We got our Laela back this weekend!!! She and Avery had an AWESOME time, but they were also very much missed by their families 💜

It was really nice to spend some good hot hours at the beach this weekend! We haven’t really gotten down there as much this season. It was so chilly for so long, and now its absolutely piping hot! So we couldn’t not!!! Though the air quality was less than ideal, we were still gung ho for the time at the beach with our dear Dahlsjos 💜

These two just crack me right up. They are SUCH a good pair!

Wavy got brave quick, and got up on the paddle board many times! She was kind of a rockstar on it, honestly! Super confident and balanced. She even took one of the other little guys out on some rides! Only dumped him off once 🤣

The kids swam. I sweat. We ate great food. The babies cried a lot. It was quite the weekend, haha! But it was lovely 💜 and we will happily be back again before long at all.

On the drive home, I crocheted 🥰 Brady drove. We drank iced coffee. It was peaceful. Except for the brief whooping from the backseat when Laela randomly lost a tooth that none of us knew was loose!

But we made it home in time to eat supper together, and then we went and picked up ice cream from our local ice cream stand who offered us some complimentary scoops in celebration of Brady getting his license reinstated! Isn’t that so incredibly lovely?? We thought so 💜

We are tucked in for the night. We are tired. Our AC works. We are grateful 💜 Thank you, Lord, for providing everything we need, and then lots of things that we don’t need, but that are lovely, also. It is not lost on us how fortunate we are 💜

The heat warnings have been on point these days. It is HOT to say the very least!!! Which is a weird thing to navigate at camp. 

The babies don’t do great with the ceaseless heat. They are exhausted pretty much 100% of the time. This is how Brady and I ended up splitting up for most of the day. He lurked in the camper and napped with the nappers while I went to the beach with the swimmers. And a couple of kids moved back and forth between the two spots. 

It was SO nice to be back, though. It may be smoky but it’s still homey. We love it here. And goodness it helps that our AC works!!! However, apparently it’s up and running at home, too, so wins all around!!! 

Tomorrow, we will once again have s’mores without a fire 🙄 and then try to hit the beach before we have some lunchy snacks and pack up for home. Last week was one of the hardest weeks we’ve had. Truly. Going home feels a bit large, but home is comforting and peaceful, and God has us in His hands, which we know we can fully rely on! Thank you Lord for always watching out for us!!! 

Sleep well, everyone! I know the heat is a lot but something tells me that it’ll end and fall will be right behind it! Let’s enjoy the hot before the cold moves in! 💜 

I could write a long blog post, but I won’t. Because. I’m going to crochet. 

While. 

Brady. 

Drives. 

😭 

After a LONG six months, Brady’s license was reinstated this afternoon. Just in time to take his family to the lake for the weekend! 

Anyway. As I said. Short post. Because I want to really enjoy todays drive up 💜 

Enormous congratulations, Brady. I am SO thrilled for you. I hope we both feel more like ourselves soon 💜

Yesterday ended really really tough. We didn’t get kids to bed until really late, which was hard. A couple who were going to sleep in their own rooms opted to room together. The house was finally quiet shortly after 10:00, and Brady and I were able to get some supper into our bodies – taco salads. Something about late night taco salads. I can’t explain it. They just hit different.

We got up this morning at a “normal” time for us for summer. It was around 8:00. Brady stayed home for the morning to be with everyone after the kerfuffle the night before. The house was a total wreck.

It doesn’t look horrible but yikes, we don’t leave it like this overnight ever. Its so yucky to wake up to the living room, dining room, and kitchen all in this level (or worse) of disarray.

Brady did as much work as he could from home, and I tried to get some housey stuff done at the same time. I rearranged the living room a bit. Hung up some cuuuuute new decor! The evening before, my mom had picked up and delivered a big stack of groceries for us, and they remained on the island. So I worked on that until I dropped a salsa. *sigh*

So. That sucked. Brady was working to install a security camera in the backyard and came back into the house to me sitting in the pantry, taking a breather. He very lovingly shooed me out of the pantry and cleaned up my mess while I took a second to recoup. I felt pretty frenzied, and this just proved to me how shot my nerves truly were.

Praise the Lord, the kids went to Tom and Rae’s for the afternoon so I could take Brady to work, and the morsel into the city for an appointment. Then, my mom drove Brady in to radiation, and I picked him up from radiation and took him to an appointment with Dr. Guselle. Goodness it was a FULL day! And like. Not the best.

However.

We are overwhelmed with gratefulness for our people. My mom and Rae watched the kids all day. My mom drove Brady in to the city today, and Rae drives him to work almost every day. Cher cleans our house right now and helps me keep up with the workload. She even left me a present in my underwear drawer today 😂 Tonight, we ate supper at Tom and Rae’s, in their WORKING air conditioning. We are surrounded in love, and its not lost on us how fortunate we are 💜

Tomorrow, our new AC unit will be installed! That cannot come soon enough!! 😅

😅

Goodness, guys. There is a LOT going on over here!

This month, we’ve decided to replace our laundry machines. They still work most of the time, but there are some things that are starting to lose their charm. The washer is front load, first off, which isn’t my favorite but I can live with. However, its starting to glitch pretty badly. It shows error messages regarding clogs that aren’t there, or it just slowly spins for hours, locked. Its also a lot smaller than we’d like it to be. So its been on our radar to replace it at some point. When the dryer started struggling as well, occasionally running a full cycle without drying at all, we figured we could replace the element and such, or we could just replace both machines like we knew we’d need to do eventually. So we did a bunch of researched and ordered machines from Hague Hardware. They were SO helpful when we ordered freezers, so we happily went back to them! In the last week, we ordered two BIG machines, both wifi capable, and they will be delivered, installed, and the old ones will be removed! Ack! I can’t WAIT!!! Hopefully they’ll come in the next two weeks or so!

This month, our bus started making a lot of noise. The thing is, with me driving SO MUCH, I really can’t be without the van for very long :/ We’ve been vetting a local mechanic for a while now, and Brady got in touch with him and told him as much. So the van went to him for one day, where he came back to us with a diagnosis, or an almost diagnosis. It will be one of two things. They cost about the same, and either one can be completed in one day. So I have the bus back until he has all the parts and is ready to get opened up. So again. One day. That is WAY easier to manage than an open ended “We’ll call you when its done.”

This month, specifically this week, our air conditioner stopped cooling. Because why not. 🥵 We troubleshot for a day or two, but frankly it is WAY too hot to keep doing that. Brady called Leah the Plumber and she came this morning to diagnose our issue. Her company has bailed us out once before in the Bitner house, and today was no different. But. It is a LOT bigger of an issue, lol! Sooooo, to go along with the theme, this month, we are getting a new air conditioner! 😅 Ours is both wrecked and also undersized for our home. Merp. So we’re getting one that is appropriately sized for our house, and redoing the ducting and such to accommodate for it. Apparently our furnace is also undersized, but with our in-floor heating, it still works just fine. One giant purchase at a time!

So. Its been kind of a nutty month so far. Its definitely felt a little bit “When it rains, it pours” but also, there is true peace about a lot of it, which we can only explain as a covering from God above. So forward we go!! And how HANDY is it that we have so many places to go in the coming days in our van with a good pumping air conditioner! At least that isn’t broken! 🤞

Thank you, Lord, for giving us peace, and ALWAYS providing for us!

It has been in the works for some time now, but it is not officially official! Brady has been promoted to sales manager!!! 🥳

Oof! He’s handsome!!! 😍

He has been working at Zak’s for just over two years now, and he has fallen into his role as a salesman SO much better than he ever imagined he would! He is so unbelievably invested in the sales team at his work, so when the sales manager left the company for something new, Brady began itching for the position. But, as you might have noticed, brain cancer sort of got in the way a little, and held a few things up. Then cancer treatment began, and it seemed like the ideal was waiting it out to see how the radiation would affect him. But Brady has more than proven himself, over and over and over again. He was told officially last week that he was being made sales manager, and yesterday, at their monthly sales meeting, it was announced to the staff. Brady is SO excited. 

We’re all thinking it. The timing stinks. Lol! But Brady is nothing if not determined and, even if he wears out a bit in a couple of weeks and has to miss some days and some hours, he is the more dedicated person for the job. 

They chose WELL. 

HUGE congratulations, Brady 💜 I am beyond proud of you, with ALL the things you already now, and now this – a management position!! I can’t help but feel like our eight children have prepared you for it just a little 🤏 but much of your drive has always been there, so I guess we can’t take full credit. I love you so much, honey. Onto the next adventure!

☝️👌 ✔️

Brady is down TEN radiation treatments today! Ten out of thirty.

Just about every day, I drive to pick Brady up from work, and we drive together to the cancer centre. There’s been construction on College bridge for so long, so my route has changed drastically from when I used to go for counselling and such. We get there, park in one of the two usual spots, depending on if there is anything extra to do in the cancer centre that day, and in we go. We never wait long before Brady is called back. Then he is masked and put up on the table, into the radiation machine for a mere two minutes or so, and then out he comes. We make a corny joke about how he’s healed now, and then we go back to the van, pick up some iced coffee, and drive home. Or, back to work, if its an earlier appointment. Its a quick turnaround, for which we are very grateful.

With two weeks of radiation down, Brady is feeling it all a bit more. He is still feeling MUCH better than you’d expect someone with his diagnosis to feel. The main thing he’s noticed is weakening in his legs. That happened last time he went through cancer treatment, so while he forgot about this side effect originally, he now remembers it and it feels less daunting that way. Conveniently, Brady has a wheelchair handy handi at all times, so weak legs aren’t such a big problem after all.

Thank you for diligently praying, friends 💜 It means the world to us, and I firmly believe it plays a role in Brady’s healing, as well as his mental health and wellbeing. God always provides, many times through His people. So thank you for being good neighbours in that way 💜 We don’t take it for granted!

Two weeks down! Four to go! 💪 Take care of us, Lord!

KID!

We gained back Rowan and Solomon, but Laela is spending her week at camp with Avery this week! We will miss her, of course, but I have no doubt she will LOVE being at camp, away from everyone she sees everyday. I hope and pray she comes home feeling refreshed and happy!!

I LOVE how Jaxon just scoops her up to hug her! Ack! Its SO cute!

Stacy and I brought the girlies over to register them for camp, and once we arrived and got lined up, the Heavens opened and BOOM! ⛈ It POURED!!! Which was awesome, except that their stuff was not under the shelter at all. A couple of us ran and retrieved the girls things, Jaxon being the only one who ran back for a second time, rescuing Laela’s water bottle from the back of the golf cart. He. Was. SOAKED.

Laela goes “Eeeeek! Welp. I guess I’m wet now.”

We got the girls all checked in and as the rains came home hard, the staff assured us they would get everyone settled into their cabins, which both Laela and Avery were fine with 💜 So we got our hugs and kisses in, and off they went!!!

Once they were off, we tied up a few loose ends, and then we were also off! But then we forgot something and went back, and then we were off again!! Hahaha! Whew! It felt whirlwindy but also pretty peaceful. The van went from hyper to verrrrry quiet to verrrrry tearful in that final stretch 😂

We got home and unpacked, and then Rae and Tom arrived with Dekker! The gang is back together!!! It feels oddly boy-heavy, which is funny because we are only one girl short! But she has a lot of personality, and it really shows when she’s gone 💜

We already miss you, Lala!!! Have the BEST time at camp!!

It was beautiful out today. Windy enough that it kept us all in denial about how much sun we were all getting. 

A day of good food and friends and even some crocheting. Not by a fire, of course 😩 c’mon rain!! 🌧️ but it was still absolutely lovely. 

The highlight came about this evening. After a potluck supper, we made our way back to our site, and the morsel was toddling around on the deck. Without warning, the morsel pulled a messy plate from supper down atop their head, landing up with a face pull of coleslaw dressing. When I ran over to rescue aforementioned toddler from themselves, little feet stomped the plate and spread the coleslaw yet further. My efforts to clean the baby were in vain as it wiggled away from me, much more interested in eating the goldfish crackers left on the floor of the deck. All in all, it was a hysterical “throw your hands up and let it go” kind of laugh. It felt good to laugh big. I would give just about anything to share pictures on here but you’ll just have to take my word for it, I suppose. It was absolutely adorable 🥰 

Time for bed. We are all tired but the kids are coping quite well actually 💜 thank you Lord for giving us things to laugh about and enjoy, even when we’re dog tired and going through all kinds of things. You ALWAYS take care of us. 

There are few things I never ever tire of. But goodness. This kind of view is one of those things. 

I remember asking Brady how we were so blessed to get a spot here so easily when we did, only to have everyone after us stack up on waiting lists for summer after summer. It felt unfair. And now, I can see how beautifully timed that gift for us was. At the point we were madly building this camper in anticipation of this campsite, Brady’s back was starting to hurt. His tumour was on the move. We got three weeks in at the lake that season, and the next spring, we came here in a very different position with totally different needs. And we were cared for so beautifully. This place is so perfect for us. 

Thank you Lord for always providing. Even the things we don’t need. What a beautiful love gift Kinasao is for us 💜