12 Years

June 21st is the summer solstice, the first day of summer, the longest day of the year. . .and our wedding anniversary! This is the first time that I can remember our anniversary falling on Father's Day. Because of that, we celebrated both events by boating as a family. The weather was nice and hot while the water was nice and cool. Part of me can't believe I've been married for 12 years. But another part of me thinks it should be longer. Derek and I dated for 3 years before getting married, so in my mind I feel like it's been 15 years. :) I am blessed to be married to my best friend.

7, 9, and 5 years old are my favorite ages so far!

Posing at camp before heading home

Braylen had a fun week at camp, but he was ready to come home to his cozy bed and loving family. As our van pulled up the camp drive, Braylen came darting out of the chapel and splashed through the mud to greet us. What a glorious muddy hug! As we stood in the chapel for the closing program, my eyes watered just watching him sing his camp songs and recite his memory verses. I vividly remember my camping days, and to see my own son experience his camping days made me a bit emotional. That's who I am, and my husband sees that and smiles at me. (inwardly he's laughing at me I'm sure!) One thing I wish Braylen would've left at camp is a skin infection. Instead, he brought it home and shared it with Aaron. Now we have 2 sons on oral and topical antibiotics for 10 days. It was so hard to keep them out of the pool today! Kaleb, completely healthy, had our pool to himself and splashed around for 3 hours. At least one son was happy!

Car-washing station!

As summer heats up, I'm getting brown. Last week someone asked me what nationality I am. That's a new one! I think she was disappointed when I rattled off my European roots. Was she expecting Native American? Hispanic? No such luck--I'm just a white girl who happens to tan easily. My boys look blonder to me these days, with brown skin as well. I like to say they got the best of me and the best of Derek--tan blondies! Braylen tells me Kaleb's hair is "getting baggy." That made me laugh, because I don't get "Braylenisms" very often. It's usually Aaron providing me with such great material. :)

Speaking of that, Aaron's latest switcharoo involves our dog's name. Sitting at lunch the other day, Aaron said, "Ninger likes to play with me, Ninger likes to lick my fingers. . ." The first thought that popped into my mind was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (A flash from the past--right, Eric?) Then I realized he was talking about Ginger. Too funny!