June 18-July 9

“Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings.”
― Jane Austen, Mansfield Park 

June 18:
We met up with Phil McKinney and got a "game plan" for our time here in VA.

After weeks of Gideon wanting us to see "Chipwrecked", we finally found it at a RedBox and had a family movie night. :)

June 19:
Since the family had been so busy moving, we hadn't done much "fun stuff" together.  We found a theater that discounts their tickets on Tuesdays.  We went to see "Madagascar 3".  Before the show we played with PhotoBooth:

June 20:
JR met with Mike Miller (aka Odgie) for coffee while I explored a new supermarket with the kids.  Since we were still without cell phone, we used walkie-talkies.  (Yes, we are that awesome!)

We joined FXCC for a mid-week service.

June 21: 
I have no recollection of anything in particular happening this day.  We probably looked for housing.

June 22:
JR joined the Men's Ministry for hot wings.


June 23:
I finally got around to taking G's 6 year old portraits.  :)

June 24:
Sunday again... :)

June 25:
I had an early morning photo session with a family before they headed back to Saudi Arabia.

Also, the McCains approached us about how our apartment search was going.  It wasn't going well.  With our unique circumstances we weren't finding any place that would take us.  Fred and Teresa offered to rent out their basement to us!  So we will be able to continue to live in their basement until it's time to head to Peterhead!  (They are a tremendous blessing in our lives.)

June 26:
Kaden's birthday!  We got to web-cam with family out in Seattle.

We also went to see "Brave".  Naomi has decided to be "Merida" for Halloween. ;)

Gideon and JR drove by the school that G will be attending this fall.  1st Grade, baby!

June 27:
While JR and the kids were in their normal Bible classes, I got to join the worship ministry and sing through the song selection for Sunday.

June 28:
Got a cell phone and joined the 21st Century again!!! :)

June 29:
Naomi has been in the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, and the North Sea... but it wasn't until June 29, that she got in a swimming pool. :)  Aarolyn Hayes (a friend we met in Tallahassee 6 years ago) invited us to join her at their pool.  The kids had a blast!!!

 Late at night there was a big storm.  JR and I didn't think much about it... even when it knocked out the power.  But the kids got scared and were still awake (at 10:30pm).  We brought them downstairs with us and expected to wake up with the power back on.

Well... the power was out everywhere.  It was a really strange storm that started in Chicago area and a wall of storms moved east. 

June 30:
 We weren't sure it was going to take place because of all the power being out, BUT... the Family Fun Fest that FXCC hosted for Chantilly Mews was still on!

The whole family showed up to pitch in.  I was painting faces, so the only photos we have of the event I took in the car after it happened.  :)  But if I HAD gotten shots, it would've been of Gideon getting all the sour candy he could, as fast as he could. :)

 Naomi is showing off all her "tattoos".  It took her 2 hand paintings to work up to the face paint. :)

 goof-wad

 Gideon was one of the first kids to have his face painted, and he wanted to be the Black Angry Bird.

After we tried to buy bottled water at K-Mart, JR realized how unprepared we were to deal with a lack of electricity.  We had no gas in our car, and we had no cash in hand.  (We have since taken care of that.) :)

When we got back to the house, the basement was flooded again.  But we couldn't run the shop-vac, so JR hand-wrung out GALLONS of water and got everything "dry".

The power came back on around 4:30, so we didn't have it too bad.

I was invited to a jewelry party at the McCoy's home.  I got to visit with a handful of ladies from church.  It was really nice to be included.

July 1:
Sunday again.  For the month of July I am teaching Gideon's class.  It's giving me a chance to get to know the kids his age.  (Plus... we are studying Joseph... so if I go off book, it's usually into song.) :)


July 2:
The Bighams arrived from Tallahassee!!!  We met them for dinner.  The cousins were SO excited to see each other.  (the adults were too)

After dinner the 8 of us headed out to the Bigham's house.  It was wild being back there in their house again.  So many memories...  :)


July 3:
I don't remember exact details about this day, but I remember the general feeling... Peaceful, Comfortable, FAMILY...  It was one of those "every days" that make you grateful to be alive...

 (plus I'm pretty sure this day was the day JR fixed the "Perfect Chicken" on the grill) ;)


July 4:
For the holiday we headed over to Lyle and Pansy Bigham's home.  This is where JR and I met.  The kids were excited to play with their cousins and their "cousin's cousins".  We had a cookout, chilled out, and then after a game of Balderdash, we headed out to Brent and Kelli's back deck for fireworks.  We ended up having out own private show!!!

 I put the kids in age order:
Rachel (6), Gideon (6), Naomi (4), Shane (4), Simon (3), and Erica (2)

watching the fireworks in the distance... (we were not impressed by this point) :)

(I love this photo!!!)  They make the flag. :)

After the far-off fireworks, we did sparklers.

Then Brent and JR did a little firework show for us.

 More Sparklers...

And G finally did one...

Naomi LOVED the fireworks...

After not being impressed with the far-off fireworks, there was a show on the lake right behind the house.  Our spot was amazing!!! :)

It was a great 4th of July.

July 5:
Kelli heard of a free indoor play-place.  It's a place that sells really nice wooden swing sets.  On Thursdays they open it up for kids to play.  We took advantage of it!  The kids had a blast.  And then we went to Chick-fil-A!

July 6:
The family woke up early to babysit Simon and Rachel.  Gideon and Naomi didn't know that they were coming, and they were THRILLED. :)

After eating breakfast and getting dressed, I took the girls grocery shopping.  On the way, Rachel had a bunch of questions about Naomi needing to eat gluten-free. ;)  And they were great at the store.

We came home and the kids played more, ate lunch, and played some more.  When Kelli came, all the kids were disappointed. :)

July 7:

While Naomi and I went back to Lyle and Pansy's for a 50th birthday party for "Old Besty" (Lyle's Impala),

JR and Gideon went to G's first baseball game.  This was another event for the Men's Ministry.

 The guys even caught one of the souvenir t-shirts.  But JR says G can only wear it to sleep in because we are ORIOLES FANS instead of Nats fans. ;)

July 8:
After church, we met up with the Gulicks.  The Gulicks are going to be keeping G and N the second half of our time in Peterhead.  We've never hung out with them, so lunch was a great way to get to know the family better.   (They are great, and we are very comfortable leaving our kids with them.)

July 9:
VBS started this morning!  The kids weren't sure what they were getting into, but they LOVED it!  And they loved that they got to be in classes with their cousins.

While they were at VBS, I did laundry and packed.

We leave for Scotland TOMORROW!!!

If you'd like to get text updates about our trip, text "missionscotland" to 31996.

Keep Gideon and Naomi in your prayers.  They will be with Kelli for the first half of our 10 days away, and the Gulicks for the last 5 days.

~Daisha