* Avery taught Ember to climb the bunkbed.
* Ember fell off the bunkbed, fracturing her wrist in two places, incurring the need for a splint that she expertly wriggled/gnawed her way out of daily.
* I visited two doctors to figure out what was wrong with me ... one bad, one great ... the great one discovered I had suffered through parvovirus/hand, foot, and mouth disease/fifth disease/slap-face disease, which in kids is pretty common, but in grownups can be really debilitating, causing arthritic symptoms and severe fatigue. Praise God I can pick up my kids and make it through a day without a nap these days!
* We spent every Wednesday for five weeks at Growing Smiles, our awesome pediatric dentists for 5 cavities, and one crown between the three girls. They love it there, and the staff knows us all by name. Yesterday we even played "Dr Henderson" by putting wet wipes over our mouths like their masks!
* Shelby, our newest, and oldest addition to the Rahija princess crew, moved back in with us. We are honored to be her family, and the girls adore their big sister!
* Mom and Dad Rahija both had major medical procedures over the course of two weeks, and all of us were home to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Parkway Baptist Church, which has been their church for almost as long. It was fun to reconnect with folks there, and see where the church has been and dream forward with them as well!
* Erin Elizabeth Rahija and Shelby Nicole Rahija made public professions of faith and were baptized in Clinton Lake. Both of their testimonies were precious and we all got to go into the water with them. I got to help Seth, our pastor, dip each of them. As a mom, it was pretty awesome to take part in this symbol of rebirth.
* Erin has had friends over from school, Avery has had friends over and been invited on lots of play dates with her little friend crew, and Ember is like the cheese in the farmer in the dell, and always stands alone at the door and yells for them to come back.
* While Erin stayed in Kansas for field day, and Shelby stayed to help her boyfriend's family move, the rest of us headed to Oklahoma to celebrate the wedding of our dear friends, Carl Kinzer and Arlene Blackburn. We also were so lucky to stay with Krista, who was so amazing to keep the little girls for some Aunt Krista time while David and I did wedding stuff. So fun for all of us - THANK YOU Krista!!!
* Lots more has happened, but those things stick out as "big" events.
As the Summer rapidly approaches (on the calendar, not so much in the weather!), we prepare to celebrate some more, with excitement and sadness ... We have a few more weddings coming up ... and lots of our friends are taking the next steps on their journeys and are moving ... We are excited for them, and mourn their leaving, as their absence will leave some big holes in our hearts. We say "See you later" to Stormy and Katherine and their boys, our neighbors and friends for the past two years, and Jimmie and Rachel and Ella, our friends and family for the past 5 years. We are proud of their accomplishments, and will miss them ever so much!
God continues to bless us, and we thank Him so much, for friendships, new relationships, new opportunities, healthy families, and just for loving us each day. What an honor and blessing to be in His care. That's it for now, friends!
Here's a few pictures from our day at Clinton Lake - thanks Lyse for taking these pictures and Mark for catching the last of the video!
