Summer basketball

We decided to put the boys in summer basketball this year. This is Matt's first time playing basketball.

He's all ready to get in the game. This league requires the kids to wear mouth guards.

Matt is still trying to figure out how the game works. But he's doing great so far.

I love Matt's tenacity. He always does his best and goes after it even when he's blocked.

Andrew's the old pro, almost literally. He looks to be the oldest and tallest kid on his team, maybe all the teams. He's played in leagues for years now, and he knows how it works. That last sentence is so weird in describing my just turned 11 year-old.

He's using his height to his advantage and was a monster inside. I think he had about 10 blocks like this.

While he had a bunch of lay-ups like this, I think he scored about 28 points, I was more proud of him for trying to include his teammates and trying to help them score. He did a great job showing some humility and teamwork.

Promotions

This week, the boys and girl got promoted!...to new chores. Actually, they are very excited about it. I have been working hard to train these boys to be young men who like to work hard. So far so good.

Matt started loading the dishwasher. So far he's stoked about the new responsibility.

He's very focused and very diligent about it.

Andrew is washing pots and pans and whatever else doesn't go in the dishwasher. He too loves his new job, but for a far different motivation. He's happy he doesn't have to load the dishwasher any more. We'll keep working on that one...

Mount Rushmore & Crazy Horse

For the first time in our lives, we went to South Dakota. I was surprised at how beautiful it was. I think we went at the one of the best times of year in June, but the rolling hills, the beautiful green grass, the forests and the mountains all made the Badlands and the Black Hills absolutely stunning. I highly recommend a visit if you've never been there.

Mount Rushmore was super cool. We all really loved it including the boys and girl.

They had a nice hiking trail which brought you right under the Presidents.

They also had a nice walkway leading up to Mount Rushmore, very Presidential. I think one of the strongest reasons why Emery liked Mount Rushmore is sitting in her hand, ice cream. If you ever want your kids to love history, buy them ice cream at every monument.

We also went to see the Crazy Horse Monument. We had never really heard of that until we got there, but it was also pretty impressive. The statue to the left is what the monument in the background is supposed to look like one day...I think it might get there in about 2113 at the rate they're going unfortunately.

They started in 1948 and haven't gotten too far. This is how it's supposed to look someday.

It is ginormous and privately funded though. I think they said Mount Rushmore can fit in just the head of Crazy Horse.

The 3rd leg of our trip was some great family time. We enjoyed some history and God's creation too.

Welcome back!

Last week, Sandy went on a girls trip to Seattle while I took care of the boys and girl. I'm glad she went and had fun. But it is GOOD to have her home!

We all missed her, but I think the girl missed her especially.

While we sweated it out in 90+ temps in NM, Sandy enjoyed some brisk and beautiful days by the ocean. Thankfully, she caught 1 of the 5 sunny days Seattle has all year.

And she got to hang with Cancun and Charlotte Imo. The boys and girl were very jealous.

Thanks Grace and Jean for taking good care of Sandy!

Nebraska

The second leg of our trip brought us to Nebraska to visit our good friends the Ericksons. This was our first visit to NE. 12 years ago Sandy and I drove through NE but that doesn't count. We found some interesting things in NE.

Little did we know that there are princess / fairy parties there. Emery really liked that with Janie.

We found out that the grass is greener there! Well, greener than NM. I think the grass is literally greener in every state. The boys had fun with Ty getting to play in grass for once. And no chiggers either!

The kids all had a blast though we missed Ashelyn and Emma.

Thanks Ericksons for letting us crash your place 3 days early! :) The fellowship was sweet and very encouraging. May God bless your faithful ministry at Highland Park.

Toothless

During the last couple of weeks, Emery decided to lose not 1 but 2 of her top teeth.

It was a lot of drama, but it was worth it...I think.

Road Trip

After 8 states, almost 3,000 miles, tons of time with precious friends in Christ, a lot of coffee and some great family memories, we made it back to ABQ! We were in NM, OK, TX, KS, NE, SD, WY and CO.

It was a ton of fun doing 3 things we love - spending time with friends, going to new places (Mt Rushmore and Estes Park - for the rest of the family) and having family time. The first part of our trip was VBS at our old church in KS - FHCC.

Matt was finally reunited with his long last pal Nate. They stayed like this just about every night.

But Matt bonded with his other buds too with plenty of bro time.

Matt makes friends very easily. He's good like that.

Emery had her girl time.

And more girl time.

And I can't leave out Andrew with some of his buds.

In looking back, I am amazed that the boys and girl have so many friends. No wonder they miss KS so much! Even though they haven't seen most of their friends in 2 years, they picked up right where they left off. And so did we. It was sweet fellowship - talking, being encouraged, catching up, sharing our joys and sorrows with brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thank you Marshalls for hosting us and letting the Lee clan invade for a week. It was so great to spend time together and to meet baby Chloe!