Well... as you can see from the sad state of the blog, I have not posted like I was hoping to this summer. In fact, I am still trying to figure out where the summer went. = ) It seems like each year goes by faster, probably because there is so much going on. Anyway, without any more delay, here is a walk through the Coens' summer!
April:
Birthday, birthday, birthday and yes, another birthday! So basically April is one of our big b-day party months. James turned 15 (sorry, no pictures = ( ), Miah turned 13, Lydia turned 7 and Joanna turned 7.
Lydia's Birthday
Miah's Birthday
Other than birthdays, I came home from my 9 weeks at Ellerslie and Aunt Monica and her two boys, Matthew and Joshua came for a visit. We had a fun time with them, and we got to celebrate (yep, you guessed it!) another birthday! Matthew turned 6 while he was here! Great job on the cake, Momma and Aunt Monica!
Joanna's Birthday
May began with Momma's Birthday, Mother's Day and Daddy and Momma's anniversary. Around the end of the month Leah and I took Miah and her friends Abigail, Anna and Kelly up to Windsor for Leslie Ludy's Set-Apart Girl Confrence (it was a delayed birthday present for Miah). We had a wonderful weekend and it was a neat time of seeing God continue to push each of the girls forward into a deeper relationship with Him. While we were up in the Windsor area we were able to go up to Fort Collins to see a family that Leah got to know well while she was at Ellerslie and that I got to know some while I was up at Ellerslie. The family has 4 little girls (a 3 year old and triplet 2 year olds). We all had a great time loving on the girls!
Abigail and Jaymie
Miah and Jocelyn
Anna and Jennah
Kelly and Jillien
Me, Jillien, Jocelyn and Jennah
April was also the month of finishing school for the summer,
there was great rejoicing!
June:
In June our awesome friend Meghann paid Peyton a visit on her way to Austrailia. We had a fabulous time catching up, garage saleing, relaxing, pressing each other deeper into Jesus, and lots of laughing. I have known Meghann my whole life, and one of my favorite things about our friendship is that no matter how long we have been apart, we can jump back into the friendship right where we left off. Love you, dear!
July:
July started off with a bang--a trip to Omaha for the 4th of July. It was so much fun to see a lot of the extended family and celebrate with them. Grandpa Bob, the Uncles and the boy cousins were in charge of purchasing the fireworks, and they did not disappoint! We had a wonderful selection and a spectacular show!
Grandpa Bob with all the little (and not so little) helpers
Dinner on the green with Leah, Josh, Aaron and Sarah
Sarah, Miah and Momma
Taylor (cousin) and Miah
Nadia with Kennedy and Michaela (cousins)
Leah
Lydia, Ella (cousin) and Joanna
(I'm not entirely sure what they were up to)
Daddy with Uncle Craig and Uncle Jim
Nathan (cousin) and Miah
I thought you all might enjoy the many party faces of Joanna
throughout the evening.
(Believe it or not it was even more impressive by the end = P,
and all the red did come out of the shirt)
More Omaha Fun...
Water Fight!
Sarah and Miah
Park Trip!
Near the end of July I celebrated my 21st birthday with friends and family. Thank you everyone for the blessings you poured on me!
August was a full month! Around the middle of the month Daddy, Sarah, James, David, Miah and I, along with our friends Josh, Matthew, Laura, Anna, Peter and Aaron all went on a 4 day camping trip. We decided to camp in Saquache Park, which is about a 6 hour drive from Peyton. It was beautiful! We drove most of the way and only packed in about 30 minutes. Everyone had a blast relaxing, playing in the stream (and mud), climbing rocks and exploring. The weather was perfect and our time went quickly. The week of the camping trip was also the first week of school. Everyone was excited to get started again. Even though it took a while to settle into a routine things are moving along well.
Miah
Back Row, L to R: Sarah, Anna, Laura, Aaron, Peter,
David, James and Daddy
Front Row, L to R: Me (Hannah), Matthew, Josh, Miah
Laura and Sarah with their packs.
Laura, Sarah and Matthew
The valley that we hiked into to camp. Beautiful!
(More scenic pictures coming to my photography blog sometime. = ) )
The camp
Too much fun in the mud!
Washing off in the COLD stream
Sarah and Miah
Me
Sarah
James
David
Miah
Miah and Anna
Laura and Me
Camp life
Hiking and exploring
About a week later we celebrated Nadia's 9th birthday. She requested a camping trip with Daddy, Lydia, Joanna and a few of her friends, so after a birthday party with the family, they were off.
September:
This month has been busy as well! Over Labour Day weekend most of the family went on a quick trip to Missouri for Grandma Janey's 70th birthday and upcoming retirement party. For those of you that don't know, Leah and I are off next Monday (as in 1 week!), to Uganda for 7 weeks of volunteering at an orphanage (more on that soon...). Last week was my last week at the nannying job that I have had (Leah finished the week before, but she is probably going back after Uganda). It was very bittersweet leaving (I'm going to miss the little guy a lot!), but this is definitely the next step that God has for me to take. David, Caleb (his birthday is actually today) and Joseph all have birthdays coming up this week. Also, for those of you that have not heard... the Coens are adopting again! Daddy and Momma got to meet the new kiddos last week and the rest of us are going to meet them tomorrow. There are two girls (11 and 8) and a little boy (6). We are super excited to have them become a part of our family! The hope is for them to move in sometime in October; we would appreciate the prayers for a smooth transition and continued healing.
Though life is full, I am so blessed each and every day by the fact that Jesus has purchased me with His own blood and that I am not my own, but His, to use and direct as He desires. I know that I am where God wants me for this season of my life. Though there are many challenges that come, my Jesus provides all that I need, and there is joy in obeying His call. I hope that you all have had a wonderful summer and that you have been blessed. Here's to a fall of following hard after our Savior and seeing His glory manifest here on the earth. Blessings!
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