July and August

 Hello again! You probably don't remember the 4th of July pictures from my mom's blog by now, so you'll get to enjoy mine :) Anna and Esther had a great time during our 9 days in MN - new people to meet everyday and so much to do and so many fun aunties to spoil them! This is them at Grandpa and Grandma O.'s 4th of July picnic.

 As is this -

 Anna's normally a little shy - but for some reason she just loved this cow costume!

 Aunty Hosanna with the girls at the park.

 Aaron spoke at a 4th of July service while we were there.

 This is the 4th of July picnic at Grandpa and Grandma K.'s house - Aaron, Isaac, Mr. Nance, Amos, and Daniel

 Esther and some of the other cousins are getting ready to collect candy during the parade. Esther didn't care for all the loud noises, but it didn't take her long to get the hang of grabbing candy...Anna hadn't had her nap earlier and ended up sleeping through the whole thing!

 We spent most of Aaron's 34th birthday traveling, but I remembered to take a picture in honor of the special occasion when we got home :)

 It may look like a relaxing day-off activity, but trust me, moving bricks is a lot of work! Aaron's parents were having some work done at the place we're living and in order to lay a new cement patio, all of the old bricks had to go. I even helped out...and like I said, it was hard work.

 Esther and Anna found the construction work to be the best backyard entertainment they'd had in a long time! We were all awakened most mornings for about 2 weeks at like 6 by loud trucks or stomping on the roof :) Thankfully, we sort of knew the people doing the work and they did a great job! Here is the morning they laid the cement.

 As you can see, the Lord blessed us with summer squash. Oh, and I forgot one thing on the list I posted the other day - another thing I did this week with the squash was make "zucchini" bread - a batch of pineapple raisin, and a batch of lemon flavored.

 Me in MN - several pounds ago I might add :) I've recently been pulling out my maternity clothes again...We've had a couple Dr. visits and they've gone well. I felt a little not-wonderful during the first trimester, but am feeling much better now. We're so excited and the girls are too...just so you know, Esther wants us to name the baby "Moses" and wrap it in "swaddling clothes" -

 The girls in some cute matching dresses from Grandma V -

 They've been having a lot of fun playing in this little car thing!

 Anna is still learning new words and making a few short sentences (like "Esther awake" and "Daddy home").

I took the first picture, and Aaron took the second one another day, then Esther got the idea that when she played with the car, she needed a picture taken:)