Catching Up?

Goldie turned 14 earlier this month. As requested, Abe took her (along with Penny and Daisy) to play Pickleball. We made summer-time gingerbread houses. (Graham cracker houses – hot glued together. Candy stuck on with frosting. I don’t know why, but this has become a requested activity at many of the birthdays around here. Haunted houses for Anders’ birthday. Easter or spring-themed houses for Dais and Pen. Traditional Christmas houses for Jesse. We use the word “themed” rather loosely of course. The only thing making Goldie’s gingerbread houses more summery than Christmassy was the addition of Swedish Fish.) Abe and Daisy willingly played Scrabble with her. We ate twice-baked potatoes (her request) for dinner. (As I made them, Abe said – referring to the potato skins, “Wait. Did you just take all the filling out of those and then put it back in?” We’ve eaten them for years. I love that he never noticed they were more than a potato cut in half with some cheese and bacon on top. They are certainly much tastier than that!) A neighbor invited us to swim. We opened presents. (Goldie is fun to give gifts to. Even the smallest trinket is met with such appreciation that you feel certain it is the most wonderful thing she has ever ever been given.) And we ended the night eating her strawberry shortcake.

Quite a lot of adventures have occurred since said birthday. And, while I try not to concern myself with staying caught up or making sure everything that happens around here is included on this blog, it does seem a shame not to include these fun pictures. So, we shall dive back into blogging with:

A parade with Mike’s family on the 4th of July. Goldie was, again, marching in the parade with the officers from her school. It was fun to hear a big crowd of aunts and uncles and cousins cheering and shouting her name – knowing how happy such a throng of supporters would make her feel.

After the parade  we went to Mike’s parents’. My sister-in-law Jaime grabbed her scissors to help me fix the very uneven cut I gave Mette awhile back (and then didn’t dare to fix myself – lest I make it worse). Mike and some of the kids stayed for lunch and to play with cousins while I took Abe (who had to get to a short shift at work) and the two babies (who had to nap) home.

With babies napping and the house quiet, I was hit with the same semi-frantic feeling I always get during precious and rare periods of quiet. They really are just . . . nearly non-existent in my life these days. And when they do come, they are typically of short duration. And there is always SO MUCH I long to do in those small windows of time! I wanted to clean. And pray. And read scriptures. And edit photos. And write in this space -- clearly that didn’t occur . . . as I am writing this nearly two weeks later. And, in fact, I don’t recall just what I did accomplish. And I don’t recall any of the rest of our 4th of July day. Nevertheless . . . the parade was happy. And these pictures were cute. The end.