Maryland fun, part 2

And here are some more pictures from our trip...

On Friday we all drove down to Baltimore to visit with my dad's family. Leah made some delectable desserts for us. Cupcakes with fresh strawberries-n-cream icing and her amazingly rich, chocolately cheesecake that I've raved about before. =)

Nate's uncles played so sweetly with him. 

All of us girls painted each other's nails! 

At church on Sunday, Ella decided she needed a break from all the boys who were in the nursery...a retreat. 

But it did not last long because Nate thought it looked like fun and tried to climb in with her.

After church we waited in the van for Rebekah to be examined by the elders to become a communing member. Congratulations Rebekah!!

Jacob sat next to Evelyn and she gave him lots of huge smiles!

Then I gave him my phone and let him take some pictures of her. Apparently he is a pretty good little photographer! 

William was born to be an engineer, that's just how his brain works. He is always building something. My parent's garage and basement are constantly covered with scraps of wood, wire, piping, metal, pvc, foam, etc.  He recently made a small bowl for me on his lathe! This cross bow was his current project. Apparently the trigger had been giving him some trouble but he finally figured out a way to make it "reliable". So reliable, he assured me, that "even Nate could shoot it". 

Ella and Nate had a blast on the trampoline. 

Ella and Nate were swimming and William and Michael decided to splash them by running and jumping into the pool. Having lots of uncles is the best!

After finding the toilet clogged with various objects two previous times, I decided to document this one. Apparently this is Ella's new favorite diversion. 

We were able to go to our friends' the DiGiacomo's house one afternoon for their daughter's birthday party. This was Nate's first encounter with a water balloon. It was a big hit. *hahaha

What a wonderful visit!

Today my little brother James would have been one year old. I miss him. 


Right now, he would be walking and climbing everything and eating legos. Probably not talking yet because Boyces take forever to learn to talk. My mom would be baking a cake for him and tonight, taking pictures of him blowing out his first little candle. He and Nate would have had a blast together last week. Instead, we all are aching today. 


Whenever I think these thoughts, the wrongness of it all takes my breath away. Not wrong in that God was wrong to do this, but just the brokenness, the backwardness, the out-of-placeness. Outside, the birds are heralding the morning and the sun lighting up the leaves. How can such beauty coexist with such horror? I glad God left us some beauty when we chose death back at the fall, enough that the ugliness usually surprises us. 


God is faithful, but we miss our Jimmy. 

Maryland fun, part 1

Although it does not feel like home to me in the same way that it used to, I love coming back to my parent's house. It always feels warm and welcoming and loud and comfortable and beautifully chaotic. My mom would laugh (or maybe want to cry) to hear me say this, but the noise and the craziness makes me feel like I am really home. I actually miss it. I realized on this trip how much I love being part of a home overflowing. 


And overflowing we were! On top of the regular 10, Samantha, Nick, and Ella moved in for the week so as to not miss a moment with us. And then there were Leah, Nate, Evelyn, and myself. A grand total of 17! It was a blast!


The joys of being part of a big family are manifold. Many uncles to play with is one of them! There is always someone around to talk to, or laugh with, or watch your child for you=), or run out to the store with. 

 Why does my lavender never look like this?

 I remember John getting this tractor when he was about 3. Nate loved it even though he could not figure out the pedals, despite many demonstrations. Maybe next visit.

We sisters went out for sushi for lunch one day.  Sarah was here too but somehow she was not in the pictures. 

Yum!!

 Ella eating chalk. Nate helped her, but I didn't manage to get a picture of that.

The boys had just finished a series of intense races across the front yard and are still discussing who won...

Aunt Kay! Sadly, I did not see nearly as much of her as I would have liked, but at least we had a short visit!

Cousins are the best!

Look at those blue eyes!

Somehow sticking the tongue out helps with concentration and balance. He would do it on the trampoline too!

Aunt Bekah reading her Bible aloud to Evelyn one morning. 

The drive

Last Wednesday, 11 of us piled into my parents big van and made the long drive from Georgia to Maryland. We got an early start!

Evelyn and Uncle John the night before departure.

The trip went great, much better than I had expected actually! Evelyn slept almost the entire time and Nate was a trooper. He did have lots of aunts and uncles as an almost unending source of entertainment:)

Isn't she precious?!

Nevertheless, we were very excited to arrive in Maryland after about a 14 hour trip. I have many more pictures of our visit that will be posted soon...hopefully!

The last couple weeks

Here are some long-overdue pictures! These first few are from a couple weeks ago.

 A hint of a smile! Evelyn smiles all the time now!

 Recently Nate has enjoyed coloring with crayons and markers, and painting with finger paints. He mostly eats the crayons and markers and paints the floor, but at least some gets on the paper! 

Nate swimming at Papa and Grams this week.

The best part was putting trucks down the slide...

 Sooooo exciting!!

 Evelyn, just chilling with Aunt Leah, observing the fun.

 Nate says, "Vrrrrrrrroooooom!!" with great gusto as the truck goes down the slide.  That is one sound he has certainly perfected.