The girls and I started out this summer by going to NC for a week. Craig and I went to my mom and Mike's for a few days while the girls spent some time with their cousins, aunts, uncles and Poppa. I helped my mom go through her storage room, which led to Craig and I going through our attic and purging in order to make room for new things!! This was a summer long project for us, which included a garage sale, and we still have a few more thing to get rid of and organize. But it feels good to be "organized!"
During our week in NC we were able to sneak away to Myrtle Beach for a couple days with Aunt Jane and Ellen!
We went to Broadway and had fun shopping and playing!!!
I love spending time with my sweet sister in law!
Me and my sweet girls!!!
This was Ava's first time going to the beach! She loved the ocean and didn't even care if the waves splashed on her face! She's a true Hyatt, because we all LOVE the beach!!
Craig was sweet to let us go to the beach without him. He had to work, and this was the only time that Laura could go to the beach with us.
We were able to meet up with Rebekah and Elizabeth for a day. They were at the beach with friends for graduation, but spent the afternoon and evening with us!!
We had a great time!
We spent the 4th of July at home grilling out with neighbors and just relaxing.
On July 5th, we took Laura to the airport to send her off to China for 2 weeks! She met up with her friend from college in Boston, and from there they traveled together to Yantai, China.
We celebrated Cam's birthday with him and had a wonderful time with our good friends!!
Then we took off for our vacation and went back to the beach. With Craig, but without Laura. It just gets a little harder to spend time together as a family when the children get older and begin to do things on their own. Between Laura's time in China, Craig's vacation, and Christine's band camp, we just couldn't work out a time that all 5 of us could go to the beach together. But we enjoyed our time together with Christine and Ava!
Sweet sisters!
I just love summertime!!!
Ava loved spending a lot of time with her daddy. He's gone so much during the week, she really loved being with him every day!
We had to take our picture with Bubba, in front of Bubba's Love Shack at Murrell's Inlet!
Our favorite place!!
While we were at the beach, Laura was in China, making memories of her own. She volunteered at a camp with Bring Me Hope. Each week different orphanages send children and the volunteers have 1-2 children that are "theirs" for the week. There is also a translator assigned to them and this becomes their little family group for the week. This is "duck head" that was served for dinner one day. Laura said she had to pass on this!
This is one of the sweet little boys that Laura had her first week of camp in China. It turns out that he has a family and he will hopefully be coming to the USA in March to be with his mommy and daddy!
This is Xiao Yun, Laura's little girl from her second week of camp. Our entire family is in love with her. Laura has so many pictures and videos, and this little girl is amazing. I pray for her every day! Laura came home from China about 8 pounds lighter but with a heart so full of love and compassion for the orphans of China. She experienced great times, but probably some of her saddest times when she had to load these children on the bus that would take them back to their orphanages-to their normal lives. I know God changed Laura's life and I believe that He will change the lives of the children that she was with those two weeks. We will have to see how God chooses to work, and we have to believe that He is in control, even when we are a world away from so many children who need families and love. My heart is burdened and my eyes have been open. Once we see, we can't forget the face of a child who just needs love, and a home. I know Laura will never be the same, but I also know that Craig and I will never be the same either. We are so willing to do more, we just need
God to show us a way.
After being in the USA for almost 2 years, Ava is finally eating a cheeseburger!!! In the past she would never touch it, she would always eat chicken nuggets! But she ate every single bite of her McDonald's Cheeseburger and loved it! It's the little things:)
Ava is getting her exercise pulling her big sister Laura around in the wagon!
This brings us to THIS MORNING!!! Christine's first day of High School! I pray that this is her best year yet! Christine is in the marching band, so she will be marching at all the football games. I will be out there too, volunteering at all the home games. I pray that God places sweet Christian friends in her path, and protects and guides her each and every day. I'm so proud of the young lady she has become!
And this is Ava, ready for her first day of Kindergarten. She's going to a new school and I'm so excited to see how much she will learn this year. She has come so far, and I feel like she's changed so much even over the summer. She's definitely stronger physically, and growing like a weed! She's talking so much clearer, and saying little phrases that MAKE SENSE!!! We laugh and say we play charades all day long with her, just in order to understand her. But she's saying so much more this summer. Her day will be long----- she gets on the bus at 6:56 am and doesn't get home until 3:40pm in the afternoon. Yikes! She will probably crash when she gets home. I might have to drive her to school and pick her up so she's not on the bus for so long, we will just have to see how she does. I just love her sweet smile, and I thank God that He gave her to us!!!
As far as I'm concerned, the house seems unusually quiet, and I will probably have everything done that needs to be done in this house (organizing closets, drawers, deep cleaning etc) within the next week or so. So, I'm praying that God will show me what He wants me to do! I'm hoping to have my job back at the Preschool, but I probably won't find out for several more weeks if they need me or not. (based on enrollment) For the time being, I will savor a little quiet time, and take advantage of a little free time. This doesn't happen very often!
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