The Wanderers Return

Our sweet Dane and Kortney have been away…

in far, far off China…

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for nearly a year now.

They’ve been working in the preschool in Wuhan…

teaching English to the little ones there.

This week, they returned to America–at last, at LAST! They are still back east for a while but we will see them soon. Not soon enough for me, of course, but sincerely, I’m just glad to have them back on closer soil. China is just tooooo far away for this mama’s liking.

Welcome back my darlings!

Now, come home.

Heh, heh.

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Memorial Day~ As Always

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We’ve been celebrating Memorial Day, the same way for years and years.  We take flowers to everyone we love that has passed away. We even take flowers to everyone that everyone WE love, loved. Absolutely everyone. Are you still with me?

That, my friends, is a boatload of flowers.

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Then, we merrily retire to SOMEbody’s house–April’s, this time–for a anything that tastes good, potluck-type barbecue. Yummo.

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We sit around and yak and tell stories and…

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watch the itty-bitty kids…

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and the grown-up kids play yard games…

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and soak each other down with water balloons…

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…and sometimes hoses.

Food. Family. Laughter. Love.

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I think they’d be pleased.

Mom & Daddy…I miss you.

Out And About

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The girls have been so sweet about being out in the chicken yard, but now and then, they  look longingly out at the green grass and plants beyond their little pen.

So, this morning…I opened the door and let them out!

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At first they stood there looking at me, like, “Ummmm…lady? You know the gate is open, right?”

Yep, I know.

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In fact, I had to stand outside in the grass saying, “Come on-come on-come on.” Then, once they realized I wasn’t kidding, they tip-toed out…then ran!

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Oh, my goodness did they have fun. And what a huge deal they make out of this funny, little bush! They pecked at the leaves for an hour.

And see those purple flowers? Most of them were barely out of reach so they would stand just below and…JUMP straight up to snatch them. It was awesome.

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We’ve left the grass long because we didn’t want to scare them with the mower just yet. But they loved it that way. I think they felt a bit stealthy, sneaking around in the tall grass…

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and pecking at all the silly little bugs crawling around.

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Then, as though someone rang a dinner bell, they all marched into the yard and gobbled up their grains–that had been sitting there all day long.

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Then they promptly curled up in a bunch of heaps and went to sleep–inside the pen. I don’t think they totally understand this freedom thing yet.

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Soon enough, I suppose.

I think we’re both going to love it.

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Mothers

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“Mother is not a title.

Mother is a verb. It is not who you are.

It’s what you do.”

~ Shonda Rhimes

Happy Mother’s day, mom. I love you and miss you every, single day.

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“Lost Boy”

My dear niece, Emily lost a beloved friend in a tragic accident recently. This is her beautiful tribute.

We are all so sorry for her loss and heartache.

We love you Em~

Aunt

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