July 3-6

 July 3--Jeremy parents and his Aunt and Uncle are staying at our house this weekend. They are here for Jeremy's cousin, Jackie's, wedding tomorrow. We spent the afternoon visiting. I made BBQ chicken thighs in the crockpot, corn on the cob, homemade macaroni and watermelon for supper. For dessert, we had ice cream at Island Creamery. We walked over to SU to eat it and the kids threw frisbee. It was a very hot, very nice evening together. 

July 4--I decided to have brunch since I am not an early enough riser to serve breakfast and also serve lunch. Aunt Patti was awake for hours by the time brunch was served! Breakfast casserole, bacon, homemade biscuits and shoo fly cake turned out to be a pretty good brunch though. 

Jeremy's cousin and his wife came over and after visiting for a bit we decided to play disc golf before it was time to leave for the wedding. I went along and threw a few discs for the first time. It's different than throwing a frisbee...I need some coaching before I play again! It was fun though! I also really enjoyed getting to see Josiah and Isaiah play! 

IT WAS SO HOT. We only played 9 holes before it was time to head back for showers and cool off before we spent the rest of the day at the outdoor wedding and reception. Jackie was a beautiful bride. The venue was spectacular. 

This is the closest I got to Jeremy during the entire wedding day. Usually I'm happy to hold his hand or sit close. Not this day! It was just entirely too hot!

The bride, Jackie, and her sister, Katelyn, were the flower girls in our wedding. 

Jeremy and I decided that we were going to leave the reception at 8pm so that we could get home in time to watch fireworks with our children. The timing worked out. We ended up with a group of friends to watch fireworks with and got home right as the storm started. It was a HUGE day, but mostly fun and definitely memorable. 

July 5--Our company left early to beat the beach traffic. We went to church and then I helped Rebecca set up for her daughter's graduation party. It was another really really hot day! There was a breeze this time which made a huge difference. Rebecca had hamburgers and hotdogs and everything to go with it! It was a fun afternoon. I'm glad I was able to help and get to spend some time with Rebecca. 

July 6--Next on the schedule was getting Isaiah packed and off to camp. This year there were 7 kids from church that went to camp. Isaiah went a couple years ago and in the years since there had not been any kids to go with him. He was very excited and, at the last minute, a little nervous. We got to the church and it started pouring rain along with thunder and lightening. That made the good byes quick!

We watched them leave and then Anna, Nora and I went to Starbucks before we returned to the church to attend a funeral. As we were leaving the parking lot from the funeral, I received a text from Laura that the decision had been made to discontinue John's medications and a hospital bed was being delivered. 

 

From there Anna and I had lunch with Ashley and Henry. Ashley had sent her daughter off to camp also. 

 

After all that, it was time for me to remember that today was also my birthday! Sending my youngest off to camp, only 2 kids at home, a funeral, a sobering text...it was a weird day. 

Jeremy had scheduled to take college senior pictures at SU that evening. I had planned to be content to have a quiet evening at home. When Jeremy came home for supper, he mentioned that the graduate's sister-in-law (Sarah) might be coming along. I'm friends with Sarah and she lives out of state so I quickly decided that I would be Jeremy's "assistant" for the evening. It made my day! I did absolutely no assisting and a whole bunch of talking. Catching up with a friend is just about the right kind of birthday evening for me. And then the family invited Jeremy and I to join them for Island Creamery. We showed them our favorite place to eat ice cream at SU, they approved, we chatted...

...and then we headed home for birthday cake! Rebecca made me a Mississippi Mud Cake--a recipe that she has memorized and makes for her children. It made my chocolate loving heart very happy!

 All around weird day, and my heart was full and grateful. Holding opposing feelings at the same time, seems to be a practice that I am continuing to learn on a regular basis. 

Funeral and birthday. 

Heavy heart from hard news and birthday texts. 

Children away from home and friends to spend the evening with.