Tomorrow morning Michaela and I will head out with my parents on our long anticipated trip to CA.  We will spend a week in Yosemite backpacking and seeing His incredible handiwork.  We’ll also get to spend some time with my brother, Jeremy, and see some aunt, uncles, and maybe cousins.  We have been planning, preparing, and training for about 3 months now so we’re quite excited that the time has finally come.  I can’t wait to introduce Michaela to backpacking, especially in our much beloved Yosemite.

Please pray for our safety, for physical strength, and especially for spiritual refreshment and growth.  Chris will be staying home with the other four kids, so I would also ask you to pray that their time here goes smoothly and that they’ll make some fun memories as well.  I can’t say how blessed I am to have a husband like Chris who allows me to get away on special trips such as this.  Not only will we be gone for several days, but he’ll be cooking meals, doing laundry, chauffeuring kids around and so much more.  I love you more, Chris!

I’ll have plenty of pictures to post once we get home.  Maybe I’ll even get Chris to post updates a couple of times.  We will have a satellite phone with us while we’re in the back country and we’ll call in at a regularly scheduled time once a day for just a couple of minutes to check in (it’s expensive!).

P.S.  Tomorrow evening’s dinner has long been planned….In-N-Out!! 

Today we have been celebrating Michaela’s 14th birthday.  It still seems a bit surreal to me to have a teenager in the house.  Michaela is not just any teenager though.  I do have to brag a bit.  She is so very, very helpful around the house and with her siblings.  When she is asked to help she does so very willingly, but the best part is that I rarely have to ask for help.  She is often already there taking care of things or asking how she can help.  My job as a mom has been made so much easier.  Michaela is also an organizer, a self-starter, super responsible, respectful, and thoughtful.  She relates maturely with adults and children alike and is well liked by all who cross paths with her.  We are blessed beyond measure and thank God for the gift of our first born.  She is a treasure indeed!

Later this week Michaela and I will head out to CA with my parents.  This is sort of an 8th grade graduation/14th birthday gift to her.  We will be visiting some relatives and then backpacking in Yosemite for a week.  I am very excited about spending more quality time with Michaela on this special trip.  We’ve been training for almost three months now and I’m looking forward to seeing her experience her first High Sierra backpacking expedition.

We love you, Michaela and are very proud of the young woman you are becoming!

Last Saturday we all got up early to head to KC for the day.  We were excited to see GG Wolfe, as they had just arrived in from Russia.  We also attended a baby shower for our newest nephew/cousin, little Titus.  He is still waiting in Taiwan for his Daddy and Mommy to come get him.  His court date was today (our time last night) and we are anxiously awaiting news of when they can travel to be joined as family.  Here are some shots from the day.

Our Aunt AA, mommy-to-be

Aunt AA's friends had such cute decor for the shower

Ami was SO excited about spending the day with Elle. As soon as we got in the van to head home at the end of the day she said, "I miss Elle." Awwww.

One of Benjamin's amazingly odd talents. Where in the world does he come up with this stuff?! (Elijah's face cracks me up, too!)

The Wolfes always have fun with games, a must for get-togethers. The guys (young and old) are known for making up their own inventive rules

Love you, Kate!

For part of the day I had some terrible head spinning/dizziness going on. I crashed on Elle's bed for a while and after trying to get me off, she gave up and snuggled up to me holding my hand. She is such an affectionate and loving little lady. I love you Elle-belle! Thanks for giving Aunt JJ some TLC.

GG Wolfe with the Wolfe cubs (minus Titus)

Our family with the grandparents

Eric, Kate, Elle, and Zane

With having Grandpa and Grandma here I’ve hardly kept up on my blogging.  I’ll just post a bunch of pictures (both from my Dad and my own) to recap some of what we’ve been up to the last several days.

We've been training for our backpacking trip by walking with our packs 2 miles each morning

Out to eat at one our favorites - MS Fish Shack

We've had lots of rain and severe storms, but they create some gorgeous sunsets to view from our new deck

Chris has been befuddled by our moles for a long time. Dad finally showed him up by catching not just one....

....but two in one day!

The pay off was $10 a mole. Well worth it!

One of my treasures

And another one

Benjamin dressed up as his daddy, complete with shirt, sunglasses and ear piece made from Legos (This shot SO looks like his Uncle Jonathan!)

G/G went with us to volunteer at the Food Bank. Grandpa came out with a couple of souvenirs!

One of those days when siblings are loving playing together

Celebrating 49 years of marriage

Amish Country

Picnic in Amish area

Our photographer

We’ve done a bit of this and that this week.  Grandma had a follow up to her surgery on Thursday and the doctor was so pleased with the progress that he said she didn’t have to wait until next summer to have the other eye taken care of.  So she is scheduled for cataract surgery on the other eye next week!  We are all excited for her and jealous that she’ll have 20/20 vision with her lens implants. 

We celebrated Dad and Mom’s 49th anniversary on Friday with dinner out at our favorite BBQ place.

Today we took G/G up to the Amish area.  We enjoyed a beautiful day with way less humidity than normal.  We came home with lots of yummy fresh produce and some other goodies as well.

Well, it was a big one this year for me.  My age now starts with the same number as this post title, but I’m happy to say I don’t feel a day older and it hasn’t psychologically messed me up yet.    We attended church in the morning, then ate out at Mongolian BBQ for lunch.  Yummy, but I ate way too much.  I opened some very nice gifts at home, then the kids were itching to shoot off some of their fireworks.  We had American BBQ (just hotdogs) as a light supper before shooting off some more fireworks and then heading out to watch the city show.  Then after the city show we came home for more of our own fireworks since it was now dark.  The kids didn’t get to bed until 11:30, which is unheard of at our house.

We had a great day and I felt very loved.  It is very special to be surrounded by family.  I always especially miss my “twin” on my birthday when we’re not together.  Jennifer is two years older, but we have the same special birthday.  Japan is so very far away, but  Skype and the phone helped bring us together for a bit.  Hopefully we’ll be together next year to celebrate here.  I love and miss you, Jennifer!

The kids had anticipated shopping at the fireworks tent for days.

Benjamin's special craft for my birthday

Opening gifts

Ami adored Uncle Jeremy

One of my pyromaniacs

Enjoying the "show"

They loved shooting the fireworks

She said this was a "Chinese pose"

More "Chinese posing" with sparklers

Another pyromaniac

And one more pyromaniac

On the way home from the city show

Mom, Dad and I saw Jeremy off at 5am this morning then we all went back to bed.  Thanks again for coming, Jeremy!  Love you!

We had a fun and busy week last week.  Grandpa and Grandma arrived on Tuesday, then on Wednesday my brother, SIL, and little nephew were supposed to arrive from CA.  Unfortunately the little guy got sick and they had to cancel the trip.  We were very disappointed as we had not gotten to meet our cousin/nephew yet and they had yet to meet Elijah.

Chris had already taken off Wednesday through Friday, so Dad helped us get started on some much needed landscaping around the new deck.  It keeps looking better and better every day, but there has been a lot of sweat, muscle, and energy put into it all.  I have a couple of pictures, but will post more when the project is completed.

It was on Saturday afternoon as we were slaving away in the heat and humidity, very soiled and soaked in sweat, that a car pulled down the driveway.  I looked up and saw my brother Jeremy get out!  He had flown in on his way home to CA from work in Europe to surprise me for my birthday!  What a special surprise it was, especially after my disappointment in not getting to see my other brother.  It had been 2.5 years since I last saw Jeremy, and he finally got to meet Elijah, too.  Very special!

Tea party with Grandma

Newly stained and sealed

Men moving boulders

Zane, Elle, and Kate came through and stopped for lunch

Grandma introduced the kids to Sudoku

My "little" brother surprised me!

Wii games from their uncle

Uncle Jeremy even tried out the rope swing

We picked up Grandpa and Grandma Clark at the airport this afternoon.  We’re looking forward to having them here for a month with us.  With grandparents overseas, every day together is a gift.

My brother, sis-in-law, and nephew were supposed to fly in tomorrow.  Unfortunately little Sean is sick and they had to cancel the trip.  So sad that we won’t get to meet Sean and hug some more necks.  Please pray for him.

It was a very exciting day eighteen years ago today, as Chris and I looked forward to the next chapter of our lives together.  In one of my Memorial Box stories, I blogged about how we first met.  We spent a year dating, then a year of engagement before our big wedding day.

If you had asked each of us twenty years ago when we first met what each of our lives would be like today, I doubt if we would even come close to guessing with any accuracy what has transpired over the last several years.  I know these things for sure.  Our love for each other is deeper, our faith in Him is stronger, and our hope for the next years to come is filled with excited expectation.

Today was our last and best day at the beach by far.  We were out early by about 8:30 and it was clear, the water was warm, and we saw lots of sea life.  We saw dolphins, dolphins and more dolphins.  I guess that’s a pod?  Anyway, it was just breathtaking and exciting to see them jumping and flipping and playing around in the not so far distance.  We oohed and aahed for quite some time.  We also saw a huge school (?) of large manna rays swimming by just 6 or so feet from where we were jumping the waves.  The kids also caught a large crab and a small hermit crab in his tiny shell.  So fun!

We did our usual lunch break and then headed out in the air conditioned van to do some geocaching.  After three strikes we decided to get ice cream and cold drinks before heading back to the beach in the late afternoon.  It was hard to leave the beach this afternoon since it was our last time there.  We will head out early tomorrow for Kentucky to catch up with some friends there.  We’re looking forward to visiting with them and then heading home on Saturday.

If you look closely you can see a black spot that is a dolphin