“How was your summer?”
That’s a question we get (and will get) a lot and I usually don’t even know how to start squeezing the whole summer into a couple of sentences. So to share some things we’ve done and experienced over the last 6 weeks, here’s a little ABC of our summer in Spokane:
A — Anyan Reunion: We had the chance to meet some new Anyans at the family reunion (and Grandma D loved showing off some of her great-grandkids).
B — Bubbles — The boys discovered their love for bubbles. Hours of entertainment: Judah blowing bubbles, and Elias popping them when they land in the grass.
C — Cousins — We sure miss having all the cousins around when we’re in Missouri and enjoy seeing the kids play, learn, and grow together!
D — Dogs: We shared our home for the summer with 10 puppies. As much as they annoyed John and me (sorry, Dad!), the boys loved playing with them. And I have to admit that they were pretty cute…
E — Eucharisteo: It’s a Greek word that stands for thanksgiving and joy… which was a theme that came up a lot over the summer in my personal devotions, in conversations with friends, and at our ladies’ coffee group. Having a heart of thankfulness and contentment was definitely a lesson God has been teaching me.
F — FIFA World Cup Final: Go Germany!!! Enough said. (Oh, and thank you Dad for subscribing to ESPN just so I could watch the world cup!!!)
G — Gifts: We are amazed at how God provides and how he compels people to give so generously, and we were blessed this summer to experience that again and again.
H — Home Sweet Home: We realized that we have many homes and have to specify what we mean when we say “We’re going home”… Spokane? Missouri? Germany? Oh, the missionary life!
I — Impossible… for a 9 month old to climb up slides, boxes, and whole sets of stairs? Nope! The higher and more dangerous, the better for Elias!
J — Judah & Jonas: Those two are 4 months apart in age, as different as can be, and such good buddies. LOVE watching them together!
K — Kid-free dates: We had several of them and thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Thanks to all the babysitters!
L — Laughter: We had PLENTY of that, too, with our silly boys and our crazy AnFam!
M — Movies: “Watch a movie, please?” That’s what we heard several times a day from our entertainment-loving Judah. We did have to cut his “netflix time” back to 2 times a week because he would watch movies aaaall day!
N — New friends: We are blessed with lots of friends with little kids, and the boys really enjoyed playing with some new buddies.
O — Outdoors: Judah and Daddy went on many adventures outside, including cutting down trees, finding snakes, working on the cabin in the woods, and visiting the neighbor’s horses.
P — Picnics: A new family favorite. Added bonus: much easier clean up after Elias creates a mess.
Q — Quiet Times — Mhhhh… John and I both love our morning quiet times with a hot cup of coffee and our Bibles. Priceless!
R — Relationships — We’ve truly enjoyed spending quality time with family, old friends, and some new friends and have been blessed by deeper relationships that we’re excited to continue to foster.
S — Silverwood — Theme park fun with the whole Anyan family!
T — Treats: Needless to say that Judah and Elias LOVE sweet things. Judah’s favorite treat is ice cream, and when I asked him what his favorite food was, he said “chocolate.” The boys were definitely spoiled when it came to treats this summer, both in Germany and in Spokane!
U — Uncles & Aunts & Grandparents : The boys have the best aunts and uncles and grandparents (on two different continents)!!!
V — Vacation: “Camping: You pay a small fortune to live like a homeless person.” I read that sign somewhere and just started laughing. It’s so true :)! Regardless, we enjoyed our Anyan camping trip despite the rain and the cold. We had a hot fire, tasty coffee, and lots of kids entertaining each other.
W — Water fun: … at the splash pad, the water park, and in kiddie pools.
X — RelaXing Outside — I know I’m cheating, but that’s all I could come up with for the letter x. We did do a lot of relaxing in the sunshine 🙂
Y — Yearly visits: We are truly thankful that we get to visit Germany and Spokane each year (or twice a year, as we are going back to Spokane over Christmas). It’s hard to be away from family throughout the year, but it makes time together so much sweeter and more meaningful!
Z — Zones: Time zones, that is. We were in 3 different ones over the summer and crossed 10 time zones with our travel. Totally messed with us, but we’re thankful our bodies are so quick to adapt to time changes.
We had a summer full of joys and some sadness, full of growth and some challenges, and always full of God’s grace.
On to the next chapter in the Anyan journey!!!
ButterflyCards says
Das hört sich alles so toll an!!!
Schade das wir uns diesen Sommer gar nicht gesehen haben.