Seriously, is that not the cutest thing?

Just looking at this picture you would think he's a sweet little angel, wouldn't you?

Serious game of hockey

Malachi is always looking for a way to make the game just a little bit more dangerous than everyone else

On a recent outing with dad, they all got soccer uniforms - even little M who was staying for a few days

Little Moustapha who visits almost every day - they love Mister Steve's 3 wheeler!

I love this little sweetie - she was all dressed up and so I got the camera - this is her "say cheese" smile

This is how you register the birth of your baby with the government! A lady comes out to your house and while cooking dinner - you tell her all about it. This is why most of dates don't match from baby to baby!

This shirt cracks us up because they aren't allowed to eat pork and he is a walking advertisement for pork quite frequently

Dinner is served

A green mamba snake that was shot today…it had 3 little squirrels in its stomach!  Gross!!!  The kids thought it was great though!

We had some teens over the other night for dinner and then they stayed to play the wii with the boys. It was pretty hilarious to watch them try to play Mario Kart. They had a blast though and that's the point.

Trying to see through the bugs

You would think that this is us driving through the rain.  Nope.  It’s us driving through termites.  With rainy season starting, the insects are coming out in full force.  After a short rain all these flying termites come out of nowhere and overtake the skies.  The bad thing is that they don’t come off the windshield.  The wiper fluid has no effect on these guys.  You have to pull off and scrub the windshield to get them off.  There were others doing the smart thing of pulling over to clean the windshield, but a lot more people driving slowly down the road trying not to hit the people and goats in the road since they could barely see anything.

Yes, these are "jelly shoes" like those ones we begged our moms for when we were kids. Only these are the shoes just about every boy wears for soccer around here. I finally relented on the boys wearing them.

Candy from the states is a big hit over here!

The boys with Uncle Matt before he went skydiving...

I’m kind of behind in the postings these days – I will continue to blame this on the computer problems!  But, I didn’t want to just ignore all the summer fun that we’ve been having since we’ve come home.  We are certainly packing lots of fun into our time in Michigan – making up for two summers away!

We were invited to the home of one of our supporters for lunch and ride on their boat.  The boys were so excited to go!  Steve was back in Pennsylvania with his family and it was a nice distraction for the boys who were missing dad.  They absolutely loved that they got a chance to drive the boat – seriously, they still talk about it!  Steve and Karen – you guys are awesome that you allowed yourselves to be spun around like that as the boys used the boat to do donuts on the water!  Thanks for the infinite amount of patience you possess!  We had a really great time and you are awesome hosts!

We also spent the day at another lake with family.  I was glad to have my parents come along to help with the boys.  It was a day filled with fun.  I so wish that Steve could have been there to see the boys go kayaking, tubing and jet skiing for the first time.  They were in absolute heaven!  My aunt and uncle rent a house and their kids with families join them for a whole week.  My uncle Doug and cousin Kurt spent the whole day catering to the whims of my boys who couldn’t get enough of everything!  I don’t think Kurt got off the jet ski for more than five minutes the whole day!  I am so thankful for family…thanks for inviting us and taking such good care of us!

Ever since they were little, the boys have been fascinated by the fact that Uncle Matt has gone skydiving.  They are totally in awe that anyone can jump from a plane.  So, when Matt made plans to do another jump, the boys begged to be able to go and watch.  They loved seeing him get “geared up”, getting in the plane, and watching him jump.  Malachi especially was totally into it – he kept asking why he couldn’t go along.  They tried so hard to figure out which one was Uncle Matt up there in the sky, but it’s a little hard to tell when he’s just a dot up there.  Malachi has since asked several times if he REALLY has to be 18 to go himself.  He’d go right now if he could!

One of the things I have missed most about being in the States is the summer festivals and fun events.  Jackson just had the Hot Air Balloon Festival – something I have gone to just about every year of my life.  I even went up in a balloon as a kid for a ride over town – now, that made the boys really jealous!  The boys loved the food, the games, playing laser tag, watching the balloons fill up.  Sadly, the wind kept them grounded, but it was a fun family event and they were impressed just to see them filled up.

That’s just a few of the fun events that have been keeping us busy – is it obvious that I LOVE summer in Michigan?

Thrilled to be driving the VanWinkle's boat!

Ephraim and my cousin Kurt going out for his first tubing experience!

Malachi and Gramma at the Hot Air Jubilee