Remsburg Cousins Camp

Every year, we get the amazing opportunity to send our kids to the farm with their cousins! This year, the timing was just perfect....it was right after Ely and Joe and I were emotionally spent on the children! A few days of R&R with no real "plans" was just what the doctor ordered! I met a friend for drinks, met up with cousins, we shopped, we tried a new restaurant, we hung out, caught up around home, did some yard work...it was great. Nothing big accomplished but it was just nice to breathe and wake up late and enjoy my coffee....every morning, I sat and just enjoyed my coffee. What a treat! What a great few days to re-invest in our marriage!

Cousins camp was filled with lots of togetherness! Art time, ranger time, BB gun time....

And, lots of time with grandparents and great grandparents, too! I love that!

And, going out for Mexican, and ice cream treats, and lots and lots of swimming!

Lettie isn't quite old enough for cousins camp but some day....it will be here before we know it! So appreciative of these few days of cousin time!

Coppola Cousin Fun

A few photos of fun that kicked off our summer....

Remsburg Cousins Unite

We try to get the little Remsburg Cousins together once a summer. This year, it was kind of tough because our family schedules were booked, and we didn't plan in advance and Jon and Kim's family had a lot of illnesses/doctor appointments/stresses in their lives. But, despite it all, we did get everyone together to swim one day. And, then Jenny and I took our kids to Lake City for a day! Even though it was a really short two days....it was good!

The Lake City trip included a visit to Jenny's grandparents, a visit to Gma and Gpa Bruggeman, lunch at my mom and dad's, a visit to Rainbow Bridge, the cemetery, the high school, the local park, the local town square and a woodworking shop that my Gpa helped in. Although the trip WAS really fun and nice...it was also kind of sad. Life has just changed for all of us over the years....sick and ailing grandparents, loss of parents, uncles, grandparents, hurting parents.....it's just hard being witness to all of the hurt. But, it was one of those days where we drove back to Des Moines just thankful that we took the time to do it. It's also good for my kids to see us loving on our grandparents -- cuz I hope they follow in those footsteps some day!

It's always good to go home....so thankful for the many grandparents still in my life!!

Coppola Cousins Week

We had a big week this summer of all Coppola cousin happenings!

Sunday night- Bobbi and Joe had Tony and Kelly's kids
Monday- VBS in the morning; Ali had Tony and Kelly's kids in the afternoon and night
Tuesday- VBS in the morning; I had Tony and Kelly's kids in the afternoon. We invited Kelly's Des Moines friends' kids to come swim and play, too.
Wednesday- VBS in the morning; Bobbi and Joe had Tony and Kelly's kids in the afternoon. We had Lia's birthday party at our house that night.
Thursday: VBS in the morning; we had Aunt Jerri's grandkids at our house to swim in the afternoon. In the evening, Ali took the girls for a spa night at her house. I took the boys for Spiderman movie date.
Friday: VBS in the morning; Tony and Kelly's kids went home!

It was an all-out exhausting but all-out fun week! Ali and I wanted to take Kelly's kids to give her a little break from the chaos since her mom passed away. She ended up going home to be with her dad and Tony got extra hours in at work. So, it felt good to help them out!

Here are a few pics of our fun week!

And, we managed to document a lot of fun stuff too! (The posed photos were not particularly the highlight of the kids' weeks but they were great for us!)

Family love...

A few photos of my nieces and nephews that I am loving right now....I have to say that being an aunt is one of life's greatest unexpected blessings!

I spent some time in Decorah helping Tony with the kids so Kelly could go home to see her mom. It was a lot of fun! I truly enjoyed playing their mom!

 My niece and goddaughter, Grace, was confirmed! We got to see her read her faith statement too! So so proud of this beautiful girl.

 We celebrated Kelly's 40th birthday with a pool party at our house and a dinner downtown! It was a lot of fun!

And, worth mentioning in all of this - Joey got braces, we celebrated 14 years of marriage, Saylor got her ears pierced, and Saylor went to kindergarten round up. We're growing up as a whole family it seems....and the days are going by so fast. Just so thankful every day to have more days together!

At the end of the day, life is good. But between all the good, there seems to be a little cloud over all of us these days....lots of loved ones hurting physically and emotionally in our families. That's the hard stuff that you don't see on a blog or instagram or facebook....and the stuff I'd rather not remember years from now. But, for now, our prayers seem awfully lengthy and we wonder if God is sick of hearing from us. But, each day, we wake up with new hope and strength and still find time to marvel at all the blessings and marvels of God's world. Sometimes, I just wish we all felt His presence more...but I think that's what faith is. It's not being sure of anything but hopeful for everything. It's knowing that we may not fly, but if we fall, there will be a soft place for us to land. Keep on keeping on, as they say....