Birthday girl...

Darling Anna,

You turned seven this year! I can't believe it, and yet in so many ways you are getting so beautifully mature.

You are compassionate to people and animals.

You stand up for people.

You are reading chapter books and loving it.

You still love animals so much, you run around pretending to be them!

You love your baby brother and sister, and us too :)

Jack delightedly shouts, "Annie, Annie!" when you get out of school every day.

You are learning how to work hard.

You remember everything!

You are Norah's best friend.

Your heart is tender, and you love the Lord.

You've been playing pretend "wedding" a lot lately.

You still are so excited about life!

We love you, darling girl.

You are special, and always will be

no matter how you change as you grow.

Anna had her friend Amira over for a birthday dinner

Craft time- thanks for all your help Mom!

Norah picked out this Beaver family just for you- all her own idea!

Extremely cool, real-looking animal from Aunt Jo Jo

Love from Nanna

Yay, Granddaddy and Karen!

Sweetness

Here is the reveal of your big present!

"It's a pet!!"

Happy Dance

Keira and Ashley :)

Thanks to all of the family members who contributed money to buy Anna's birds! She is loving being a pet owner.

Birthday Bash!!

Well, this year I turned 30...

Enough about that :) - for my present Lee gave me a weekend away with my beloved sister, Patty, in Chattanooga (halfway between our towns). It was Patty's birthday present from her hubby too, and a wonderful respite it was for both of us!!

Here are some shots from our blast of a weekend- we ate out, shopped, went to the movies, talked, laughed, stayed in a lovely hotel room and slept in!!

All of this made possible by our wonderful husbands and fabulous Gi Gai who took great care of the kiddos!

Oh, and when I got home all of the laundry had been done!! Thanks to my sweetie for that!

Destruction!

Here's a video of Norah and Jack playing at the house. Enjoy!

Destruction! from James Younger on Vimeo.

Bus Driver!!

Here's a video of Anna and Norah pushing Jackie around on his bus...

Beep, beep

Beep, beep, yeah!!

Bus Driver from James Younger on Vimeo.

Beatboxing

Sometimes, Jack just has to drop that beat:

Special visit...

A lot has been going on this past week.

Thanks to our wonderful Granddaddy and Karen (and Austin) watching our kiddos, Lee and I got to go to Chicago to visit our Mission USA missionaries and new brothers and sisters in Christ at "the bridge". It was such a special trip and chance for me, as a Mommy who is usually always doing Mommy things, to get a chance to bond with some of my favorite people in the world who went on the trip and to serve the Lord in a different way.

Then we came home to an Andrew Peterson concert benefitting Emily and Graham's upcoming adoption right here at our own church! As if that weren't enough, we got to hang out the next day with Patty, Patrick and their crew. We went to a splash park in K-town, here are a few pics of that and some other random summer moments.

Josiah doing a little dance :)

A little note Anna wrote and left out for us to find-

Jack's Favorite Game

Jack loves hiding in the laundry room and then reappearing to everyone's delight... especially his own.

Jack's Favorite Game from James Younger on Vimeo.