The Potts Family...

The last stop, before our journey to CO offically started was the Potts Grandparents... We were there just in time for Wild Rose Days...

There were bouncers and slides...
A train ride....
And BINGO!
We spent Sunday afternoon, Monday and then left on Tuesday morning.

The second Family Reunion...

Chad arrived home from his summer Air Force Training on July 22... On the 23we began our journey to Colorado. The first stop was a trip to pick up the kids from his parents house. We left on Friday morning and arrived to hug our kids (I had been gone for 9 days and Chad hadn't seen them all summer)... Boy we both missed them.
The next day we went to my parent's for a second family reunion. At this family reunion the entire Breeden Family turned out and we had a fun picture in front of the huge evergreen tree in their yard...
From Left to Right you have the Meyers (Daryl and Rebecca), The Jeff Breeden Family (Jeff, his lovely wife - Jess, and their kids Ali and Carter, The originators of this clan (Jim and Mary), the Potts' (Chad and I, Zeke, JJ, Noah and Seth, and the Jim Breeden Family (Jim, his lovely wife - Amy, and their kids Samuel, Isaak and Grace).
Then we went to church Sunday morning and said Goodbye to the Breeden family (several of whom will be visiting CO this year)... Here are all the kids before church on Sunday.

Fun with the cousins...

The first leg of our journey takes us to Wisconsin to spend some time with Uncle Jim, Aunt Amy, Samuel, Isaak and Grace.
We stopped in to see them on our way to Grandma and Grandpa Breeden's. The kids had a great time hanging out at home, parks, and the zoo...
Then we went to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Breeden's for a family reunion, but after taking this picture, I forgot my camera at Jim and Amy's... Oh well, I will have to try to get some family reunion pictures from others!
This is the point where Michelle's journey went back to Fort Wayne for some intense packing. 9 days with no kids and nothing but a house to sort, pack, clean and prepare... And yes, I finished it all with a day to spare! I even had time to get my hair and my toenails done!

The Summer of Goodbyes...

With our upcoming move to Leadville and our friends who are also leaving the Fort for a year we have had to say a few goodbyes this summer... Our friends Diana and Adrian did a great job of hosting cookouts, but I never took any pictures so you will just have to trust me on that one.
One of the families that I and the boys will miss is the Gerdes family, so in preparation for the move, we gave the kids a little extra time to hang out. We went to the beach with them, and then later Cedric spent the night (poor Eliah was not feeling well so he couldn't join us).
Then right before they left town they spent a couple of nights with us so they could hang out again... When the time came to an end we said, "See you soon..." as we anticipate returning to Fort Wayne in a year and hanging out again....
The night before the kids went to spend a week with the Grandparents we made sure we also got together with the Ingall's family. They are still in Fort Wayne and we are hoping that they will get a delayed Vicarage and will still be there when we return. Time will tell. The kids getting a little silly....

Tin Caps Game...

This summer we got two Tin Caps Games... The Library also gives tickets to the kids for reading and I ventured out with them to the ball park for a HOT, HOT, HOT afternoon game... Look at those seats... I was a little nervous we would get hit with a foul ball!Even with the sun beating down, we had a great time and stopped to pose for a picture with Johnny before heading home.

Fox Island...

Part of the Allen County park system... Fox Island has a great beach and is perfect for cooling off on a hot day.

The boys can dig and build in the sand....
And rinse off in the lake...

Off to camp...

Zeke and JJ are off to Explorer camp at Camp Lutherhaven! We started off our Sunday morning with worship(the boys are posing for a picture on the new Dock.)...
Then it was time to check in and move in...

Then it was off to the beach for an hour of fun before the opening ceremony.
We left our boys in the capable hands of Counselor Steve... They were joined by their two friends, Cedric and Mitchell...
On Tuesday we picked them up.

Interview when we got home....
What was your favorite part of camp:
Zeke - Playing Games
JJ - Canteen

What was your least favorite part of camp:
Zeke - Getting sick (Monday night)
JJ - Getting sick (also Monday night) and Monochromatic theme night...

Would you go back again:
Zeke and JJ - YES!!!