Happy 50th Anniversary!

Happy, happy golden wedding anniversary to my fabulous in-laws! They've been married FIFTY years now and I so appreciate them, the example they set, and the family they created. Once upon a time (about a year and a half ago), we thought we'd be celebrating this milestone with them on an Alaskan cruise. But. Thanks to the pandemic and the fact that they're now busy with a new adventure this summer, that'll have to wait a bit. So. It's a poor substitute for the time being, but I'll just share these pictures from their wedding day that I found and wish them many more happy years together!

So very thankful for these two! They've touched and impacted so many lives along their journey and stayed strong together through it all...they're amazing!

Thankful Thursday

Apparently it's been a bit since I've done a Thankful Thursday post. So. Here's a list of things I'm thankful for this week:

1. Father/son time. Nathan and Asher spent a great morning together a couple weekends ago. They went for a hike and got some lunch and dessert before heading home for afternoon naps. Thankful they were able to enjoy that together and get some exercise.

2. College prep. Asher and I have been having fun starting some shopping for his college experience. We've wandered Target together and placed some Amazon Prime day orders and have been checking things off the list. :) I've accepted that I'm not going to have one of those experiences where we shop for a fully decorated dorm room with coordinating accent pieces and such; I have three rather pragmatic boys. Thankful just to get them to pick a color for sheets, lol.

3. Summer clean up. We didn't do a large spring cleaning session this year, but I did take a minivan-full load of stuff to Goodwill and the recycling center recently. We'd just been accumulating a pile as we found things and when we went through everyone's clothes (which I do about twice a year to verify that boys have more than a week's worth of clothes that fit, lol). Feels good to have the piles out of the house. :)

4. Climbing. I've been back to climbing for a few weeks now. It's a little annoying how quickly you lose muscle but feels great to be back at it. I'm thankful that Micah got me into climbing!

5. Mom friends. On Monday, for the first time in about two years, we managed a small gathering of our homeschool mom group. Not everyone was able to make it due to work and health issues (missed you ladies!!), but the five of us who were there fully enjoyed catching up and visiting...sharing how all our various kids are doing since we've all seen them all grow up. Our kids are older now but, once upon a time, we all homeschooled and came together to support one another and share curricula and ideas. Between the five of us, we celebrated five graduations this year (Dalliss had two graduates). Yay, us! I so appreciate these women (and the ones who weren't physically present) and the journey we've all taken together.

6. Boot camp ladies. A couple days later, I enjoyed happy hour with most of my boot camp ladies...

I've been working out with these wonderful women three times a week for eight years now and am so very thankful for their camaraderie and encouragement. Yes, one of these days we really are going to include the guys, lol. For now, though, we enjoy our sporadic ladies' gatherings...getting to have full conversations not interrupted by burpees or plyo lunges and wearing non-workout clothes. :) So glad to have boot camp and that it has continued without a hitch even through this pandemic. 

Okay, that's a good list for now. Looking forward to some cooler weather for a few days and amazed that it's somehow already almost July...

Happy Father's Day

Here's to all the dads out there...past and present...happy Father's Day! Here are some of the dads in my life...

My dad in May 1976 at the airport when I arrived from Korea:

 
Nathan's dad in August 1975 shortly after Nathan was born:

My mom's dad in 1952 (my mom's on her mom's lap):

 

My dad's dad in 1952ish with most of his 8 kids and his mother in law during a vacation to California (he's holding my dad):

Nathan's mom's dad on Easter 1954 with three of his (eventual) eight kids (Nathan's mom is sitting on the right):

Nathan's dad's dad with his wife in 1940 (I don't have any pictures from Nathan's dad's childhood):

And, of course, Nathan...in November 2000 shortly after becoming a father:

And here he is today with our three weirdos:

When I told them to stop messing around and take a good picture, this is what I got:

(Asher gave me the picture off his phone, lol.)

Whew. Plenty more that could be said but it's getting late and we've just been enjoying a quiet day here at home with some shows and games and good food. Thank you to all the dads for everything they do and have done! Blessed to have so many good men in our lives!

Together

It's been a full week-ish! A common theme was togetherness...so here are a bunch of pictures of me enjoying time with others. 

First up is this picture my sister sent me of my gram with some of my nieces and nephews. About a month ago, my gram moved to this assisted living facility. About a week ago, my sister and brother (and their kids) went and visited her and enjoyed the many smiles the littles brought to all the residents.

Yes, I realize this isn't me visiting with gram but I sent this blanket as an apartment warming sort of gift, and my sister delivered it and shared these pictures so I could kind of feel like part of it all. Gram says it's warm and cozy.

Isn't she awesome? She'll be 100 next month!

Last weekend, Noah came home for an afternoon and volleyball was played...

(Protecting my still healing sprained wrist, I opted not to play.) Nathan and the boys are definitely getting better. Also, we got a new volleyball and Micah had to be hosed off outside before I let him in the house. :)

Monday was my birthday and lunch with Deanna...(see my previous post)...

Tuesday, Micah and I went climbing! It was my first time back in about two months. I'm definitely less strong after resting my wrist for a couple months but did remember how and enjoyed myself.

That afternoon, after taking Micah to work, Asher and I had a lovely walk and got smoothies. I neglected to take a picture, though, so here's one from last month in Steamboat.

I'm trying to enjoy all my time with the boy over the summer before he heads to Nebraska this fall.

Wednesday was non-eventful. :)

Thursday, I booked flights for Asher to come home from UNO for fall break and Thanksgiving. (Yay, me, for being on top of that and getting it done. It was a little weird, though. Haven't had to book travel for school breaks before...beyond driving 10 minutes to pick Noah up.)

Later that afternoon, I met up with Molly and her son for a fun (and warm) visit in Denver: 

We had a great time eating and visiting and helping B play on the play structure and around the water fountains. We also popped into Old Navy for a minute. It was hilarious that the first thing B exclaimed was, "where are all their heads?!" 

I'd really never thought about it, but I can see how confusing and concerning that would be to little kids. :) 

Friday, Micah and I climbed again, and then Nathan and I had a date lunch...

It was delicious!

Later that night, I met up with a childhood friend, Alisa, who was in town visiting family. It had been years and years since we'd seen each other, and it was great to catch up a bit! We talked until well after dark but remembered to take this picture before the sun went down...

All that catching up made us both wonder if we'll actually have a high school reunion one of these days. So far, neither Nathan nor I have been to any. (My school did have a 10 year reunion but I couldn't make that one on account of my youngest sister graduating that year...couldn't fly out twice that summer. Nothing's been successfully planned since then sadly. I'm not sure whether Nathan's class has had any reunions. He'd rather not go anyhow so isn't likely to know when/if one happens.)

And then this morning, Lynne and I met for our somewhat regular Saturday morning workout...

I'm so thankful to have a workout buddy to keep me accountable (and visit with, lol). Now that the weather's nicer, we're back to meeting outside instead of in our respective basements. We ran intervals and did some tabatas before I headed home to take Micah to work. 

Whew. 

And that was my week appreciating time together with some of the people in my life!

Birthday

Thank you all so very much for the fabulous birthday wishes yesterday! I thoroughly loved hearing from everyone (especially loved the serenades from my little nephews and nieces!) and had a wonderful birthday...

I started the day at boot camp at the park...and, even though it wasn't "fun," it felt good because my sprained wrist seems to finally be mostly healed. Great to be able to do things again!

I got a few things done in the morning and then had an awesome birthday lunch with Deanna up in Old Town...

We ate too much and talked a lot and drank a bit...and then we walked around Old Town for awhile and sat on a bench and chatted even more...

...before I finally had to take her home because we have lives, lol.

Next, I picked up Noah for a bit (he needed his passport for some employment paperwork and it's stored here) and took him back to his apartment before Nathan made me crab for dinner (no one else here eats seafood so I only get it on special occasions). Then we had a nice quiet evening just watching some shows together.

Also, here's an impressive poppy I enjoyed on a walk around our neighborhood, the first of my peonies to bloom (as if in recognition of my birthday, lol), and the beautiful arrangement my in-laws sent. 

So. That was my birthday in a nutshell...not overly exciting but truly lovely. Thanks again to everyone who made me feel so special!

(PS The day before my birthday also had some celebration but that's for another post...)