Abigail's 6th birthday and then some...

Well hello sweet friends....  We've missed you!  The past couple of weeks have been crazy busy for our family and we have another crazy week upon us, since David has a week long (all day) class this week.  Please pray for us :-).  Here is a quick run down on what we have been up to...

Two weekends ago we were blessed with the opportunity to go to the 30th Anniversary KSBJ concert with some dear friends.  We had a GREAT time, but I think our very favorite part of the concert was one of the "surprise guests"... Steven Curtis Chapman performed a set that was full of amazing singing, laughs, and of course tears when he sang his song "Cinderella."  I'm just wondering if anyone out there with young kids can listen to that song without ugly crying?  When it comes on the radio while I am driving I usually change the station because I can't afford to ugly cry at that moment, but there was no turning the radio station while sitting at the concert and I'm sure glad that wasn't an option.  The song talks about a father preparing his daughter for her wedding day (at the request of his daughter to practice slow dancing with her)...  long story short, hearing the song this time, not only touched me thinking about Abigail growing up, finding her prince, and becoming a wife one day, but it also made me picture our sweet Gracie and I couldn't help but picture her Daddy always being her prince!  Those two have a special bond that is truly an honor to witness every day!

King and Country was another one of our favorite performances and we loved their message too!

Last weekend, David and some friends ran the Spartan Race...  We are so proud of David for not only surviving the race (I was worried that David has forgotten that he is no longer a spring chicken that can run a marathon without training like he has in the past), but for doing a GREAT job! Here are the shirts we had made to support David...  They say "Team Ducks" on it because when David and I got married we decided that we were going to be the Ducks because ducks supposedly find a mate and stick with them until the end, no matter what.  We had "The Duck's" engraved inside our wedding rings and the kids are now proud members of the Ducks!  The back says "Do all to the glory of God" because
1 Corinthians 10:31 is our family bible verse.

Gracie-Doo, our Team Ducks shirt model...

Here's the front and back of our shirts that were created by our friend's, Tad and Jo's company!

Daddy Duck after the Spartan Race...  I can't figure out why this picture is stretched out and looks weird, but you get the idea, right?

Andrew had "Splash Day" last week and it was a treat to get to see him interact with his friends and teachers!  I can't believe that this time next year, he will be graduating preschool and headed to Kindergarten!  He is going to preschool 5 DAYS next year!  That's a lot in comparison to Abby who only went 2 days a week her 4 year old year.  Andrew loves school and is SO ready for a 5 day program, especially because his best friend (Abby) goes to school that many days, so he thinks that he should too :-).  LOVE THIS BOY!!!

Abigail Lynn Ross turned 6 years old on Friday!!!  All that she wanted to do for her birthday is go camping, so we went camping with some dear friends (who's daughter happens to be Abby's best friend) on her birthday.  Praise the Lord that the weather was amazing (not too hot with a nice breeze and a whole lot of shade), Gracie Doo got to come hang out at the campsite for a few hours before my parents took her home (it meant a lot to Abby that she was there :-) and we got to have a good bit of grown up time once the kids went to sleep!

Us in front of our mansion...  I mean tent (compared to our first camping trip in a 4 person tent, this IS a mansion :-)

Blast from the past... Our first camping trip with the kiddos 3 years ago in our pinner tent!  We are movin' up in the world :-)

Our camping buddies, The Glass' (excluding baby Noah, who was at home with his Grandma-ma).

 This tree is always a huge source of fun!

BFF's

 Time to feed...

More fun in the tree...

We somehow forgot to pack the candles for Abby's cookie cake, so instead we used this very special "campfire candle"...  Phew, glad that she bought that idea and thought it was cool!  Thanks BG!!!

For Abby's 3rd birthday, we would ask her what she wanted for her birthday and all she would say is "to get Andrew a present", so once we agreed on what we could get Andrew, she helped us with birthday ideas for herself.  Long story short, she started a tradition that on the other persons birthday, they get their sibling a present.  Abby got Andrew this Buzz Lightyear (I got it for a couple bucks, gently used :-) and Andrew LOVES it!!!  It sleeps with him at night and he almost made it in to church today...

Somehow, after  a fun night of camping (which usually entails going to bed really late and getting up early), we were able to clean up and make it to Abby and Andrew's soccer game in the morning and they had what might be there individual best game yet AND their team won 5 to 0!!!  GO AVENGERS!  What made the game even more special is that Aunt Becca, Cousin Joe, and EVEN Uncle Brian (he usually has to work on Saturday's, so we were excited to see him too) came to the game and we got to have lunch with them after!  Here is a picture of the cousins... and David :-).

We brought the soccer ball home with us from the game...

Thanks for sticking with me for this long post!  We continue to praise God for you (our village :-) and pray that you feel a renewed sense of God's love, peace, and joy as we enter into the excitement and craziness of the Summer!