Blog School Drop Out

I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing. I blame my attention span - or lack of.  I haven't posted since May 12, so here's The Cliff's Notes on life on Lower Luther Road since then:

We stayed mostly cold through May and I lost all my vegetables that I had so lovingly planted in peat cups in mid April. Sad news for a minute but luckily I got over it. :)

We celebrated my birthday at The Pollard/downtown with some of our favorite people:

Two nights later we celebrated my Aunt Pam's birthday at her house with a BBQ. Lots of old friends & even a couple we haven't seen in YEARS. Needless to say, June started off with a bang.

At the end of June we took a trip to Colorado. ISaac was able to bring his best friend, Eli Lauver. We had a great time - they were both such great little travelers. The highlight of the trip for them was going to see the Rockies play the Red Sox. The boys wore chest paint instead of shirts & each came home with a fly ball. Pretty cool! We were also lucky enough to share Matthew and Hazley's wedding day with them in Colorado Springs! Hurray! :)

The 4th of July was - as always - fabulous. We spent it in Red Lodge.  Isaac was in the parade all three days:

 We rodeo-ed, visited with friends, hung out with family and celebrated all the things we love about America. It could be argues that we celebrated them to extreme --- but thats just kind of how we roll.

This past weekend Josh headed to Wyoming for Tobin's bachelor party. Tobin - getting married - who woulda guessed it. They had a great time. While they were gone Isaac and I were able to spend one night celebrating our friend Ben's 30th birthday. It was a great night with a ton of crazy people from a million different social circles. It was really nice to see some faces I haven't laid eyes on in years.

It was a night of great tears and laughter. Lots of fun reminissing --- and lots of remembering friends who were taken too soon. I didn't know either of the 'lost friends' very well --- so, for me, it was more about sitting back and watching the power of bonds shared. It was truly touching.

This morning as I write this I can hear Isaac outside playing with his friend, Andrew. Andrew is a seven year old boy who lost his father 3 days ago in a car accident. But you'd never know it --- because he's all smiles and energy.

At first, I thought this was odd. But, looking back on my own childhood, I think that perhaps its perfectly normal.

When my folks were killed I was 11. But the first time I really broke down and FELT anything other than normal, I was 19 & a freshman in college. That's a story for another time though.

My point today is that I truly believe God protects the young. When Andrew is old enough to understand it completely he'll go through the motions. But for now, he seems to be going forward as if nothing happened. And I think it's beautiful.

Well, like I said ... I have two seven year olds here. So I'm off to pack a sack lunch and take them to the river for the day.

xo - nic