A Year of Blessing-July, August, September

July came and one of my favorite blessings of last year came with it...my family came to visit! My mom and Luis along with my sister Elena and her children, Gavin and Lexi, drove up from Florida. My brother Chris and his wife Kara and their son Noah drove down from Ohio. It was so awesome to be able to host this mini-reunion at our home. The kids all had fun running around together and the grown-ups enjoyed just hanging out in the kitchen, drinking coffee all day and talking. Here's a picture of all the cousins together with their 4th of July shirts we made:

So excited that we're repeating this event this year! This could seriously be a great new tradition that is long overdue! This year, there will be one new face in the cousin picture....my brother and his wife had always wanted more children but God had seen fit to give them Noah and no other children, until now! Emma Madison was born this past March and I can't wait to meet her! Funny thing is, Kara was just barely pregnant when they were visiting last year and she didn't even know yet!

Well, August rolled around and it was time for school to begin. What a blessing (and sometimes trial!) it is that we're able to homeschool our children! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be my children's teacher and to be able to pursue the close family I so desire by having them with me and with each other every day! Here's a picture of our first day of school:

September came along which meant my birthday would be coming too. I decided that I wanted to go to Ohio to visit my brother and his family, so that's what we did! It was such a blessing to be able to go back "home." It's weird to me that the area of Ohio where my brother lives is where I still consider "home" even though I only lived there for about 4 years. Anyway, it was such a nice, yet short, trip. It's such a beautiful area of the country. Here's a picture of just one of the many Amish farms around there: