Family vacation-day 1

This past week, our family took a week long trip to Pecos, New Mexico to a cabin owned by Jeff's uncle. It was so nice to be able to get away from the heat and humidity of Kansas for a while! : ) The highs were in the low 80s the entire trip, sometimes getting down to the low 50s.
So, on Friday, July 30th, we left at 7:30am for Pecos and arrived at about 8:00 that night. The trip was fairly uneventful, except for when we got to Meade Kansas, our treading on our back tire blew! We were able to get to town only to pull up to the tire station and discover that the man had the kind of tire we needed, but there were only 2 and another man had just ordered them! But, the owner of the station graciously said that we could have them so that we could continue our trip and that he would just order another pair for the other man. After about an 1 delay, we finally got underway. We were all very tired a not a little grumpy from sitting so long in a stuffy cramped van. : )
The next day, Saturday, we went on a hike up a mountain. That turned out to be quite the adventure! : )





Tired young hiker.



Krista, what are you doing?

OOOHHHH!!! lol!

We crossed a log bridge and saw up the hill a little ways, a large mound of rocks.
'Surely,' we thought, 'the view from up there must be really good?' So, we climbed up. And it was.
But then, we saw, yet another mound of rocks, even farther up.
'I'll bet the view is even better!' and so, we climbed it! And it was better.
Then, we saw, yet a 3rd pile of rocks! Our minds told us, 'Yah! Surely the view is spectacular!'
Our bodies however, told us, 'I don't care if it's better! I just want to get down and rest!' We listened to our minds. : )
We got to the top and the view WAS wonderful! But, what do you know, we saw a 4th mound of rocks! This time, we listened to our bodies. : )
The moral of this? 'the grass is ALWAYS greener, on the other side.'
When we had first started that morning, the sky promised rain, and so, just to be safe, we took ponchos. Little did we know.....
About 15 minutes from the van, it started. And in New Mexico, it doesn't rain, it pours! And, to make matters worse, we discovered that there wasn't enough ponchos for everybody! So, Kayla and Joey volunteered to go without them. I think they just wanted a chance to walk in the rain! : ) I don't blame them! Well, about 7 minutes from the van, I (Anna) began to feel sorry for Joey, him getting all soaked, and so, I gave him my poncho and we tied it with a belt so it wouldn't be too long for him.: ) Of course, in 2 minutes, I was soaked! And then, just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, it got worse! It began to hail! Small hail, but hail just the same! : ) It only lasted for about 2 minutes however and so then it was just pouring rain again for the rest of the hike. And thus ends the first day of our vacation.

From bowling to couches

Last Friday, a family called us at the last minute to ask if we would like to go bowling with them. Of course there was an enthusiastic 'YES'! So, James, Krista, Anna, and Kayla went to bowl and Sara went to take pictures. They did tolerably well, but I don't think they would care to post their scores. : ) And, I've (Anna) have come to the conclusion that I ( and probably no one else) don't care to have my picture taken when I bowl as the pictures never look good. : )

Aren't they cute!! : )


All the different colored bowling balls......so many choices!


How did you fit under there Joey?


Tomatoes+peppers+green beans=canning!!!! ( and salsa)

Day at Gerlachs house

This last Sunday our family was invited over to the Gerlach home for some water volleyball and games. We were all soooo excited for the fun day in the pool and had a wonderful time with family and friends. Thank you so much Gerlach family!

James taught Krista how to play the game, Strategeo.

Jake, after a smooth serve and a point for his team.

Justin, having a great time in the cool water.

Joey was a little afraid to go under the water, but he found a way to have fun on the water bed.

Jordan loved to dive into the six foot deep part.

Chloe had a great time and was sooo tired when she got home.

Cool Jake :)Lol

Kayla was the only kid that did flips into the six foot deep part.

Fourth of July

We had a wonderful 4th of July this year even though we got rained out of most of the firework displays. We had family and friends over for a day of celebrating our Independence. Praise God for the freedom we enjoy!

A few of the fireworks that we set off.

We all played games with the family. What a wonderfully sweet time.

And of course James came to spend the day with Krista. (smiles)

Visiting around the dining room table.

The Park City parade that was held on Saturday morning.

The Navy carrying the flag at the front of the parade.

Water Adventures

This June and July has been quite busy. Jacob, Amyann, and Chloe have been settling in at our house. Jake has been taking the kids to the water-park in Park City to give we girls some quiet at home. This last time Sara and Anna went with them to take pictures and give their dogs an outing. Jake loves the doggies.

Joey loves playing in the water and posing for the camera.

Jordan, Kayla and Chloe playing in the water.

Kayla always got soaked completely.