Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

We saw fireworks last night. We were joking about them being 4-D---we could hear them, feel them...taste them! Ha! They were literally chunks of firework pieces falling on us! Weird....

But we managed to leave without much harm done. And Josh has more things to add to his collection of 'stuff'. I've never had that happen before!

We had a good time last night. We had Steve and Monica over and they have their 3 adorable kids, all of our kids and then, Rob and Lisa came too...with their daughter, Megan. Mark grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and brauts (spelling?). It was a lot of fun!! I am so thankful that we have friends and there are folks that like to hang out with us :)

Last Saturday, I graduated with my Masters! Praise the Lord! Now, I have a few months before I have to start paying on my loans. That will be a bummer....

I am at work today...yes...on the holiday. We celebrated yesterday, so that is okay. Alex is getting ready to leave on his mission trip. Last Monday, I was walking to the mailbox with Mark and the kids....praying that Alex's passport would be there. It was!!! God answered those prayers for sure. He is set to leave EARLY in the morning. Mark is going to take him to Ram's Horn (a 24-hour restaurant) at 2 a.m. and his flight will leave at 6 a.m.-ish. He is a little nervous, but excited! I'm praying for his safety and for his confidence as he shares the gospel. He is going to present a short message on Sunday at the church that the orphans attend. He will do great, I'm sure!

Everything else is normal....somewhat. We are having a few issues with teenage children and hormones. Yes....it is inevitable I suppose. Mark and I have told the kids that we do not agree with dating or anything associated with dating....until they are at least 16 years old. That's the rule. But a couple of the kids have had a crush and they have contact with their 'significant other' via emails and texts. Not good. When they do that, they are feeding the relationship....and it gets too involved. One of the boys was pretty upset when his 'friend' (they always say, "we're just friends!", don't they? I did!), decided she didn't like him so much that way anymore. We do not need extra drama in the teenage life! That is for sure. The less, the better. SO...Mark is planning to review our terms for dating. Even going with their family somewhere....or the other person joining our family....it's just too much like dating. Thankfully, Alex has succeeded in keeping himself from the drama. We'll see how it goes in college!! Just 6 more teenagers to go through!!!!

Better go for now!

Blessings!

~Bethany :)