Summer Fun

This past weekend we went to a party at Brian's cousin Duane's cabin at Wixom Lake. We had a really nice day boating and visiting with relatives and a campfire at night. Jensen had been on a speed boat before but Peyton had it and he loved it. He went out on the boat at least 3 times with a huge smile on his face every time. Jensen like the paddle boat and he went on that quite a few times with his cousin Sara and with Brian. He did accidentally fall in the water once when he and his cousin Taylor were playing on the dock, thank goodness he was wearing a life jacket and there were adults close by to get him out right away. Enough to scare him and Mom though. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Picture of the cabin

Paddleboats

Loving this piece of watermelon

Riding in the speedboat

Peyton wanted in on this game of volleyball so bad

Grandma Jan, Aunt Norma & Uncle Ralph

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert

Brian and I had the amazing privilege of attending Steven Curtis Chapman's second concert back since the tragic death of his little girl, Maria. It was the most amazing event I have experienced. Of course it was extremely emotional but it was also a great time of worship. Steven and his two sons were all there and though it was obviously difficult for them to take the stage again they were still giving all the glory to God and made mention often that they were looking forward to seeing Maria again in Heaven. He started by coming on stage alone and came to the keyboard and said that the first song that came to mind on the evening of May 21st was Blessed be your Name which he sang along with the audience. Wow, was that intense, if ever the words of that song were effective it was then. He sang many of his songs old and new and many of the lyrics to the song rang so much more true due to the circumstances. He said that he wasn't sure if he would ever sing "Cinderella" again but felt he needed to and that he realized one day he would dance with Maria again. He talked about how it would be hard for him to get through it and unbeknown to him Family Life Radio had passed out little flashlights for the crowd to light during that song to show our support. He made it through the song but said that it wasn't fair to do that to him but you could tell he appreciated the support. The concert was an excellent tribute to Maria and an awesome reminder of what a great God we serve that can get us through the darkest of times in our lives and also the hope that we have in Christ that this life is only temporary and the life that we have waiting for us in Heaven is the one we should long for. I wish you all could have been there to experience this! Below is a link to the blog of Steven's manager that gives pictures and more info from the night. Unfortunately the battery on my camera died as soon as the concert started so I didn't get any pics :(

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/jim/2008/07/scc-ready-to-ta.html