We can't
rewind our summer without including one of the boys' favorite gigs - the local
4-H Fair! This certainly has become a family tradition of ours - one that gets better every year. Where else can you sweat like crazy, eat really greasy foot long corn dogs, get super sticky on a bag full of cotton candy, smear your shoes with a lot of who-knows-what in the barns (wait, I think I know what), ride rides that you think you don't want to but end up having a blast on, and run into lots of your friends - all in a matter of a couple of hours?! Oh yeah, definitely worth the belly aches and round of baths when all is said and done!
I love this picture from the 2005 fair... Trey's face is so precious and sweaty! I look at this and am reminded that those sweet summers while they're little are going by way too fast.
Onto this year's fair, with our good friend Bjorn. Bjorn is our Small Group babysitter on Monday nights (although our family is currently on break to allow Tess to get into a more set schedule in the evenings). While we study downstairs in our home, Bjorn by some miracle of God quietly entertains the boys upstairs for two whole hours in one room! He helps our family in so many ways, and we are blessed by the wonderful role model he is to our boys. I love remembering the time we were eating supper before bible study and Bjorn told Trey to stop slurping his spaghetti and to eat "respectfully." So full of impact coming from a 13 year old cool guy instead of his mom (again). So when we need an extra hand, often Bjorn tags along... on the Avalanche, and beyond!
I can't believe Chase rode this roller coaster! He does things the older two never did at two years old, all in an effort to keep up with the big boys.
Tess was two weeks old at this year's fair, and it was nice to get out of the house as a family. In an incredible act of timing (which had to have been of God!), the hospital passed a paternity benefit just days before Tess's due date. The benefit was supposed to take effect on July 1, but Human Resources called Tyler personally to let him know that he would be included in the benefit even though I was due mid-June. How amazing is that? The best part of the whole thing was finding out that Tyler was eligible for
four weeks of time off! He would receive half-pay with the benefit, and could use vacation time for the other half. You'd better believe that we took it!
These last two pictures are my favorites. Jack and Trey are often on the lookout for Chase, and are usually quick to lend him a hand. Just this past week I was feeding Tess when Chase woke up for the day, and Trey managed to figure out how to get Chase out of his crib all by himself! At first Chase was a bit hesitant and wanted me to get him, but Trey put it to him and told him that he "had a choice" (
hmm...I think I know where he got that phrase!). Trey would turn the lights out and close the door so Chase could go back to sleep, or Chase could let Trey pull him out right then ("Mama is busy Chase, so you have to let me help you," said Trey in his best parental voice! I'm hearing all of this through the monitor while I'm "stuck" downstairs). It's probably a good thing that I didn't witness the process. All I know is that it involved a step stool and a lot of pulling. The two giggled all the way down the stairs and ran to tell me all about it.
Too bad the fair only comes once a year, but maybe that's how it stays interesting enough to keep holding our attention! And seriously, a person shouldn't eat one of those corn dogs more often than that anyway. And what do you know, the weather
still feels like
summer around here! So we'll keep
rewinding for just a little bit longer...
I love this picture from the 2005 fair... Trey's face is so precious and sweaty! I look at this and am reminded that those sweet summers while they're little are going by way too fast. 
Onto this year's fair, with our good friend Bjorn. Bjorn is our Small Group babysitter on Monday nights (although our family is currently on break to allow Tess to get into a more set schedule in the evenings). While we study downstairs in our home, Bjorn by some miracle of God quietly entertains the boys upstairs for two whole hours in one room! He helps our family in so many ways, and we are blessed by the wonderful role model he is to our boys. I love remembering the time we were eating supper before bible study and Bjorn told Trey to stop slurping his spaghetti and to eat "respectfully." So full of impact coming from a 13 year old cool guy instead of his mom (again). So when we need an extra hand, often Bjorn tags along... on the Avalanche, and beyond! 
I can't believe Chase rode this roller coaster! He does things the older two never did at two years old, all in an effort to keep up with the big boys.
Tess was two weeks old at this year's fair, and it was nice to get out of the house as a family. In an incredible act of timing (which had to have been of God!), the hospital passed a paternity benefit just days before Tess's due date. The benefit was supposed to take effect on July 1, but Human Resources called Tyler personally to let him know that he would be included in the benefit even though I was due mid-June. How amazing is that? The best part of the whole thing was finding out that Tyler was eligible for four weeks of time off! He would receive half-pay with the benefit, and could use vacation time for the other half. You'd better believe that we took it! 
These last two pictures are my favorites. Jack and Trey are often on the lookout for Chase, and are usually quick to lend him a hand. Just this past week I was feeding Tess when Chase woke up for the day, and Trey managed to figure out how to get Chase out of his crib all by himself! At first Chase was a bit hesitant and wanted me to get him, but Trey put it to him and told him that he "had a choice" (hmm...I think I know where he got that phrase!). Trey would turn the lights out and close the door so Chase could go back to sleep, or Chase could let Trey pull him out right then ("Mama is busy Chase, so you have to let me help you," said Trey in his best parental voice! I'm hearing all of this through the monitor while I'm "stuck" downstairs). It's probably a good thing that I didn't witness the process. All I know is that it involved a step stool and a lot of pulling. The two giggled all the way down the stairs and ran to tell me all about it.
Too bad the fair only comes once a year, but maybe that's how it stays interesting enough to keep holding our attention! And seriously, a person shouldn't eat one of those corn dogs more often than that anyway. And what do you know, the weather still feels like summer around here! So we'll keep rewinding for just a little bit longer...
1 comment:
Look at the faces of the participants on the Avanalche. In that photo, the one that looks to be having the most fun is the boy farthest to the right...the big boy...Tyler.
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