Our Howard competed on Thursday night in the muttin bustin finals as apart of the PRCA professional Rodeo against the top 5 boy finishers from Tuesday night's competition.
He has SO much fun and he did AMAZINGLY well!
He was the 2nd place finisher, and as soon as we saw him after the event, the first thing he said was,
"Why did that guy pull me off? I was robbed!"
We are so proud of him and loved cheering him on as a family.
We are home.
We have traveled 6 of the past 8 weeks.
Visited through 18 states.
Driven thousands of miles.
Seen family and friends.
Participated in a memorial service.
Attended a 90th birthday party.
Been to the following:
4 zoos
3 museums
4 days of Vacation Bible School
3 Gymnastics classes
5 Swimming Lessons
1 Noah's Ark
2 cousin slumber parties
1 Baby Dedication
1 Ferris Wheel
3 Carousels
1 Chuck Wagon Driven and Old West Show
The cherry on top of the summer was arriving home in time to attend the County Fair Family Rodeo Tuesday night where Howard competed in the Muttin Bustin competition (and took 2nd place) and earned the chance to ride again on Thursday night.
What a summer!
This is the look on my face when I have dropped off my four big kids somewhere (in this instance, children's church), and I am going somewhere with just my two little boys (Hunter and Brady), and someone tells me I have my hand's full.
Actually... they're pretty free at the moment.
You have no idea how full they can get.
L-R: Silas (4), Lee Lee (3), Scarlett (3), Mayah (6), Fridah (3), Tracey (7),
Hunter (1), Zivah (8), Sloan (1), Judah (5), Howard (5), Caroline (5),
Brady (7 weeks)
I'm not sure if you have heard this, but when we get together with big groups of family, every now and then someone will jokingly say, "Be careful what you're good at because then you'll be asked to do it again."
It's always said as a joke -- but my Hubby makes great brisket, and now he's consistently asked to make brisket. Mandy makes a really great salad -- and now she's always asked to make salad. I am always happy to have cousins join us for our adventures in St. Louis even if their parents are working... and now we consistently have extra children coming with us whenever possible for whatever we're doing. The "Be careful" is always said as a joke... but there is a LOT of truth to it.
Well... Aunt Sharon will not be asked to take our family picture with Great Grandpa again.
These words speak straight to my heart these days... because this is what I've been doing.
Happy Independence Day!
Thank you, God for the amazing blessings of living in a free country.
Unfortunately our wonderful vacation with family in Chelan and North Bend, had one pretty major dark cloud casting a shadow on our time together.
On the day we left Chelan and drove to North Bend we received the very sad news that my dad's older brother, my brother and my uncle passed away. He had been in declining health but no one anticipated his death would happen so soon. My parents actually had travel arrangements to go see him as soon as they left North Bend, and then they moved those travel plans up when he began to rapidly decline -- and then within an hour of their changing their flight to the next day they received word that my uncle died.
This was my father's only living siblings, and oldest living friend. The loss had (and still has) a very big impact on him.
In the hours and day following my uncle's death, we learned that my uncle's immediate family (his wife and children) had no plans for any memorial or funeral in the immediate future, which disappointed all of us.
So... after a little brainstorming and creativity, since my dad's family was all together spending time together, we decided to hold a memorial service for my uncle.
It was very heart-warming how my whole family came together to hold a very beautiful, intimate memorial service in 24 hours time. I gathered pictures, and organized the program. My mom and dad choose Bible verses and songs. My brother planned where on his property we should hold the service, and arranged the layout. His girlfriend printed out the pictures that I choose and created a beautiful prayer card and program for the service. My hubby arranged video cameras and amplification for the service. Our children memorized Bible verses to recite, and all the adults who had met my uncle wrote eulogies to share.
The result was an incredibly meaningful celebration of my uncle's life by his loving family, and it gave all of us some closure, and a place to take our fond memories of him.
My hubby is still compiling the video footage, but here are some pictures of the service:
After some great times at Lake Chelan, our family packed up and traveled three hours west to my brother's home in North Bend, WA where we sent another three days enjoying time together.
Here are some pictures from our family time in North Bend including time with my brothers' sons, my two nephews who are 15 and 11.
