6 Years!

This morning I was up long before the sun to bring my sister-in-law, my niece, and my nephew to the airport. We enjoyed having Katherine and Aaron spend the last week with us, and filled our days with trips to the zoo, swimming, movies, playing around the house, and finally a girls/boys day yesterday where we took the girls for a mini manicure/pedicure and Mike took Aaron fishing. We had a lot of fun, but now it's time to get back into the old routine again.

On my way home this morning, I was thinking about a morning 6 years ago when I also was up far before the sun, waking to get ready to walk down the aisle! It was a very special day, of course. We were so blessed to celebrate with so many friends and family, and we have some wonderful memories of that day. An anniversary is a good thing to celebrate, and I'm so thankful that today we get to be together to do so. We're going to be headed to brunch after church....something I always love to but we rarely do, so our "romantic" anniversary meal will be a brunch! I already was surprised with a dozen beautiful roses (he does well....!) and I enjoy the way they brighten my room.

So this morning, as the sun rises, I just wanted to spend a minute talking about this man that was willing to take me on as his wife...this incredibly patient, loving, faithful, hard-working, kind, intelligent, quirky (ahh, but you gotta love 'em), funny man. I'm blessed to be called his wife.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???

Yes, yes, yes. I know that the last time I posted anything on here was Memorial Day. No, Leah is not still sitting in that lake lathering herself with mud. Yes, we have been having a good summer. No, we cannot believe that it is half over already. Yes, I'm deeply sorry that I have not posted more often. No, I will not ignore your pleas any longer! Yes, I will write again!

So what have we been up to? Our summer started off pretty quietly, with a few day-cations around Omaha. We've enjoyed a few trips to the zoo, a trip to visit Mike at work for lunch, several trips to the library, countless trips to the park, one or two trips to the pool. Leah took swimming lessons for two weeks in June, and Mike and Leah "enjoyed" spending 2 hours in the locker room during a tornado warning.

We kicked off the last few weeks with an amazing camping weekend spent with about 8 families from our church. Leah even rode on a tube behind a boat! Unfortunately, my camera was left on shore, but she loved every minute of it and is excited to do it again.

Two days after we got home from camping I left for a last minute trip to California to celebrate the life of my dear cousin Jayne's husband Jeff. It was a wonderful time spent with family, and I was thankful that I could also attend the most worshipful memorial service I've ever been to. Leah was able to spend the week with my sister and brother-in-law but was happy to have me come home again!

Four days after I got home from California, I re-packed to go to Sioux Falls to spend the 4th of July weekend with my parents. We drove our non-air-conditioned van 3 hours and spent a wonderful weekend there. The festivities on the 4th were a lot of fun, and we even had time for a trip to Worthington, MN where I used to teach. We drove back today watching the temperature climb. We were armed with ice water and battery operated fans and we made it to our cool house.

Now, we have two more days at home before we leave again! We're heading on Wednesday to Colorado Springs so that I can go to a conference for Learning Rx where I work. Mike and Leah are coming along and will "play" while I go to the conference. Thankfully, we're going to be able to rent a car (it's about a 9 hour drive) so we don't have to sweat it out!

So...that should catch you up a little! Our heads are spinning a bit around here, but we're thankful for a good summer so far.

Now I'm off to unpack, do laundry, repack, and rest!