This has been a very enjoyable summer. It's been crammed full of various activities and occurrences. Too many to list here. Unfortunately I didn't keep a good log of events on the blog, but things were happening all the time and in rapid succession.

We got a new pool!
We went to Vegas!
We taught at VBS!
Capri started kindergarten!
Capri had her 5th birthday!
Tammy caught the swine flu! (sort of)
We redecorated two rooms!

Not to mention the millions of little adventures that filled our days. But tomorrow it's back to work for Daddy. I'll definitely miss taking Capri to school each morning and picking her up each afternoon. Playing Littlest Pet Shop and "animals" with Chloe has been really fun and super cute. I won't miss taking my wife's temperature...but I'll miss spending the best part of my days with her.

But vacations come and vacations go. Life keeps moving forward.

Newborn

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday

5th Birthday

Yes, I'm a couple weeks into vacation and this is my first post. We've been keeping busy around here. We took a road trip to Las Vegas with the girls. We stayed at The Mirage. It was incredibly hot and finding affordable, accessible food was an issue. But we had a fun time nevertheless.

Upon our return Tammy went nuts and redesigned the girls' room. We (I) painted their room, built bunk beds, and built a giant bookcase. There was a ton of decorating that took place as well. The project took two full days, and some of it is still in progress.

Tammy bought and sold a boatload of items on Craigslist, which is just such an awesomely useful website.

This coming week is sort of our last hurrah this summer. Our church VBS is the following week, and then Capri starts Kindergarten the week after that. So we're going to try to squeeze some more family summer fun into the next several days. Beach, Sea World, Wild Animal Park.

I'll try to update here as well.

My wife is amazing. She is amazing in many many ways, but I want to focus on one area in particular.

My wife can plan an event or a party like no one else I have ever met. Me, I can't party plan myself out of a paper bag. But not only is my wife really good at organizing, planning, and executing events, she also enjoys it immensely. I'd rather hang myself from a rope than hang streamers, garland, balloons....and yet my wife gets a little thrill from it all.

I don't want to limit the scope of her abilities either. It's not just events or parties where she excels. She can plan a trip, a vacation, a conference, an exhibition, an organizational calendar, an afternoon, and many other similar endeavors, all with equal skill and execution.

When I say that I've never met someone her equal in this regard, I really mean it. She is highly gifted. And what a blessing that is to me! Tammy and I are one, and her skillful planning has added immensely to my life. I reap many of the benefits of her amazing abilities. Birthday parties, done. Christmas shopping, done. Timely cards, done. Thoughtful gestures, done. Appropriate gifts, done. Packing lists, done. Social calendar, done. Business administration, done.

When I say that God has blessed me with the best wife, I really mean it.

I liked this quote from John Adams, writing about how some in the colonies were expecting a peace delegation to come from England to help bring reconciliation: "The Ministry have caught the colonies as I have often caught a horse, by holding an empty hat, as if it was full of corn."

This is a good picture of how the world entices a Christian. An empty hat is outstretched, promising all sorts of excitement, only to be found empty and unsatisfying.