Vacation Bible School

Last week, Caleb attended Vacation Bible School at one of the churches in Salem. The theme was blast from the past, and it was a fun week planned for the kids to learn stories from the Bible and about God's love for all of us. Caleb was in a class with other 3 & 4 year olds and he had two very nice teachers. At the end of the week, the kids put on a performance and we picked up their crafts. Caleb' s teachers said he practiced for the show all week, but he preferred to sit with us during the show. We could tell from his excitement that he had a great week, and we are thankful he had the opportunity to attend and learn.

Salem Sprint Triathlon

What do you do on your first full day in Salem? The Salem Sprint Triathlon, of course! And that is what we did today. Two teams, Team Should've Trained: Hap, Jay, and Jennifer, and Team Insha'Allah (if God wills it in Arabic): Elizabeth, Nathan, and Heather. 

Hap and I during and after the swim...

Nathan coming back from the bike...

 Nathan and Elizabeth's bike to run transition....

 And she is off!

 Jay and Jennifer's bike to run transition....

 Elizabeth coming in strong...

 Running in as a team :)

 Jennifer finishing strong...

Mark, Betty, and the boys came throughout the race to cheer us on!

 Team Insha'Allah took first prize in the team category....there was only two teams :).

Lining up in descending age order. We enjoyed (cried) seeing the participants' ages...many were a bit older than us!

 We all survived and had fun. This may have to become a new tradition every few years when we are all in town.

 Go teams go!

Shenandoah National Park

A couple of days ago, Nathan and I finished our work in the DC area, and we headed west to Illinois. On the way out of town, we stopped at Shenandoah National Park for a couple of nights to hike and enjoy the fresh mountain air. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to be in the park again. We stayed in Skyland, right in front of the lawn where we were married close to 6 years ago :). We went on a few hikes around the park, enjoyed a nice sunset the first night, and got some needed rest. It was a nice treat to stay in the park and we enjoyed it very much. 

We drove through lots of rain, but were determined to make it home in one day to see the boys, who we missed very much. They had a great time with Grandpa and Grandma, another post with pictures of their time together to come. In the meantime, we are enjoying being back with the boys and Nathan’s
family for the next few weeks!
 

From Ohio to DC

I have a bit of blog catching up to do from the past couple of weeks. It's been busy finishing up work before starting our home leave, visiting with people, and running errands. 

The boys were with us during our first week for processing appointments, and a couple of weekends ago, we met Nathan's parents in Ohio, and they took the boys to Illinois so we can finish up in DC. They are having a great time together, and we are very appreciative for their help. The boys warmed up to them instantly and we had a fun afternoon together eating pizza and ice cream and we played at a nice park. 

 By the end of the evening, all we heard was Grandpa and Grandma!  We get pictures of the fun they are having in Illinois, and are glad they have a nice place to run and play. We miss the boys a lot and will be excited to see them this coming weekend when we finish in the DC area.

This past weekend, Nathan's sister and their family came to DC and we got to spend the entire weekend with them which was a blast! And we got to meet our newest niece Abigail and nephew Abram.

This little girl loves to suck on her toes! She has lots of smiles and is really sweet. She loves her mommy a lot, but we are becoming friends slowly :).

 Abram is pure sweetness and he smiles a lot too...but not in this picture!

The big boys were excited to see us, as were we! Uncle Nathan and Hap swam with the boys, then we all enjoyed subs outside for dinner.

Then more swimming!

The next day we all took the metro to DC for some sight seeing. The twins enjoyed playing with Uncle Nathan before we headed out for the morning.

We spent most of the day at the Air and Space Museum. The boys, especially Sam, really liked the exhibits and interactive stations.

Then we walked along the Mall. Miss Abigail let Uncle Nathan love on her for a while.

It was hot, so we stopped for some drinks, snacks, and a foot dip.

Then onto seeing some of the monuments and White House. Sam got a good amount of American History lessons this day!

We took the metro home, and....went swimming until we all crashed that night!

The next day we went to our church in Manassas, out to lunch, and to the Old Mill at the Bull Run Conservatory. The mill was an old meat distribution center during the civil war, and it traded sides between the north and south several times. It was as functioning mill until 1951, and was recently restored.

The boys hiked around in and around the mill while Elizabeth and I sat in the shade with the babies.

Goofy boys!

We ended the day with ice cream and the boys playing while we all talked. It was a really fun weekend together, and we were so glad to have the time with their family and for the good laughs!