Summer Flashback: Lakeside Amusement Park

In July, we used our FREE Lakeside unlimited ride coupons from the library reading program. The park is VERY old and the rides make me nervous because they seem like they could fall apart any minute, but it was FREE and we invited our neighbor friends to come with us for a late night of amusement park fun. We stayed till around 11pm and it was a good night:) 

 Gorgeous sunset this night! 

 The vintage signs rocked.

Daisy: Our new little Bunny

We have a new addition to our family- little Daisy. 

 She is a 6 week old bunny and has quickly become very loved in our home.

There's something about getting a bunny as a baby that helps it become so docile and trained to be around the kids. We have two other female bunnies but we got them as adults and they just don't take to the kids like Cotton did (we got Cotton as a baby as well.) 

We are hoping Daisy stays with us a very long time:) 

Ella's Baptism 8.24.2014

What a joyous day as we celebrated Ella's baptism. 

We are more than thrilled for God drawing Ella to Himself, showing her her sin and redeeming her! 

It was awesome to see her desire to identify with the body of Christ and 

stand up and shout to the world that she is a disciple of Jesus! 

 Ella wrote out her testimony of faith all by herself and read it to our body. 

 The tears flowed as I saw her dad baptize her and welcome her as a sister into the family of Christ! 

No greater joy! 

 It was awesome to see Katie and Jaimie baptized as well. 

 Celebrating Christ's death and resurrection through communion for the first time! 

 Ella invited a lot of our family, neighbors and friends to come to her baptism. 

Ella and her teacher from 2nd grade at Hopkins:) 

 Our community Group played a big part in Ella's decision to be baptized. 

So thankful for this group of people who encourage us in Christ and 

love our children deeply while showing them the Gospel at work! 

Missional Community Camping Trip to Eleven Mile Reservoir

 We enjoyed 2 nights in the great Colorado outdoors with our Missional Community Group last weekend. It was awesome! 

The weather was pretty decent- expect for one major wind storm. 

We camped at 11 Mile Reservoir. It was pretty but no trees for shade, although the McClish's did bring a sun shade which helped tremendously! Another con was that it was bit pricey and they didn't let you swim in the water! We still had great fun though and we even found another campground by the river that we will try next summer that seems more our cup of tea. 

 Lijah loved to sleep in- must be the mountain air! 

and we enjoyed some AWESOME MEALS around the campfire! 

 On Friday, we found a nice river- South Platte- and did some fishing and swimming. It was the best! The water was so nice and the kids loved playing the mud. 

This is right by the spot we found for next year called Happy Meadows Campground. 

 This spot is also where Sophia caught her first rainbow trout. It was a good 8 inches long and was so exciting! I had caught a baby trout about an hour before. 

 She was SOOO excited! 

 Our family also did some rafting down the rapids on Saturday. It was a good 15 minute stretch on the river and the rapids were probably only a level 1. Mark took Sophia and it went well. But when he took Air, it was a different story. He said they were going down a rougher patch and the boat went up on a rock and ended up tipping over. They both went under and Ari started floating down the river. Mark was able to grab her. Thankfully, he was able to flip the boat over and shove Ari back in. Needless to say, Ari was SO traumatized. I am so grateful that she had her life vest on and that God protected her. We won't be doing anymore of that unless we have a guide and helmets! 

It was such a great trip!