This summer, Jaxen was able to attend his first missions trip with our church. He is part of a group called DIG56, which consists of 5th and 6th graders. Every other year, they switch from serving somewhere local and out of state. This year was local. They joined up with another church and went about 30 minutes south to work at a transition-house (for those who were homeless, trying to get their feet under them). Jaxen learned so much about this ministry and he loved it! He did not love all the work they did though... it was one of the hottest weeks here in KC and the work outside just about did them all in. They worked hard though, and accomplished what was laid out for them to do. I am so glad he has this experience!
Jaxen also attended Camp 456 this year - and had a blast (as always)! He loves camp. He is a little like his momma though... gets excited, talks too much, does not sleep enough, consumes too much caffeine and loses his voice. All in all, it was a great experience for him as well!
Zane attended Kamp Kanakuk for the 2nd time this year - and loved it! I don't have any pictures of him, sadly.
He also went away to Camp 123, for his very first time. Overall he did well - but he struggled the 2nd day there, after not getting good rest the first night. The boys in his cabin were too excited to sleep which meant Zane did not sleep much and was really missing home. Nik was able to talk to him on the phone and after getting good rest the 2nd night - he made it through the rest of camp with a smile on his face!
We spent the 4th of July in one of the smaller towns nearby and it was so much fun! They had live bands, food trucks, bounce houses, plenty of space for the boys to run and play, and they ended the night with a great fireworks show! We met up with some friends and were able to sit back, relax and enjoy the festivities.
One of our neighbors invited us out to the lake one day. They were camping there over the weekend, but we just went out for one day. The boys had a good time playing around, fishing and swimming.
One night Zane and I headed to a friends house (in another neighborhood). They had planned 5 different games at 5 different houses for the parents and kids. I got to meet some new people and Zane ran around a new neighborhood like it was his own - win, win. The last house had a foam party. Thankfully I was able to pull Zane out before the foam got to be so much it swallowed him whole (at the end, it was only the adults in there).
We also had some visitors throughout the summer which is always nice!
Here are few more gems for you to enjoy as I wrap up our summer 2023 recacp...
Jaxen :)
Jaxen had to have some dental work done this summer - not fun!
Swimming!
All in all, we had a very good summer. I always try to make the most of each season and the boys were able to do some really fun things. We also had some down time...at times, too much so (for the boys)... as they began fighting A LOT! I, on the other hand, was able to read A LOT for a few weeks!
By the time summer was wrapping up and the new school year starting, both boys were excited and ready to head back. They had enough of lounging around at home.
I do have to end on this note: Jaxen takes one nap a year. This year it happened on July 3.
