While working on memorizing Psalm 139:7 "Where can I go from your Spirit and where can I flee from Your presence?"

Jude's version, "Where do I free all my presents?"

We are reading through the Psalms for our table devotions and tonight we read Psalm 10. After doing a little explanation, Mike asked Jude what he remembered from the reading. Jude answered with a question: "Will the police catch the wicked that plop?" (he meant plot) and commented that it was sad that there was no more precious (he got that from vs. 18 'oppress no more'.)

Yesterday was Peter's first birthday and the hit of the day was the bunch of helium balloons from the Dollar Store!

Jude bought Peter a gift with his own money. I was so proud of his generosity until I realized that he thought he was buying a present for Peter to give to him.

Peter loves to bowl, so we ventured in to the bowling alley here in town. It is a tiny 12-lane affair called "Tommy's Lanes" and we had the place to ourselves.

He loved his own little carrot cake and ate the whole thing (it was the size of a jumbo muffin). It's hard to believe it was a whole year ago that God gave us Peter. He is such a sweet spirited little boy and a joy to all of us. He loves to play ball and gets into everything. He says "mama", "dada" and "ba" and signs please, thank you, amen, all done and loves to give kisses. I feel so blessed and priviledged to be his Mommy and pray that the Lord will work mightily in and through him for his good and God's glory.

Jude quote of the day: "Mommy, do you not wear a bib because your head is too big?" 

Well, we are back from our official vacation. Mike took two Sundays off and we spent some time in northern Michigan, Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cabot, Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful time to spend time with family and even introduce the McGee side to Peter. Here is a brief timeline of our trip in photo:

We left SD at 5:30 am, hoping that the boys would stay asleep. Peter slept until about 7:00, but Jude never did get back to sleep. Here are the boys in their pjs in the van:

We found the BEST pie we had ever tasted in a little town in Wisconsin at a diner called "Wayne's Family Restaurant". Pie makes everything better.

We reached Mackinac around dusk and were able to cross the bridge while the sun was starting to set. It was beautiful and Jude was fascinated by the boats going underneath us.

We reached "the cabin" around 10:30 pm and were so glad to be done driving for a few days!

While "up north" we occupied ourselves with relaxing, crossword puzzles, Candy Land, building fires, golfing and enjoying each other's company.

We ate Blue Moon ice cream, which is the only ice cream I really care about

We went up to Charlevoix and bought taffy and watched the "drawbridge" go up for the boats. Here is Peter sporting his "Grandpa Houskamp" look.

Then, when it seemed the week couldn't get any better, Joe, Sarah and Kylie arrived! We got to celebrate Mike's 34th birthday with them and ate red velvet cake.

From there, the travel continued and we left Michigan for the hills of Pennsylvania. We stopped along the way, though, from utter exhaustion.

We participated in a weekend-long family reunion/Grandma's 90th birthday/anniversary party with the Beale side of the family in Pennsylvania. It started off with an afternoon at the old homestead.

Mike and Grandpa enjoyed grilled corn on the cob.

Jude and Aaron proved that if left together unsupervised, there would be Trouble!

Peter and Anna met

Grandma Beale held her youngest great-grandchild.

Mike broke out his birthday Bocce.

Steve and Adanna, Mike, Jen, Hannah, Josh and Geneva (McGee)

The whole clan (there are more of us, but they weren't able to be there)

The birthday/anniversary open house. So many years and memories -- God is indeed good to His people!

We left Pennsylvania and headed back toward Michigan for a break before the final push homeward. We drove up to Ludington and rode across Lake Michigan on the SS Badger. It was a nice way to pass the hours and we weren't confined to the van. We played Badger Bingo and even ran into a childhood friend. I was told I look like Cynthia Gibson (I googled her and I am offended) and Jude won a temporary tattoo of an anchor (thankfully, he didn't know what it was and was therefore not upset when we got rid of it!)

We had such a wonderful time and are so thankful for all of the loved ones we were able to visit, both family and friends. The boys seem a little lost since we've been home, partly due to the time and schedule change, but mostly missing the affection and delight of their great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends who are so far away. Jude's breakfast prayer every morning is: "Dear God, please help [lists five or six people] to fly on an airplane and come visit us. Please help this food to be ready. For Jesus' sake, Amen." (Yes, this is a hint and I am shamelessly guilting you all to come visit us!)

We found a caterpillar in the yard this summer and had a three-week science lesson. Our caterpillar lived on an apple tree branch in a Mason jar on the kitchen counter. It built a chrysalis after just a couple of days and we waited and waited for something to happen. We read books about caterpillars and butterflies. Jaime did some internet research to find that it would be a Mourning Cloak butterfly. Then, last Sunday when we got home from church, we noticed that the chrysalis was empty and there was a strange looking creature clinging to it. It was so exciting to see it dry it's wings and eventually fly away into the backyard. Jude was so excited to watch the whole process and felt a little betrayed when it flew right into the neighbor's yard