Our "summer" so far

Just a few photo updates of what we've been up to this summer!

Free slurpees on 7/11 at 7-11!

Kyle's cousin Jeremiah and his wife Ashley live right
up the street from us, with their 5 kids. Four adorable
boys, and one darling girl. This picture summarizes the
typical welcome we get when visiting their house!

My diploma and transcript came in the mail - which means I'm
 officially done with my Master's program!

It also means I was able to recycle this 6 inch
pile of articles I used to write my thesis!

At the Mariner's game for KC's birthday!

Me, Danna and KC

The hubs and I

Decorating Brooke's car for her 21st birthday!

Dad helping decorate Brooke's bedroom

Kyle helped as well!

The finished birthday surprise product

My first visit to Kerry Park!

Ingredients for turkey dog and corn veggie mac and cheese

Finished product: yum!

American Idol concert at the Key Arena!

Waiting for the show to start

We had great seats, considering we didn't have to stand to see the stage!

Phil Phillips!

Kyle and Zeke playing ping pong at work after
hours. It's really fun to work with family!

Company happy hour to say goodbye to 20-year employee
Chris Brown (2nd from right). Very bitter-sweet day for everyone,
but we had a great evening sharing stories and celebrating
Chris' tenure at Up Time!

Brooke getting her idea checked at her birthday dinner
(the waitress is a friend of mine from high school)!

Can't believe this little girl is 21!

Two of my favs :)

My main squeeze :)

Cute as a button!

No birthday is complete without a photo at the kitchen counter at dad's house

My glamour cat - this pic cracks me up!

My dear friend Chelsea's bachelorette party - love this girl!

View of Golden Gardens

It was so windy!

Celebrating sweet Abigail's 1st birthday. I had the honor of nannying
for this little miracle earlier this year while finishing grad school. 

Abigal loves to clap!

Such a joy to watch this little girl turn 1!

Giving it grace: So that's our summer so far in a nutshell! We've also been enjoying flirting with the sun when it comes out (don't blink or you'll miss it!).

Despite the happy smiles in these photos, it seems that this summer has been filled with news bites of sad, devastating news...Colorado shootings, breakups, addictions, cancer diagnoses, troubled pregnancies...it seems as though every day I find myself saying "that's terrible" or "I"m so sorry to hear this". It hard not to feel "guilty" about enjoying the little day-to-day joys when I know so many people are suffering right now (including my family, for various reasons). 

I'm constantly called back to Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." This verse is commonly misunderstood to mean that God will work all things together for good, according to what our definition of "good" is. Clearly, we would say that not having cancer is good, so why do people still have cancer? 

What the verse is actually saying though, is that for those who love God, He will work together all things for good according to what is good in God's eyes...and that is something we can't fully understand. I, for one, believe that if God fully revealed Himself of His plans to us, it would be incomprehensible beyond our wildest imaginations. Thus, if I believe the Bible to be true and without fault (which I do), then I can believe that God is working all things together for good [according to Him] for those who love Him. I also believe that our God is trustworthy, so I can trust that His version of "good" far surpass what I could ever come up with in my selfish, self-serving heart. While this doesn't remove the heartache attached to hearing devastating news, it does help remind me that God is in control always - from the joyous moments, to the mundane moments, to the moments we never wish would happen in our lives. 

And for that, I am grateful.