One Year!

The Gurley Invasion

Laurie and her kids flew to Indiana for a visit.  Of course the rest of us wanted to see them, so we decided that meeting here in Ohio would be the easiest.  Laurie, Nana, Abby, and Ezra drove from Indiana.  Julie, Caroline, and Anna drove from Virginia (Jack flew and joined us later).  And one aunt and uncle from Ohio and an aunt from Pennsylvania joined us for the day on Friday.  Add our family of five, and that's a lot of people in one place!  It was a whole lot of fun, and I'm so glad we did it!
For me, the best part was spending time with our nieces and nephew and watching them build friendships with each other.

Caroline 

Uncle Jack and Matthew in matching outfits

Abby

Ezra

Doesn't everyone sleep in pink sparkly shoes?

Gah! I can't believe I don't have any pictures of little Anna!  I suppose it's just as well.  She's so cute you'd probably spend the rest of your day staring at her.  :)

Award

I am one happy mama right now.  This morning Micah's school did end-of-the-year awards.  Each class had a turn to go on stage, and each child received an award for a fruit of the spirit that they had either exhibited throughout the year or really improved.  (The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Galatians 5:22-23)  Micah's award was for self-control, which I think is pretty impressive for a six-year-old boy!
There were a few awards for art and P.E., but none for any academic subjects.  The only other award was a character award.  Only one was given in each grade to the child who most consistently demonstrated good character all year, and Micah received it for the kindergarten class!  Not only am I just so proud of him, I'm also elated that his school recognizes that showing good character and trying to be Christ-like is our first priority.

Also at school, Friday was grandparent's day.  Nana and Grandpapa drove from Indiana to attend and spend the weekend with us.  They even held down the homestead so Scott and I could escape for a night!

LOVE this one!

the ducks at school

playing at home

Taking Steps and Girl Time

Look who is taking some steps!  He still has a ways to go before he's really walking, but his balance is getting pretty good.  :)

Hannah has been doing a free-play gymnastics time at the YMCA.  We invited her friend Ainsley to do it with us, and they have had a great time together.  This past week Ainsley came home with us afterwards for a little lunch and princess time.  Those two are pretty adorable together.

"One, two three, jump!"