Catching Up On All These Events...

Okay--don't look at this post unless you've got some time. I haven't posted for a week so there are a lot of pics on here...

Anton loves his watermelon patch. It's his very own that he planted and takes care of by himself. For some reason he thinks he'll get rich off this so he babies it and carefully watches over it every day. He's doing pretty good and has 18-20 little watermelon growing on all his plants.
One day this past week Anton was headed to go fishing and Mischa begged to go with him. He was so sweet and careful with her. He even took her out in the boat in the middle of the pond. Within 1 minute they had caught a fish and Mischa was so excited!
A quick pic of Me and Peter that Kristina took. Why doesn't this boy ever wear a shirt?
Since Peter took a picture with me, Kristina had to have one too. Check out Peter in the background--he's telling Jade to "stop being such a baby."
Mischa loves to organize: shoes, clothes...chips.

Anton had a lot of fun in AZ hanging out with Vova Stirling before he left on his mission. This was taken at Mount Graham where the Stirlings go camping every year.

Hey--this pipe is a good idea for naughty boys to sit for a while out in the hot sun.

What a cute boy! He's already starting to look like a missionary...

The Stirling's were so gracious to host Anton for a week. We also had a lot of fun with them here in Missouri the week before.
Anton took this right before he left. I'm so thankful to Michelle for helping him so much and for Jenny and Brian for getting him the ticket. We love you, family!
Saturday we spent 5 1/2 hours weeding in the garden. The kids worked so hard and we finished it all so Mike and I treated them to dinner in a restaurant called Pastimes in the nearby town of Hamilton. Our water was turned off (and still isn't back on), so eating out was great! Above is an example of the perfect restaurant manners our kids have. First it was Mac...

Then Brig...

And, of course, Mischa had to follow. Somehow she doesn't look so scary--just cute.

Krissy, Sterling and Jade posing--no smile out of Sterling, though.

This took a few tries, but we finally got Peter to smile with Elena.

We spontaneously stopped by the Durfees on our way home. They were so sweet to let some of us take showers (they still had water). They even fed us homemade brownies and put on a great movie--The Greatest Game Ever Played. We barged in on them so early, they didn't even get dinner. By midnight, when we left, I realized that most of them just got a brownie for dinner. Sounds like I have some payback to do, huh? We had so much fun with them--we only missed Anton--he was out searching for arrowheads on the Grand River.

Jonah and Sharlee putting the mowers away. Yardwork is a family affair.

As soon as we arrived Peter started sweeping their concrete. We thought he was just happy to help, but he was only clearing a path to ride his Ripstick.

This is Brittany, their oldest daughter, keeping the flower garden beautiful and weed-free. Doesn't she have the greatest smile?

The Durfees garden puts mine to shame. I was a little chagrined 'til I found out she's done a garden for years. This garden will hopefully be my role model for next year.

Jadey and Moo-moo by the corn.The Durfees have some beautiful horses--Joann rides in the English style and it's so pretty to watch and fun to learn. Jade can't get enough of horses!

I love this picture of Anton & Mischa. It seems to bring up all my feelings of summer and the Missouri country life. This summer, more than any other, has brought with it feelings of anxiety in regards to my kids growing up too fast. The days seem to fly by and I can't hold on to them. We have one year left with Anton and he'll be gone. What do you try to teach your child when you have one year left with him? I'm so grateful for family and this beautiful world we get as our testing ground. I'm not a world traveler yet, but every place I've seen has something of beauty that tempts me to stay. There is so much to be thankful for.