between here and there

I knew that the first part of our summer was booked pretty solid.  And as the summer continued to unfold, the rest of it got pretty booked up too!  But with such great things.  Here are bits of what we've been up to since our trip to the Lake:

*We got to spend the evening before leaving with Minnesota with PJ and Kersta.  So fabulous to see them and catch up.  Love this being back in the same country as my best friends thing!

*Elsa had her 18 month doctors appointment.  She's weighing in at a hefty 17 pounds.  I would like to remind you all that my son weighed 16 pounds when he was just 6 weeks old.

*Breck has been going to swimming lessons once a week.  HE LOVES IT.  And it has left me a little flabbergasted as to how this new love of the sport has come about.  Before this summer, any water in his face and the man would have a breakdown.  Ten minutes into his first swimming lesson and he is doing bobs in the water.  How does this happen!?!?!  

*We headed west for the weekend at the end of July.  Chris was asked to preach at a church in western Iowa so we enjoyed some time in Omaha as well with friends and family.  Had a great baby shower for my best friend, Erin on Saturday morning before heading to Iowa with Chris without our children :).  Grandma Kris is so fantastic.  The kids stayed the night with her while we got to explore the wonders of Shenandoah, just the 2 of us.

*Chris' Aunt Patti and Uncle Rick came to Chicago for the weekend and treated us to all kinds of meals out and a day at the zoo.

*NP replaced all the windows in our apartment.  It was kinda a mess to have to move everything around in our apartment so they could work, but so worth it!  And the weather has finally cooled down and it's been so nice to have the new windows wide open.

*Chris' Dad and his wife came for a night and brought us a new (to us) dinning room table!  Ours was quite literally on it's last leg.  (Wonder where that saying comes from?  Anyone know?)  Great to share meals with them without having to give warnings that any moment dinner might fall into their lap.  But we are so grateful to Will and Rachel for the donation of the table we had before.  It served us very well these last few months.

*Jessa and Erik were in town and Julia took a few days off for staycation with us.  The best.  The best. The best.

And just like that, school starts in less than a week!  Ah!

I was talking the other day with a friend about how funny this idea of summer is.  Most people have this expectation that it is somehow less busy or more relaxed and that certainly has not been the case, at least for our family.  It has been busy with such great, fun, life-giving people and events, but busy none the less.  My friend said that she believes the school year and summer to be just about the same on the busyness scale, only that the busy that happens with the school year comes with much more predictability.  And I think I agree with her.  

So the routine will hit again in another week.  But until then, we will soak up our last few days of this wonderful season.

chapter one...

Salutations!

Breck and I are reading our first chapter book together.

I have been waiting for this day for so long.  And it is so great.  There is something so glorious about getting to share treasures of your own childhood with your kids. 

Now that we have made it to the world of chapter book land, my list of books I want to read with him is very quickly growing.   It's so exciting.

But how is it possible that he is already this old?!?!?!

gettin' hitched!

I have not yet paused to scream yay from our blog about the fact that my sister and Kris are getting married!  

YAY!

Ah! So very exciting.  Pumped to have this man as an official part of our family.

We love you Amy and Kris and we can't wait to celebrate with you in October.

WOOOOOOOOO!

long ago and far away....

Once upon a time our best friends from Ecuador came to visit us.  

And it was the best week.

We adventured, talked, laughed, cooked, ate, napped, swam, dreamed, smiled, played, walked, reminisced and loved. 

It was so, so, great.

Beyond great.

It was kinda surreal to have them in our life here, like a dream. 

A dream we didn't want to end.

It's really hard having pieces of your heart scattered all around this globe.

But when some of the pieces come back together, even if for a brief moment, there is nothing better.

I don't know what the future holds for our family.

(Please ignore the fact that Breck is flipping you off in this photo)

If we will end up in ministry here in the States or if we will pack up our life and head back overseas.

But knowing that these three would be awaiting us in Ecuador, should we return, makes my heart sing. 

But either way, I know that these are lifelong friends.

And we are so grateful for that gift.

The week came and went much to quickly.

But we cherished every second of it.

We love you Henry, Olguita and Caleb!!

And we miss you terribly.

one year ago

Remembering...

catch up and ketchup

This summer has been so busy (in a good way) that I feel quite behind in the blogging world. So since we've been busy doing things in the real world that have not made it onto blog world, there may be quite a few posts that reflect events that have come and gone much earlier in our summer.  But in blog world, you can do that. 

Between having house guests and being out of town, we thankfully have also found moments to spend with our new friends right here at home.  Impromptu backyard BBQs have become a summer staple, a tradition that I hope continues. 

All of our children are extremely adorable, but I should really start taking some pictures of adults at our gatherings as well.