. I think Grandma really enjoyed it too!
I was devistated to find, as we were leaving, that I left my camera in a bathroom when I took Grace potty. I was able to ask an employee for help and the head of lost and found drove me back up to the Northern Trek (of course I lost it as far as possible away from the main gate) to look for it, wiht no luck. I had over 600 pictures on the memory card. I'm praying someone will return it and we can get it back but I am not holding my breath. I'm so dissapointed in myself that I was too lazy to download those pictures in the past two months. Every picture from June 30 till now is gone except for the few I downloaded of our anniversary trip. Those are moments we'll never get back- including the events mentioned above. I know it's a stupid and small thing with no eternal implications, but the regret is still there... lazy and careless. *sigh*

We've also started school! With all the extra I have from my teaching days and fun things I want to do with them we're still working through our Preschool curriculum but we're not quite ready to purchase the Kindergarten one, so it'll all work out. Daddy's first day of school is quickly approaching so more and more staff is coming every day. His super crazy busy time is quickly turning into impossible and overwhelming- can't -please-everyone time. He lvoes what he does and is surrounded by fantastic people. Kids will be there after Labor Day and then the fun can really begin!!

I heard some exciting news from a dear friend this morning so I want to say to her again CONGRATULATIONS!!!! We love you and hope to see you soon!

PS: Look for rain soon! Last night I watered the garden and Gary and the kids just washed the car and the van!

Welcome to the World!!

We're so excited for our friends, the Neely's,
as they welcomed their newest blessing into their family!

Lila Claire Neely
born Friday, August 13, 2010 @ 5:07 PM.
She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and is 20 inches long.

Congratulations Jason, Jennifer, Aubrey, Jack, and Zeke!! We love you!

Mrs Neely is having her baby today!! We're very excited to see this amazing family grow again by two little feet!

July 28, 2010 at 9:30(ish) PM

we became Aunt and Uncle!!

Victoria Marie Torres

8 lbs and 21 inches

arrived perfectly healthy and gorgeous!

We went up the following evening to see her and she's just amazing! We're so blessed as a family! Shannon was up and around and looked fantastic. She had a wonderful labor and I'm so thankful. I prayed many many nights she's have a first delivery that was much much better than mine, and she did! It was so fun to get to meet her for the first time and see the love and excitement between my brother and his wife. We are so happy for them!

Today we celebrate 10 years of Marriage! We're incredibly blessed, and all the glory goes to God.

I John 4:7-19

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

¹³We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. ¹⁶And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. ¹⁷In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. ¹⁸There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹We love because he first loved us.

Leaving in the morning tomorrow for our anniversary trip to Amish Country! I'm very excited to get away and spend some (quiet) time together. I"m also nervous and sad about leaving the kids. I know it'll be good for us, and I need this break, but it's still scary to leave your babies!

Last week was a busy one! Saturday night we came home from the lake and got ready for Sunday. Sunday was Esther's baby dedication followed by the church picnic. Mom stayed to visit awhile and then I did some major trimming of all of our bushes. Monday Gary had church meetings, Tuesday was a run to Sam's Club and then my Bible Study. Wednesday, I woke up with poison ivy. :( That night we traveled to calling hours for the father of our friend Tom. This was a very emotional time for all of us. We took the kids which was difficult, but also a good learning opportunity for Tyler. He didn't ask many questions, and since he didn't know the gentleman, it was not something he dwelled on. It was good practice at traveling, sitting quietly, and then traveling home. They did a very good job of behaving and I was very proud of them all! I"m thankful they were so helpful to allow us to go and support Toma nd Connie and Mary Jane. We had a bit of car trouble, but arrived home safely thanks to a very generous good samaratin and his car expert friend! Thursday came with another evening meeting for Gary keeping him away from home. I"m drawing a blank on what we did Friday. Saturday morning Gary helped some friends of ours move (I stayed home with the kids) and then we tackled more yard work. All week I've worked on cleaning and other organization projects so I continued with that. And playing with the kids of course. :) Sunday we had church, then the planning meeting was here at our house. It was so fun! I love that the kids can go upstairs and I know they aren't breaking other people's things and we can eat and talk in relative peace. I think we're getting settled enough to finally start having people over regularly. :) That afternoon we napped and then headed over to the Haywood's for an Open House/Pool Party/Birthday party. THe kids had a blast in the pool with Pops and Daddy and playing with Marta of course. She and Tyler are still the best of friends! Caleb and Esther seem to have bonded as well. :) Monday we got our grocery shopping done and hair cuts, and last night we had the Haywoods/Miranda's over for dinner and for the kids to play. Us ladies went to Bible Study and Gary watched our three kids and Marta. From the sounds of it they were really good, and he had fun. I am really enjoying this study we are doing and I"m excited about it. {Annointed, Transformed, Redeemed: A Study of the Life of David}

Today I"m finishing up getting the house relatively "in order" for the grandparents to come stay with the kids while we go away. I need to pack too! :)

Josh and Lia's professional wedding pictures are up! Take some time to check them out, they are AMAZING! A day filled with that kind of love and fun (not to mention such a good looking couple and group of friends!) was sure to get great photos, but add in Hooman's amazing talent and these pix are stunning!!

~Josh and Lia Bush~

Relaxing @ the Lake

Ahhhh....

Sitting at my dad's with the windows open, kids are sleeping, listening to the waves and the Tribe (winning BTW). Good times. We got to have dinner with Dad, Uncle Joshua and Aunt Shannon. We had awesome Lake Erie Perch... too much! :) Dad and I thought we'd take the kids for a walk on the beach (his apartment is on the lake), by the time we came back both the kids had stripped down and were soaked completely and covered in sand. Baths, Ice Cream and Blues Clues later- sleep! Tomorrow we'll be here for the whole day and the kids are very excited. Grace didn't even put a toe in the water at the Ocean this year, but she's dying to get "all the way" into the lake. It should be a very fun, and exhausting day.

Sunday Esther will be dedicated to the Lord at church. I"m excited but it's not lost on me the seriousness of this. I know it's a formality, it's making public something we feel and commit to every day... it's just hard. You KNOW they belong in God's hands but in our humanness we just want to hang on and hold them close...keep them as our own. They aren't our own so there is really no "keeping"... I don't know how to put it, but it's emotional.

Speaking of emotion, geez this Lebron Circus has been a disaster. "It's not what you say, it's how you say it." You want to go, bye- you'd probably even have our blessing for the most part, but to make a spectacle of yourself and our city? No thanks. Then, bless his heart, Mr Gilbert tries to rally the troops not to leave with Bron by bashing him.... eh... not so classy either... pointed, and mostly true, but not so classy. That's my take. Everyone feels entitled to do what "makes them happy", fine. Try that. True happiness will not come with a ring- THAT I can guarantee. I tell Tyler all the time- Life is not about you, and it's not about what you want. I'm sad for Lebron- the guy needed a strong man in his life, or more strong men maybe, to tell him he's just a person. Yes he's talented, but he's a person. He's not a king, he's not a savior. Only ONE gets those titles.

On to better things. :) Last weekend, our family weekend was FABULOUS!!! We left Friday morning pretty early and headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo! It was amazing- they had all the animals the kids wanted to see this year that neither Akron, nor Cleveland, had. We took our time, saw the whole thing and skipped naps. I predicted we'd end up at the Aquarium at the hottest part of the day, and everyone else in the world would be there too b/c of the air. I was not wrong! It also happened to be nap time, and a holiday weekend where there were (I assume) more people than usual. It was still fun and we had a great time. We left and checked into our hotel. Yup! We got a hotel room! Thanks to Grandma Sandra's Christmas present of a zoo membership, what would have been a $50 admission was FREE!!! So we figured we'd check it out, and there are cheap rooms out there! It had a pool so after McDonalds in the room (We're so cool) we went swimming. Our little Grace girl who's afraid of water has now become a mermaid. She LOVED it and they both had to practically be dragged back to the room. Grace just sat contentedly in her seat and watched laughing and clapping. We had baths, watched a show and then put the kids to bed. Gary tried watching a little TV but the overtired little guys were very distracted, and he was exhausted, so he went to bed. I read for about a half hour, and then went to sleep too- the last time I looked at the clock it was 9:40. Ahhh... (The Tribe Wins!) Saturday we had breakfast at the hotel and checked out. Then we headed to Target to wander around a bit. We forgot the overtired kids would only want to look at toys, toys we were certainly not buying, so that was a bust. The Zoo had effectively advertised Eat N Park's 99cent kids meals so we headed there for lunch. It took just the right amount of time to get us to 1:00 so we could head to the Kelloggs. Faith's birthday party was a blast! Jackie always makes a big deal out of it and it's so fun. All of Faith's cousins were there (two were celebrating their birthdays as well) so the kids had a blast running around with other kids. They also loved the games and food and cake of course. We stayed and visited all the way till 10 for fireworks. The kids loved that too. Then we headed for home. The kids talked about the trip the ENTIRE way home which meant it was well past midnight before they went to bed/sleep. Sunday we had church. I was in nursery with the girls, and Gary volunteered in Tyler's class (they had 22 that week!) and then we headed to the Bush's for a 4th of July cookout with them and Pap. The kids enjoyed another full day outside, this time with squirt guns! We also had lot of Pap's onion bread. YUM-O! My favorite! The kids napped, for a very long time, so we decided to stay for fireworks in Alliance too. We found a spot in a parking lot on State Street and watched from there, getting home very late again. It was worth it!

We're very blessed to have so many wonderful opportunities to spend time as a family, with extended family and friends. We're enjoying our summer and pray you are too!