Beach Trip

I can't believe it has been almost a month already since we were swimming in the ocean, outdoor pool, lazy river, and kayaking on the intracoastal waterway with our extended family. Below are a few pictures of our time in North Myrtle Beach. This was our last vacation with our family before our big move.

Four generations: Me, Damaris, my mom, and my grandmother. Love these ladies and hope I am as active and thoughtful as they are when I am their age. 

Daddy and Mei Mei on a boat ride.

Mei Mei and Ezekiel. They really do love each other a lot.

Sweet Didi. He always has a great smile.

I don't think this picture needs a caption. It speaks for itself.

It only took Mei Mei four or five days to warm up to the water and waves.

Fun playing bocce ball with the cousins. This picture of them celebrating pretty much sums up the whole week. They had a great time playing together and always wanted to be doing what their cousins were doing. 

We really enjoyed our time with family during this week. God blessed us with amazing weather again this year. It was such a blessing to be able to spend time with my sis and her family, my parents, and grandparents before we leave.

Field Day

The kids finally finished school last week!!! I think Tim and I were happier than they were. Ezekiel was still doing homework the night before his last day of school. He had a ton of homework all year long.  Ezekiel and Damaris both worked really hard this year and learned so much. We are so proud of them and thankful that God has given them the grace to learn and be diligent in their studies. The last week of school was full of fun. Tim volunteered for field day and the kids were so happy to have him there. Ezekiel was so thoughtful to bring him water so he wouldn't get to hot while he was running one of the games. 

Before field day. I didn't get a picture afterwards but needless to say they were worn out and wet.

While the big kids had field day the little ones had their own. We rode bikes and cars, played on the swing set at our friends' house, and made up our own games.

Still more fun to be had once field day was over. The kids wanted to be sprayed with the water hose so Tim obliged.

Mei Mei kept wanting to put her "bathing soup" on as she calls it, but when Tim sprayed her with the water hose she got mad at him. She did not like it. Instead this is how she spent her time outside, eating grapes.

Have to remember those cute curls.

Moving Day

We may be back to the blogging world, not that we were ever really here that much anyway. But this is my attempt to help our family and friends, who are literally scattered all over the world, keep up with us. We too will be scattered around the world, moving to the "Island" in Asia in December. That's what Didi likes to call it.  He keeps asking when we are moving to that "Island." Moving day was crazy and sad to say the least. We are so thankful to God for 5 1/2 wonderful years of enjoying this great house in a great neighborhood with amazing neighbors. You know you are loved when your neighbors repeatedly threaten to take down your for sale sign. We already miss them even though it's only been a couple weeks. Tim has already dropped by for a visit with our 93 year old neighbor with whom he shares a love for gardening. Here are a couple pictures of moving day. 

The kiddos in the backyard being silly, so they won't be sad. We will miss everything about this backyard except the mosquitoes!

Thanking God for the good gift of this house for several years.

Everybody tackle daddy so we don't get sad! Of course no one ever really needs a reason to tackle daddy. He's fair game if he's anywhere close to the floor.

We do miss our home a lot but are so thankful for how the Lord has provided for us in so many ways already. We moved out of our home two weeks earlier than we thought and there has been a house ready for us to go to every single day. We are so thankful for our church family who has graciously opened their homes to us until we move in to our temporary housing here. 

Family Picture

Dietrich

That look- he is up to something, or in trouble. I'm sure his Nana is setting him straight here, or spoiling him :)

One of Didi's favorite sayings is "I a big boy..." and then proceeds to explain what he is doing that makes him a big boy. He is wearing his book bag like Ezekiel on Ezekiel's first day of school. He's a big boy like his big brother and soon he'll be a big brother too!

Love that smile. That's what he makes us do-smile. He is silly, sweet, and sometime mischievous.

Dino-man! Didi loves to play with little any kind of animals, cars, legos, anything he can carry around in his backpack or hands. 

Damaris

Strike a pose girl. Damaris wearing one of my dresses from when I was a little girl. She does love clothes, and shoes, and babies. She is definitely a girlie girl.

This girlie girl WILL get her hands dirty. Here she is doing what she loves to do most- helping. She always wants to help daddy in his garden, mommy in the kitchen, gaga clean out the car, etc. She loves to work. I hope she keeps that up.

Beautiful!!!!

I love this girl so much! She is such a joy and is growing up way too fast. I wish I could freeze time and keep her 4 for forever!

Taking care of baby. She loves to play babies and I love to play them with her. She will be a big help soon when our new baby comes. 

Ezekiel

Last day of Kindergarten with his WONDERFUL teacher. 

Four weeks of summer break were jam packed. A week with Gaga and Papa, a visit to see great-grandparents, two weeks of swimming lessons and a trip to the mountains. 

First day of first grade.

Doing what he loves to do most- playing legos and playmobile.