Stinking cute kids

Brendan, Seth, and Jacob, playing with Steph and Steve's girls, Chloe, Suzie, and Audrey.
Such beautiful ladies!
I think we've found Audrey's career...she knows how to please the camera!
my boys, on the other hand...

family photos

We had about five minutes to attempt a decent family photo. it started out a little rough...


this one is a little better
At least the boys looks good in this one
And I think this may be the best we could doAnd here's me and Jacob, with his missing tooth and crazy smile

East Coast...it was a wicked good time.

Jared, Nancy and I flew to New Hampshire for my "5 Skipper Way" reunion. For those of you who were not around in my college days, 5 skipper way was a beach house in Gloucester, MA (pronounced Glau-ster, or Glau-sta if you're a native). I lived there with my longtime roommate, Gwyneth, and three other Gordon Girls, Carla, Charissa, and Melissa. It had been years since we'd all been together, and most of us have husbands and kids now so it was time for a get-together. We spent much of the weekend reminiscing about our times together on Skipper Way (including viewing embarrassing videos and reading the 5 Skipper Way quote list), and also doing some wonderfully New England things, like blueberry picking and picnicking by the water.

OLD FRIENDS!
me and Gwyneth (my awesome roommate from 1998-2003)Here's the 5 Skipper Way bunch (roommates from 2002-2003) Melissa, Carla, me, Charissa, and Gwyneth
Here we are with our babies. Carla with 5 week old Connor. Melissa with 11 month old Tennyson. Me with 16 month old Nancy. Charissa with 3 year old Adelaide. and Gwyneth holding Charissa's 4 month old Joseph.
And here we are with our husbands and babies (Melissa's husband Jacob couldnt come)

THE BABIES!

Charissa's Joseph
Charissa's Adelaide
Carla's Connor
Melissa's Tennyson
Babies on the floor! Everyone cooperated except Nancy
Babies on a couch! Tennyson, Nancy, Connor, Joseph, & Adelaide

T and N chillin togetherN slapping T in the face
Gwyn hanging with the babies in Carla's kitchen
Nancy eating enjoying her corn on the cob
Tennyson enjoying her corn on the cob

EAST COAST FUN!

Beautiful picnic by the water
Nancy and Jared's first time in the Atlantic (technically, a bay that leads into the Atlantic, but that's as close as we got)
Nancy gives Melissa some wet sand
BLUEBERRY PICKING!

Gwyn and Charissa picking blueberriesAdelaide picking berries
Carla with her berries
Jared with TennysonNancy with a mouthful of blueberries
Nancy wiped out
Back at Carla's house: Adelaide with all our fresh picked blueberries

TIRED HUSBANDS

sleeping Josh, with connor
sleeping Joe
sleeping Jared

Nancy and Tennyson are now best friends. During our stay, Nancy started "empathy crawling" around Tennyson. She would try to get on T's level, crawl around a bit, then she would stand up and wait for T to stand up and walk with her. When T stayed on all fours, Nancy would get back down and crawl some more with her. so cute.

2 Corinthians 4:8-18

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. ⁹ We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.

¹⁰ Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. ¹² So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

¹³ But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” ¹⁴ We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. ¹⁵ All of these things are for your benefit. And as God’s grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

Nancy tries to put on shoes