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!

An early birthday

Andrew had an early birthday party last week. Due to lots of scheduling conflicts, we threw him a party before his actual birthday of June 6. We had five 11-12 year-old boys over plus Andrew and Matt. 7 boys for a sleepover. I thought it'd be crazy, but it went fairly smooth...surprisingly!

We started off with a water fight.

Then some pizza. Puberty hasn't hit yet for these guys, otherwise, I would have had to buy about 5 pizzas.

Of course we just had to play in the street. I had to be a part of that!

Every brought their DSi players. Who knew video games could be so social?

Andrew said his party was AWESOME! It doesn't hurt that the party was for him. :) But he was a great host.

Emery had a friend over too so she wouldn't feel so overwhelmed with boy stuff. Can you tell the difference between how girls and boys play?!

The girls had a good night too.

The beach

How can you not love the beach? Although I never spent a lot of time at the beach, I have fond memories of my early childhood living close to and visiting Santa Monica Beach. In HS and college, my friends and I would visit beaches at Cape Cod or in NH or RI over the summer. The beach was always a part of my life. The power of the waves, the beauty of the sunset, the fun of the sand all point to our glorious Creator. I'm glad the boys and girl enjoy the beach whenever we visit CA.

Ready, set...

Go! Our little gymnast can't stop doing cartwheels and other gymnastics exercises.

It must have been a wee bit cold for the boys at first.

Matt as usual, smiling away.

You just can't beat a nice day at the beach.

Re-living the wedding

Sandy's brother Sam and his new bride Charlotte had a reception in LA following their wedding in Seattle. Thankfully, we were available to attend both. It was fun to re-live the Seattle wedding and share it with family in LA.

Sandy has a very large extended family, and it's been a while since everyone was together, so the atmosphere was especially festive.

We got to see grandpa Myung - 4 generations in the room. Can you imagine what it was like in OT biblical times when there must have been like 15 generations alive together with people living for hundreds of years? Crazy!

Most of Sandy's cousins now have kids. It's history repeating itself. Doesn't Emery look thrilled here?! It was right before dinner, and she must have been hungry.

She's feeling better now!

The ladies had a fun time! We didn't get a pic with the two of them together, but do you notice the matching outfits between Sandy and Emz? Finally! Someone who likes matching with Sandy. Takes the pressure off me. :)