Living on the East Coast has increased our time spent with extended family. We’ve been able to have Josh’s family over twice. Both evenings we included some water activities for the kids.

We’ve seen my parents as we’ve traveled up North for services. They are very kind in letting us stay overnight to break up our driving.

Last week we were able to visit with my brother Dan and his wife Isabelle in Saratoga, NY. Dan & Isabelle treated us to a resort brunch, a steamboat ride on Lake George, and dinner downtown.

A few weeks ago we were able to get together with the Hanson family. Johanna and I became friends in 2004 and had a good many adventures before they moved to Boston. I had not seen Jo since our wedding. It was good to catch up face to face with Jo and be with their family. I’m thankful for the special friends God gives us.

We continue to enjoy getting together with friends and catching up on the past few years.

With our now very full schedule, it was a bit tricky to have my normal birthday celebration. So we’ve spread it out – ending a week ago Thursday with a meal made by Josh. I share a birthday with Dad Jensen, so on our birthday we celebrated together at his home. He turned 60 this year.

Three days later we had Mr. Moose over for dinner and had my cake for dessert. Josh made a delicious Brown Derby.

Last week Josh asked if I wanted my Josh-made birthday meal on Thursday. We fed and played with the kiddos and then had our meal after they went to bed – it’s my favorite way to “go out to eat.” Great food, great atmosphere, and happy children! I am blessed to have a sweet husband who took time amidst our busyness to make me a lovely meal and spend the evening with me.

We enjoyed our 4th year of participating in Chick-Fil-A’s Cow Appreciation Day. Isaiah was the only one who needed a new outfit – he’s a growing boy!

This is the first year we were able to celebrate with some cousins. The Erkens boys did a great job with their cow outfits.

We were also able to celebrate this year again with our friends Rene, Yani, and Amaris. They moved from Texas to South Carolina last summer, so we’re enjoying having our friends close by again!

We enjoyed our first week-long family vacation. We are so thankful to George and Nancy Corban who make Canaan Land available to ministry families. The week turned out to be very wet. We spent most of our time in our cabin during many downpours. We had lots of fun in our cabin playing hide-n-go seek, flashlight hide-n-go seek, Uno, Old Maid, tag, chase, having picnics, and making smores.

Tuesday afternoon it cleared up long enough for the camp train ride. Both kids enjoyed it, though Isaiah was a little nervous during the ride.

Friday afternoon we hiked down to School House Falls. Gummy Bears were are encouragement to make it all the way to the falls!

Since our cabin was farther away from the main camp campus, we were given a golf cart to travel around. The kids enjoyed riding around campus. We also enjoyed boating and playing in Noah’s Ark playground.

Josh and I had our 5th anniversary meal while at Canaan. Josh made a delicious meal and we enjoyed a quiet evening together. We’re thankful for the time we were able to spend as a family after the very busy months we had before. I’m especially enjoyed having lots of family time without any other pressures.

Isaiah took his first steps on June 24th. We were outside playing with chalk and he picked up some chalk and started walking away. For the next few weeks he preferred crawling, but last week he gave up crawling. We now have a walking and running little man in our home.

Becca and Isaiah enjoy playing our piano. One day when Becca was playing, Josh and I started dancing. Isaiah got really jealous because he wanted to dance with Mommy.

Isaiah participated in his first finger painting session – I believe the pictures prove it was quite a success!

My good friend Steffanie Arnold came for a visit. I enjoyed catching up with her and reliving some of our childhood memories!

Isaiah continues to be a happy little boy. He loves chasing Becca around our new home. He loves to eat and sleep and play. We’re so thankful for our boy.