Hope and Friend Vada in Matching Outfits

Here is another link to Tara Wilson's blog.  She posted pictures, and some funny comments, about the girls and their matching outfits.  Enjoy!

Family Camping at Whitman's (Thanks for the blog post, Tara)

I'm adding this link to the blog.  Tara is a friend of our family.  We spend oddles of time with them.  As I was so impressed with her blog entry, I'm linking it hear for you to read her blog.  Enjoy the pictures!

Mama playing trains in the fort

The perfect day. Mama. Fort. Trains. Enough said.

Double Ear Infection

This is what a girl with double ear infections looks like. Pretty obvious isn't it? It wasn't to us, either!

Fort Fridays

So I moved the fort to the three-seasons porch today. Kathee thinks I'm getting a bit over-the-top the last few weeks.

Here is a view of the porch prior to beginning Fort Friday

Stringing rope to assure proper roof strength

Stringing the rope to hold up the blankets

The blankets are mostly up.

A view from outside the house.

Gideon LOVES his forts.

And when they are on the porch, so do Mama and I.

D&D with Gideon

So this morning Hope has a doctor's appointment. So Gideon and I walked down to Dunkin Donuts for a donut. I love spending time with Gideon. I am willing to bet Gideon will blow our cover THE second he sees Kathee. I love my boy!

Geocaching with Gideon

I'm hooked on geocaching. Basically, geocaching is treasure hunting with a handheld GPS. There are over 1,500,000 caches worldwide, with one in at least every country of the world. I started doing it as an opportunity to get outside and spend time with my family. It has now blossomed into a ministry tool as I've taken multiple kids from the youth group. A few weeks ago I took my high school guys RIOT group caching.
Gideon enjoys treasure hunting with me and so today we made a quick stop on the way home from an errand to grab one (while Kathee and Hope stayed in the car).
To date I've found 80 caches, but more are on the way!

Here we found the geocache "Day Trippin."

For Gideon, finding what's inside the cache is the treasure.  For me, it's just finding the cache!

Gideon loves to play with the treasures we find inside the cache (the rule is to trade.  Putting in something and taking out something else of equal value).  Today he decided he wanted the dried-up Play-do that we promptly threw away because, "this one has salt all over it," whatever that meant!

Video

Fort Fridays, Part Deux

After I built the initial fort, I found two more blankets, so we added to it.  

This made it a two-level fort, as I again used the landing as part of the fort... with a window to boot.  He played in it for hours!  I love Fort Fridays.  Now I have to think about next Friday's fort.  I'm running out of space in the living room!

Fort Fridays, Part 1

So I pretty much rock at building forts

This one started in the closet...

And moved out until I ran out of sheets and folding chairs. 

Gideon again had his head lamp.

And as you can see, he loves this one!

Camping Trip Part 3

Back at the camp site packing up and getting ready to head home.

Solomon, 11 years old, did LOTS of this this weekend.  

Gideon and T helping each other get a drink of water from the well.

A closer view.

On the way home, we stopped in Iowa City to go to the mall to check out Scheel's, and outdoor sporting goods store, to look at camping supplies. 

Camping Trip Part 2

This morning the kids played with Violet and Oliver (from the campsite next to our's).  I loved this picture.  The kids pulled up chairs and sat like old people, just watching the world going by.  So cute.  

Gideon and T hiking today.  

Gideon and Melissa hiking today.

Kathee with Gideon and T geocaching.

Kepler Palisades State Park Camp Trip- September 9-10, 2011

Our family teams up with Nick and Melanie M (a fellow youth pastor in our area and his wife) and do some rocking camping trips.  This weekend, we went to Mt Vernon, Iowa, to camp.  Melanie's sister is a friend of Kathee's and mine from Bethel College days.  The two of them worked Bethel Catering together.  Melissa, husband Todd, and two boys live in Cedar Rapids/Marion, Iowa, so they joined us last night for our camping trip.  SO much fun to see them again (Kathee was in their wedding 10 years ago).  I did Nick and Melanie's pre-marital counseling and was involved in their wedding.  Such a small world, eh?  

Here Melissa is hanging out with Hope.  

Kathee feeding Hope.

A little Papa and daughter time.

Here two of the three boys are talking with the campground hostess.  

My newest hobby is geocaching, and here the boys are searching for it.  

The Kids are Growing Up

Our little baby boy is growing up into a little boy right before our eyes.  Time is flying, and we are loving every minute of it.

Our little baby girl is growing up, too.  She's now pulling herself to standing on things other than her crib.

Manlin and Hope

Manlin D is a young lady in our youth ministry who babysits for us.  Hope thinks she's pretty awesome!  We love having Manlin in our home!

Fort Fridays

Since Gideon asks me a lot about building him a fort, I have decided that Fridays are for building forts (as Fridays are my day off).  This one was AMAZING.  The kid had to have a head lamp on to see as it was so big and so dark.  My finest fort yet!

He seems to like it!

Gideon Helping "Willy" with the bathroom

We have been remodeling our bathroom.  Here, Matt Williams is getting ready to install the vanity and plumbing, with Gideon overseeing.  

Gideon has had a lot of opinions about how to do the remodeling (that is all nurture-- the opinions with everything part)!

Baby Girl

Church Picnic

Gideon on the water slide!

LOVED IT!

Chillin with Papa