This evening we indulged in a bit of family time between rain showers. It has been raining off and on today, and we got a 30 minute window to spend around our little fire. Toasting marshmallows has become a favorite with the girls. They love their sugary confections and singing songs together. It has turned into a great way to connect together for a bit, and I find this to be extremely important as we head into camp season next week.
This next Tuesday marks our first day of camp! We have 10 full weeks lined up with kiddos this year, although our family will be missing the week of July 4th to travel to OH to see my parents and celebrate my mom's 60th birthday.
For a couple weeks, we have been a bit tentative, wondering if that trip and our planned VA trip in August could still take place. The transmission on our Yukon went out unexpectedly. Initial repair costs were expected to be in the thousands, which was unmanageable for us at this time. Then, last Friday during a group dinner, an acquaintance was telling us about a friend of his who hit a horse with his truck, totaling the vehicle. Our acquaintance had bought the truck from the guy to use for parts, and there would be a transmission available, and the mileage on it is comparable to our Yukon! He is hoping to be able to pull it out and put it into our vehicle sometime in the next couple weeks (for a much smaller fee than the cost of rebuilding would have been). I will keep you posted on when we have a working second vehicle again! I am thankful for this door God has opened for us.
Shannan ended school today. We will have a few lessons throughout the summer, but generally, we are planning to keep the academics at a low simmer during camp.
Declan is doing great and continuing to delight us with all his smiles. He is up on all-fours frequently now and rocking back and forth. Though he is not making forward progress yet, he is scooting backwards in an often circular direction and frequently finds himself partially stuck under the couch or his crib, depending on which room he is in.
The block parties this past week ran really well, with even more attendees than we expected! All three days were so good and we got to catch up with a number of our families and kids that attend camp, and meet new faces in the communities around us. Shannan was really excited to catch up with some of her friends from camp last year and church. Oh, and Lizzy allowed me to put her hair in a ponytail for the first time ever!
On one final note, Josh and I celebrated our 12th anniversary last Saturday. It has been a crazy roller-coaster these past years, no doubt, but I am so thankful to be on life's journey with this man! We took a few hours to explore the Badlands, with our adorable little third wheel (Declan) in tow.
~Jess
