Our last day, a perfect day at the lake...

The day before we left the US, we had the awesome opportunity to spend the afternoon at the lake with family.  What a special afternoon!  We worked hard all week to be packed and ready to just relax and it was worth it!   We played in the water all afternoon and finished the night with steaks and homemade ice cream.  Definitely the perfect way to end four and a half special months in the US. 

I loved seeing the boys with all of their cousins this summer.  Such a blessing! 

My boys had never been on a seadoo before and they LOVED it!

Their first tubing experience was a hit!

Brothers!

I had the pleasure of sitting back and taking in all the smiles and laughs.  Storing them up for the years when we are apart.  What a gift from God the last four months were to my heart and soul.  There is no doubt in my mind that we are exactly where we are supposed to be but there is a price for living overseas.  Thankful for the sweet gift of time and memories!

The Lake with the D's and the D's

So, I am not even sure how to start to blog about this summer.  They are just too many good pictures and memories.  I will slowly but surely try to plug away at them.  

In August, we had an awesome weekend with two wonderful families.  We have all known each other since we were newly married.  Living overseas and being away from friends, it is always such a blessing and encouragement to get together with long time friends and see how seamless it is to be together.  Our kids all played wonderfully together.  Lots of different personalities and fun memories!

The boys LOVED the water!

We had kayaks prior to moving overseas.  We sold mine the last time we were in the US.  But this summer, we quickly realized that it was a mistake.  Allen's kayak has been outside for 7 years and it was like new after a trip to the car wash.  So, we bought the red one off of craigslist and I am so glad that we did.  The boys were great in the back of them.  

Ash with her precious little girl!  The boys were all very much in love!

This sweet boy could not get enough of the water!  

7 kids and two on the way!

Thankful for sweet, sweet memories!

The Earl of Sandwich

Yesterday we took a road trip to a little town called Deal to pick up some chairs for our kitchen table. A cute little seaside town. We drove through Dover on the way and then headed to Sandwich afterwards. Kind of fun to be able to go to where the sandwich was first "created". We had a beautiful day and found a fun park/playground on the bay. 

Year 1 and Reception!

We are back from 4 and a half amazing months in the US.  We had a fabulous time seeing family and friends!  Just a gift from God.

So, we are back in England and the boys have started school.  Ben is in year 1 and Nate is in Reception.  They are so sweet and tell me every day about how they saw each other at school.  Nate really struggled with letting me go last year when he went to nursery every morning.  But he has been a champ this year.  He is a hedgehog and has the same teacher as Ben had, plus a lot of his friends from Nursery are in his class this year.  They are just too stinking cute in their little ties!  LOVE IT!!

This week Nate has half days and then next week he goes all day long!  So, I am entering a new chapter of life, having the boys gone all day!  I am looking forward to it and have all sorts of plans for what the time will look like...we will see.