Thankful List ~ July 2016

July Thankful List

To start off the month, we got to enjoy fireworks at Englewood Baptist Church.  This was a lot of fun since last year I was sick and we completely missed fireworks, meaning Elias didn’t get to experience the fun as a baby, AND because this was the first year none of the kids had a screaming meltdown!

We had a great time at the CBC Potluck and Corn-hole Tournament.  Josh and his partner even won!

Last year we also never made it to the beach.  This month we took a family beach day trip.  Everyone had fun.  The kids did good wading in the water.  We all got in together and got completely rocked by a huge wave.  After that, the kids were pretty much done.  It’s a good thing we left early because I was very sunburned!

Josh’s mom got very sick and was hospitalized so we all traveled to GA.  The kids and I already had a trip planned so we went down an entire week early.  Ms. Terry is recovering well.  She is still in rehab but we are thankful for the progress she has made.

The kids and I spent almost two weeks with family and friends in GA.  Some days were more difficult than others, especially since Josh was not with us for most of the trip, but on the whole we had a great time!

Addi is learning how to swim really well.  She not only can swim above water, but underwater too.  She is also having fun trying out handstands, underwater tea parties, twists, and more.  Josiah is becoming more bold.  He started jumping off the side and towards the end of the month I was able to get him to swim a few strokes underwater!  Eli thinks he can swim already.  Little man sticks his face in the water, jumps off the side, and kicks his little feet like a frog.  He wants to be in the water and tries to get me not to hold him.  The only thing that makes him mad is for me to try to put him in a float.

Josh and I had our 12^th Anniversary.  It fell during the time we were in GA so we didn’t get to celebrate until a couple weeks later when we went to see a movie.

Josh took the youth group to Passion Camp in Daytona, Florida.  It was exciting to hear from them as they came back.  It seems many of the youth are really on fire for the Lord.

This may seem small but it definitely falls under the category of a reason to be thankful and rejoicing:  Josiah got a hair cut without crying!  I was so proud.  Praise the Lord!

Eli starting to talk a lot more.  He repeats all sorts of things.   The two cutest things are when he sings the VBS Submerged song in the van and  when he naturally responds to us saying “thank you.”

Our family decided to have a summer missions focus this year.  We decided it was going to be James 1:27. "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."  We decided to make cards for the approximate 30 widows in our church.  The kids did a great job decorating the cards, writing out all the names and stuffing the envelopes.  Josh and I took the kids to visit a few of the women so that we could try to get to know them a little better and find ways to pray more specifically for them.  Addi and I also made pasta salad one night and we had plenty to pack up and take to a few of the ladies we had the pleasure to visit.  As far as considering orphans, we came up with two fundraisers we wanted to do for families we know who are adoption.  The first was a car wash in our neighborhood to raise money for a family in our church.  The kids had a great time and we raised more than I though we would.  The second fundraiser we will complete next month for some of our closest friends!