Minnesota

On our big road trip this summer, our three sons got to have sweet quality time together as brothers. I was struck by how I love spending time with all three of them together, even in the van for over 4,000 miles in 2.5 weeks!

Sam holds on for the ride while Micah plays ball with Chloe.

Micah is good at climbing and Charlie has the gift of making anything more fun. It was great to get to see Joey and him in their new home.

Camping with Papa was awesome! I love camping and so do our sons.

Paul rode his scooter and hid in the meadow.
Minnesota is beautiful. This scooter trip from our campsite and back ended up being 10 miles long!

This is probably my favorite picture of the summer because of how it captures a moment shared between Sam and Micah. The younger crawled across the tent to his big brother's bed to gently wake him and was received so warmly. I think that experience is worth any inconvenience of camping. (Notice, the sun was already up before they awoke! Hooray for trees in the east!)

One of the neatest gifts Harold has given me was this morning campfire enabling me to enjoy the majesty of God's creation with him and his grandsons.
It was awesome to have the big brother turtle come out of his shell over the summer. Since he wasn't exhausted from trying to please everyone at school, he was able to be as sweet as ever.
Sam is still holding on for the ride, you see. Observing his brothers was his primary occupation; who needs a zoo when you have Paul to watch?
Siblings are sweet at other stages of life, too. We had such a precious visit at Aunt Ruth and Uncle Mark's home that I am not shocked to have a picture of our whole family smiling! I was fascinated by getting to watch Ruth help her brother feel better through alternative medicine including acupuncture.

Paul understandably had a case of the giggles when we went inside a huge nest at the University of Minnesota's arboretum.

We couldn't very well put that many miles on the car without taking a picture of it. No, ours isn't the "green" car; it is the blue one.

The hardest part about leaving Minnesota to head further west was that we had to say "goodbye" to Papa. I'm sorry to say that this walking lesson didn't seem to catch for your youngest grandson, Harold. It doesn't take too much for Sam to feel proud of himself!

Sam turned ONE

One little pool for three fun cousins

Those same three cousins got to go to one big water park!

Sam's first birthday celebration included fun splashing with his whole family. It is hard to even reflect on this day, because Anthony lost the top layer of the cornea in both of his eyes and had limited vision for two weeks. The ophthalmologist thinks it is because Anthony, for the first time ever, wore contacts in heavily chlorinated water park water.

Sam got a nap with his friend Silas.

The precious one-year-old sleeps.

Joey chose to take his nap while Charlie tells Aunt Megan all about the slides and fun . . .

like this adventure!

Micah's universal sign of victory.

Our birthday boy also enjoyed going to hear music downtown

and playing with Joey and Grandma's kittens. Is it okay to have a blurry photo to portray constant motion of sweet, frizzy-headed boys?It looks like we caught two more sweet boys in the midst of Grandma's blueberry patch.

Blueberries for all! Micah can't decide if he wants to be a scientist or a berry farmer when he grows up. He's been pretty excited to realize how much science there is in farming.

CJ will make a great chef even before he grows up! By the way, mom, what am I going to do when I grow up?

Sam's blueberry birthday cake was fabulous!

This picture is hanging on my mom's fridge for good reason. He had this look that seemed to say to me, WOW, is getting to eat something that delicious while my family oohs and ahhs over me really part of life?

Playing at the Sherando Lake beach with my brother and our boys is a great part of life, too. The little bumps to the right of the castle are the blueberry bushes, of course!
Cousins swimming was one of the last remotely clear sights Anthony had for two weeks.
Father's Day was awful. After excruciating, writhing, brutal pain and blindness, Anthony went through a horrendous ordeal before receiving a few minutes of reprieve to be able to catch a glimpse of his sons on Father's day. Here is a picture that shows it is possible to have a picture in which it looks like everyone is doing just fine, but really they were feeling sad and scared. On the other hand, the boys were willing to care for Anthony during his weakness surprisingly well.

Even though Anthony is healed now, I am barely to the point where I can see what good God brought out of his eye ordeal. Not long ago, one of the boys was thankful that I don't need to lead dad to the bathroom anymore. Such things I take for granted. Anyhow, one benefit was that Joletta and Peggy were here to care for us on Sam's actual birthday.

Today someone asked Paul what kind of first birthday Sam had and Paul said, "It was a chocolate all over the face birthday."