June was a month of traveling for basketball, then our family vacation, and finally a trip for work. Thankfully all three trips went incredibly well and I am of course very grateful to have been able embark on each one of these journeys. The greatest part of all three of them for me is the opportunity to either get to know others, or build deeper relationships with people who are already in my life!
1 Thessalonians 5:18
~Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Just capturing moments of Joden being his goofy self!
The kids sure enjoyed Vacation Bible School at our church.
Trip #1: Reeve and I went to Phoenix with the GISH girls basketball team for a team camp. I get the honor of being the assistant girls varsity coach, which I find very rewarding due to being able to serve these young ladies. Ultimately I pray that I am making some sort of positive impact in their lives, helping them to see the value of serving others:)
We played 6 games so we spent some time in the gym at Grand Canyon University! It was a very nice campus with lots of very kind people:)
Early morning hike with this girl! Going up was pretty fun, while down was not so much fun:)
Sure loved going to this WNBA game and getting to sit court side while they warmed up!! Best part of all was that as a high school basketball player I watched Diana Taurasi play a lot of basketball so it was very neat to see her up close:) Also, it ended up being a great game with Phoenix Mercury winning!
This picture is a summary of our trip-a few other things we did were hanging out by the pool, eating donuts and lots of other yummy food, and Reeve built a bear.
Once we returned home Joden wrapped up his first baseball season in June before our trip to Vail. Mike ended up helping coach his team this year. It was really fun watching them out there together. Looking forward to many more years of baseball in the future!
Several throw back pictures of Mike and I as we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary and 16 years of being together in June! There are so many moments in my life where I sit back and think 'God you really blessed me with a special guy and I could not be more thankful!' Mike is truly a great guy and sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky:)
Just a random picture of Joden in the paper having fun at the YMCA!
Just a few pictures of the coaches kids hanging out in the gym for all of our summer camps!
Trip #2: Vail, CO as a family! On our way there to break up our trip we stopped at my college roommates house and spent the night. Their daughter and Reeve are very close in age and had a great time together. She was so sweet and funny!
The next day we got up and headed to Vail. We stopped in Breckenridge to eat lunch with our good friends the Keaslings who were finishing up their vacation.
The first night since we mainly just got settled in we enjoyed the pool and hot tub, which the kids LOVED!
Our first activity was up the gondola at the top of the mountain for some zip lining, rock wall climbing, jumping, a rope challenge, and some hiking! We all had a blast:)
On Sunday we went down to the Vail Village for their Sunday Market. Abnormally, it was really hot down there so we did not stay as long as we thought, but it was really neat! After that we went to a park for a picnic. Finally we finished off the day with a delicious dinner at a seafood restaurant and then hit up a bar to watch the championship game of the NBA finals!
On our last day we went for an ATV ride up in the mountains. It was so amazing to see the beautiful views and God's country. Some highlights were a dormant volcano, a herd of elk migrating, natural tulips, and aspen trees. It was such a great experience!
We ended the trip with dinner and fun down in Vail Village. The kids had such a great time and it will be neat to hear them recap the memories of our summer vacation to Vail!
Trip #3: I had the opportunity to embark on a work trip to San Antonio, Texas! We went to attend a conference on Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind by Eric Jensen. Although it was sad to hear many of the facts about poverty, it was also a great motivator to do something about it as an educator!
The first day we arrived we had the afternoon to venture down to the river walk. It was such a great time and a tad sweaty! We went on a boat tour and also saw the Alamo.
While I was gone we left the kids in Sidney to spend time with family since Mike had to work. I am sure they enjoyed some good times with family!
This gentleman was playing at an Irish Pub down on the river walk. We randomly walked by and heard him so we decided to go in for some entertainment:) He was pretty darn good!
More pics sent from family while I was away!
On our last night in Texas we enjoyed this unique restaurant called Whiskey Cake. Everything comes from the garden and/or is made fresh! It was delicious--below I had grits with pork and some sliced apples on top.
A few more pictures while I was gone. This is my dad with my kids of course and my sisters kids:)
Mike picked up the kids from my parents at the lake so he sent me this picture of them at the lake:)
Sure was great to see my babes! We hit up the pool for some fun together:)
I was helping with an outreach VBS that our church does and decided to take Reeve with me. She wanted to dress up so I thought I should capture the moment:)
We wrapped up June with our last basketball camp at Concordia University in Seward! The kids had fun and obviously were very tired by the end of the day. These kind of pictures are my favorites!
Many of us say this and I usually agree as I love the feeling of home....It is always good to go on vacation, but it is always great to be home after it is over :) And again, so thankful for these opportunities that I was able to be a part of!
