More Outings...

 My little swimmers after their lollipop race. Maddie has been really enjoying swimming freestyle and breaststroke in the meets this summer.

 We took an outing to Occoquan this week. 

We ate lunch at the Secret Garden and walked the historic town.

 The girls have loved their slumber parties with Mimi! 

Can you guess the theme of Geneva's slumber party?

 Papa has been hard at work in the yard. Every morning he's gotten up and filled tons of trash bags with weeds. Thank you, Dad!

We found a fun foodie place in DC called Union Market. Great coffee, bagels, and fruit smoothies!

Fun Times with Papa and Mimi!

 We are so happy Papa and Mimi are here to visit! It has been 5 months since we've been together, so the girls were counting down the days for them to arrive. 

 Swimming!

 Birthday celebrations 

 Story time

 Joke books

 Trains

 Italian dinner out

Peterson's Ice Cream

So happy to be together!

Happy 9th Birthday, Maddie!

Maddie is maturing into a young lady that loves the Lord, asks great questions, values having quality time with those she loves. I'm praying for continued faith and trust in Jesus and that her life will give God glory! She brings Jesse and I so much joy! It's fun watching her care for her little sisters, swim, do gymnastics, soccer, and grow in her love for reading!

Ice cream from Peterson's!

 This is a very special birthday because we have Papa and Mimi here to celebrate! 

 Love this girl- she still collects her Beanie Boos!

  Happy Birthday to you...

Happy 4th!

This is our 5th July 4th in NOVA, and the first year we've gone into D.C. for the festivities! 

We had a fabulous day with the Archer family. Since Clint and Kim are staying there for the month, we had great parking and could walk to the parade on Constitution. 

It was a bit hot, but the kids loved the marching bands, floats and "real" horses!

Kim with the crew.

Notice the hat :)

When we got back to the house the kids cooled off with a water gun fight!

I love hearing these guys talk through theology together. They are such great friends, and what brings them together is their love for the Lord. 

The kids were called up to get their homemade ice cream of choice.

Get a scoop of this cuteness!

My loves.

Lovely friends- African, Australian, and American.

They were so happy to have glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces!

We had a great view of the fireworks that night!

We Love VBS at IBC!

Our Children's Ministry (KStation) puts on THE most amazing VBS! So many people in our church serve to make this week happen. It's exciting to see young and not so young :) serving together to share the gospel with these kids. So many from our church, other churches, and nearby neighborhoods come and hear the Word of God. The theme this year was "Under Construction" -Ephesians 2:10. The kids memorized this verse and learned how they were created to love God and obey Him. 

The music team, skit team, and teaching team was amazing.

 

I love the littles on the rope :)

  Nursery while mommies help out. 

The nursery workers are so great- they did all the activities for the little ones.

The kids rotated from teaching time, to crafts. Each child brought home a decorated toolbox filled with crafts that pointed them back to the lesson for the day (like a blueprint- the Bible is God's blueprint for my life).

 

Then they came to snacks where I helped out. Each snack also related back to the lesson for the day. And then they went to game time.

  Savannah loved being with her friends!

Maddie was with a great group of friends, too!   

 There's the skit crew- they are pretty "famous" around our house!

Thanks everyone who served and made VBS a memorable week!

Lunch at CFA with a few friends!