We have swimmers!

Quick update! It's Friday and we went back to Gr8t Gpa's pool this afternoon. We met Aunt Nancy and Leah there for the BEST time ever! Cami has come so far in just three times of swimming. Today she was confident with just the arm wings on and loved jumping off the steps and going under all on her own. My thumbs are still sore from her squeezing so hard the other day for dear life...hehe...not really but that's how hard she was holding on. We stayed close by but she was independent! Micah gained more confidence, too, and jumped into the pool MANY times to GPa with no wings, etc. It was so fun to see the progress! Jace was very sleepy and fell asleep on Grandma!

We got some pictures with Gr8t Gpa, too! Micah was brave and shook his hand!

We Are Already to Thursday!

Well, I have been busy and didn't have easy access to the computer, etc. when I could blog! Thanks to Jill for posting pictures on FB you have been able to see some of the fun we've been having! Dad will have to upload photos but I thought I'd give a few more details of what we've been up to!

Monday evening at the Cannons was a fun hot evening out in the back yard. You saw photos of our little Cinderella who LOVED her dress! Micah had fun with Uncle Jim who has a pitching machine with about 50 or more small whiffle balls. Micah would try to catch them.

Tuesday morning we FINALLY got to go to Leah's house and see the chickens! Cami had been asking about "Leah and the chickens" all the way! She was a little shy about going into the chicken coop but with Grandpa's help she went in and got to gather the eggs. A few chickens escaped but Leah just picks them up! Micah had fun swinging along with all the kiddos! Everyone had fun in the wading pool.

Tuesday afternoon we went swimming at Great Gpa Imbach's house. Oh, my goodness! Too much fun! Cami held onto me for dear life but go braver as the time went on. She loved jumping off the step while squeezing my thumbs and discovered she loved to go under water when she jumped (NOT letting go, mind you!)But, very good at catching her breath when she went under! Micah loved playing with Grandpa! Jace had Jill; Leah had her grandma; and Cannon had his mommy. Great ratios! We kind of traded kiddos everyone once in awhile. After swimming we all piled into Great Gpa's apt and he had cookies for us. Gpa wasn't feeling great but he did come out in his scooter chair for a little while to watch.

Tuesday evening Nate, Becky, Leah, and Cannon came over for dinner. Lots of fun with batting practice since Nate and Becky brought a plastic bat. Then Uncle Jim pulled out the stops with water guns! He made it even more fun with squirt bottles. Cami held her own! Leah even got brave enough to join in the squirting squealing good fun! Hilarious! And felt great in the hot evening. Micah finally came to me once they were done and said, "Grandma can I get my jammies on?" He was drenched and knew the time was right for jammie time. He has been so responsible and cute the way he asks for things in such a polite, responsible way!

Wednesday morning Nancy, Jill and I took Micah, Cami and Leah to see Winnie the Pooh at the theater. Cami covered her eyes for most of the previews and climbed in my lap. It took a little convincing once Winnie the Pooh began that it wasn't scary:) The movie was so cute. Micah really enjoyed it! Seemed to feel quite grown up!

Wednesday afternoon swimming again and more cookies from Gpa! He understood that Cami and Micah didn't want to get too close. But, today while Micah was drawing pictures of what we are doing and I write the words he wanted me to draw a wheeel chair. Then he drew Gr8t Gpa and said Gr8t Gpa is great!

Wednesday evening we had dinner at the Cannons then packed up and moved over to Gma and Gpa Steiners. Each time we have mentioned Great Grandma Cami has told us about how her Great Gma died and lives in heaven. But, when we got here she got so excited when we pulled into the drive way saying she's been here before! Micah remembered the toys in the basket trunk. They have really enjoyed just playing with their own toys while we are here. Micah has been coloring in his Star Wars coloring book then cut out the pictures. He remembered where his mom found the scissors to use last year. Cami has water-colored a lot! She also shared her paints with Leah at Aunt Nancy's.

This afternoon Aunt Jill wanted to get Jace's hair cut since he is so hot. We went over to Perfect Cuts for the big event. I had them give Cami a bang trim, too. She looks so cute! Jace looked so grown up! Jace has been a fun play mate the whole time, too! After hair cuts we went to Kmart and got a slip 'n slide. LOTS of fun in the back yard! Jace loved it, too! Micah and Cami did a great job of running and keeping from plowing into Jace! Lots of fun by all three!

Ok, I think that catches you up!

Dad will have to add pictures later when we get to a place with wireless!

Love you so very much and want you to know we are loving your kids!

On Our Way!

Well, we are on our way after many months of planning! Jeff and I are taking Micah and Cami to California while Dan, Anna, and Josiah go to the Czech Republic for a missions trip. Aunt Jill and cousin Jace are joining us on our adventure! We are going to try and blog as much as we can so their mommy and daddy can see what they are up to!

We left by 2:30 this afternoon from Salem, Oregon in a stuffed-to-the-gills Chevy Tahoe and headed south to California! The kiddos had many fun surprises in the car along with special toys they knew about. It was so fun to hear their excitement as they discovered the surprises. Cami began right away to color on her dry erase board with the special crayons. So cute when we had just gotten to about Eugene she looked up and saw cows out the window along I-5 as her head had been buried busy with her coloring. She exclaimed in her Cami delight, "We're in California!!!! Look at the cows!" She kept doing that along the way when she would take time to look out the window. We FINALLY crossed the border into California when she was asleep! Micah immediately did kind of a little of everything tucked back in his cubby hole spot in the back. He won the prize for taking the first nap and slept for about 1 1/2 hours I'd say. Cami and Jace kept busy playing and watching movies on their own personal DVD players. Kids these days! Many thanks to Aunt Jill for helping with all the DVD's, snacks, toys, over and over. Grandma and Aunt Jill made a good team but it was Aunt Jill who really got a work out. We stopped for a potty break after about two hours which was perfect. On the road again and finally during Monsters Inc Jace fell asleep and soon after Cami was out! At about 6 pm!!! We pulled into the In and Out about 8:30. Ate outside in the wonderfully warm but not hot evening air. After that we got checked into out hotel....so much excitement! Aunt Jill and Jace went to bed but Micah, Cami, and Grandpa went swimming while Grandma watched. The pool closes at 10 pm and that's when we got there but they let us swim...so nice! The water was perfect and the night air was warm. A perfect combination! We didn't take the time to get floaties out since Grandpa was in the water with them. Micah could stand with his head above water in the shallow end. He loved bouncing/walking across the pool over and over! Cami loved playing on the steps and riding around on Grandpa's arms. After about 20 minutes we dried off and headed to bed! They were asleep when their heads hit the pillow pets! Oh, we read the next Bible story and I showed them the video of Mommy singing their good night song on my phone. They smiled so big and sang along on the splish splash parts. Micah kept thinking you were there like a video chat and was waving to you! So cute. They loved it! The end of a wonderful day! I didn't get the best pictures but here are a few from the car. We forgot to take the camera to the pool. So just imagine A LOT of fun! Love you!

For some reason I can't get the pictures to upload...it's late so I'll try again tomorrow. Good night!

Happy 4th of July From Our House To Yours!

Wishing a great holiday to all our loved ones so far away!