A day at the lake.

We just love the lake.



So fun to splash and play!

Especially when it is in our own backyard!!

Micah just had to dive in.  The boys headed for the mud!

 

You stinkers!  We sure miss our Jo Kay today!  They are getting lots of rain at church camp too I hear.

What is it with kids and puddles?

  I remember the anticipation of going outside after a rain.  The sweet dampness of the air and the heat from the concrete penetrating the cool of the water.  The thrill of watching the water rush down the curb.  It was the closest thing to a stream we desert, city-kids had.  We would gather up things to float downstream.  Our wrinkled fingers crafted boats from trash and sticks. Gritty feet would seek out any mud we could squish between our toes or if it was stiff enough, make into miniature pottery that we would dry in the approaching sun.  It was fabulous.     

This is amazing!  We have not had rain like this in years!  Our ground was desperate for it.  God is faithful when His children cry out.  We praise you Lord for the blessing of rain!

What a blessing it is!



A fun and wet blessing.

Progress takes forever!

We had so many plans when we moved into this house in October.  But 5 kids, a limited budget and well you know, life, can hamper productivity.  So we have chugged along slowly. 

 

Once we hit spring our house projects stopped.  We would much rather be outside!  Plus, we had a ton to do out there.  But we did manage to get some painting finished. 

 

 I was waiting until we got decorations hung and new curtains to do update pics.  No telling when that will happen so, here they are as they are!  Not all that impressive but at least it is progress.

 

 

 

Our "book nook" upstairs.  This is the before.

This is the color on the walls now.

The cutest little space!  Just needed to make it ours.

We have more work to do like build a stair rail and move a big reading chair in and find a nice rug to put down.  But for now.  I LOVE the color.  It was the color we had in our old dining room.  I had to bring it to the new house.

 

More painting!!!

Yes, son.  More painting. This was the boys room before.  It was a disorganized mess in there.  Plus, the color was just not for me.  These are military dudes.  We had to man up the room.

For our manly men.  Military greenish-brown with cream trim and brown bed spreads. (One was missing, Go figure.)  Please try to envision each headboard painted in the same manly color.

Also try to imagine the antique maps hung on the walls and the old bolt-action rifle mounted over the door, oh and the missing bedspread in place.  It is a cozy place to be!  The three boys love it.

 This is the stairwell to the kids rooms before.

And after!  It is coming along.  Now that the weather is getting hotter, we will be inside and can get even more done!

Well it is supposed to get hotter but this week is just amazing!

Rain and temperatures in the 70's and 80's!  That does not happen here in July!  Praise God for His good gifts!

 

Miller family reunion.

My mother-in-law, Molly, has 3 sisters.  I have been in the family 15 years and had never met 2 of those sisters!  So it was a wonderful thing that we were able to get the sisters and their families all together in one place.  We decided on Red River, NM.

 

It was a great choice.  Molly found a huge house that was perfect for us.  It was close enough to town that we could walk everywhere.  And we got blessed with cool weather and rain!

 

It was so nice to get to meet the sisters.  It was fun to watch them together.  And of course we got to hear cousin stories like how Brandon used to shoot Sara with a BB gun.  Then there is every one's favorite (well, everyone except for Roman) about the time Roman got hot sauce in his eyes.

 

We sang together and ate (so well!) together.  It was a perfect weekend!

 

The view was ok.  ;)

 

Here are some of the new batch of cousins all cozied up.

Manda and Molly.

Uncle Galen trying to get a bit of quiet time.  FAT CHANCE!  HAHAHAAH!

Circle for singing!

It was such a nice house.

Cousin Brandon and Zaddok getting along well.

They really did.

And who would have thought that these kids would like poker so much?

Sweet babies in the rain.

These are Molly grandkids.  Notice the babies in the back with their hands in the air?  They were copying all of us who were trying to get Micah to look at the camera.  Hee hee.  They all look so sweet.  What is wrong with this picture.

That's more like it.

Grandmolly's legacy! 

The sisters!  Vera, Molly, Kay and Peggy.

That's more like it!

The original cousins!

My little family.

The other Mullins

Brandon and Peggy

All of the girls

All of the boys

Not sure what was going on here but I am pretty sure it was not Sara's idea.

Awwwww!  You know you kids love it!

Galen and our camera-shy Emma.

Molly and her girls.

Uncle Brad and Levi have a special bond.

Roman, Vera and Jackson



I though this was sweet of Addison and his daddy.

The Stokes



Mom and the kids.

Matt and his girlies.

 

 

It was really great to meet everyone and to get to know family.  It is amazing how there is a connection there without even having to try.  That is why I love family!

 

 

Now we have to figure out where we are going for the next one!!