Family Pictures

Uncle Jason & Bri

Bonding time

So proud!

The two Daniels

Story Time

Great Grandma Boston (Giles)

Goofing off with Uncle "Stee"

My brother Jon on his new bike

Granddad with the cousins (2 weeks apart)

We are Home!

We went on vacation the first week of August and then to Stoneboro Camp for a week. We had planned to stay for all of Stoneboro Camp which means we would've been gone for almost three weeks, but a little baby died in one of our church families and we came home for the wake and funeral. Those two weeks were packed so full it makes my head spin. We had a wonderful time "reuniting" with family and friends and showing off our baby to everyone. It wasn't really what I would call a "relaxing" vacation, but a wonderful time indeed! We ran from one place to the next it seems.

We left Sunday night after church and drove straight through to Kokomo, IN to see Jordan's sister Pam and family and their precious baby girl, Maddy-born two weeks after Daniel. Jordan's Uncle RB, Aunt Pam, Cousins Emily & Melanie with Husband Shawn and kids came and Jordan's parents were able to be there too! It was like a big family reunion. We all had a wonderful time. Then on Tuesday afternoon we went to my see my family in Salem, OH. We hadn't seen my Mom & brothers since Christmas! Way too long.
We stayed there until Sat. night. On Friday night my Mom's family came over for a picnic and we had another reunion! Saturday evening we drove to Indiana, PA to Jordan's parents' house and had Daniel's Dedication the next day. My family came for it and Jordan's Mom fixed a wonderful dinner for everyone. That evening we went to Armstrong Camp for the final service of camp. It was so good to go back there after so many years! (I grew up at that camp and hadn't been there for several years- 5 or more) Monday was my birthday and I had a wonderful day until Jordan called home and found out that baby Aljoe had died. He was a preemie-born at 2 lbs., but had finally come home from the hospital after about 2 months. Then he got RSV and stopped breathing twice. The second time they could not revive him. So sad. More about this later...
Tuesday we drove to Stoneboro and were able to stay until Sunday night. We had a wonderful time getting to see our family and friends, enjoying God's presence in the services, and just being at Stoneboro. We really missed it after missing last Camp, Conference & Youth Camp. That was the first time ever that I remember missing any camps. I also got to visit my Aunt Isabelle (my dad's sister who is like a Grandma to me) She lives about an hour from Stoneboro.

Once again we drove straight through and got home late Monday night with Jordan doing almost all of the driving. (I did some, but most of the time was so tired that I didn't trust myself) We then tried to get some much needed sleep,unpack, do some laundry and prepare for the wake Tues. evening. I stayed until 2 am and Jordan stayed until close to 5. (He had a already missed a full night of sleep.) Of course the family stayed all night. I have no clue how they do it. Then, we tried once again to get some much needed sleep and prepare for the funeral at 1 pm. Jordan spoke at both the wake and funeral. The whole thing was heartbreaking. He was buried in one of the same outfits that Daniel has. I about fainted when I saw it. The mother, Davida is only 20 and had 3 kids under the age of 2. The couple both loved the baby so much and were just devastated. Pray for Davida and Aljoe that God will use this to bring them to Salvation. They were both at Church on Thursday night and Sunday. (And they hadn't come real regular before) They seem to have opened up to us since the funeral and seem so tender. Aljoe requested to sing Because He lives and Davida raised her hand for prayer.

We also just found out that while we were gone, one of our best teenagers, Kristen, had gotten drunk with a friend or friends (probably her first time ever) and jumped out of a moving car, was taken to the hospital, etc. Thankfully she wasn't hurt. But now she isn't living at home and her parents are broken-hearted. She is actually living with a friend in our town and came to see us twice today. We were so glad to see her. She obviously isn't a Christian, but has been very faithful in coming to church, is one of the few girls who didn't drink and wasn't pregnant, etc. Her mom is one of the few moms who sheltered her daughter. She and Brianna are buddies and Brianna just thinks the world of her. We were just sick when we found out. Pray that she will get saved and not mess up her life. Also, pray for us that we will know how to help her.
Well, it is late and I'm sure you are bored with my long epistle. I will be posting pictures from our trip.