Summertime Fun!

So, It has been forever. Summer has been absolutely insane. I think I have to stop treating life as if it is weird for it to be insanely busy. That just is our life now. I should be surprised if it isn't insanely busy. Anyways, its the good kind of insane right now though, where we get to spend tons of time together as a family. Mike is back on a somewhat normal work schedule for the summer and so has had his weekends off. That has been quite nice. We got to go out on our first date night since last October back in June. It had been a while. However, with coupons for free burgers at Tom's diner in Arlington and a gift card to AMC Cinema and going on a Monday night when ticket prices are half price, we had a very cheap and enjoyable date night. The end of June, my youngest sister, Kim, had her first baby. It was a baby girl named Haylie Anne. She is precious! Mike took some time off of work and we took a long weekend over the 4th to go see her, Shonda and her fam, and my parents who were down to see the baby. It was such a relaxing vacation. We stayed with Shonda's inlaws at their house in Friendswood. They live on like 70 acres of land and it is gorgeous. No TV, No internet, Family, friends and a pool! It was great! On Friday, Mike helped my brother in-law Mark rob bees of honey. He helped with this last year and had a blast, so it is kindof becoming a 4th of July tradition. It is the best honey EVER!!!! While helping, Mike got "attacked" by a be in the eyebrow and as a result, his eye was swollen shut for most of the 4th. I am sure he would agree, though, that it was worth it! The girls are doing good. Mary Kate is almost 4. Less than a week until her birthday. I am in the process of planning her party right now and as usual, she keeps changing her mind!!! She is actually on the verge of losing her party right now actually. It seems 4 has brought back a lot of the behaviors of 2 just with a bigger vocabulary to actually express how she feels or how bad she wants me to feel. It is quite an adventure each day just making it through. Aside from that she is her sweet, bossy, helpful self. Brianna is growing and happy as always. She still hasn't broken that tooth through, but I am hoping it will come soon. It is raised up and ready to pop through at any moment. It just won't. She is still rather lackadaisical about eating solid food. She will take it if you give it, but she won't eat all of it usually, and she would just as soon prefer to nurse. I don't know about her. :) She is a sweetheart though. It has been fun to watch her recently as her and Mary Kate have started to interact a lot more. Two other big things in our life and I will end. First, I have started watching a little girl named Kenzie. She is a sweetie pie and has really just fit right in with our family from day one. She is 22 months old and very smart. She reminds me a lot of how Mary Kate was at that age. This arrangement has really been a blessing for both our family and hers. There is no doubt it was divinely arranged. Also, Mike and I have decided to reapply to apartment life. We still feel called to this ministry and are hoping that this time will be God's timing. Pray for us as we complete the application process and head into our interviews. I am going to post a seperate post full of recent pics.