Welat and the Late Night Party

 Our little Welat, Leila's son, the baby we prayed for for many years had his 1st birthday! I made him a little race car cake!

 The party was held at the park, but didn't even start until 9 p.m.

 Oh, this culture and their late night adventures! I was ready for bed before the baby was!

 I love this family!

 The kids thoroughly enjoyed their late night escapade!

 It's amazing what a little grass and no sun will do! So much freedom and energy to run around!

 Zeri and Shirin!

 I love these images of a proud daddy with his son taking his first steps!

 One bonus for a night party is SPARKLERS!

 In this culture MORE is better!

We are so thankful for this whole family. They have opened their hearts and lives to us! We look forward to more with them!

Anniversary #14

 I found these flowers along with a beautiful note on my chair in the morning! It's not easy to find flowers here, but he tried 3 different times and finally managed to get the guy to come open the store. He was mostly out of flowers, but these were waiting for me! 

We decided not to go out on a date because we were too tired and it's just too hot right now! We will make up for it soon. Instead, our family had a nice dinner and we played table tennis and read aloud together. Those things make my heart overflow. Truly, I am thankful for all God has for me and has given me over the last 14 years. Tim is an amazing man of God. He leads me with humility and patience. He is my best friend. We laugh and have spontaneous adventures together. I know there are many more years of journeying together!

Secret Keeper Girls: Best Friends Date #1

 Well, we still miss our HOME in our little town, but we LOVE the big city life and all the perks, especially these 3 perks for Annie! Grace, Anastasia and Grace! Three delightful girls that really understand Annie and her heart! 

 We are getting together to do a few dates together! The first date was a sleepover! They each made pillowcases. We each asked the Lord for a picture to encourage each girl! They turned out so lovely! We played a really fun game called Sixes and had a wonderful and insightful discussion about friendship!

 My favorite Aussie family!! I am so thankful for these two and all the joy they have brought to us!

 These 3 have hearts of PURE gold! They are sweet, kind and generous. I am so thankful for their friendship!

My Annie girl! I am a blessed Momma! She is growing up so fast, but I am loving every moment. I have complete confidence that she is growing in grace and beauty!

 This is going to be so fun! Can't wait for the next dates!

Family Camp

 We got to participate in Family Camp again this year! This year I had fun being able to help corral the beautiful children that came from so many different backgrounds!

 It was a beautiful rainbow of Arabs, Kurds and Syrians, with varying languages and backgrounds!

 So wonderful to watch Emma win the heart of this little princess. 

 So thankful for Mr. Josh. He is an amazing teacher and leader! He loves the kids so well!

 Even with language barriers and cultural barriers, worship songs bring us all together!

 This little dude stole my heart. The naughty kids always do! He was a total rascal, but look at that smile! He LOVED the attention of me and my camera! He needed some extra love and squeezes just to give him some boundaries. When he was trying to run out the door, I would grab him and hold on tight to make him sit with me. At first he would struggle, but later he would pretend to run away, so that I would grab him and hold him. I am always amazed at how "hard" love can bring the rascaliest kids into line. They long to have those walls up so they don't throw themselves off the edge!

 It's truly beautiful to watch kids create! Give them a few supplies and a few directions and they CREATE! I love how Jesus frees the imagination!

 These kids are armed with the Armor of God!

 This special lady amazes me! Ms. Debbie you are beautiful!

 Then there were the games! Hours and hours of playing non-stop! Really dirty feet, sweaty bodies and lots of laughs! 

These boys...

These are KJ's boys. Our boys have grown up together and they love hanging out together! We are so rich in this life! 

July 4th or 5th!

 So fun to celebrate with friends! We ate hamburgers and baked beans and watermelon! We were busy on the 4th, so we celebrated the next day!

 And CAKE!!!

 Titus likes cake!

 YUM!

 We are so thankful for a community nearby with awesome kids and parents!

 Somehow, even our simple celebrations will always feel amazing even in the years when we get to have a FULL on party with big fireworks! So thankful for our simple life and the times that help us work to make community happen.

 We played a fun American history trivia game!

 We picked out flags with questions on them!

Some people were less excited about it than others! 

Then coffee spilled on my lap and camera and I didn't get any more pictures! The camera turned off and we thought it was broken for good. But we cleaned it and dried it out and the next day it turned back on!!! Thank you Lord!