We are back!

Here are all the littler people in St. Louis My guys Josh with Lucy and Phoebe I love the State Fair. Starting School We have not really been gone, just gone from blogworld. First off doesn't the page look totally cool since our friend Kim re-did it? I cannot get over what a great job she did! She is much more talented than I am, and who knows what other hidden talents she may have! I had stopped blogging for a while because life was too busy to write about. That is saying a mouthful. I always have something to say, and writing helps me process, but not this late summer evidently. Everyone is well and thank God! the start of school was easier this year than it has been in a long time. I am thankful for the obvious(a great speech and language program at our school district and very hard working wonderful kids on all fronts) and the not so obvious(school uniforms and the certainty that my kids will always buy lunch on Wednesdays because it is pizza day). Let's start where we left off in early/mid July. We had planned for a while to remodel our kitchen. We did a lot of leg work, and came up with a plan and a time frame. Ron and I chose our cabinets and suppliers with care, we know the contractor well, and we planned to do a lot of the bits and pieces ourselves. We started the project July 24, and it involved removing part of a wall... well you get the picture... The week we started, we got word that Ron's job would disappear at the end of August. Now this sounds weird unless you live in Michigan and are associated with the auto industry. Ron is awesome at what he does, but his company will not exist within a year, and so everyone who works there will be in the same position at some point, but what timing! It took 6 weeks for the kitchen to be livable. I have a new appreciation for the dish washer. You have no idea what it is like to have to pause the laundry to wash the dishes! That is no fun let me tell you! Fortunately we were in our finished basement, and had a nifty set up down there... The kitchen feels really good now. All our choices, Internet and otherwise worked out well. We are only waiting on back splash tile to come in now. That is a job Ron and his dad will work out in a day or two. The goal was to be done by the time school started and we were back in by then so yeah. I really like our contractor. he is an honest guy, and really does nice work. That is an excellent combination. When you add to that his being open to letting you do the part of the job you want to do... He rocks. You guys have seen pictures of the ranch on occasion on our blog. The other thing that has us a little sad is that the ranch has closed. It filed for bankruptcy, and the place is now for sale. We will have to wait and see what happens. We were able to meet with the other families we traveled to china with this summer. That was absolutely excellent. We really enjoyed each other's company, and re connected quickly. The kids had a great time. It is hard to describe the connection that develops when you share something that big in your life with people. So anyway...here are some photos of our summer. Hope all is well.