Family Vacation!

When you plan a trip to the beach all you think of is the tan, the breeze, the relaxation, the naps in the shade. Yes, we got all of that but we are parents now and you just can't plan for much anymore. With 13 people in a two bedroom beach house we crammed as much fun, games, food, and sun as you can in just a few days. Kasaan got to hang out with all his cousins on Bird's side including the newest addition, Eddie and Paula's son Mason. What an answer to prayers that kid is! Kasaan's first day on the beach he was as chill as we have ever seen him. We kept telling Kathy and mom, "This is not like Kasaan to be so cuddly."

That night he was up all night, screaming and keeping the whole house awake. The next day we took him to the ER where Bird was too sick to even come in...she slept in the car while KJ and I spent a couple hours in the hospital. It turned out that he had just the mouth part of hand, foot and mouth. He had big sores in the back of his throat and he was just miserable. Margaret was no better. She was exhausted and in tears with pain from a migraine. When we got home from the hospital I had two sick kids on my hands. Lois took great care of Bird and I did my best to care for Kasaan.

Oh wait it gets better. We left the beach on Sunday to go back to Northern Virginia from Delaware. It is normally a three hour drive but since it was my 31st birthday we were handed a different adventure. The Bay Bridge sits between the beach and home and on that Sunday morning there was a tracker trailer that went over the bridge. It was a horrible tragedy causing hours of delay. My entire birthday was spent in the car. 10 hours later we arrived at home just in time to go to bed. 10 hours int he car with a sick kid. Lilly was amazing though and she brought so much joy to all of us in the car.

The Maine thing about Acadia...

Is being with our friends. My favorite thing in Maine was not the view from Cadillac Mountain or Jordan Pond (if you get to Acadia this is a must) but hearing the little ones squeal with laughter, watching them pick blueberries, and leaping on the rocks in the lake. Our neighbors are studying at GCTS from Korea and they are always looking to experience "American traditions". We have grown close to them and they have seen us at our worst as new parents, both of us in tears with no clue what to do next. I'm so thankful for their friendship, God's timing is always amazing, Yoori and I both needed a friend and he provided the perfect fit.

"Dad, I'll show you how to do this one!" This was such a fun trip for me. As a little girl my family went camping almost every summer. This was only Gregg's second camping trip and you would of thought he had grown up camping too. He made great fires morning and night and scouted the forest for fallen wood. The meals were amazing and our neighbors made one of our favorite Korean meals bulgogi. We realized Gregg's tent from his single days doesn't seem as big with his whole family now. He' s a quick learner (or it could of been our fat Rand McNally road map he found in the car as a fire starter). We had great fires morning and night and they were as Max always says, "hotter than blue blazes."

Kasaan's First Chicken Fight!

It was really a David and Goliath story from the beginning that ended up being a disqualification on both children for not knowing the rules. Bird and I took a weekend trip up to Tilton, NH sometime in the last two month I really don't even know when it was but it was just the best. Our dear friends Julie and Alex live there and they invited us up for the weekend. We ate greasy pizza they took us to a great place or blueberry pancakes and then the whole Cutler family came up for a BBQ. Friends, relaxation, and water a great recipe for the Jennings.

We stayed at a mansion that sits on the Tilton Academy property. The old house combined with the beautiful gardens and small town feel was so nice.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to see if I'm really living this dream. God has blessed me with such a beautiful wife and the world's happiest, smiliest, baby. But it is hard to tell this kid is still a baby. His personality has come into full bloom and he is all energy and all smiles.

Way behind we know, so we'll start where we left off: The 4th of July

Living at the seminary would not have been half the experience it was without our wonderful neighbors. Today we had lunch with them on the hill but on the 4th of July we treated our friends Kwang and Yoori to a beautiful display of fireworks on the beach. Kasaan wasn't quite sure what to think of it all but we made some great memories.

I know this is a weird pic to love but holding our son close as he was a little trembly was really special. He relaxed in my arms and enjoyed the fire in the sky.

Kwang and Yoori's girls Hannah and Yannah screamed for joy as they saw the night sky light up. We had such a good time!

Mommy's Canvas

Bird has always been amazing at creating art out of just everyday stuff. So many of the things in our house or on our Christmas Tree have been her creations. As Kasaan gets older it looks like he is going to have his dad's crazy hair. When others would see this as an opportunity to mourn and wail, Bird saw it as an opportunity for art.

30 Hour Famine

I could not be more proud of our students. 15 teens raised a combined total of $3,700 dollars to help fight global "hungy". Unfortunately that is my handwriting and not Livy's. My grandpa would have said, "Buy you books and buy you books and what do you know?" Olivia laughed so hard at my mistake she absolutely loved it. She stood out in the rain for over an hour, advertising to the world that we are doing our part to make a difference. Even if we don't know how to spell.

In Case of Brain Farts.