Brother and sister holding hands while taking a stroll together in the park. . . my prayer is that they would be the closest of friends throughout their entire lives.

Samantha recently turned 20 months old; I can't believe it! She makes me laugh every day; what fun she brings to our family. I thought these pictures were cute but please don't look too closely at her bangs. Sadly, this was my best attempt at giving her hair a little trim.

Friday Night Fun! Tonight will be the last Friday night Jacob and Damian will come over to play ping pong with the guys, so I wanted to take a picture of all of them together. One of Tim's friends, Cookie (second row, second to the right - and yes, that's a nickname) brought his six-year-old brother over to play with Caleb. The two kids had a great time playing Uno, video games, and knocking down the pins with Caleb's bowling set.

Let's play softball! We had a great time at our second practice; the girls are doing great and we are having so much fun! This past week, we were also blessed by a visit from Christine and her daughter. Christine volunteered last year in our town, and she came back to see her friends and to teach again at the English Club. Our family really enjoyed meeting them.

Happy Birthday, Shelly & Julie! Shelly celebrated her birthday one day earlier at the English Club this past Friday. Our friend Dragana made the birthday cake; it was delicious (just ask Samantha). Shelly received some wonderful birthday gifts from many of the students; it was a blessing to see how she has developed such close relationships this summer. Last night our team got together to celebrate Shelly's & Julie's birthdays (Julie's is actually today). We had a great time watching them try and blow out the trick candles, and their birthday cakes were delicious too (just ask Samantha).

I couldn't resist taking this picture of our indoor/outdoor thermometer. The indoor temperature was right, but the outdoor temperature was what it was on our roof. The actual temperature that day was around 100 degrees. But we have been cooling off at the river. Samantha likes to throw rocks in the water, and there is an area where it is not that deep. In the first picture, you might can see the "rafts" they have floating in the river. It's fun to swim out to those and jump off. In the second picture, Samantha and I are visiting with our friend Jelena at one of the cafes by the river.

Kickball time! The guys had a great time playing kickball with some Serb teenagers a few days ago. The weather was perfect too; it has cooled off some. Caleb even got on base a few times.

My friend Mirela painted this bottle and gave it to me as a gift. She suggested that I put flowers in it, and I thought it looked "pretty as a picture." Mirela is a sweet friend and a very talented painter.

Here is a picture of Samantha with her dear Ziza. She is such a blessing to us and has become an important part of our family. We finished our language classes this week, and Ziza did such a wonderful job taking care of our kids. We knew they were being loved while we were in class. Thank you, Ziza!

Caleb befriended a kitten a few weeks ago, and we enjoy his company when we play outside. Caleb wants to name him "Speed" - I'm hoping for "Speedy" or "Tigger."

Our summer days are filled with blowing bubbles and playing baseball - isn't it fun to be a kid?

Caleb is pictured above with his music teacher - he is still singing those songs around the house and trying to teach them to Samantha. We were very proud of him; he even got a medal for memorizing all six of his Bible verses. The last picture is of Caleb with one of his teachers.

Uncle Karl is shown here giving Caleb a hug (one upside down and one not). Samantha enjoyed big brother's performance too and did a few dance moves herself.

We will always remember the many volunteers that came at their own expense to take care of our kids during our week in Greece. Caleb and Samantha were loved and encouraged by their teachers, and it still brings tears to my eyes to think of all those volunteers did for us. For Caleb's age group and older, the teachers helped them prepare a program for us - Galilee by the Sea. Caleb had a blast learning the songs and did a great job. The first two pictures are group shots of the kids in his class. Scott is pictured in the black shirt; he was a fantastic "announcer" for the program.

One of the highlights of the week was a basketball game among our colleagues. Tim and Chris led our team to victory! (Yes, I'm biased but they both played great.) We enjoyed getting to spend extra time with Chris and Becky while we were in Greece. An extra bonus for me was also not having to cook! In the mornings, we would usually eat breakfast outside. Not because the kids enjoyed it (yes, Caleb - I know that the sun is bright) but because most of the tables were already taken since we were always running a little behind.

Who would have thought that I would ever see the Aegean Sea? The hotel offered a private entrance to this beach, so the kids and I were able to go and play a few times. It was an incredible sight to see the mountains at the horizon. Samantha was our little "sand monster" and Caleb enjoyed playing in the water. This was one of my most favorite memories of our trip.