You will find pictures that highlight the remainder of our summer. Between the extreme heat and much rain we have been having, we haven’t gotten to play outside near as much as we like. But the rain has been nice! No complaints here. When Fall comes, you will have to tear us away from the parks around town!

The biggest news in our house is that Ainsley started preschool. She attends The Villages Charter School from 8-11 every day. You will find pictures of our preparation for her big day, her first day of school, and her first homework assignment. Ainsley was originally assigned to Mrs. Callaway’s class, and she even slept with her teacher postcard under her pillow! But, then, after a week of school they moved Ainsley into another class for those that are just part time preschool. So, she now has Mrs. Reffner and there are only 7 kids in her class. She’s been in school for 2 weeks now, and it has taken much adjustment, but she has remained very positive and flexible. We miss her being home in the mornings with us, but Braxton has never had Mommy all to himself, so that is a very wonderful thing. I am soaking up this time with him and I am so glad Ainsley comes home at 11:00 to join us for some fun! We are all adjusting very well now, but there have been some tears to get us to this point!

Ainsley is taking piano lessons (with her Daddy) and is starting dance soon. All Braxton wants to do is golf! Daddy takes him to the range often. They both love to read the bible and we talk of Jesus and His Word often. We have a devotion with Ainsley every morning before school, which she loves. It’s worth it to wake up a little bit earlier for this! God says to hide His Word in our hearts, and we are seeking to do that for our children. Braxton loves to learn and knows all his letters and most of their sounds. We love going to the library together and pick out books each week. This has helped Braxton love reading more since I couldn’t get him to read very much before! He would still just rather look at his golfballs, though. Ainsley cannot read enough and is especially attached to Clifford the Big Red Dog these days. Their favorite thing to play right now is store or library. Braxton runs a golf store around here and Ainsley sells books. Of course, they also love to play house...with Braxton as the Daddy, Ainsley the Mommy, me the kid and Brian the grandpa. Braxton is getting the hang of the “big boy” leggos and is quite focused and intent on what he is building. His favorite color is blue, so anytime we paint or color, the WHOLE thing is blue. You will see some evidence of this in the pictures. Ainsley really loves to paint more than she likes to color.

We are loving our church family more than ever and are so glad God called us to join with the people at Heritage Community Church to reach people together. I love seeing the kids each week. God is placing more and more of a burden in Brian and my heart for the needy across the world. I hope to have another Penny Carnival this year to help in a small way. I ask God every day to help me have His perspective about His world. I ask God to remind me of the kids living in trash dumps, the children being tortured for alleged “witchcraft”, the starvation...this helps me care less about the petty things of this world and more about God’s heart for His people. As I sit in the comfort of my house, typing this blog, there is so much hurt in the world. Brian and I are asking God what we can do about this. What can you do about it?

We’ve had a great summer, and I think the pictures say it all. Since there are TONS for you to look at, I won’t keep you with any details on this blog. Believe it or not, I still have more pictures, but I will include it on the next blog...and hopefully that won’t be as long this time! Enjoy the pictures. I’m enjoying the memories!