Rewind & Catch-up, Part 3 {June}

June started off with a big change in our family.

Jake became the new Youth Pastor at this great church,

Springfield UMC.

Its the church I grew up in and we had been attending.

The change has been great for our family

as Jake doesn't leave for work until 7:55am,

comes home for lunch everyday,

and is home from work by 5:05.

He even rides his bike to work.

In the last month he only had to fill his car up with gas once.

ONCE,

as opposed to 2 times a week with his previous job!

We're so thankful God has opened this door for him!



The month started out with not much going on...

but that changed pretty quickly!

Jake's brother and his family came down from Indiana

and stayed with us a few days.

The kids hadn't seen each other in almost a year,

but in true kid fashion

they picked up right where they left off!

 

These two were always especially close.

Born only 6 weeks apart,

they became the greatest cousin-friends!

The littles did their own thing most of the time.

These two were born only a week apart

and I'm sure given time,

their relationship will blossom like their sister's did.

We had a whole day to spend together

and instead of packing the kids up in the car

and head somewhere touristy,

we decided plan a more laid-back day at the pool.

Our neighbors have a pool and literally beg us

{its true, they just called us again tonight}

to use their pool.

So we aim to please and spent the entire day at the pool.

After a yummy supper we headed to our favorite ice cream place,

Lovin' Spoons!

It was the perfect end to a fabulous day!

Josh & Jake with their baby girls!

After Josh and his family left,

we packed up the car and headed for another beach day

at Hilton Head!

I absolutely love the beach

and I'm so thankful we live so close!

On this particular beach trip

Crista learned to ride the boogie board.

She was SOOO happy :-)

And by the end of the day,

we were all just a bit worn out.

But it was so worth it!

See my two sweet girls holding hands walking?

See how they both have on their backpacks?

Well,

we were all packed up and ready to leave.

Addie spent 5 days {yes, that's FIVE}

with my Mama and Da.

Got to say leaving her was so terribly difficult.

I even woke up that morning vowing I couldn't leave her after all.

But I did...

...because we took Crista tent camping for the very first time!

We went with the youth group to Stone Mountain for Atlanta Fest.

Its a 4 day event with speakers and Christian bands playing.

Think Woodstock, but with Jesus :-)

But it was a great time and all 3 of us enjoyed our camping experience,

except for the wave after wave of incredibly powerful storms that swept through the first night,

sending us to find shelter at a Days Inn down the road,

and soaking the inside of our tents.

We were graced with many thunderstorms over that 4 days there.

After all of that, I knew we made the right decision by leaving Addie with Mama!

I told Jake I would love camping, if only it didn't rain!

Besides the concerts and speakers,

we also got to explore Stone Mountain.

It was fun taking the Sky Lift up and walking down the mountain.

Crista was a sport and joined right along!

But the highlight of our camping trip came the last night, Saturday,

where Crista bit into an apple

and that pesky loose tooth of hers came out!

The whole group clapped and cheered for her

and totally embarrassed her.

But I thought it was quite special!

And in case you were wondering,

the tooth fairy does make special trips to campsites

when necessary :-)

We ended up our very busy month of June with VBS.

We did "Shake It Up"

which is a cooking theme

and the kids seemed to love it!

Here's Crista at the closing.

She actually did very well, since this really isn't her thing.

She actually sang the songs and did the motions...she just didn't smile while doing it!

Ty, another staff member at the church

gave the kids a goal of raising $500 AND bringing in 500 cans of food

and if they reached their goal he would shave his hair into a mohawk and paint it purple.

Crista came home and told Jake and me at supper that she wanted to buy some food to donate.

I asked her how many cans she wanted to purchase and she told me

100.

I informed her that would take about $50 and she replied,

"That's ok Mama, I'll get it out of my piggy bank."

I asked her why she wanted to give so much and she said she

wanted to see Mr Ty with his mohawk.

I told her there was no guarantee that giving 100 cans would be enough to get his hair shaved.

She said,

"I know, but all that food will help some hungry people."

So, Crista went and got $50 out of her own piggy bank
and together we went to the dollar store and she bought 106 cans of food for the needy!

Needless to say,

we're so proud of our little girl,

watching her heart desire the things of God!

And I'm happy to say, that Mr Ty

looked pretty good in his purple mohawk!!

I think this brings us up to speed on what's been going on at the Brown's!

Now, if only I can keep current, I'll be doing good :-)