First Week Home

It's been SO nice being home! There truly is no place like it! We've had a full first week home. We got in on Saturday and went to church on Sunday and had the Clemson Summer link team over for lunch. We enjoyed getting to know them and hearing about their summer!

We also had fun shooting some guns after lunch. 

 This week was Hope for Clemson where we gathered at 5 for dinner with our church family and then had various service opportunities around the community. Our family went each night for dinner (bonus!) and then hung door hangers inviting people to our community fun night on Friday night, church on Sunday, and the lake fellowship on Sunday. It was fun to serve as a family.

 It's also been good to have slower days enjoying home, watching a bird feed its babies in our porch light, swimming at our neighbors pool with neighbor friends, ease back into school, play games, and do some projects around the house. 

We've also had adventure. Last night a storm went through and pushed a tree over across our driveway! So we had a family project on our hands. So thankful for Jeremy taking care of that and the kids helping with all the limbs. Good thing we had our crab leg dinner to look forward to. Yum!

So thankful for our church family, friends, and home life! 

Miami Trip

Jeremy and I took a quick trip to Miami for 2 nights while the kids stayed with family. We wanted to participate with both Summer Link teams in Miami. We really tried to maximize our time there and we were so thankful for the time with the teams and some staff from Providence Road Church. Both teams are doing great in their focused ministry areas. We have always enjoyed time with the Providence Road community. 

We flew in early Tuesday and drove straight to the church to join both teams for lunch and then the staff meeting with the PRC team. Then we enjoyed having dinner that night with one of the teams. It was fun to get to know the other people on the team that we hadn't met. 

Us with Noah at dinner our first night. We are thankful for him and his family!

The next day we saw the housing at University of Miami where one of the groups is staying this summer and we got some time with the leaders. After that we drove north to Delray Beach and met with Paul Whitfield who is a part of our church planting network. He is planting/revitalizing a church in Jupiter, Florida. It was a sweet time to hear about the church and how the ministry is going there. Thankful for our time with Paul!

We drove straight from that time with Paul to a dinner gathering with both teams at the home of one of the church members. I was especially thankful to get time with some of the wives. Sweet fellowship! 

The next morning I got to meet Lauren for breakfast! Thankful for this friend and excited for her as she makes plans to stay in Miami! 

Before heading to the airport we got to meet with the team and be a part of their mens' and womens' time. I really enjoyed getting that time with the ladies. Thankful for our quick trip to Miami and time with these great people!

Fourth of July at the Lake

We left family vacation in Maryland on the Fourth of July and drove to the lake to celebrate the Fourth. Thankful for this family time! 

Chasteen/Elliott Maryland Vacation

June 27-July 4 we were on vacation with the Chasteens and Elliotts in the St. Michaels Maryland area (across the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis). We went there to find a halfway point for family that lives in South Carolina and Massachusetts. It's was beautiful and was fun to explore a new area! So thankful that we could all gather for this week together! 

We rented a house that actually had 2 houses on the same property right on the water (a creek connected to the Bay) and it had a pool. The kids LOVED the swimming pool and the kayaks and canoe. The kids provide great entertainment for the rest of us!

The town of St. Michaels is really quant and cute! 

We drove to Annapolis one day and toured the Naval Academy which was fun. Then we had lunch and walked around. We stocked up on our Navy paraphernalia (Go Navy!). 

Thanks to Kaleb, we celebrated the Fourth a day early together. 

Smith Cottage Lake Time

From Columbus we drove to the lake cottage to see my family. So thankful for time with them! Here are a LOT of pictures of some of our fun lake days with family.

Columbus

After our time in Cincinnati we went to Columbus to participate with Paramount Church. We joined them in their community fun night which was a lot of fun. 

We really enjoyed worshiping with Paramount and seeing the sweet fellowship God has blessed them with. It's such a blessing for us to visit different locations and see God's work in different cities. 

We also attended the Southern Baptist Convention and enjoyed several of the luncheons. We also enjoyed running into old friends. Thankful for our time in Ohio! It really is a beautiful state!

National Museum United States Air Force

On our way from Cincinnati to Columbus we decided to detour a little to see the (FREE) National Museum United States Air Force. I especially enjoyed seeing the type of plane my grandfather was in during WWII, the B24, and the helicopter my dad few in the Navy, the H-53. It was a great museum with so many planes. 

Spencer Post Ice Cream in Cincinnati

Creation Museum

We were so thankful to have this opportunity to visit the Creation Museum! We had a great time exploring the grounds, petting the animals, watching the shows, and walking through the museum. We left in awe of our Creator and His plan of Redemption! 

The kids loved the petting zoo! We could seriously live on a farm! 

Cincinnati

On June 11th we loaded up the van and headed for Ohio. We spent 2 nights in Cincinnati to explore and also see the Creation Museum. We stayed in the the city center so we could walk around to explore. They have a fun park called Smale Riverfront Park on the Ohio River that we enjoyed exploring and I thought the John A Roebling Bridge was so pretty! 

We went to the  top of Carew Tower to get a view of the city. It was a little overcast and drizzling but still neat to see the view.

We loved Graeter's Ice Cream! So yummy!

We enjoyed you Cincinnati!