It All Went Well Until the End

 The trip up to PA with the 10 kids couldn't have gone smoother. I cleaned and packed the van on Saturday, then the kids and I were on the road by 6:20 Sunday morning.

  
They all did great, even my one that is known for travel troubles. I fed them granola bars and bananas when we left, then we stopped at a rest stop and drive-thru after we made it around the DC belt-way. 7:30 on a Sunday morning is a perfect time to drive through there - one of the rare times we haven't encountered serious traffic challenges. I love this quick picture we took at the rest stop and was proud of my three big girls for not being embarrassed; they sometimes have this issue of being a spectacle in public.

We made it into town nice and early. We had a quick stop at Target to buy Ben pants and Tori a sweater and sandels. JD, Gabriel and Alayna met us there and we had a fun filled reunion in the shoe aisle - it had been about nine months since we had seen Gabriel! We then checked into our hotel rooms and changed for the funeral home.  We met some of JD's sisters at the Chinese buffet and I  thought I'd snap a quick picture of the 12 kids coming out of the buffet. Gabriel was stopped and questioned by a nice family that was interested in his military service. The other 11 stood and watched -
 

  
The family talked and talked and then JD got in the conversation. If you know JD, that's worse than if I get going.

  
When Gabriel made it back, we snapped one and headed for the van.

  
We were all so happy to see Alayna again also, although we have been blessed to see her a few times since her move to San Diego. She really is Alei's best friend and they are very, very alike which is sweet since Gabriel and Alei have also always been very close.  

After our hours at the funeral home, we let Gabriel take the kids swimming at what is normally bed time. This may have been more rational if I hadn't woken them up at 6:00 a.m., but we try to be fun parents sometimes.

 I, on the other hand, was exhausted and attempted to rest.

Here's my look if I hear the camera click and I've been half asleep -

  
The funeral itself was absolutely beautiful; JD and his sisters did a wonderful job. We were blessed to meet four little girls that have been born in the last few years that we had not yet met. This is Isa. We found her look at Selah to be most entertaining.

Gabriel gave her a napkin and she cleaned up Selah's greasy face, then she appeared pleased. 

We took all kinds of family photos that need some editing, but here's a sneak peek of just our family of 14. 

 We left PA a few hours later than I hoped, but I wasn't too worked up since JD was going to drive the van and Alei the red Escape. We were only about 45 minutes out of town and Red died on Alei. We were then forced to rearrange lots of car seats and LOTS of stuff from Grandma's house so that I could continue on with the children while JD waited on a tow truck and then checked into a hotel. Today's verdict is that the engine is completely gone and while the vehicle really isn't worth it, we don't have many options other than replacing it. So, JD rented a mini-van, reloaded again and is on the way home. We will have a 12 hour trip to go back for the Escape in two weeks and a $3,000 bill. It has been a problem for the entire time we have owned it - it may be time to sell it and recoup what little it's worth above it's latest repair bill. OR, it may run great now for a while - hard to know! I have been so tired and so stressed the last week, and feeling sicker and sicker during the weekend, that I just cried by the side of the road when it came down to me doing the whole trip again. I drove through the dark mountains and pouring down rain for the first few hours. We were then at a virtual stop on 95 at midnight due to construction and wreck caused by the construction. It continued to rain hard all the way home until I pulled in at 1:30 a.m. I told Alei that she was going to have to buck up and take a shift, but since she has never driven the van, it was raining, we were on the DC beltway and she forgot her glasses, that wasn't realistic. I was so, so happy to safely pull into home and I'm already trying to figure out how to get out of the 12 hour trip back!
 

The ten kids and I are heading out very early tomorrow morning for our 6-7 hour drive to PA. I find driving for hours challenging and Alei won't help me because she is too scared of driving the van. Please just prayer for safety and peace and harmony in the van! Thank you.

Elijah and Hunter

With A Sad Heart

I'm blogs behind, but it is with a sad heart that I post that JD's mother unexpectedly passed away yesterday. While she had several months of health crisises after chemotherapy, she has been in good and stable health for quite some time. She was rushed to the emergency room the evening of April 30th due to difficulty breathing and she never regained consciousness. After we received the call that she had been resuscitated twice in the ambulance, JD drove all night to get there. Now I am gathering the children and heading up for the funeral. Gabriel and Alayna are flying in from San Diego and the rest of the kids are driving up with me early Sunday morning. All of her 21 grandchildren will be attending the funeral.

JD and his mom - Dec. 2013

Grandma with several of the grandkids

 While we are dealing with the news of losing JD's mom, we have also been met with two other challenges. One is dealing with a child, so it will never make the blog; the other will surface post-funeral, but we would appreciate prayers for our family in the meantime!

Wrapping Up

We are wrapping up the basement finishing this week, other than the projects that we are deliberately putting off for next year...or the year after. James, and his little helper Elijah, built the four Ikea shelves for "Lego land corner".

  
We also did three of the four girls' hair over spring break.

  
Wiring the pasture fence is on the the soon to-do list, but until then we have to walk the goats away from the house if we get them out of their smaller fence, to prevent them from eating the spring plants.

On Friday we went to see a friend from our old neighborhood and the kids played ball with her son. 

  
Although they have moved also, her husband is known for his yard. I just wish he could come and grow about 18 acres of grass that looked like this at my house!

Easter and Birthday

 Easter morning we ate breakfast at camp and said good-bye to new friends.

 This cutie is from Kenya; she enjoyed playing with the big kids.

These college volunteers were Selah and Bella's best friends. They spent as much time with them as they could.

Of the two pictures I took, this was the better one of Bella.

 After good-bye time, we dressed for church and cleaned out our cabin. Dan came to spend a last few minutes with the kids.

 As we were leaving camp, they gave each child an impressive Easter basket. I made them wait until home to open them.

 I seriously did six loads of laundry on Sunday night and another 12 loads on Monday. Tuesday was my birthday and I spent the morning with Elijah and Bella at our last day of Classical Conversations. Then I took Moriah, Alyssa and Tori to Chipotle for a girls lunch out. I'm most unimpressed with how I look in this picture, but it's the only one I took.  
  

Mom, Moriah and Alyssa

  Tori is quickly moving into the big girl category.

Tori, Moriah and Alyssa

Now, I am back to the basement. I'm feeling the pressure to start my garden so I need to wrap it up down there!

Camp Day Two

 We had a long, fun Saturday at camp. We started with a hearty breakfast - so good they were begging children to take thirds on bacon. I don't think that has ever happened at home.

  
Our family's first activity was boating and fishing; I think it's all of our favorite. Check out the thrill on Tori's face that James put a worm on the line for her.

  
I didn't realize that I captured this picture until today, but can you see that Selah lost her footing and was going to fall into the lake? I'm not sure how it all went down, but seconds later both Dan and I had her by the jacket and life jacket dangling over the lake. I'm thinking I move fast under stress and all I remember is thinking how cold she would be if she went in!

 JD has never been a fisherman, but my kids sure enjoy it - or at least the idea of it. They've never fished for too long. You can tell from this picture that JD has lost 30 pounds on the "Trim, Healthy Momma" diet!

After the lake, we transferred to African drumming and on to art. I personally love the art and craft time with the kids, but I ended up hand scrubbing paint out of about three new purple camp t-shirts.  

Tori

 In the afternoon, they hosted a large candy hunt. Forget the eggs- they just put the wrapped candy directly on the ground. We have way more candy than any family needs at the moment!

 

  
This picture warms by heart. The kids were obviously not aware of what JD was taking pictures of, but it is Tori picking up candy and putting it into Selah's bag instead of her own. Selah was about the smallest in the 6-9 category and Tori was helping her.
 

 After the egg hunt, we got to take family Easter bunny pictures. I put on Facebook that contrary to Selah's appearance, she did not get rabies from the Easter bunny.
 

 There were plenty more games through the afternoon, although we were disappointed that the rock wall and rope course were not open this year. 

James on one side

Ben on the other

Bella

 That night they hosted square dancing. They required the kids to participate, which was great because they had a blast, but may not have tried it otherwise.

Ben and Tori

Selah and YMCA

 It took about two hours that night to shuffle all the kids through the lone shower. I let Elijah play a game on my Kindle while he waited for prayer - that lasted less than five minutes. I also put the kids to bed in their jackets because we all froze the night before.

It was a good day with fun memories.                      

                                                                      Jenny         

                                                                                                                  

First Night at Camp

 The kids were very excited for our second year at family camp. Upon arrival, they had crafts ready to start on. 

 The camp has the nicest group of college student volunteers; it's refreshing that there are still so many unselfish, motivated older kids! We spent a lot of time with Dan pictured below.

  
There was a lady painting the kids as well -

 Elijah was so happy with his snake that we couldn't talk him into wearing a jacket sleeve on that arm.  

In the evening, some UVA athletes came and played different sports with the kids. Ben is currently playing soccer but he really loves basketball. I plan on letting him play this winter.

 We finished the night with some s'mores around the camp-fire and setting up the kids in their bunks.

  
We have been reading Patricia St. John books aloud at night. Thankfully, I remembered The Tanglewood's Secret and most of them were out before the first chapter was over. The older kids (and I) are loving them.