Swiss Days

We are finally home for the summer!

After a few dizzying weeks on vacation, we are finally home for the rest of the summer! Hooray! We returned this weekend from family camp - the best week of the year according to our kids (and us). It is a week in Wisconsin with great friends where we play very hard each day and grow closer to the Lord. How cool is that! It is totally worth the 9 hour drive to: ski, wakeboard, catch a frog for the frog jumping contest, build a bird house, make candles, play ultimate frisbee, the amazing grace race, kayaking, build-a-boat in 20 minutes (it sunk), triathlon, swim the lake in the most miserable conditions ever, campfires and many other treats. The kids had a great time. Alex is now riding his bike without training wheels and participated in the kids duathlon. Tristan won the duathlon this year since his bike didn't break. Enjoy the pictures:

Our kids

Busy Summer

We have had an incredibly busy summer so far. This is the first morning Harry and I actually slept in (and school has been out for a month!)

Things to be thankful for :
Golf season is OVER.
The yearbook is done.
Harry's first summer class is finished.
My mom is doing well after surgery.
My grandma celebrated her 100th birthday.
The kids are all learning to swim.
Alex can now ride his bike.
We had a great week with my family at the cabins.
My niece is feeling great after emergency surgery (on the same day as my mom's)
Tristan loved Cub Scout camp.
Tristan placed 3rd at the Iron Kid Triathlon.
Alex had a great 7th birthday.
Lily had a great 5th birthday.
I've made 8 batches of strawberry, raspberry or mixed jam from my garden!

June's was a fun month, though, with more fun planned in July.

Things to be prayful for:
My mom was recently diagnosed with uterine cancer and had surgery 3 weeks ago. The results were mixed (surgery went well, the aggressive cancer cells had not spread but less aggressive ones had spread to a few lymph nodes). She will start chemotherapy and radiation soon so any prayers for her would be greatly appreciated.

Lyra's continued speech therapy. It is now looking likely she will need several surgeries in the next couple years to help her speech.

My shin splints! I am supposed to be training for a race and 2 weeks on new shoes left my lower legs in pain!

I'll try to post more pictures from this month later today.

Notice anything different?

Lily last weekend:

Lily this weekend:

Sure, her hair is a little crazy in the first picture but at least she has bangs! Last Saturday Lily discovered a scissors in my bathroom and decided the bangs just had to go. This is not her first attempt at cutting her own hair, it is her 3rd! The second attempt, only one month ago ended with a severe scolding and the punishment to cut off her "princess hair" if she tried it again.

Now, this is a pretty severe threat since it is Lily's dream to have long, flowing hair down to the floor. After this hair cut was discovered, Lily compliantly allowed me to cut her hair into a much shorter, more manageable hair cut. Lily rarely does anything compliantly (any chance for some drama works for her) so I knew that she knew that she was in serious trouble. But, it's only hair and it will grow back...as long as she leaves it alone! Now when Lily tells people that I cut her hair, I just smile and say, "Lily started it and I got to finish it". If anyone has any ideas for her bangs, let me know.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lyra!

This week we celebrated Lyra's third birthday! This was especially exciting as this was her first birthday that we celebrated as a family. She was delighted with the cake but especially the presents!

Lyra's 2nd birthday celebrated with her Chinese foster mom with China Care. You'd think she would look happier with a cake that is nearly as big as she is!

Lyra's first birthday celebrated with her foster mother, Ruth.

And a huge thanks to Ruth for the lovely book for Lyra. She received it on her birthday and took great pleasure in opening it and having it read to her.

Alex's writing

I am going to treat you to a couple samples of Alex's writing. He brings them home most nights from school and it's my nightly challenge to decipher these amazing tales from a kindergartner. You can try your skills at getting into the mind of a 6 year-old, too! I will type them exactly as written:

the lost leisrd

Hie im GieGo I whus lust born.
But when I whoK uP my Parens
whr gon. I lookt urawhnd
My ParenS whrnt thar. So I whent
to looking for them. U SnaK PoPt out of
Nohar I uy out the Get uwha Plan.
I Got uwha frum the SnaK.

How did you do? Did you catch the tragic beginning to the story? How about the exciting action and the amazing problem solving abilities of the main character? Or do you need a little help with the translation?

The Lost Lizard

Hi. I'm a Gecko. I was just born.
But when I woke up my parents
were gone! I looked around.
My parents weren't there. So I went
looking for them. A snake popped out of
nowhere! I used out the get-away plan!
I got away from the snake.

I definitely prefer Alex's version. Want to try again? Here's another favorite written a couple months after the leisrd story so it may be a little clearer:

I get wet in the ran.
ran is wotr that falls
from the claws. do you
want to here a funy
story yes. oun day
lo cus cam ove to my haws
we wint outsid we
thot is whus raning
but it whus halling
we ranto the tramplen.
wii fellt the hall we
ran rit insid. Sum times
hall looks like ran.
Ran helps pans gro.

Again, lots of excitement with a few educational points added. Need help with any of it? Here is goes:

I get wet in the rain.
Rain is water that falls
from the clouds. Do you
want to hear a funny
story? Yes! One day
Lucas came over to my house.
We went outside. We
thought is was raining
but it was hailing!
We ran to the trampoline.
We felt the hail. We
ran right inside. Sometimes
hail looks like rain.
Rain helps plants grow.

Hope you enjoyed this kindergarten challenge as much as I did!