Catching Up

Marc, his mom (my cousin), my uncle James, and his girlfriend
The girls and my cousin and her kids.
My Cousin Vida walking down the aisle with her dad
Amazing drawings!
I had mistakenly thought that as soon as my school year ended in May, I would be relaxing and enjoying life without the hassle of grading essays and copying handouts. On the contrary, the last 3 weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. But I thought I would be remiss to mention some of the highlights:

1. Dan's parents came all the way out here, driving till 1am to be a part of Grandparents day for Lorelei. This was such a great blessing for us, she was thrilled, and the next morning when we had our garage sale, they took the girls out to breakfast and gave us a few quiet hours to get stuff done. THANK YOU for that!

2. The next weekend, my family came down and we went to the Grove for Lorelei's birthday, 2 days later we had our big Memorial Day Bash, and the next day was my 34th birthday.

3. So about my bday. Dan and I are practical, non-sentimental people. I usually tell him to please not get anything for me, because I'd rather just use the $ to buy myself something or to get something for the house. This year, Dan totally surprised me, for maybe the first time ever. He had had Laura, an amazing young student about to go to Masters, create the drawings above of our 4 girls. I was so blown away by them. I LOVE THEM!! Because I mean, who doesn't love pictures of their own kids. I just thought these were so classic, Dan had had them framed, and I love the 4 of them hanging in my living room right now. Good job Dan, Good Job Laura, and a Happy Birthday to Me.

4. Then this past weekend we drove to Visalia for my cousin's wedding. It was hot, but beautiful, with a lake behind them as they said their vows, and it was a chance to see all the relatives you forget you're even related to. Everyone looked remarkably similar to my dad (see my Uncle above). Anyway, it was fun.

5. But is it over? No way, Lorelei's commencement is today, and a big trip to Washington is underway.... I've gotta clean, and pack, and clean some more.... yikes..