It has been a few weeks since I last wrote. Things have been a bit busy around here. With summer on the way I have become busier on my days on...and exhausted my days off. This June brought many new and exciting things. Firstly my birthday came and went, it was a day I had to work so that wasn't great, add attitude, and complaining kids and that is a wonderful birthday. The nice thing however is that my friends Becca and Hannah threw my an ice cream party once the kids went to bed that night and so many of my friends here at Grace came over to the cottage for ice cream, hanging out and many birthday wishes. It was a fabulous night to end a rough birthday. I am so thankful for the many friends I have made. They make me happy and also help encourage me when life brings me down, and I hope I do my best as well for them.

The past two weeks of work and break has brought many challenges with the kids but also with myself. We have started SAP which stands for Summer Activities Program. With that each Monday in June we go down to Lovewell Lake in Kansas and go water skiing. Now let me tell you, I am not very coordinated on regular skis so me being on water skis is a sight to see as well. I gave it a shot, I may not have been able to stand up but after many wipe outs I am still determined to be standing on water skis by the end of the summer.

We are also preparing for a 64 mile bike ride at the end of the summer.  We bike 32 miles to a camp, stay there for a few days and bike 32 miles back. So we are preparing ourselves and the kids for that bike ride. We keep working up towards it. The first day we biked 4 miles and last Friday biked 8 miles. The kids are doing such a great job! I have a few girls who are pushing through and trying their hardest. It is great being summer, it makes us be outside more often which means being active and becoming tan! I love being outdoors and being able to have such fun activities to keep the kids busy and to help bond is a wonderful thing.  Of course in any line of work we have problems, which tends to be the kids' attitude especially when it comes to mowing properties or being told what to do. It becomes frustrating to have to deal with but in the end I love my job and I know I am doing what God wants me to do. No matter how frustrating they become  and how much I would just love to scream I am grateful for being here in Henderson and all the people and the friends, and this wonderful life God has brought me.

This past break brought my mom and my stepdad down for a visit. This is the first time I have seen any of my family in the 5 months of me being here. It was good to see my mom, but at the same time it brought a lot of stress. Our relationship hasn't been the greatest and there has been a lot that has transpired these past few weeks and even a month ago that made this it hard to talk to her about all of my problems, mostly since they deal with her. Even through all this I have tried to have a positive attitude and have some fun. We did tons of baking and a tour of the town. We were going to go shooting bows and arrows but the weather rained us out. So we just sat around and watched movies and baked. It was a nice time, if our relationship was better I would have loved it even more. A work in the making I suppose? They return back to Minnesota tonight and I begin another week of work as I go back to my normal life. I am actually quite excited to return to work and continue my new found life down here in Henderson.

Love,
Ashley