Camping with Friends

Today we returned from our camp trip with our good friends and I feel very blessed to be friends with them. I guess I'm especially grateful because we are so different. Sometimes it is really easy for me to be friends with people who are just like me, but when I venture out and am friends with people who are different from me- in any number of ways- I am often surprised at how unique and wonderful our friendship is. I am blessed for good friends and I am blessed that they are so patient with my girls. It is hard watching someone else be frustrated with my kids (it's hard enough when I get frustrated myself) and it was so nice to see our friends be so patient and communicate so well with both Abigail and Lauren. It was a nice blessing in my day.

Swimming as a Family

Today we returned from a fun camping trip with friends and I feel blessed in so many ways. I think I might have had the most fun ever in my life- it was just a short time, like a burst of joy for an hour or so, but I feel so blessed for it and for that memory that I will have to share with my family.

Last night after we arrived at camp and set up we took the girls down to swim in the lake. I wasn't even feeling up to swimming at first, but after a few minutes I quickly changed and felt my spirits lift. Abigail and Lauren were in lifejackets and we were all having the most wonderful time jumping off the dock, swimming to the floating dock, coming up with new ways to jump off and having a great time all together.

Very often I'm aware of opportunities for great memories and want to document them, take pictures, or take a quick break to get it on video. The thing that was so interesting about this specific moment was that that thought never even crossed my mind. I was loving every minute and couldn't even think to pull myself away to grab a camera or do anything but have fun with my little family. It would have been great if there was some third party photographer on hand, but I think my happy memories are strong enough to endure without it.

I feel so blessed to experience this true joy- to be on earth at this time and make time to just have fun and play together, and especially to have it be together. That's when I think the joy is the greatest- when I'm watching my little Lauren cannonball of the floating dock and come up with a big smile on her face, when I watch Abigail invent new dives into the water and help Lauren up the ladder, when Drew is disappearing under water just to come up and surprise the girls, and when I'm swimming with my girls and smiling so big my cheeks hurt. It doesn't seem that life could get much better than this. I am so blessed.

The Lake

Drew and I did a little math today: we've been to the lake 3 out of the last 3 days, 5 out of the last 6 days, and 7 out of the last 10 days. That's a lot of fun at the lake, and with the record-breaking heat we've been having we feel so blessed to live so close to such a wonderful lake and to be surrounded by such natural beauty. It truly is a blessing in so many ways- because of the frequency of going, Abigail is getting much better at her swimming, Lauren is just as fearless also; we are able to cool down on these days that are ultra hot; and we have been having lots of fun as a family. What a blessing.