Catching Up...June

The end of school was fast and furious as usual.  We survived through the parties, exams, field trips and goodbyes.  Emma graduated from elementary school...which is a big deal at ICS covered by a luncheon and graduation.  We will miss Mrs. Hunter very much. She gave Emma a lot of challenge and confidence, as well as super preparation for Middle School.  Grace was honored at the end of the year, receiving the award for Member of the Global Society for her missions work...doing trips to Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia.  Abby had a super year and finished it off strong.  We all loved Mrs. Miller and will continue to stop by for hugs (both Abby and Mom:) And Josh made it through a challenging year, but didn't let it change him too much, as he was awarded the Compassionate
Award.

Emma and Kaylie at the 5th grade graduation lunch

The day after school ended, Sarah and I were on a plane for home.  It was a very LONG 15 1/2 hours direct to Newark, NJ...then a 2 1/2 hour drive to my brother's house where I picked up our car and drove another 2 hours to my parents house outside of Harrisburg.  Needless to say, we finally arrived around 8pm and I was exhausted.  Sarah was a trooper and did great with jet lag, as did I.

Saying goodbye to "Meena" for the summer

Sarah made some new friends at the gate as we waited to board

We had a great week with my parents and sister, and it was super nice to be there just the two of us...getting in a lot of quality time. The following Friday is when the rest of the family made it stateside, so Sarah and I met them at my brother's house, where we stayed overnight that weekend before moving into a hotel. Unfortunately, Abby got sick just before landing...and thus began a virus that fortunately did not include a stomach bug, but it did include a high temperature for 5-7 days.  This basically took our family out of commission for most of that following week, which was a bummer since we were planning on doing sports and arts camp at our church.

By the end of the week, Andy and I had finally recovered (we were the last to get it), and just in time because Andy and friends had put together a surprise party for my 40th birthday...and I was actually truly surprised! We had celebrated earlier in the day with my family and then he told me that my brother and sister in law were going to watch the kids while we went out.  I thought we were meeting some friends for dinner, but we went to this amazing Mexican restaurant in Kennett to find a room full of my friends.  It was such a great night, and while there were a few out of town friends that were missing, it was a joy to visit with the people who were there...and fun for them to meet and talk to each other...worlds colliding:)

Finally, Grace and I left on another plane the following Monday for Seattle...first stop, Olympia, WA and the Gilday Family!  I had gotten to see Jen the summer before, but it was so fun to see this family who lived life with us as our family's grew in DE.  Emmie and Jack enjoyed Grace's company and the three of them got along very well while Jen and I chatted away.  Of course, while we were there we got to see the U.S. Women's World Cup team beat Germany! We tubed down a creek, went to the pool, and did a little shopping...all things you do in unseasonably hot weather in Washington. It was such a great visit...picking up where we had left off like no time had passed.  I'm very grateful for friendships like that:)