Fun With Dad

At Riverside Park... while mom was away.
Even Matsu had a playdate.

The Underground

Down in the tunnels of the subway you will find the wealthiest to the poorest. Often times in these city subways the downtrodden of the world find themselves there trying to get by day by day. Jesus speaks to us about, and models the behavior of interacting with our abandoned, sick, poor, and oppressed.

This past week I (Jodie) had the wonderful privilege of being a sponsor for our youth at camp. The focus of the week was how we should be seeking the "abandoned". I know that we have all had moments in our lives when we have felt like everyone in the world is against us, or days when we have felt like no one cared. I'm sure you can think through times in your life when you have felt abandoned or alone. The truth is that we are NEVER abandoned. God is available to us if we call on His name and trust in who He says He is...THOSE WHO KNOW YOUR NAME TRUST IN YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT ABANDONED THOSE WHO SEEK YOU, LORD.--PSALM9:10 (Lifeway devotional)

Meanwhile while I am enjoying the sun in the south. My most AMAZING husband took vacation so that I could minister to the teens for a week. The kids thoroughly enjoyed having him for five days to themselves. It was great bonding for them!

Back to the Basics

Jacob spent the past five mornings at a baseball camp put on by an orginization called the Sports Crusaders. Sports Crusaders is a faith ministry that uses sports as a way to tell people about Christ. The coaches of the camp(s) are college students who play a sport in college. It is awesome to see these young adult's hearts. They give up their summer to do camps without any pay...pretty cool!


These were all of the kids in the camp and the three coaches.


They ened up playing inside because of the rain, but they still had fun! Jake is playing the first base position.


To much suprise Jacob was one of two campers selected for the "Big Dog Award". He got a dog bone signed by the coaches. Matsu wants it real bad!!

Big Truck Night

Last night we went to an event in our town called "Big Truck Night". The public school system has many of the city vehicles brought to the event. There were fire trucks, an ambulance, tractors and a school bus to name a few. The kids were able to climb up in them and pretend they were driving. The evening was a lot of fun, especially because Grandpa and Grandma (Ben's parents) and cousins Addi and Logan came as well.

We Love Our Nana!!

We had such an enjoyable week with Nana (Jodie's mom) visiting from Texas. We kept very busy...we did some shopping, crafts, swimming at the pool, watched movies and lots and lots of playing...

We miss her very much, she brings so much joy into our lives when she is around.
These are a few pictures from our week together.

What a Guy!

Don't worry it is not real nail polish...

A Rainy Start to Summer Break

This week has been cloudy and rainy. The temperature is only in the 60s today. Not quite the the start of summer we were looking for. We have had to be a little creative in having summer fun. So we decided to get the tent out and have lunch in the "woods" (actually on our deck).