August

We said farewell to summer by taking a picnic to Myakka River State Park.  The kids loved the canopy walk.  They kept finding these enormous yellow spiders, and Abby even found a pygmy rattlesnake!

We also went bowling -- this was a first for the kids! They thought it was great!

Noah had his fifth birthday! (Oh my gosh, how is that possible???) His gift was a set of swords so he can fight with Daddy. : )

Noah returned to preschool. He was SO excited to have a new Thomas the train lunchbox. He "modeled" it in all the back to school shots.

As soon as we walked into the classroom, he was right at home. We opted to keep him in a three day preschool another year, rather than sending him on to kindergarten. I'm happy to have him home with me another year!

Abby and Julia are learning to survive without a big brother around to entertain them! It's definitely been an adjustment for them, but it's fun to see their relationship developing! It's as if Abby suddenly realized Julia's a pretty good playmate now that Noah's in school!

July

We were in Missouri for the annual Jobe family vacation the first week in July. We visited Silver Dollar City -- it was SO hot the day we were there, but I loved seeing the kids enjoy all those nostalgic activities from my own childhood memories!

We also celebrated Abby's third birthday! Her only request was a princess cake!

And here she is as she was seeing her birthday present for the first time!

June

Wow! Has it really been that long??? The summer passed quickly.  We spent the end of May and first half of June visiting our supporting families and churches. It was a blessing to spend time with everyone! Here's how we spent part of our June.

These are some of the watermelons we grew in our garden! The kids were so proud!

Sumner Family Video

Here's a link to our video we used while out on deputation.  There's a short family introduction, then it shows the life of a box from the time it reaches the hangar to arriving in the hands of the missionaries. Thanks to Esther!!! She did an awesome job!

Agape Flights Sumner family video

If you've not yet seen the earthquake relief video, you can view it here.  It's also excellent!!!

Easter

April in a Nutshell

Much of April was spent out doors. It has been so beautiful! But I know the heat is right around the corner, so we've been taking advantage while we can!

We went to the Railroad Museum in Parrish, FL to spend a "Day Out With Thomas". We saw Thomas, rode a train, listened to stories, jumped in the bounce house, and ate ice cream!

Despite our lack of grass and very sandy yard, the kids have loved playing in the sprinkler! And it's much better now that we have the fire ants under control!

Grandma and Grandpa Jobe and Great Cool Aunt Cindy came down for a visit. Grandma helped plant our spring garden (which has already grown SO much!) while the rest of us played!

The caterpillars are back! Last year about this time, the caterpillars came out like crazy. When we go on walks, we see dozens! Abby loves to catch them and carry them around in the "trunk" of her trike or in her little bug box.

Here's my proud fisherman. He caught lots of fish for us to eat!