First Day of School

I never did write about the start of school. Thomas is now in first grade. He loves his teacher and loves riding the bus to and from school. I am grateful that the bus stop is right in front of my house so I don't have to get dressed to take him every morning. Woohoo! Thomas lost a tooth on the first day of school, which he was really excited about. I have volunteered in his classroom and am super impressed with his teacher. She has already called all of the parents twice to let them know how their child is doing and what to expect in the upcoming months. I fear she is creating expectations too high for the rest of my children's teachers. Hewitt is in preschool and also loves his teacher. He is excited to show me his little project everyday. Donny carries a backpack everywhere we go in hopes that he can go to school too. I thought he would mellow out after awhile, but he still cries many days when we drop Hewitt off. Poor kid. He will start his schooling soon enough.

Eastern Washington

We took a trip to a quick trip to Eastern Washington over the weekend to visit our Aunt JaLynne, Uncle Rick, and cousins. Let me just say first that I love Western Washington. I love the dark green. I love the crisp air. I love all of the water sources including streams, rivers, Puget Sound, waterfalls... It is absolutely beautiful. But there is something deeply satisfying about living in a small town in the hayfields. We love this town of less than 1,000. We can play and play and play. The boys jumped on their oversized trampoline with a sprinkler underneath--it is much warmer in this part of the state! Steve played a round of golf. We went on a hike through the fields. We played a game of wiffle ball. We bought ice cream from the local grocery store and played at the old fashioned park complete with huge tires to climb on, teeter totters, tree house, and merry go round (not the mechanical kind--the kind where the kids hold on to the poles in the middle and you run around trying to get them to spin as fast as possible. I get sick even watching it now. It's a bit dangerous for most parks these days.) So we love this part of Washington in a different way. We are definitely refreshed everytime we visit. Thanks family for letting us come!

Grandpa Blackner

My Grandpa Blackner passed away a few weeks ago. Times like these definitely put everything into perspective and makes you incredibly reflective and grateful. I'm so grateful to have been living in Washington these past few months so that we could spend quite a bit of time with him before he passed. I'm also glad my whole family was able to be there. If we were still residents, I think I would have been the only one to make the flight. I'm grateful to have spent some alone time with him before he died especially the Saturday before when he was messing around with my boys and checking his blood sugar. I'm grateful for all of the people who provided food, babysitting, and flowers for the funeral. We have an incredibly large extended family and I could not believe the outpouring of love and support. It definitely makes me want to do the same for others. I'm grateful for all of the family who flew in from all over the country. My Grandpa died at age 75, which is relatively young for these days, but was in poor health. His funeral was sad, but also a huge reunion for everyone. All of my brothers and their wives were here and it was so much fun playing soccer, home run derby, and pickleball the Saturday before the funeral. It was nice to see cousins and aunts and uncles. I don't think we have all been together for years. I'm grateful for a belief in Jesus Christ and a knowledge of the afterlife. It is not so hopeless to have someone die when you know that you will see him again. And finally, I am grateful for my Grandpa Blackner who was always joking around and could always make me smile. He was a wonderful grandpa and he lived a great life. He was married to my Grandma for over fifty years and was a wonderful teacher. I will miss him.