The Swelter of an August Day (2nd Post)

This past winter, I promised to not complain when the heat came for the summer. And I haven't really complained. I mean, it is HOT, but it's also summer in Florida...

But this week has been another story. Oh the heat. Oh the humidity. Winter is sounding really good to me right about now.

This evening, though, the heat died down a bit and we enjoyed some great family time outdoors.

We quickly learned that sidewalk chalk and white puppies do not mix.

This is the most adorable purple mustache I have ever laid eyes on.

Precious.

Those dirty elbows are pretty darn cute, too.

"Hi y'all!"

Oh no. This is the sidewalk chalk artist. She takes decorating the driveway just as seriously as she takes decorating herself.

See?

Two-hand touch.

I love the sound of it because it reminds me of my own front yard when I was growing up.

You have got to be tough to make it in our yard.

Posing for Mom is just not on the agenda.

Unless...

Cheese!

Lately Olivia has been posing and asking us to take her picture.

At Last

I guess that there are no excuses, so I'll just dive right in.

Car washing has taken place.

Olivia doesn't want Andy to have to work for his food so she usually serves him and bonds with him at the same time. It's very cute.

She bonds with her brothers, too.

I had the privilege of taking senior pictures for Hannah, our sweet friend.

We went back to Texas and found out that my youngest brother, Zach, and his wife, Shanna, are expecting their first baby. Yay!

We had so much fun with family.

Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera with me so the only photos I have of the trip are from my mom. In other words, only Dietz peeps...no Wrights. :(

Cousins are the best friends to have. All of the grand kids are stair-step for the most part.

Caitlin (11), Alexis (8), Isaac (7), Ryan (6), Josiah (5), Addilyn (5...just had a birthday!!), Olivia (2...almost 3), and Sweet Baby on the way

We host a college group once a week and had a surprise birthday party for a guy who didn't show. It was fun. :)

My kids will be sent to public school next year...

We've had lots of wrestling.

Andy is growing and is just about the calmest dog I've ever met.

Olivia wore shoes "like Aunt Shanna".

And we've played in the rain.

Concert on the Patio

We had some good friends over the other night and all of our kids put on a concert for us. It was my favorite part of the evening and only lasted 2.5 minutes.

**Speaking of our patio, it is our project for the summer. Maybe I should get your ideas. What color should we stain the concrete? Jay and I are thinking Espresso. **

It's Like Having A 4th Child

Lack of sleep. More time to get out the door. Crying at night. Potty training. Getting him used to loud noises...

Sweet puppy smell. Cuddly. The center of attention. Lots of new toys. Stolen hearts...

Welcome to the family, little guy.

Last Game of the Season

Isaac had such a blast playing flag football this year. He had some great coaches and a really sweet team. He made some awesome touchdowns and pulled several flags. We are very proud of him!

Isaac making the extra point.

a proud smile to the sidelines

Olivia doing what she does best...making new (older) friends

bored brother

some of the Sharks

Rwanda

It has taken awhile to get back into a normal routine since Jay got back from Rwanda. But I thought you might like to see some pictures from his trip and from his return home. I'd love to tell you some stories, but I figure that's something he could do a lot better than I. Jay inserted some captions to fill you in on some of the adventures.

Here is our Rwanda team. Seven of us came from the states and Manik, front left, met us from Bangkok, Thailand.

Here I am greeting James. I was commenting about the lack of social space awareness in East Africa, and Amy referenced this picture to remind me of a similar deficiency in my own life.

This is Bishop John Rucyahana who helped form the Anglican Mission in the Americas. This was a great sermon despite my interesting face (see far left).

The crowd at the East Africa Revival Conference. This year marks the 75th Anniversary of the East Africa revival, and this conference is one of the main reasons we went to Rwanda.

Ah, sunset over Lake Muhazi. This was the view off of our front porch at the Bishop's House, a guest house for the Gahini Diocese. This lake runs for some thirty miles back to the west.

Good times. Here Ross (standing), Evan (wielder of the bamboo), and me, are learning about fire and bamboo. Evan, a remarkable guy and student at Eastern University, is demonstrating for Berta the un-pictured South African doctor how to fire bamboo and make furniture and other decor.

Yes. I looked and looked at the market for something for the boys. And then I saw these little gems. Jackpot.

This nifty little bag was made by some of the ladies of Gahini where we stayed. The proceeds from their sales go to the Children's Rehabilitation Center in Gahini. I knew the elephant bag would be perfect for Olivia because the elephant was one of the first animal sounds she made.

That pretty much describes my first week home. When 9:00 pm rolled around, I would just crash. This particular episode is after two straight days of travel from Rwanda to Jacksonville. Sweet dreams.