More camping up north this weekend! 

Spent some time at a super cool zoo where many animals roam free for the petting and feeding. 

These monkeys were just hanging wild on this tree! 

These baby bunnies just about killed every one of us...and they were FOR SALE!  How we all left without a single bunny is beyond me...they were cuuuuuuuute!

...and if the baby bunnies weren't enough standing upright, they roll over and expose THESE little feet!!!  Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?!? 

My baby bear feeding a baby bear. 

grrrrrrr...!

Our good friends joined us on this trip, and it was so awesome to have them there.  Between their family, our family and my sister's family, there were SEVEN kiddos ages 8 and under (there's one missing in this picture), so it was a busy (and noisy!) camp! 

The next day we drove about an hour north to see a waterfall and spend some time on the beach of Lake Superior.  Since we were only about a block away from the Michigan border, we crossed the state line to have some lunch! 

Luca and the twins are close in age, while Brenin is close in age to our friends' older girl.  We always joke that Brenin's going to need therapy because she wasn't adopted (between our families, 4 out of 5 of our kids are adopted)! 

The beautiful walk back to the waterfall.

GREAT soft sand on the beach of Lake Superior...the kids (and their mommies) had a great time finding polished stones along the shore. 

Spending time in the midst of nature makes me stand in awe of God's creation...that he would take the time to plant a tiny bloom on the shores of such an immense body of water...for that moment, the beauty of one could not exist without the other, and one was not more beautiful than the other.  It was perfect balance and just an inkling of God's masterpiece. 

"See how the lillies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"  Matthew 6:28-30 (New International Version)

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Finally, I'm excited to be joining the "Gratitude Community."  Each week I'll pick 10 things I'm grateful for and name them in a list, eventually naming 1000 gifts.  Every day, even the hard ones (and there ARE hard ones), I'm overwhelmed by God's goodness, and I'm excited to recognize these gifts in worship to the One who granted them through magnificant and amazing grace.  

1.  Tiny blooms and a BIG GOD. 

2.  Toes squishing deep in soft, warm sand.

3.  Little girls holding hands.

4.  A friend who knows my heart and laughs and cries with me.

5.  The soft green glow of a fern-carpeted forest. 

6.  Unbridled running on an open beach.

7.  Exhausted kids and a setting sun. 

8.  Baby bunnies and tiny hands that hold them. 

9.  Photography.

10.  The freedom of getting away and the comfort of coming home.