New Stuff

Another couple of weeks have flown by, here is a little re-cap. 

Danika ended school at the very end of June so these are a few shots captured on our last day of being just us 3 girls! Adessa LOVES her little sister and is such a big help! Amara is still as content as ever. She really likes her jumper, but is still too short to reach the ground, even on the lowest setting, hence the pillow under her feet. 

She is growing so quickly thought. This week I had a check up because she has a bump on her head that we thought was changing a bit, but the Dr reassured us that it is not and that it will go away. Amara weighed in at 13 lbs 9 oz. I finally packed away her newborn clothes and she is now sporting the 3-6 month old clothing. So much of it is from her Auntie Linsey, I just love her little roots yoga pants!

These pictures look IDENTICAL from last years grad. Both Danika and Mrs. Mitchell were wearing the EXACT same dresses!!! Too funny! Danika has worn this dress for preschool, kindergarten and now gr. 1 grad. She has SO many dresses, but this has been a favorite! Mrs. Mitchell has been such a special part of our lives and is someone we will never, ever forget. She has helped Danika so much and wrote such a beautiful note to Danika. When Danika read it, she cried pretty hard. It is going to be a big change to have a new teacher in the fall. Danika passed grade 1 (thankfully!) and has just reached her reading mark for grade 1. So we have set up a chart for reading and writing every day this summer. So far it is going well! Mrs. Mitchell said that Danika has such a passion for learning and that is something that cannot be taught! We have been very blessed by the school, by the wonderful teacher and special learning teacher Danika has had, to backing onto the school and having Danika able to walk to and from school. We are so very proud of how hard Danika has worked this year and how much she has learned. She is growing much too quickly!
Her best friend Lize finished school a week earlier so surprised Danika at her grad. The top right picture is Danika's best friend at school. Her name is Naona and her family moved here from Japan last year. It has been neat watching their friendship grow as Naona has really been learning her english. 

Amara is replacing the girls real dolls... they had her in their dollies crib in the play room and Amara just loved it!

We took the boat out after Steve got home from work to tent island. We were the only ones on the beach and it was such a gorgeous evening. It was the first time we put Amara's toes in the ocean, and she didn't even flinch. She loves the water already!

My little girls were swimming away, practicing all their new moves they've been learning in swim lessons. It was about 8 pm at night... crazy kids! The top picture is of the girls in the front storage part of the boat. They made themselves a little fort, had all sorts of snacks and were giggling away. I LOVE watching their friendship grow. 

A few photos from swim lessons. I enrolled the girls in swim lessons for the first 2 weeks of summer holidays at our outdoor pool in Crofton. It is SO perfect! The weather has been amazingly hot and the girls are in lessons with their best buddies. Kailey and Adessa go first and there are only 2 other little boys in their class. In Danika's swim lesson there is Danika with her 2 best friends, Lize and Naona. And not a single other person in the entire pool. It is like their own private lessons. Danika has gotten so good at swimming and is diving to the bottom and holding her breath while she swims under.
A few times this past week we have stayed after swim lessons for free swim. I love the small town as there is very few people that come up, and the ones that do we know. And the lifeguards play games and give the girls candy.
We have one week left of lessons so I am looking forward to how much the girls will learn!

Last weekend we went over to some friends- The VanBovens from our old church. They are dairy farmers and have 4 older children. After lunch we went out on their boat on Quamichan lake. The girls got to go tubing with the older girls and had a blast. At one point Steve was driving for the older girls and knocked them all off. Adessa was dead serious and said she would never tube again because "daddy drives way too crazy!" We had to try and reassure her that he wouldn't do that for her! Then the following day we took the boat out again with the Nagtegaals and just went for a ride on the lake. The little girls and I jumped in. The lake is in between Crofton and Duncan, with quite a few homes on it, but no one really swims in it as it is kind of swampy. But out in the middle isn't too bad... so its like a lake to ourselves! The Vanboven family goes out every afternoon with their kids and said as long as you shower off after you'll be fine! Haha too fun!
On Thursday night a little friend from Danika's class invited her to a bible study in Duncan for children. So Danika went and loved it! They are learning about praying on the armor of God. Our babysitter had called me that afternoon, said she was bored and asked if Steve and I wanted her to come watch the girls. It was perfect timing as Steve had a terrible day. So we went out on a date and picked Danika up from her bible study. And when I went to pay Meagan she refused, said she just wanted to hang out with the girls. She has been such a blessing to us, and the girls just love her!

Steve continually is getting more leads and signing more jobs through his company. We are absolutely blown away by God's blessing on his company. This week has been extremely stressful for Steve however as some of his really good clients have turned kind of sour. So we are just praying for wisdom as to how to progress in the situation and it has taken it's toll on Steve. But we know God is faithful, and we will continue to seek His guidance and will for what steps to take as we have been holding true to James 1:2-5

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

And there is the end of another re-cap!