First Day of School!

Brennan with his teacher Mrs. Bunch

Waking up has been the hardest part of the whole deal!!!

Maddie with her teacher Mrs. Anderson.

Well, the summer came and went...went too fast...but it was wonderful!  And so, we move to the first week of school.  Emotional for me as always.  I love to have all of the kids home, but it is also wonderful to see them confident to walk into new situations.  Maddie started second grade (so hard for me to believe) and my little man, Brennan, is now a kindergartner!  So, so hard to leave those babies, but I love both of their teachers and they have had an excellent first few days.  It is fun to have them at one school- they are finding a shared identity in it...and this week is has been cute to see them bond over 'school stuff'.  And, Macy is relishing in having all of the attention at home, although she does occasionally ask if we can go get Bren and Maddie.

Sweet Memories

We just got back to Austin after three weeks on the road.  It is great to be back home, but we had such a wonderful time connecting with ministry partners/friends I am sad to see the summer end.  We had some really special times with the kids.  It is great to expose them to Montana and all the things Mike did as a kid. We hiked, fished, slid down tons of water slides, picked huckleberries, swam in ice cold lakes, picked gallons of cherries, ate gallons of cherries, picked raspberries, made jelly, went to Mike's high school reunions, and spent time with people we dearly love.

Our first stop was in Lubbock with our dear friends the McAdens.  The kids had so much fun playing they could have stayed there the entire time!

After a 12 hour day of driving, when the entire family was about to meltdown, we hit traffic about 10 minutes from our hotel.  But before everyone fell apart, we looked out the window and saw this amazing double rainbow!  It was so fun to talk about God and his promises- it changed the mood in the car and we finished up the day on a great note!

My heart was filled up in Colorado spending lots of time with my dear friend Megan.  It was fun to see our kids play together and to have a chance to catch up on life face to face.

This is the amazing cabin we were blessed to stay in while in Montana.  Mike's friend Steve built it!  No phone, no TV, no Internet...it was heaven!  Such a special time as a family. It has become a place where our family has been able to make so many wonderful memories.

Beautiful MacDonald lake in Glacier National Park.

Brennan was in his element.  The little boy in him just came alive on this trip.  He is like his daddy...he has a love for the outdoors and adventure. 

We took the ski lift up Big Mountain in Whitefish and then hiked down.  It was so beautiful.

The weather was amazing, and the flowers were absolutely breathtaking.  I couldn't get enough of them.

Picking huckleberries.

Thankfully, this is the only bear we ran into this summer.

Mike made us huckleberry pancakes every morning!

Picking (and eating) Flathead Lake cherries.

A chilly swim in Flathead lake after picking cherries.

Spending time with wonderful friends while at Mike's reunion.