Update 8/13: It's been a while since we updated this place, but the family doesn't change as quickly anymore and there are just so many fun things to do besides updating web pages :-).  To make up for it, we've added many more pictures than usual.  We don't know if that's blessing or curse.  Last summer we didn't go to the States to visit family, so everyone was quite excited this year.  Some differences made it overall a more relaxing and enjoyable trip.  Now we're back in Israel and getting ready for another school year: Todd & Kelli's 10th at IBEX, Luke and Mark's 1st in first grade, and Bethany and Katie's next year at home.  Todd is teaching the main field trip course this fall which means that the family (or portions thereof) may get to travel even more than normal.

We were happy to be able to see Uncle Chet (above) and Aunt Allison (below) and Aunt Cheri for a day while in Oregon.  They drove 14 hours for California.		You would be right if you thought that the boys warmed up more quickly to Uncle Chet than did Katie.  Remember, she was born in Israel and is naturally suspicious. :-)

Aunt Allison spent most of the day in the pool with the kids.  They loved it!

One day Grandpa and Grandma took us for a day trip to Crater Lake.  Absolutely amazingly beautiful.  There's nothing in Israel that it reminds us of.		This wasn't the only time the kids fell asleep in the car.  But we decided that the fancy built-in car seats in new vans aren't ideal for sleeping.

Grandpa showed the boys how to dive.		Grandma read to the kids, when they weren't in the pool.

Luke didn't get up the nerve to do the diving board until the last day, but then there was no stopping him.		Mark was the master of the diving board.

In Illinois we went to Blackberry Farms for a day.  Keen eyes will note 1) Grandpa's tie (he had to work); 2) the Mountain Dew (proves we're in America; 3) Todd's absence (he's taking the picture).		The kids love these pony rides.  Though Mark wishes they would unhook that chain.

Two years ago when we were here the boys struggled with riding these tractors.  No longer.		For the first time we rode on the "hay wagon."  No hay, but fun nonetheless.

Smiles.

It wasn't hard to time our trip to Illinois to line up with a family reunion (from Todd's side).  We went a day early and spent time with some cousins, including a visit to the local cemeteries.		Here is the gravestone of Todd's great-great-grandfather, W.B. Bolen, born in 1846 and a corporal in the Civil War.  The trip was profitable for learning more about the family history.

The kids' cousins drove in from Minnesota and Iowa (well, their parents drove) and we got a "cousins shot" at the playground.		Katie and Bethany liked to do "synchronized swinging."  Of course, they're not the ones doing the work.

Kelli and her mom stayed off the swings.		You couldn't hardly keep the kids off the slides.

Three options to guess who the two people with Kelli are: 1) complete strangers; 2) random relatives; 3) her brother and sister		Three choices for who this is: 1) our youngest daughter; 2) the most lovable and adorable 1-year-old in Israel; 3) Katie