SOYC 2015

The last Monday through Friday of June has been reserved for youth camp...literally, all of my life.  We just had another week camping + experiencing God in such a real way.  Matt + I could not be prouder of our staff + students.  They worked hard, played hard, + prayed hard.  With me being 7 months pregnant this year + toting around an infant + toddler, I was extremely nervous of how it would all go, but let me tell you J + E loved every minute of it.  Jude would probably love living in a camper all summer long...me, not so much.  Haha!  We were extremely blessed when our neighbor gave us a wagon right before camp and that thing is definitely a game changer.  The boys were so content getting around the campgrounds in the wagon.  It is like a playpen on wheels with an awning!!!  Seriously, it's the best invention for toting little ones around.  However, back to camp this year...there was such a great presence of the Holy Spirit in the services + students receiving Christ + forever being changed by the power of God...nothing like it.  Another year for the books.  Oh, and if you wonder where I'll be at the end of next June, right back at this dear place, Southern Ohio Youth Camp.

Ezra's Dedication Video

We had the formal dedication of Ezra to the Lord this morning at our church.  It was such a sweet and blessed day.  A special thank you to all of our family and friends that were there to support the blessing of our sweet fella.  Here is a video we created to share at the dedication.  Enjoy.

Ezra James Wilson's Dedication

An American Weekend

We celebrated America in a big way over the weekend.  Celebrating Independence Day deserves more than just a small party, so we started on the 3rd of July by taking Haven to fireworks after service.  We were sans Jude.  With us not knowing how he'd react this year (you may recall last year was not a success in the firework department), we thought it best to send him to his Mamaw's.  The fireworks were fantastic (thank you, Dayton, OH), but just being with our friends made the night all the more amazing. 

We began the 4th by taking some family pictures.  Matt used to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and received a more-than-gigantic American flag that had been retired.  He decided that he would hang the flag this year in front of the house.  It was larger than our house and totally in the holiday spirit.  We took a few pics in front of it and the sun decided to add some flares to a few of our pics, but we rather liked their festive look.

(yes, the union should is displayed on the left... we were on the reverse side because of the wind)

We then ventured out to a couple parties for the afternoon on the fourth.  First, we went to my Uncle Jeff & Aunt Mary's house for a family cookout.  We had such a relaxing time with our family & the food was out of this world.  The downfall was I only managed to get a couple iPhone photos from that event.  Afterwards, we went to our friends' house Kent and Kandy Keller for their annual firework show.  This one we decided to let Jude in on. ;)  There were so many friends to catch up with in attendance and Jude had too much fun pretending to drive their golf cart, hunting lightning bugs with Papaw, and playing with sparklers.  The fireworks seem to only get better with each passing year at the Keller's.  Jude got a little scared (could've been something to do with the fact that we felt like we were practically right under them), but nothing like in the past...so we are chalking it up as a success.

We ended the weekend with a celebration of freedom at church.  Again, I only brought out my iPhone, so the pictures are not that great in quality, but wow, what an amazing day.  Our church service reflected on historic times that led us to the freedom we our privileged to enjoy in our country.  Then, we had a potluck feast followed by a water slide, corn hole tournament, bouncy house, children's race, and softball.  We forgot all about nap time and played until our hearts were content.  Like I said, we celebrated in a big way.  We hope you had a great weekend too.