Mission Trip and Camp Table Rock

Kianna spent the last week with the preteens from church on a mission trip to Kenosha, WI. Sharon, Zoey, Kianna, Evan, Christian, Tory, Kim and Tina all attended. They served at a local YMCA helping out with day camps. Kianna had a blast and had quite the following of little 5 and 6 year old girls. She let them play with her hair. They loved her and didn't want her to leave!

When they weren't serving, Kianna volunteered to help lead worship each evening during their lessons. They also toured the Jelly Belly Factory and spent some time at a beach. She also participated in a talent show where her and Tory Slippy, our children's pastor, lip-synced to "Love is an Open Door" from the Frozen soundtrack. It was adorable. She is quite the actress. They even did a fake face slap at the end that looked very real.

While Kianna was on her mission trip, Kaylee was with the youth group at Camp Table Rock in Southwest Missouri. Kaylee had a blast with her friends, as there were over thirty kids from our church who went, mostly 7th and 8th graders. Her week was spent attending worship services, tubing, cliff jumping, and playing in the water. She had an awesome time. Both girls trips were a bit bittersweet as they had to say goodbye to their friends, as we were leaving the following morning for Florida.

Lots of Goodbyes

The last couple of weeks have been filled with lots of fun and lots of farewells. We let the kids each choose a friend and went to Lost Island Waterpark. Kaylee took Brittney Comer, Kianna took Tiffany McCarty, Trace took Zach Flender, and I took my mom and Rylan. We had great weather and lots of fun! Unfortunately we did not take any pictures...

Kaylee had a summer bucket list filled with must have sleepovers, which she had fun fulfilling.

Trace and I had lunch with Grandma GG and Grandma Jacque. Then Trace had fun entertaining Grandma GG while my mom and I went to the spa for a facial and massage. It was awesome!

The Langfalds had us over for some homemade pizzas on their grill, which was fun. Grandma Becki made an awesome brown sugar cake for the occasion. Trace had several sleepovers with Bryker and Bruxen while his sisters were gone. We also celebrated the end of his summer reading and math book with a trip to Skyzone with his cousins. Kianna got to join in the fun too, as she returned from her mission trip during all the excitement.

Bree had us all over for a bonfire and smore's before we left, which was super fun! We even busted out the glow sticks. Stacie hosted a nice farewell meal. She and I also biked and had breakfast together before I left.

We also spent time with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Wayne playing ping pong and Up and Down the River, one of the kids favorite card games.

My last day of work was the 13th. My coworkers planned a special salad bar luncheon for me and had a basketful of gifts along with kind words to send me off. I had several patients give me cards, as well as, one patient who made me some beautiful quilted pot holders.

All these goodbyes are very bittersweet. We are excited for the future, but sad to leave our friends, family and church behind. We were content and happy here in Iowa, but apparently God has new plans for us. We look forward to seeing what new things are in store for us. One thing we have to look forward to is that Stacie is coming to visit us Labor Day weekend and Grandma Jacque is hoping to visit too. We love visitors and look forward to hosting them!

Marsh's Visit

Our good friends from Michigan, Dawn, Darrin, and Jackson Marsh, came to visit us for a couple days before we move to Florida. We tried out a new pizza place called Fong's Pizza with them. It is a unique pizza place with an asian influence. It was very yummy and super fun to try Kung Pao pizza, pizza egg rolls, etc., In addition to eating yummy food, we enjoyed visiting with the Marsh family and playing lots of cards. They also helped us with a bit of our grunt work and packing as we prepare to move to Florida. They are such dear friends! We are blessed!

The Empire Spikes Back

One of the many things we love about our church is the summer sand volleyball league. We decided to invite a few of Kaylee's volleyball teammates to join us as The Empire Spikes Back. Our team consisted of: Dan Hartman, Trevor, Keri, Anthony Issa, Cory Miller, Isabel Lovetinsky, Keara McGuire, Kaylee and Natalie Hartman. We ended up getting 3rd place overall, but more importantly we had a blast playing.

Omaha Zoo

Grandma Jacque and Papa took all the grandkids minus Matthew and Andrew to the Omaha Zoo. They had an awesome time. The highlights were touching a stingray and petting a bat. Gross! After the zoo, they swam in the hotel pool, and had an awesome meal at The Spaghetti Factory. Kaylee was raving about the pasta and salad bar. Lots of fun and great memories!

Church Camp and 1st Century Church

Trace, Kianna and Bryker all went to the Wesley Woods Camp with our church. It was Trace and Bryker's first time at an overnight camp, but they both did great! It helped that our children's pastor, Tory, went so they had a familiar face. Tory was Trace's counselor, so he graciously sent us pictures. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of Kianna sent to us. The kids had a great time worshipping, rockclimbing, horseback riding, creek stomping, and just being with their friends.

On Sunday, our church did their first ever reenactment of a 1st Century Church. They had a marketplace full of booths setup with various crafts. We were all able to get dressed up into 1st century robes, which was kind of fun. Kaylee and I both volunteered at two of the booths. It was a fun morning!