In no particular order, I think these pictures prove that marching band was the highlight of the fall at our house! Guard parties, trumpet dinners, late arriving costumes, a new old trumpet for Adam (Grandpa Great Henscheid's horn lives again!), frustrations, early and cold mornings, late nights and long drives to competitions, and lots and lots of new friends and great memories were made in marching band this year!
Senior night was a bittersweet one! I think if Leah could do it all over again she would have started color guard her freshman year. It has been one of her best high school experiences!
And a huge shout out to these two supportive cuties, who spent a lot of hours cheering from the stands!
This was their amazing show- The Thrill of Victory!
Leah used this phrase to describe our house, and I think she nailed it! This is a very happy house, the result of a LOT of hard work, and the location of many happy memories in the making.
I couldn't figure out where these pictures came from until I realized that I had inadvertently taken pictures while my phone was tucked into the back of my pants while I was doing yard work. They are quite nostalgic looking!
The colors have been exploding out every window as the summer has faded into a nice long fall.
One day all of the kids were laughing their heads off, gathered around a computer. I assumed they were watching funny videos, but they were actually making one. Silly kids.
We had oppresive heat for a few days, so it was no surprise when a storm full of billowing clouds rolled in to cool everything off. The sky went from this-
to this-
to this with nonstop heat lightning that lasted about two hours before the storm finally dumped on us.
Heat lightning, as it turns out "refers to the faint flashes of lightning fom a distant thunderstorm that are visibile but don't seem to be accompanied by thunder. The flashes are actually light reflecting off of higher-level clouds. Thunder can only be heard from a lightning flash for about 10 miles, so it's often not possible to hear it when the storm is far away." That was exactly what we were experiencing this night, and while we were originally watching a show, we eventually turned off the TV and gathered around the window to watch nature's show. It was adorably very Berenstain Bears-esque, and I love that Jason and I get to listen to the kids chatter about all of the facts and theories and thoughts that they have about planets and stars, space, and the role that God plays in this crazy earthly experience that we are all having.
One of our favorite, hardest working missionaries went home in June, and his sweet comp was transferred too. We have a feeling he'll be back.
Some church members are currently employing an old school bus to get all of our Swahili friends to church. These kids are amazing!
We spent one 105+ degree afternoon in the theater watching Inside Out 2 and we all loved it.
Nothing says simple pleasures like hanging out at our very own Lego store in DSM!
Youth conference was in June so Adam, Leah and Daddy headed south to Morrell Ranch.
I joined them there the first evening and Emma and Noah did a fantastic job of taking care of each other until Daddy and I got back home right at bedtime- they even had a sleepover in Emma's room!
These two worked so hard at summer strings- a two week program that ended with a fantastic concert.
We are all so glad that Jeff Bass-o's is back in our house after his long visit to the repair show, but we definitely enjoyed his temporary replacement too.
After their orchestra concert, the three of us went to Chick-fil-a and Barnes and Noble and the pool- a perfects summer day! Emma was delighted to learn that there is a classic book named after her. ;)
Our favorite new game of the summer is Sushi-Go- I don't wanchya dang chopsticks!
We also went to see a community theater production of The Sound of Music! It was cute and sooo long.
And Leah's summer camp started in June! She opted to host a few camps for kids rather than try to make her schedule fit an employers and she did a fantastic job of planning and prepping and engaging these cute kids with science!
It hasn't been all fun and games this summer- my annual dose of poison something hit me smack on the face this year-
Possibly the best day of my summer, Laney and I went stand up paddleboarding together. She knew just what to do and waited until I said go to jump off the board and swim back to Adam and Noah on the shore!
Our June was filled with lots of perfect summer days.
