The Rest of the Gang

Although this weekend was primarily all about celebrating Hayley’s HS graduation, there were of course other folks milling around the house in Marysville! All three of the older girls (including Hayley) were busy working jobs or finishing up other school activities. The boys were, well – 9 and 12-year-old boys. More interested in those video games or playing outside with friends than hanging out with ol’ Grams and Pops (who don’t understand what all those buttons on the controllers do).  We get that – we really do! We did get to one of Reis’s games
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which was fun (and he had a couple of good plays and hits), but otherwise we were content to have them join us for an occasional card game.
But this little girl
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was unencumbered with end-of-school activities or jobs or even electronics. We painted rocks
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and jumped on the trampoline (ok, that was not a “we” – just a “she”!)

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(I’d like to clarify here that our little Everly chose her outfit this day. I think she was going with an all floral theme, accented with (of course) mismatched socks. Mom was quite surprised at her wardrobe choices, but hey – you’re only (almost) three once!)
but most of all she was always ready to give me a snuggle!
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Our time there was short, and this is a very busy family! But we were able to enjoy some great family dinners and some late-night card games and good conversations! Sunday after church and a special lunch with The Graduate (before she was off to another party), we were able to squeeze in a quick visit with our other Columbus family – Lara, Herbert, and Alex. Though short, it was still a sweet visit! Before everyone went off to work and one of the last days of school (and we set off for points East and North), we managed to get one picture of Alex – who has just completed 2nd grade!
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These years are going much.too.fast!

We’re looking forward to a slightly longer visit in mid-July, so it won’t be that long before we see these guys again. And maybe on that visit I can figure out those buttons on the video game controllers!
Or maybe not!

Family – busy or not – we sure do love ’em!

The Graduate

Girls in May 07It’s really hard these days to realize (and remember!) that these two little girls have now both graduated from high school!! But it’s true! This past weekend we celebrated Hayley’s graduation from Marysville High School, and the emotions were running high as we did our best to pick her out of the 400 +/- blue gowned young adults that were marching across into the stadium.
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There she is! In front of the girl with the dress hanging beneath her graduation gown –
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I’m not going to kid you- it was a cold and blustery night and maybe sometimes it seemed like they were never going to get through all of those names. But when we were able to join her on the field after the ceremony for hugs and congratulations, it was all worth it!
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Here’s the whole gang of us – some being sillier than others!
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Two years ago, at Ellie’s graduation, the three older sisters struck this pose –
Ellie’s graduation
It seemed only right to recreate the pose at this graduation too!
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How fun!

On a slightly different note – there often seems to be one picture during an event that really cracks me up. Back in 2021, at Ellie’s graduation, it was this one –
Ellie’s graduation
Ah, sisters!
This year, it involved a different sibling, but I caught Hayley taking a selfie with Noah (Class of 2029) looking on!
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Oh, the faces of brothers!

But back to the star of the show –
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H. Conrad – Class of 2023
Where have the years gone? May you continue to hold fast to your Savior, and glorify Him in all you do! I know He has great things planned for you! Pops and I were so glad we were able to be there to celebrate YOU and this milestone in your life!

But you, young lady-
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Don’t even think it!

Missed Four Days

So much for “Every Day in May”. 
But the reality is that 3 of those days (counting today) involved this –
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or this
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and the other two days involved ball games and card games and graduation and trampolines and … well, you get my drift! They were busy days filled with all of the very best things = grandchildren! (OK – it was quite lovely to see their parents too!)

Two days to get to Columbus. Two days in Columbus. Two days back to the Cabin.
Hopefully, it won’t take two days to get caught up with life (and this little blog!). I really do appreciate your patience!
Till tomorrow –
Steph

Made it to Montrose

It was a lovely day for a drive

and we got an early start on this first leg of our Ohio trip.

We arrived safely at the rig parked in Montrose (PA) and settled in for the night. It was good to check on things since we have been gone for almost three weeks and you never know what can happen to a lonely motor home parked (essentially) in a field. Everything seemed fine- no sign of a mouse invasion, the electricity had stayed on so there was no spoiled food in the refrigerator, and the plants on the dashboard had lived through those weeks of neglect.
As I was chilling in the recliner though, I saw a bird land on one of our mirrors. He seemed pretty comfortable, and when I looked more closely I could see that he (or she) had spent quite a bit of time on that mirror (and the other one, too. Ewww)

Looks like we’ll have a bit of clean-up to do when we get back. And make sure there isn’t a nest somewhere where there shouldn’t be one.
I also watched a plump groundhog lumber under the rig. Hmmmm…
Wonder what he was getting into? Hopefully he was just taking a shortcut home!

Maybe we’ll have some time to do some investigating into the abundance of nearby critters on our return trip,  but for now it’s off to bed – there are 500 miles of road waiting for us to cover tomorrow.

Sweet Dreams, my friends!

 

Ohio Bound

Tomorrow we start our two-day road trip to Ohio to see this little girl graduate from high school.
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Ok, these days she’s looking a little more like this –
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That is when she’s not at a track meet pole vaulting or shot putting (is that the right way to say that?), or babysitting or working at Whit’s Frozen Custard shop, or just being a great big (and little) sister in general! We’re delighted to be able to celebrate with her and her family!
We’ll stop at the rig (in Montrose) overnight tomorrow, then on to Columbus on Friday. Two days with the family, then we rewind the trip and should be back here at the cabin by Tuesday dinner. Because you know – that treehouse isn’t going to finish itself!
But we are getting close…
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(I’m leaving the computer here at The Cabin, but I’ll be taking my tablet along so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to keep up with my “Post A Day in May” personal challenge. We’ll see!)

Seeing the country……Serving our Lord!