The exciting months of May and June!

The dinosaur park! We love this place and try to go once a year. It is about a 6 hour drive from our house but so worth it. Here is Henna blowing dandelions in the prehistoric park.
Ezra was observing how a chicken is a prehistoric bird:).
And the rides at the end of the museum. . . Part of your entrance fee covers the rides - all you want to ride. Since we all paid, most of the children did not meet the height requirement and me being pregnant disqualified me, Monty felt he must make up for it. He rode every single ride in the park! The kids enjoyed watching him. At times as he was upside down in a Chinese amusement park he was wondering what in the world he had gotten himself into.
I was allowed to go on some of the slower rides, so we did them again and again.
My 35th Birthday! For this event we hired a room at the local hot springs. It cost about $8 for the use of the private pool room for half a day. It was the best $8 I have spent in a long time. My birthday happens to be a Chinese holiday - Children's Day. This is the day you take your children to do fun things all day. Cotton candy and helium balloons are sold on every street corner and people are everywhere. I love it because it feels like the entire country is celebrating me! Although, it was nice to have the privacy to play and enjoy swimming without all of the questions like "how much of a fine do you have to pay the American government for having such a large family?" Etc. After swimming Monty sat with the boys while the boys napped in the car and I took the girls to get our nails done. It was a great day!
The camp out! Our kids had been begging for a camp out. Monty dug out our camping gear (we have not used it in 8+ years). They set off with Mow Mow at their side. After hiking for about an hour they made camp just before the rain. It rained for 3 hours and the tent leaked!
After the rain, Monty built a fire and cooked dinner. It was not until 11pm that they ate. Our kids are always in bed by 8:00 so this was a big night.
Once they were snug in the tent the rain began again. The kids slept through it but Monty was so squished he never really got comfortable or dry. Perhaps we should invest in more than a 2 person tent:).

The miracle of this camp out story is that Mow Mow went and slept in the rain fly of the tent. On the hike home the next day Mow Mow stopped and could not find his way home. We kept thinking he would show any moment but he never did. When the kids were going to bed they all prayed that Mow Mow would be home the next morning when they woke up. The next morning I jumped out of bed at 6a.m. (unusual for me) after dreaming Mow Mow was home. I ran down stairs and there was no cat. I got my shoes on and hiked to the place they camped wondering what happened to Mow Mow. Unexpectedly I found him at the camp site, sitting under a tree trying to stay out of the rain. I was so happy we did not loose another cat and that the kids saw their prayers answered by the time they got out of bed.
June brought a Kids camp to the farm. Our children were too young to fully participate but I was able to accompany them to some events. Their good friend Kia came and Manon hosted a Tea party for the girls. She turned on ballet music, found dress up clothes for everyone and made snacks. Some of the snacks included: tortilla's with whip cream, lettuce, raisins, and strawberries with cinnamon. I don't know if my party would have included the same menu but I was really proud of her for taking care of the details herself. What a responsible 7 year old!
Manon getting ready to go on the zip line!
Henna on the zip line! She was the first to go. All the older children were getting nervous seeing the long zip line but I think after seeing a 5 year old do it with all smiles calmed their nerves a bit.
Our anniversary get-away! Can you believe it was 13 years ago that we stood before God and the entire town of Grandfield and said "I do!" Now, almost 5 children later and about as far on the map from Grandfield as one can go we still would do it all over again.

We went to Dali for a long week-end. I like to travel and make the most of every second. Monty enjoys laid back, restful holidays. So, we have managed to find a compromise somewhere in the middle. I did get us out of bed early one morning to hike along the mountains. To begin the hike you have to ride a gondola up, up and up some more. While on the gondola we kept hearing strange sounds, the wind was blowing so hard and our gondola was rocking back and forth. Then I noticed a sign that said, "Do not tock the gondola or it will fall and you die." Seriously? Yes! There was a picture of a busted up gondola at the foot of the mountain to get the point across. I began to panic. Maybe it was pregnancy hormones, maybe not but I was sure our gondola was going to fall and my 4 precious children would be orphans. I began thinking how foolish and selfish it was to go away without our children and that if I was a good mother I would be home with them now and not 15 thousand feet up in the air on a Chinese gondola! Thankfully I am here to tell the story, the gondola did not crash, I was fine for the 11 k hike, and we arrived home the next day to find our little ones safe and wishing we could have stayed away a bit longer.

The lesson God taught me on the gondola ride was that I need to trust Him more. He might need to wipe me out of the picture to raise my children to be the awesome world changers he needs - that is totally up to Him and not me. My job is to let Him work through me to do the best with the days I do have and not panic about what would happen if I am not here to finish the task since He is much bigger, stronger, wiser and a better parent than I can even imagine being.
Ezra helping build a chicken pen. Our kids love baby chicks and would sit down with them for hours a day.
The tee-shirt says it all, "Mom's Major Cutie!" That is just what this little guy is.
Fishing with Daddy! The boys have been enjoying Saturday morning fishing in the stocked fish pond. It makes catching fish much faster. Manon gathers grass hoppers for them - she is quick at catching them.
On this day Judah got the biggest catch. He then left it for 5 minutes on the porch in water and came back to find our cat bathing contentedly next to it with a few fish parts scattered around.
Manon and Henna are practicing some stunts with Judah!
This was one evening when the kids were bathed and ready for bed a bit early. The house was way too quiet so I was sure I would find lots of mischief going on. When I snuck up on them I found Henna surrounding Ezra with stuffed animals and him loving it! Manon was coloring a picture to give Judah and he was sitting quietly watching her.

This was Sody's birthday party. Henna put on her party dress and had a baby bib on Sody as a cape and a headband - too cute!
Construction Again! Monty loves to build. He always seems to have a project going. I am not a fan of this when it invades my home or yard. In this case it did that. Monty built an outside classroom and car port. Once it was finished I am grateful. We have the space we needed outside and a fence to protect the kids when a car is pulling up. Although, during the month I was about to put a leash on Ezra. Every time I turned my head he ran outside and went to "work." He loved it!