It’s mid-July and this is my first post for the month of July! We’ve had a busy month as we’ve enjoyed all the summer activities, and lots and lots of outside time. The boys have been gone for the past month visiting my parents in Wisconsin as well as my sister, Jen, in South Dakota. We are all home now- thank you, Jesus!
We started of the month of July with a very low-key holiday which was the Fourth of July. The Fourth of July has never been “low-key” and this was an entirely different experience for us. Since the Fourth was on a Sunday, that was a bit tricky already but it was also raining here. I don’t remember very many Fourth of July’s that have been raining, but this one was both rainy and cool! In fact, in many places in Maine it was colder on the Fourth of July than it was on Christmas Day 2020! After church, Emma, Roger and I came home and ate leftovers for lunch. We kinda just hung around home. We talked about our nation and it’s current state of affairs. We spent some time praying, and just kinda did “not much”.
Monday, July 5th
Today marked the one year anniversary of Kevin’s death. I’ve never had a year seem so short and so long all at the same time. We miss him more than words could ever describe, and Roger misses him more. So much has changed in a years time, and we surely miss his presence in our lives.
Emma and I left for Wisconsin today. We were on the road by 6:45am to begin the long hike of 1,304 miles to Wisconsin. We made good time as we made it to outside the east side of Cleveland, Ohio by 8:00pm. The van had been making a bit of a “funny” noise for the last 100 miles or so, so I was happy to get off the road to see if I could figure out the problem. (Funny, right!?) Emma had been such a good little traveler all day as she looked at books, played with her doll, watched a movie, and talked to me. One of her friends, Audrey, and Audrey’s mom had put together a little basket of “surprises” for Emma. It was filled with a bunch of stuff from the Dollar Tree that they had wrapped. Emma enjoyed opening a small gift after each stop for gas or a break. Anyways, I had booked this hotel online for us to stay at, and it stated that they had a pool and a breakfast. Emma was looking forward to swimming, but when we checked in they told us that the pool was down for maintenance! Then I asked about the breakfast in the morning to which the clerk replied that “Due to Covid, our breakfast supplies haven’t been getting delivered regularly. We probably wont have a breakfast tomorrow.” So the van was having some type of mechanical issue, the pool wasn’t working, and no breakfast! (Oh, and we later discovered that the air conditioner in our room was not working either!). I felt like crying, but Emma and I needed to find some supper, and we needed to come up with a plan for the van. Emma was a trooper for sure as she didn’t whine about being disappointed in the pool not being open. I called Roger, and we decided that I probably should not continue to drive the van until I was able to get it looked at.
Tuesday, July 6
Emma and I were up early as neither of us slept great. I was concerned about the van and it was very warm in our room. We left the hotel about 7:15am to try to find a place to get the van looked at and quickly. We went to the first place and then realized that it was just for trucks. Then we went across the street the the Honda dealer and automotive services. Our van isn’t a Honda, but according to my AAA app, they would look at our vehicle. The mechanic told me that they didn’t open until 8:00 am, but he would look at it as soon as possible. Emma and I sat around and waited until almost 9:30am, but they said that a bearing was causing the “funny”noise. They said it was safe to drive to Wisconsin, so back on the road we went! We made it to our friend, Jenna’s, house around 7:00pm. Jenna and I stayed up way too late talking, but we never run out of things to talk about and pray about in our lives. I’ve missed her dearly, and it was a wonderful time together.
Wednesday, July 7
Emma and I had breakfast, coffee, and fellowship with Jenna and our friend, Katie. It was a long over-due visit, and it was good to re-connect with dear friends. Emma made some poor decisions as a friend that disappointed me, but life goes on. We took the opportunity to discuss better choices to make in the future, and hopefully we both learn from our mistakes. Parenting is the hardest job we will ever do, and it’s also a very humbling job! It was a full morning, but I’m glad I was able to visit with Jenna and Katie. Jenna, Katie and I have a very dear friendship in that we talk about politics, Bible reading, children, parenting, and everything under the sun. It was so nice to discuss deep Bible topics and pray together. “Iron sharpening iron” friendships. Oh, none of us are perfect or have it all together, but we can surely pray for each other and our crazy kids!
Emma and I headed to my parents house around 12:30pm. The boys were going to be coming back from South Dakota the next day. Emma and I visited with my parents and attended Wednesday night church with them. It was also good to visit and fellowship with people from my parents church. Emma and I were very tired after two nights of not great sleep!
Thursday, July 8
My boys are back! I was so, so glad to see the boys pull into the yard this evening. Our day had been busy with visiting with my family. I had gone to have lunch with my friend, Amy, but it was cut a little bit short by Roger’s phone call. He had called a mechanic to look at our van, and I needed to drop it off. My mom and I took the van out to the mechanic, and he told us that the earliest he would be able to have the van done was Monday. I had been planning on leaving on Sunday afternoon, but it looks like my plans were changing. Oh well! I’d rather get home than be stuck somewhere with five kids in tow!
The boys were glad to see Emma and I. They have had so many fun adventures with my sister and my parents. Lots of fishing, four-wheelers, activities, swimming, camping, and even a visit to see a rodeo! I am so thrilled at the opportunities that they had, and I’m happy that they are all wanting to go home and see Roger.
Friday, July 9
We spent the day working on projects around my parents house, shopping for groceries and hosting a cookout in the evening. I had invited several of our friends to my parents house for a cookout and fellowship. We probably had about thirty people there on Friday night, but it was a good evening of fun, laughter and fellowship.
Saturday, July 10
We had a busy day today as we went to a park with the Shuberts. My kids love Jenna and Ryan’s kids so they enjoyed playing basketball with them, as well as with Ryan (Jenna’s husband). Jenna and I never have enough time to finish all of our conversations and we definitely have a “Jonathan and David” friendship. No matter how long it is between conversations, we can just pick up wherever we left off. I was holding back many tears as I hugged Jenna good by. It was a short visit as I needed to take the boys over to mow the grass at Mark and Allison’s house. We had made plans to play mini-golf with Mark (Roger’s brother) and Allison (Mark’s wife). Roger’s brother, David, as well as his wife, Gao, were also going to play mini golf with us. The boys made quick work of mowing the grass, and we headed to play mini golf. It was a good time together, and then Mark took Garett and Wyatt flying while Allison and I went to Hobby Lobby with the remaining kids. It was a fun afternoon, and I’m glad that we were able to spend some time with Roger’s brothers and their wives also. It’s always a challenge to figure out how to fit in visits with so many people that are so dear to us during a short stay in Wisconsin. After mini golf and flying, we went to have supper at the Longsine’s house-also dear friends to us. The hours flew by, and before we knew it, it was 9:30pm! We surely missed Roger during our visit, but the kids seemed to enjoy renewing their friendships with the Longsine children as well.
Sunday, July 11
Originally, I had planned to leave after Sunday morning church, but since our vehicle was not ready, that decision was taken out of my hands. The kids and I went to church at Wyldewood where it was good to see familiar faces and many new faces at church. It’s harder for the kids to jump back into friendships after a year of not seeing many of these people, but they did very well. I had no problem jumping back into conversations and seeing many of my dear friends was a very special part of my day. After church we headed to have lunch with the Schilder family. I’m always thankful for friends that are willing to feed an additional six people! We ended up taking the kids swimming, well the kids went swimming while Gretchen and I visited! We shared struggles in parenting, our hearts desire for our children, some of our dreams, and just treasured the few moments together. Gretchen has a very dear friend that is going through a very hard time in her life right now, and I cried as I listened to Gretchen talk about the devotional she had shared with her friend. The truth is that often and frequently we just don’t know what God has for us. In our short-sightedness, I have a hard time seeing how God can bring about something good from something that seems like a tragedy. Continually and often, I find myself giving something to God only to take it back a few minutes later and worry or fret over it. I’m certainly a work in progress, but my hearts desire is that I will lean on Jesus, trust Him completely; and even when it all seems unclear, I can rest in Him.
Monday, July 12
I had planned to be back in Wisconsin by this evening, but that was not God’s plan. The boys and my dad went to take a bow over to a hunting shop, they unloaded some wood, and they did some shooting. Emma and I went to pick up a friend, Abby, and then the girls played at my parents house for a bit. We made plans with my parents to have supper together at Pizza Ranch, and I was praying that the van would be done tonight so that we could leave early on Tuesday morning. It was an unexpected day to have, but it was a good day. The boys and Emma were able to go to the Schidlers to swim for a bit, while I snuck in a coffee date with Ginny. (Many friendships were made in our time in Wisconsin, and it’s super hard to connect with many of them over the course of only a few days!) The boys were happy to spend some time with their friends, but they are definitely ready to go home also! We enjoyed supper at Pizza Ranch with my parents, sister, and Gretchen and her family. Then Jen and I drove out to get our vehicle. The repairs cost way more than I would have liked, but the vehicle is repaired and ready to drive back to Maine. The mechanic is a friend of my dads and a sound and honest mechanic, so I know that he did the best job possible on our vehicle. We arrived back with the vehicle to my parents house around 9:00pm, and we are planning on an early start for Tuesday morning.
Tuesday, July 13
6:45am was when we began the trip back to Maine. The kids are tired, but ready to see their dad. Mama is tired, but also ready to get back to Maine. It was a good week for Emma and I, and the boys are ready to be back in their own yard. Chandler told me that it was a good vacation but he’s ready to get back to work. Wyatt told me that he wants to see Dad and he wants to sleep in his own bed. “Me too!” We made it to Erie, Pennsylvania, before stopping for the night. We stopped a little earlier than we normally do when traveling, but I wanted the kids to have time to swim before bed. Well, the pool was open, but the Covid restrictions were in place. While it was a bit irritating to have to sign up for a swim spot and then its only for 45 minutes, we were thankful that we could go swimming. Since we couldn’t go swimming until 9:00pm, we walked to get supper, wandered around a bit, and walked off some energy. I went to a grocery store to pick up snacks for our next day of traveling. We were a bit early for our swim spot, but we were able to go swimming early as the 8:15 people were already done swimming. The kids had the pool to themselves for the first fifteen minutes, but then the other people who had signed up for the 9:00 swim spot showed up. The limit was 16 people at a time, and there were 14 people in the pool area. It’s a bit crazy because generally when we stop at hotels we swim whenever the pool is empty. But when you have to sign up for a swim spot, then often you end up swimming with more people than you normally would. But oh well! Everyone got to go swimming, and then it was time for bed.
Wednesday, July 14
We made it home today! Thank the Lord! We made pretty good time on the way home today, and we were really only stuck in traffic for about forty minutes out of the whole 21 hour drive. We did make a stop at the Aldi grocery store in New Hampshire, but we were home by 9:00pm. Home sweet home! It was a long drive, but we made it back. We were all ready to sleep in our own beds!
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