A Teenager in the House!

Happy 13th birthday to Andrew! We've seen this young man growing by leaps and bounds over the last few months--certainly, physically--but also in wisdom and character. He is loved by many (you can see a few of his biggest fans in the picture above), and we feel blessed to be a part of the adventure of living with a really awesome teen!

It is that time again--time for the annual Tapper family jack-o-lantern guessing contest! Check out the cool designs created by the kids, and try to figure out which made which...

1) Minion
2) Hi!
3) Owl
4) Upside down Jack-o-lantern

This is one of our family's favourite traditions, and the kids LOVE to see who guesses what! So, give it your best guess!

Double Digits

 

Abby Hope turned 10 today! What a great decade we have shared with this precious gift! Abby is full of creativity, generosity, determination, and style! She catches frogs and makes scarves and stops goals and writes songs and . . . so much more! We consider her to be a very special young woman, and we thank God for her life.

 

Happy birthday, Abby!

Lives By Example

I am so proud of my Dad, who finished a dream trip, riding his bicycle from Northampton, Pennsylvania to my brother's house near Marion, Indiana. That's over 1000 kilometers (650 miles) if you take the highway, but he had to make his own route on the back roads! He left last Sunday and arrived today, just a few weeks before his 68th birthday. What an amazing man!

And what a great example to set before my children! I was so excited when I got the text from Mom that they had made it to their destination (She's been driving their camper from meeting spot to meeting spot each day.), so I was whooping it up a bit with the kids. Andrew's respect for his Pappy was obvious: "He is not afraid to do hard things. And he doesn't take short cuts. And he doesn't care what other people think. He just does it."

Thanks, Dad, for being you.

First Day of School 2015-2016

Happy 12th Birthday, Ethan!

 

 

We had a blast today celebrating Ethan's birthday. (It was actually Friday!) He is such an amazing kid--he always seems to see things from a unique perspective, leading him to make the most unusual but insightful observations and ask great questions. He knows how to enjoy the simple things in life--LEGO, water guns, climbing trees, and playing Monopoly. This year, he has also begun working as a classroom assistant in our church's preschool program, and he is very sensitive and helpful with the little ones. They all love him! And so do we!!!

Today, we celebrate this AWESOME guy!

Our Cool Dog