we recently had the pleasure of hosting a gathering of old friends at our house. look!  it’s auntie esther and uncle eugene!  mikey kept wondering how it was that auntie esther was in our house and not at the aquarium.  you know, like how it blew your mind to see your teacher anywhere but at school? our home filled to the brim with dear old friends.  love.  incidentally, see those keys in the corner there?  those are my keys.  jonah took off with them a few days ago and i haven’t seen them since.  i miss them. there was much to be eaten.  (hi, sam!)  trays and trays of food…

our church had their annual awesome vbs a couple months back and i had the privilege of helping take pictures of the week.  here are some of my personal favorite shots.  🙂 praise time… game time… story time… preschool time… craft time… “chatter theater” time… snack time… general cuteness time… celebration sunday time… in-n-out truck time… my kids said they had an okay time.  i kid!  i kid!  they had a BLAST and can’t wait for vbs next year.  it’s always a highlight of our summer.  🙂

one of the things we’ve enjoyed most about this summer has been the many playdates and gatherings we’ve been able to have in our home.  having loved ones here has been such a blessing to us and is something we look forward to doing more and more often. it started with our little homeschool co-op end of the year celebration back at the end of june.  the very first gathering in our new home! love these girls. love their mommies too.  they have become very dear friends over the course of our homeschooling journey.  i could not have survived our first homeschooling year without them! after our little homeschool celebration…