S'mores & Fire Night

One of the great summer traditions is when Grandpa Barrie makes a fire and we get to have s'mores with a fire on the edge of the pond. What a beautiful setting. Before the fire, grandpa even gave some haircuts -- so our family looks a bit neater and trimmer!

Copa Mundial! USA Advances!

One of the big highlights of the summer has undoubtedly been a highlight of the summer. After the emotional trainwreck of the Slovenia match, Doug was on edge for the Algeria-USA match as opportunity after opportunity was missed. As time began to edge away, Landon Donovan finally came through with the amazing goal to allow the USA to top the group.

There were lots of celebrations around the globe.

Doug has his own crazy celebration with lots of jumping up and down. There were no cameras, but it would have been quite a site -- though not with a totally happy ending as Doug tweaked his knee while jumping around like a crazy guy. He hasn't been able to walk the last few days. Unfortunately, it may be a torn meniscus. Hopefully the swelling will go down, but if there are further problems, Doug may have to get it checked -- hopefully not until we return to KL.

Reeve's Prayer

One of those wonderful moments in our family happened this past week. At church the previous week, communion was served. Reeve was sitting a few seats away (next to his cousin Jacob). I noticed that he took some of the bread, and as they were passing out the grape juice, Reeve came over and whispered, "Daddy, it's grape juice, not wine, can I have some?" I whispered back that communion means that we have asked Jesus in our heart and we could talk about it later.

The next day, Reeve and I had a simple conversation about communion and Reeve prayed to ask Jesus in his heart! What an answer to prayer and what a delightful moment in our family!

Praise the Lord.

Grandma's Birthday

We had fun celebrating Grandma's birthday. Of course there was great food and lots of family. We had planned to go out to eat, but some illnesses, coughs and sniffles changed the plan to a barbecue at home. Everyone came over, presents were opened and lots of fun conversation. Jason was in typical jovial form, with lots of laughs, lots of memories, and lots of stories. Rumors of Jason's idyllic childhood free from weapons were dismissed while all of Jason's fun with friends (mainly Kyle) was dissected in great detail, including tales of hiding under his sisters' bed, the one-dot-dot two-dot-dot absolute rule of counting, and many other fun memories.

Evergreen Lake

We went to one of our favorite places nearby, Oak Openings. Unfortunately, several areas of the park are closed due to tornado damage from early June. But we were able to make it to Evergreen Lake and had a very nice hike around the lake.


Among the highlights was watching Jacob try to scramble across a series of logs -- and surprisingly only getting his feet a bit wet.

We also came across some very nice horse riders with their horses. They were kind enough to let the kids all sit on a horse while giving some brief lessons in horse etiquette.

Cousins

Our kids sure are having fun with cousins. One day last week, we went to the zoo and had fun with cousins there, before going over to Jason & Nicki's house for a nice dinner and more fun with cousins.

Strawberry Picking

With strawberries at their prime, all the cousins got together for some fun strawberry picking. With some yummy strawberry jelly for our sandwiches and some delicious strawberry pies, the kids sure had fun picking strawberries. Having some older cousins to help sure makes it more efficient!

Libraries & Parks

One of the great joys of the area is the great libraries and fun parks. Rania, especially, goes crazy when she is anywhere near a library -- though she still doesn't get the concept of borrowing books as she comes up with book after book saying, "Can we buy this one. . . PLEEEAAASSSEE?" This is often added by "I love it so much!" At one point we'd racked up 84 different titles on Grandma Julie's library card -- so plenty of visits to the area libraries and area parks.

Aunt Carrie's Birthday

It is birthday season in Ohio, so we had fun celebrating Aunt Carrie's birthday. Somehow we missed the traditional skit by the kids, but in typical tradition, we had great food and good fun. Our kids sure did want to help Aunt Carrie open her presents and be a big part of helping out. Sometimes the help was more needed than other times.

Sky Riders

The summer is here -- so the kids are having lots of fun making movies.

The girls are getting into the act too with this cute production.





My, oh my, how boys & girls are different. Compare that with the boys' movie.

Rania's First Fish

Rania caught her first fish!


Then a few days later, she caught a nice sized bass! It was way too heavy for Rania to hold, so mommy helped for the picture.

Many thanks to grandpa Barrie for all the nice worms for use as bait.

Toledo Zoo

Horray for summer!

Lots of catching up to do on the blog as we are having a great time to start this summer -- lots of times with cousins, great weather, daylight late into the evening. We are loving our vacation! Throw in the World Cup for daddy (and Reeve) and everyone is happy.

We got a membership to the Toledo Zoo; since our cousins also have memberships, we can go there. On our first visit, the new polar bear cub put on quite a show for us!

Progress of a Swimmer

What a joy to have Grandma teaching Rania how to swim.

Wow! A swimmer we now have!

Growing Up

My oh my, the kids sure do grow up quickly! We were looking at old videos and lamenting how little video we take and how precious it is to see our kids at an age that they'll never be again.

The kids LOVE watching little videos and some of the phrases and mannerisms become quite iconic.

So, in the interest of more little quirks from our youngest, a short video.

Doug gets to preach!

Prior to leaving Kuala Lumpur, Doug has the privilege of preaching at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church.

Due to the unfortunate circumstances of Pastor Keith's illness, the church has been having fill-in speakers, and Doug had the chance to preach.

You can visit the text of his sermon at St. Andrew's Web Site.

Sky Riders - Video

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker Trailer - Video

Prep Senior Swim Carnival

Gabi had lots of fun participating in the swim carnival and wet'n'wild fun day at Melawati. Though her parents were not able to be there, another parent took some fun pictures.

Celebrities at the Bird Park

Today, Rania had the chance to visit the Bird Park, and got some spectacular pictures with her grandpa. Check out the link to see photos.

Last week, though, Gabi got to go to the Bird Park and mommy got to chaperone. In the midst of the Bird Park, Tracy caught sight of a celebrity.


None other than Martha Stewart was visiting the Bird Park. One brave parent approached her and asked if she would take a picture with the kids. She kindly obliged (as is photographic evidence.)

Gabi also got to be the superstar in the Birds of Prey exhibit as an eagle (or maybe a bramini kite, but the girls weren't too specific on the details) swooped to catch the prey out of a stick that Gabi was holding.

What a neat treasure in the midst of KL. And how fun that Tracy was able to join Gabi for the field trip.