Our Quiver: How the time flies by...

Can someone tell me where the summer has gone??? Seems like last week it was the 4th of July and apparently I blinked because we are heading into the middle of August. Kids out here are starting SCHOOL next week!!!! I guess we've been busy...

I realized the other day that we have had a lot of time with extended family this summer, which is never a bad thing, but it sure makes the days and weeks pass by quickly! It's been a wonderful opportunity for us, especially the kids, to get to know some extended family better. They've spent time with aunts and uncles and cousins that they either have never met or haven't seen in a very long time. What a blessing it has been!!!

Towards the end of July, my cousin Joyce came out and stayed with us for a week. She then caravaned with us to our church conference, held every 4 years. This year it was held at Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Indiana. We had a good time, though I wouldn't use the term 'vacation'. ;) Somehow going as a newly married couple the last time (celebrated our 1st anniversary after the conference in 2004) to suddenly having 4 kids to entertain and get to classes and activities made for a very eye-opening experience. Thankfully, we had lots of help from Matt's parents, my parents, and my sister & brother-in-law. And as Tyler is so quick to remind me, in 4 more years he'll be 9 1/2!!!! Um, ok, let's not talk about that yet. I'm still struggling with the fact that we're starting kindergarten this fall. But it does help put things into perspective...Tyler will be 9 1/2, Bria will be almost 8, Cameron will be 5 1/2 (Tyler's current age) and Derek will be 4. Wow...

After we returned from our 'vacation', we had the opportunity to celebrate our niece's 3rd birthday. The kids had a wonderful time playing together, even though we didn't stay long. Miss Scout is quite a character. :) She's a keeper and laughter is never far behind.

This past week was filled with more family, as Matt's uncle & aunt from Texas and his aun from Japan were here. Later in the week his cousin & his wife and family were here too. The kids had a blast watching animal youtube videos with Aunt Tricia and playing with the kids. They also enjoyed quizzing Uncle Paul & Aunt Margie about all the animals they have in Texas. ;) Cameron was a little cranky early on, as he was working on some molars, but once those finally poked through, he was back to his happy, entertaining self. :) Matt & I were really appreciative of Uncle Paul's 'need' to keep busy. He's a plumber by trade and helped us out immensely while he was here. We found a dishwasher on craigslist (for FREE, I might add!) and he installed that. He also replaced our hall bathroom faucet and drain and tightened our toliet so it doesn't wiggle and wobble anymore. It was SO nice to have his expertise.

So here are the collection of pictures from the past few weeks...hopefully you can make sense of them now that I've recapped a little bit for you.

Cousin Joyce and Derek

Our friend Olivia came over for a few hours before she headed back to PA

Hot days = pool time

On our way to Indiana...

Competitive game of Uno...check out the boys' faces!

Bedtime stories with Grammy

My sweet niece...this is a common expresion of hers

Just over 2 months between these 2

Grammy & Elise

We went to a playground after the conference with my parents & sister's family. It was a great a way for the kids to play a little longer and burn off some energy before the long-ish car ride home.

8 out of the 10 McCready grandchildren...amazingly enough, no one was screaming and everyone looks decent! I didn't even know that was possible when taking pictures of 8 kids, 7 and under. :)