Lego Heaven...

Brayden has really gotten into Lego's the past 6 months. We had this 1,000 piece bin of Lego's given to us and to say he was on cloud nine about it is an understatement.

We signed him up to be a part of a Lego event this morning before the mall opened. The event focused on Star Wars. There were about 20 other kids at the event. They had 45 minutes to spend building a starship with kids in their age group and then the last 15 minutes they all got to show off what they made. They all got to go home with a t-shirt, a small Star Wars ship kit and two Lego mini-figures.

Brayden's mini-figure Clone Trooper

I found the piece I was looking for!

This was the other little boy his age who he worked with. They are showing off to the rest of the kids what they made.

Sarah and summer...

This should be my last post from this past summer.

I had to share about Sarah's missions trip that she took at the end of June. I would have shared on this sooner, but we just got the pictures from our children's pastor.

It was actually a home missions trip. The children's pastors from a church in North Carolina that we are connected with came up with 5 of their kids and teamed up with our kids for a week of ministry. The trip was for kids in grades 3rd-6th and there were 21 kids total.

They started off with some team building, getting to know each other and training on Sunday afternoon.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings they ran a VBS at our church campus in Washington Township.

Waving families in as they drive by.

A lot of fun and games.

All the kids had a part to play in the VBS from being a part of skits, helping with games, making kids feel welcome, handling puppets and praying with kids at the altar time.

The Crew.

On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon they went to a nursery home and spent time talking with the residents, doing some skits and singing to them. This was Sarah's ministry highlight for the week.

On Wednesday night the team put on a carnival at our church with games, bounce houses, prizes and cotton candy. It was a beautiful night and there was a HUGE turn out.

On Thursday they spent the day at a school for disabled children and had ministry time with them as well as just having fun.

Friday they had their free day in New York City. They visited the 9/11 Memorial, Toys R Us, M&M World, Time Square, rode the subway and went to see Mary Poppins on Broadway.

Sarah loved her week, she still talks about things that happened and the friendships that she made with the kids from North Carolina. She was exhausted by weeks end, but all the hard work was well worth it. Jason and I believe it is weeks like these in kids lives that help them to grow as individuals. It is stepping out of their day to day lives, taking them out of their comfort zone to share kindness, love and just showing others that they matter. I know it impacted Sarah.

Sleepover...

Sammy got to sleepover at our house 2 nights last weekend while John, Susie and Stephen went away on a mini-retreat. Susie dropped Sammy off on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. and away we go...

The boys played cars.

Cousins enjoying pizza for dinner.

Back to playing, this time with trains which Sammy is a HUGE fan of.

Sarah finishing homework while the boys play.

Ready for bed. Aunt Amy was too!

Fast asleep in no time. They did great going to bed both nights.

Friday morning Sarah and Sammy went with me to take Brayden to Preschool. After that we had to take Sarah to the dentist and back to school. A busy morning.

After picking up Brayden from Preschool, I took the boys to Abma's Farm to see the some of the animals and pickup doughnuts. Here they are saying "Hi" to the chickens.

This cow was really into Brayden.

"Look Aunt May-Me!"

Sammy wanted to feed the goat like this little girl.

Friday night we had a ladies conference at church so the boys were in the nursery while Jason was at youth. Saturday morning I took Sammy to church with me for John & Susie to pick him up. He was ready to go back home with me Saturday afternoon so he could play more with Brayden, so sweet.

Sammy did great sleeping over at our house, which I am thankful for. I am sure we will have many more cousin sleepovers in the years to come.

Braces...

Yesterday was a BIG day for Sarah, she got braces put on.

Before

After

She was a little nervous with how they would look on her, but afterwards was happy with them and was ready to head to school today to show them off. I think she still looks gorgeous!

Stephen John James...

We had a new arrival to the James Family on July 18th. I am definitely behind on this post, so I apologize to Stephen. Stephen, you are definitely worthy of an announcement on my blog.

Stephen John James 7/18/12 at 11:06 a.m., 7 lb 5 oz, 21"

Happy Family - Susie, John, Big Brother Sammy and Stephen

Uncle Jason

Aunt Amy or "Aunt May-me" as Sammy likes to call me

Cousin Sarah taking a turn at feeding Stephen.

Cousin Brayden all smiles.

We are so excited for the addition to the James family and especially another miracle baby for John & Susie. God has blessed them with two amazing little boys. We are excited to walk along side them as they grow.

The little man.

Coldplay...

Sarah got to go to her first rock concert this past August with her Dad. They both have a love for the band Coldplay, so when Jason had the opportunity he grabbed tickets and was excited to share the night with Sarah.

They had an AMAZING night.

Ready for the show to start.

Amazing light show.

Amazing music, although Sarah did wish she would had had some earplugs since it was super loud.

All smiles. A special night to share with her Daddy.

Every person received a special wristband for the concert, which lite up during different parts of the concert. It was cool to see all the different colors going with the music. What a fun experience for Daddy and daughter.