4th of July in Missouri!!!

 FIREWORKS! 

 WOW! They were BEAUTIFUL! 

 HUGE!! LOUD!! AND BRIGHT!!

 And what was the most AMAZING to me?! They can set things off like this in their DRIVEWAYS! It was sooooo much fun that night at the Leonards'! I was doing happy dances on their back porch. I'm glad Kimbalee was there. She understands! :D

 The kids and I made a Flag Cake. We had to. I always made one with my family. We heard American Music and talked about why we celebrate the 4th. It was the cutest thing. We had so much fun and the kids started humming along to the music.We were so happy when Daddy came home after just a few hours at work. We love it when Daddy comes home. The kids get sooooo excited. My mom would have loved our happy morning. And their mommy would have, too!

 My new shirt for the big day. I told Moma I would put this pic on here! So...

 After my morning with the kiddos, I got to come home and hang out with my family and Aunt Tammy's family. 

We ate WAY too much food. We were thankful. We laughed. We napped. We played games. We sang. 

We laughed some more. We watched a baseball game. We watched the stars come out. We watched the smoke bombs and sparklers and tank fights. We cuddled. I knitted some... my fingers have been itching to do that for a while. Glad to have some time to be able to! :D

 Best thing about the weekend? We got Mr. David, one of my two Missouri Dads, home!! :) He works so hard. It was great to have him at home. It's great to get to talk to him, to see him with Miss Debbie, to hear him laugh, to know he is well enough to ride his trainer some... *happpy sigh* I love it when the whole family is at home together. We started watching the Tour over the weekend, too. 

We had a GOOD day!!! God is so good to us all!!

Pictures... happiness!

 Cool Carter with his awesome "Wobert!"

 Just takin' after Aunt Debbie here... =D

 Lovin' the fan at the ballpark-- GO ALYSSA!

 One of the very favorite nights of my life-- all of us being at Aunt Debbie's, swinging and singing and cuddling, dancing in the kitchen, making banana bread at 10:30 at night, eating it hot out of the oven, goodnight kisses...

 Someone certainly did enjoy herself! hee hee And they were both soooo good and fun to be with!

Spent the afternoon with my lovely sister celebrating her graduation from high school. I love that she is enjoying her new camera and planning to learn more from her mother about homemaking. She is already good at it and works hard and lovea children. She is such a blessing in my daily life! 

 Sweet girlie with our sweet lil man!

 Unplanned black/white day at Condordia with Stacy and Grandma! :) 

Sweet Kenna Girl waving goodbye to her wonderfully Daddy. <3

 Seeing Daddy at work-- and McKenna getting to play-- was super fun! 

 Little Dude had to get in on the fun! :D

 I love this one...

 And this one!

We had some fun girlie time this morning. She's been awake early the past two mornings. While it's strange to be up that early, it's fun to have one-on-one time with her. Notice her necklace? Yep. She made it! :) 

We've had fun getting wonderful letters this week! My sweet Maggie Girl wrote me the sweetest note. It made me happy and feel hugged. Then my Jon David Dude sent a note that made me smile. And my wonderful Miss Terri! Her letter was incredible! The kids were so excited that "we" got letters! Thank you each for them! 

Can you tell that life is beautiful, bright, and very, very blessed? <3

Josefina Camp!

My sister and I have done Summer Camps for sweet little girls for years. This year I was asked to do one in Missouri. This was planned before I called this amazing place my real home. I even got to be in Missouri and talk about camp with Aunt Shauna. I can see her big, bright smile thinking about how much fun the girlies would have with us. She was so great about sharing joys and plans with. I hold that as a very special trip, and talking together as one of the best moments. Oh, I miss her. I wish that we could have shared this with her, but I am happy that we were able to share it with her little princess. 

Summer Camp fun~ American Girl Style!

Josefina Camp!!

Playing Rainbow Tag-- That's "my" awesome house in the background! YES! I live in a YELLOW house! How perfect is that?!

7 little Josefinas and 3 big ones! :)

Such a pair of cuties! McKenna's face makes my heart sooo happy!

Cooking in the most beautiful kitchen ever!

Abby reading to our girls!

Sewing pouches like Josefina's...

7 little Josefinas! =D

Playing! Oh! I love playing! And this is one of my favoirte games-- Little Blind Hen!

Playing the flower game-- which we always play with a ring! hee hee And which brings on LOTS of fits of giggles!!

Our 10-year-old birthday girlie!!

Beautiful outfits made by Alyssa McAfee (Who is talented beyong all reason!:D)

My Missouri Sisters! They made this camp great! And are they not just the most lovely girls you've ever seen!? And they are just as sweet, kind, funny, and Christ-like as they are beautiful!

The camp was perfect. Abby and Candice were great. The girls were super sweet and fun to be with. Their giggles and happiness made every moment wonderful for us big girls. We each enjoyed the time together. They are always such great teaching times… for all involved—but it’s such a big responsibility, too. These young sweethearts look up to us with big, trusting eyes. We spend hours and hours together. We could hurt or help these little ladies so easier. It is a very clear reminder that life is about living for God every minute and being the best example that we can be to everyone we are with. These darling little girls are all headed in the right direction. It is such a blessing to be with Christian families. How happy these past couple days were… the cooking, the reading, the running, the playing games, the singing, the smiling, the painting, the sewing, the memory-making… *happpppy sigh* And to be at home with my Hecks! I loved being here. Having our “mom” around and my “brothers.” They looked in on what we were doing and shared some of the fun and all of the snacks! They shared the house with all of us crazy, happy, laughy, busy girls. It was fun, fun, fun!

Missing my Alyssa and Christina, though. We have so many shared memories from summer camps from the past several years. They are both soooo good at camps. Alyssa can do anything! Christina is so funny! All our little girls in GA are as sweet as can be… such a blessing to have “sisters” and “little girls” everywhere. Love you girls… J Y’all make life soooooooo sweet!

My sweet room!

My favorite thing about my room!

My very comfy bed!

 My favorite books and movies are in there... Isn't it adorable?!

My beautiful dresser...

My cool earring tree!

The awesome extra bed for my guests-- you are all welcome! :D

My well-traveled and well-loved friends! :) 

Right side of my window... LOVE the ledge! 

 Left side of my ledge... =) =)

 The charming end of my bed!

My closet of rainbow clothes and big picture of my friends! 

Best purse in the whole world! Doesn't it look cute with my bed?!

Isn't it the sweetest?!

From my 2nd mom. One of my favorite things. We have HOPE in Christ-- the wonderful hope that we will be with Aunt Shauna again one day if we live for God! 

 I read this every day. I haven't forgotten. I love you, Miss Cindy! <3 

Love these things-- and those girls! See my beautiful sisters?!

 My neat rug!

 

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this part of my room!? :) 

Isn't it one of the sweetest rooms you've ever seen!? It makes me super happy! I love living in this house. But really, none of this "stuff" is what makes this place so wonderful. It's the godly people that I live with that make this place home! I'll share more pics of them soon... it's harder to do pics of them than of my room! :D

I am thankful to each of you for your amazing support and love on this new journey of mine. I need it. This is not a trip that I could, or would ever want to, take alone. Prayers for each of you, my friends. 

Love you all! <3