The fourth

And we were off...  the kids and I to celebrate the fourth of July with all the extended family on my side... 

Dad planned on joining us in a few days:)

We had the strangest weather on the drive up... a huge storm that we nearly skirted... blinding sun, 5 rainbows, 2 double rainbows... loads of rain... It was down right bizarre... but thankfully we arrived safe and sound in the north woods.

Morning one... Paul Bunyans for their amazing to die for donuts with grandma, grandpa, cousins and family from St. Louis!  Seriously, the best!!!

All the teens hammocking by the water's edge... so beautiful!

It is always a tradition to watch the local waterski show... The minocquabats!  What a fun night!

Some of the teens on the fourth :)  It is the best when your cousins can also be your best friends!  I am so thankful that they have so much fun together!

The Neumann crew!  We were only short one niece on the fourth of July... What a blessing to have almost everyone together for the day... It is a rarity, but such a treat!

Dad and I with the little boys down by the lake!  These two played in the sand all weekend, loved the kayaks, and enjoyed lots of cousin time!

Uncle Josh and Aunt Lyndsey brought up the BIG JOE!  It was the perfect addition... it was almost like having extra pier to hang out on... The wrestling matches that went on while playing on this were hysterical! Everyone loved relaxing on the BIG JOE!

Aunt Katy hanging out with Kaliyah... She was all passed out from lots of fresh air:)

The fourth of July always ends with a pow wow and  the fireworks show in the local town close by... And literally it is like you are a part of the show... The embers literally are falling right on the crowd... It is the craziest thing... 

We had a beautiful weekend! I think it is one of the kids favorite places on earth... On the way home Levi kept saying he wished the cabin was his home... It is beautiful, relaxing, and the perfect place to spend time together with family... Gift from God!

On the road again

We start our road trip out with a beautiful Illinois sunset... 

The kids were so thankful for the group Christmas present from grandparents of a car DVD player and headphones... So were mom and dad... a much quieter ride and less potty stops:):)

A super quick stop in OK... literally we pulled in at 2 am... visited for a bit, jumped in bed, had a delicious breakfast with friends, visited a bit more, and hit the road for AZ!!!

We were sent on the road with the newly anticipated member of the crew on the back window... Yoda for now... baby girl coming soon!

Late night potty and drink stops:)

Finally asleep at the hotel... night 2 on the road!

AZ sunrise... It was beautiful... unfortunately in the opposite direction it was dark and cloudy... We hit a lot of snow and fog up on the rim... It was almost a white out for a bit... and we are not new to snow... While we don't mind driving in snow, we know our van drives terrible in snow especially on the mountain passes... Praise God it cleared up pretty quickly!  And we made it to our destination earlier today! We are so thankful for God's protection!

We spent the afternoon celebrating our birth mom's older daughter's birthday.  We were then able to take our birthmom to eat dinner.  It was great for Greg and I to spend some time with just her... We were so thankful for the opportunity to get to know even more about her. We know this will be important to our daughter down the road!:)

And now we wait again... Induction scheduled for the 23rd early in the morning!  She could still go before that... We shall see!  God knows the perfect timing in all things!

Family time... And yay daddy got to come too...

Louis, Anna, and our "adopted" daughter Jillian kayaking on big Fence Lake:)

2 little buddies hanging out in the hammock:)

Jojo at the Minocqua bat Waterski show... Even though the show has been about the same for the past 35 years ( or for as long as I can remember) the kids still beg to go each year... 

And talk about cheap entertainment... Free :)

What a fun night to hang out, watch a great show, and take in some of that great northern woods air :) 

We always have to hit up Paul Bunyans for their Huge lumberjack breakfast...

The doughnuts are out of this world!!!

Anna and Jojo enjoying grandma and grandpa:)

The crew with Paul and babe, the big blue ox...

Side note... I unfortunately have pink eye and passed a kidney stone... But thanks to the app, doctor on demand, I think my eye is on mend...God willing!

We were so thankful that the daddy of the house could come join us for a few days...

We are so very thankful that my parents so willingly share their home with us... We are a lot of people creating a lot of noise and mess and we don't take it for granted to have this chance to get away as a family to such a beautiful place to enjoy God's beautiful creation...

\I am so very thankful for family!

Last of Estes...

One of our last days in Estes we tried out a new trail...
The cub lake trail...
My sweet niece Ella hung with Hope, Levi, and I for a bit.  I treasure the memories of getting to talk and take in God's beautiful creation with Ella along the way as we hiked:) (Can you tell Hope is a little thrilled to get her picture taken with her cousin Ella? So cute!)

This picture really doesn't do it justice... the beautiful snow capped peaks are sort of blending right in to the clouds in the sky... It was gorgeous!

Above... Greg and Isaiah... 

Below... Greg and Jojo probably 8 years ago... 

The big boys, Louis and Caleb, taking a break:)

We were laughing hysterically at this chipmunk... He was so fat... The kids were feeding him these salted caramel peanuts and no lie... He had at least 15 in his mouth and cheeks... 

He would take the peanuts in, suck off the coating, bring them out, nibble a bit, and back in again and again... but if you offered another, he would just pack them in there... It was so cute~

Jojo and sweet Baby Poppy...

Anna and her good friend Liam...

Kim and I... Kim had her birthday while we were there and I couldn't believe all we have done together in the last 18 mos since we met... Especially since we live on different sides of the nation... Africa twice, family visits to eachother's home, and now this trip...

I am thankful for all the little facetime visits we get as well, when the kids are chatting... There are a lot of times they are like, why don't you just get on your own facetime...:) 

We have a lot in common, share a passion for adoption and orphan care, our kids are best friends, and our families really have a great time together...  I am so thankful for her friendship... 

The whole crew after a night of game playing... 

Emerald lake hike

I am sure I have said it time and time again... but....

Estes Park is so beautiful... 

For me there is something about the snow capped mountains that I can not get over...

The view around every corner is more beautiful than the last...

It truly is breathtaking...

We have done the nymph, dream, and Emerald lake hikes twice before... 

The very first time was a couple of weeks earlier in the season...

At that time we encountered some snow on the hike from the second lake to the third lake...

This time there was snow on the trail head, at the very beginning...

It was unbelievably gorgeous and quite slippery...

But we made it and had a blast hiking the trail!

Here are kids at Nymph lake... totally surrounded by snow!  This is where Caleb and his friend got down to their underwear and made a mad dash to jump into the lake...

As they were getting ready they were drawing a bit of a crowd from our side of the lake and on the opposite side... Oh the laughs we had:)  Talk about a polar plunge:)

Greg, Levi, Louis, Isaiah, and me at Dream Lake... Part of this lake was still frozen... This is my favorite lake... the reflection when it is totally thawed is AMAZING!

Louis and Emma on the Emerald Lake trail, admiring the beautiful views of the Rockies!

We were so blessed to spend time out there with Dear friends and some family!  Hopie loves uncle Johnny so much! 

Jojo at Nymph lake!

All of the adults... with some babies of course:)

Our family up at the end of the hike.  We finally made it to Emerald lake.  The entire lake was still frozen... Even the over pass on trail Ridge road was still totally impassable... There is still too much snow... It has been a cold snowy spring for Estes Park... I think the snow in some ways made it even prettier...

The teens on the hike...

Here is a picture of Dream Lake... my favorite of the three lakes...

And here is a picture from last summer at nearly the same spot... The reflections in the lake are so gorgeous and the water so still... We love the lake either way we get to see it:)


What a blessed week we had... a bit of a rough start... but praise God the van got repaired and we were on our way to enjoying the vacation and relaxing together:)  Loads of laughs and lots of games and hiking...

What a gift to spend a week enjoying the amazing Creation our Lord has made...
And the Mountains sing YOUR GLORY Hallelujah!
Thank you Jesus for every bit of your glory and power shown through out all you created!

Welcome Spring... Well maybe not:)

The cousin crew at the Above Rubies land... 

My niece Ella is volunteering at this ministry and since we have never seen Nashville we thought we would head down to TN, visit her, my cousin, and take in the beautiful city of Franklin...

It doesn't take long and the fun starts happening... like immediately!  Family is a gift and these kids are getting their fill of cousin time these last few weeks:)

Jojo, loved the land where Ella is staying... I think he told me at least 5 times that He loved the country and said it was his favorite place!  I love my little Jojo's  heart for the outdoors:)

Selfies in downtown Nashville!

We were so thankful to be able to stay in Franklin with my cousin Cathy and family!

Franklin... such an incredibly charming city... I have always thought this part of the country was beautiful with it's rolling hills and horse farms .

They were so incredibly hospitable!  We had loads of laughs while playing games, enjoyed catching up over walks through the woods, and loved seeing our kids get to know each other better... 

The kids with their second cousins:)

And...

This is what we woke up to following morning after we arrived home...

Praise God we had clear roads traveling all the way home... 

I would say that we got about 6 inches of new fresh snow... It is beautiful, but thankfully it is melting...

This family is officially ready for Spring:)