The perspective of a six year-old

As I was working with Avery on her lesson for our Tuesday night kids' church program (Club Rocksalt, very similar to Awana), she made a pretty profound statement in my mind.

"All the things we have on earth are just to keep us from being bored while we're waiting for heaven."

Memory Lane

We've settled into a great school year routine. Avery's doing really well in first grade and Allie and I are loving our time together. I have plenty to do with home, family, and church, but I'm not overwhelmed like I have been in the past. So I just decided to look back and enjoy a short stroll down memory lane.

I always loved this picture of the girls. Allie ADORES her big sister :) That was back when those happy moments were few and far between. They still fight, but have realized how much fun it is to have a sister around as your best friend.

I don't know why, but I just love this picture of Avery and her Crispix! Kids are so funny :)

Making Cider and Memories

My Dad has an old apple press that he got from my grandpa. He makes delicious apple cider every fall and we all love it! He promised the kids this year that they could help him make some cider, so we went over for the afternoon to help and got to see the whole process.

Allie, Papa, Roderick, Makinley, and Josh picking apples in the backyard.

Tons of apples being washed.


Papa feeding the apples into the grinder.


Look at that cider coming out!

Avery got to press the apple grinds down first.

Avery and her Papa.

Roderick and his Papa pressing the apples.

Allie gets her turn to press the apples.

Allie gets the first taste!

So first they pick the apples. Then, the apples get washed and fed into the grinder. Next, the apple grounds get pressed and every bit of juice gets squeezed out. Finally, the juice gets strained and poured into jugs. It takes a lot of work!

The kids each got to fill up a jug to take home.

This is just about my favorite picture ever! These are four of my favorite people in the whole world! There's a lot of love in this pic! :)

Tonight, as I sip on my mug of warmed cider that I regularly enjoy, I'll be even more thankful for it, knowing all the hard work that my Dad goes through to make it. I'm so glad my kids got to share this fun memory with their cousin and Papa.