I haven't posted anything for the longest time. There are multiple reasons, and plenty of excuses, none of which people really want to hear.


School has started. Ben is a Senior in high school. Mikaela is in her 7th year of schooling. She has one year left at this middle school, then one year at the 8th grade middle school. Then she will be in high school. It is hard to believe that twelve years ago this week, I started driving to and from Milford, three times a day, for three months, with an four children, the youngest being 11 months old,  just to drop them off and pick them up from school (all the children started at different times and one was in Kindergarten, which was half-day). What a life that was. I was so glad to be done with the commuting and finally move into our home. Life has brought all the good things. Two high school graduates. One college graduate. One missionary. Two approaching life with eyes wide open.

Our changing family. Two different trips to New York this year to accommodate the family. Braden went with us in May, Siovhan went with us in June.

Our recent trip to New Hampshire brought smiles and a little bit of a manly, "King of the Hill" challenge. Hmmm...can you tell which male prevailed?

Our life is full of projects. I am trying to finish all the partial projects as well as have other things that are falling apart around the house fixed. It takes up a lot more time than I thought was possible. Speaking of fixing things, Howard broke his collar bone last year on Thanksgiving Day. It hasn't healed at all and he was scheduled for surgery this week. After the surgeon looked at the x-ray, he told Howard that he didn't think that Howard was a good candidate for the surgery. Howard's bones haven't healed at all and his Primary Care Physician even called the break, "Gross." We are waiting to consult with another Osteopathic Surgeon this week. I wonder if he will refer to the break as, "Gross." It will be interesting to see if this doctor will think that the graft will take and that the bone can be healed. The last doctor said the odds were 3% in Howard's favor...not odds to gamble with!

Braden is doing really well in Nicaragua. He has been on his mission for 5 months, but only in Nicaragua for 4 months. He was a fast learner of the Spanish language and was able to complete his MTC training in 3 weeks. He loves serving the Lord and says that he can't believe that the time is going by as quickly as it is.

Siovhan is still living and working in Oregon. She loves Oregon...but not so much the work. You can see her blog here: Siovhan. She is a funny girl and I miss her more than I ever thought was possible.