Cooper’s Visa!

 Cooper had applied for his visa a couple of weeks ago when we took our trip to Chicago. They told him it would be 4 to 6 weeks before his passport would be ready to go. This made us slightly nervous because if he were rejected, he would have limited time to reapply. However, about a week after our trip to Chicago, he got a notice that his passport was ready! This also made us nervous because if it was ready this fast maybe it was a quick rejection. Of course the BLS doesn’t give you any information and they make you come in person to the BLS office in Chicago to find out the resolution on your application. Cooper decided to take a day off of work and he went by train with Sami back up to Chicago to pick up his passport and hope that he was accepted. The whole process seemed so complicated but when he showed up and gave Them his name, they had his passport ready to go all stamped with his visa completed! He was surprised and relieved, and so excited! Everything is falling into place! The last step for him going to Spain is to figure out housing. Everything else is done!

Congrats Cooper!

The Keplinger’s Visit

 Andrea and Dennis Keplinger came by to visit. They live in Tucson Arizona now but they were in Indiana for a few weeks visiting family. I’m so glad they made time to come see us. They were key individuals in our home and family during some difficult motherhood times and I’m so grateful for their friendship. They couldn’t believe how big the kids have gotten and that Cooper Graduated. We even FaceTimed Jaxton so he could say hello as well. The younger ones don’t remember Andrea and Dennis and Owen never knew them. But Jaxton, Cooper, and Kaylee remember them well. Dawson thinks he might remember, but he was very little. I’m grateful for their friendship very much.

Mastodons Basketball Camp

 

Nathan and Owen spent the week at the PFW mastodon’s basketball camp. This is always a highlight of the summer! The PFW mastodon basketball team coach coaches and runs the camp for kids from first grade through eighth grade. The kids had some friends join this year, which was extra fun! They loved it as always. Owen‘s team won his championship division game on the last day of camp and he was so proud! Of course, at the end they spent time getting signatures and autographs from all the players. The players become role models and heroes to these kids.

The coach, Jon Coffman, would make any kid that was wearing a rival college Indiana school Tshirt (like IU, Purdue, St Francis, Butler ) pay “rent” in the form of pushups.  So funny! 

Owe & Wyatt

Nathan & Elliot

One morning before camp started, I walked the kids down the hallway to see the display of mastodon bones that were found in Orsie Routsong’s farmland. It’s pretty cool to see the Routsong family posted on the wall at PFW. Orsie Routsong was digging a pond in 1969 and came across some large bones. He had the IPFW geology department come check out the bones and complete an excavation of almost an entire mastodon skeleton. They studied the bones and laid them out and discovered that the bones were between 10,000 and 12,000 years old. What an amazing story! We have a special tie to PFW because of that story. Orsie Routsong was grandpa Bill Routsong’s uncle.

Chickens!!

 The kids have been talking about getting chickens for a long time! We’ve talked and talked and talked about it. It was finally time to take action. We reached out to Crystal who had offered that we could borrow a small chicken coop and five chickens for the summer. She agreed that we could come pick everything up. I switched cars with Cooper so that I could carry home this large chicken coop. Kaylee and Dawson were great helpers figuring out the ratchet straps. The Farm camp students and us all worked together to lift the coop into the truck. They were great helpers! We drove 25 or 30 mph all the way home and we made it home safely. 

We set up the coop and built a small chicken wire fence for a yard for them. We got everything ready and laid out. We even put a netting over the top of the fence so that other predators couldn’t get in their yard.  Dawson and I had shopped for chicken scratch and feed, A water dispenser and Nesting boxes and all of the supplies we needed. So now all that was left was to pick up the chickens. We had the Oak Farm Farm camp students help us catch the ones that had the most feathers. Apparently, the ones with the most feathers are the best laying hens.  We got five of them in the cages and brought them home and put them into their new home. They were calm and curious and seemed to like their new space. 

All seem to have little personalities and we are excited to get to know them. The kids already named them!

Lavender chicken: Oliver

Rhode Island Red with white wings: Michael Jackson

Rhode Island Red with dark wings: Gary

Light brown: ?

Speckled: Chinaqua

About 24 hours later……we had 3 eggs!!!!

A Snake!

 We came home one afternoon to find a huge black snake slithering across the driveway. It went behind a large pot and coiled up behind it. We taunted it and threw stuff behind the pot and it did not come out. We decided to get grandpa to help us. The boys ran across the street to get grandpa. Apparently, grandpa was in his underwear. So it took him a little while to get dressed for the job. And that he did! Grandpa shows up in a baseball cap and shorts! I don’t think I’ve ever seen grandpa in shorts. He also had athletic shoes on and carried some kind of rod. He rode over on his tractor like a knight ready for battle. It was awesome!

The snake was a black snake, and it was huge. Grandpa did not want to kill it. I was just fine if it was killed, actually I would prefer that. But grandpa wanted to preserve it if possible. It was very aggressive and would strike as grandpa would hit it with the rod. We did not want grandpa to get hurt. So grandpa agreed that it might be best to kill the snake instead of rescue it. He hit it several times and then was able to squish its neck and the thing turned lifeless. It spilled bright red blood all over our driveway. This was the most exciting adventure of the day And we are grateful for grandpa‘s rescue!

Pond Parties!

 Pond parties!

Owen & Irah

Sophia, Nathan & Irah

OG, Dawson, Liam, Evan & Nathan

Fort Wayne FC Ball Kids

 Simplx sponsors the Fort wayne FC soccer team. They became a pro team this year. They built a brand new giant soccer stadium off of I-69 and Illinois Road this Winter. It’s not quite finished, almost done, but they went ahead and started the season! Part of our sponsorship is the ball kids experience. Each home game we gather up to 10 kids and teens to be the ball kids on the sidelines to collect the balls as they go out of bounds. This is such an exciting experience for most kids. They get to be right on the sidelines, right in the action! Nathan‘s favorite position is right behind the Opponents goal. That way when our team scores he can be right there to see it and cheer. We’ve invited friends and family, striker, teammates, school, friends, work friends, and then spread the word through the public with a sign-up genius for ball kids. It is super popular and it’s so fun to give these kids this opportunity. They get autographs at the end, and they get to see and know the players really well. Go Fort wayne FC!

Emil’s Accident

 Dawson’s friend Emil was in a severe bike accident. He was riding his bike on the Pufferbelly with no helmet and was hit head on by a car at a trail crossing. Neither the bike or the car appeared to stop and they collided. Emil was knocked unconscious and was in the hospital in the ICU for a few days. The Oak Farm community has been very worried and has been trying to rally around them all. Today, Dawson and his friends went to visit Emil at his rehab facility. Emil is working through some short-term memory issues and hearing loss in one ear. It’s been a scary time but it was fun for Dawson to visit yesterday with his friends.

Owen Learns to Ride

 Owen learned to ride a two wheeler bike! The last of our kids to learn! He’s put it off for a long time with fears of falling and fears of failing. His body is more than capable and has been for many years. It’s incredible how powerful the mind can be. We were getting bikes out yesterday and I told him to grab his rollerblades so he could ride the trails with us. He hopped on this tiny bike and simply started to ride. He surprised himself more than anything that he could balance! So instead of rollerblades, we packed the little bike and went riding on the trails. He was a little wobbly at first, but as he gained speed he learned that balancing is easier when you go faster. He is so very proud! Each of the kids got a bike a couple years ago at Jaxton’s bike shop, in Rush. I never got Owen one because he couldn’t ride. I told him once he could learn to ride, we would get him his own bike! Well, now it’s time! Next time Jaxton comes home we will go pick out a bike for him. Proud of this boy Conquering his fears!

G & G Hutch

 It was wonderful to have Grandma And Grandpa Hutchinson come visit from Utah. They are so very special and they try very hard to visit as often as possible. They came to visit last Thanksgiving, again in January, and again for the graduation events. I’m so grateful for them and for their efforts in building relationship relationships with each kid in our household. We love them very very much!