It's Coming to An End

So the long summer vacation is coming to a fast end.  Here are a few outtakes from our summer....Maryn loves to read!  She loves to read to us and to Chapman....such a wonderful thing for a big sister to do!

Sometimes watching TV with your sister is best when you are on her back....

When your oldest sister loves to cook cookies, you stay close by and offer to help in hopes of getting a bite of the cookie dough....

It is amazing what can be done with cups and craft sticks....

and they constructed this without any assistance from an adult!

One little girl doesn't always like to admit she needs a nap but sometimes she just takes one on her own....

And this guy....well, the time has come and his senior year is here!  Not sure how and when this happened and I am really thinking I am NOT ready for it but his day spent with a local photographer for senior pics made it official.  Ready or not world, here he comes!

Happy 4th of July 2020

This entire year has not been ideal.  I used to hear of people speak of the valleys they encountered in life and I would think that I was so lucky and fortunate as I had not experienced such valleys.  In short, yes, we have had our trying times, out times of sorrow and grief, and our not so happy days but nothing like we have been through since November, 2019.  

November, my niece, Aleigh, was in a train/car accident.  Three sixteen year old girls, doing absolutely nothing wrong, headed to the mall early one Saturday morning to do what teen girls do -shop til they drop.  And then their world changed forever.  And in that moment, so did the lives of everyone in their three families, and the lives of their friends, and even the lives of people they did not know before that day.  Thankfully, six months later, I am happy to report that all three girls are recovering nicely - they are true walking miracles.

January arrived and talk of this deadly virus in China was heard around the world.  Our friends in Shanghai, both physicians, even spoke of sending their four children to the US to remove them from the danger.  The US continued on, kind of reminds me a bit of the Titanic - they knew of the danger ahead yet they sailed straight into it.  Our family had a wonderful time at Disney World and then one week later, the US shut totally down - madness.  No toilet paper, no anything, except panic.

On a daily basis, our family has thrived and honestly grown even closer.  

But nothing has been normal.....

So, enter July 4th....

We were supposed to be in the NC mountains with my parents just like we have always been and then with one phone call, that all changed.  Of course we were all disappointed, my parents were so sad - they have had medical issues to overcome and still need intervention.  Our 4th would be different this year....but what has even remotely been normal in 2020?  It almost makes me laugh to even think about!

So, the 4th for us looked something like lots of pool time, a day at Eudora Farms drive-thru safari, eating local takeout grub, fireworks, neighbor chats, and pasta  - we even chose not to grill on the 4th, gasp.  

Not the typical 4th but not too shabby either....we are choosing to just roll with this crazy year!