Ahh, Summertime!!

         I love summertime.  I love the possibilities that summer holds & I love the memories of summers from my childhood. I love the idea of lazy summer days, and I love the reality of how crazy busy summer actually is. I love summer road trips & 4-H projects & county fair.  I love fresh cut grass & the Buffalo town pool (when it’s open).  I love camping & cookouts & campfires.  I love spending time on the lake with my family, a fishing pole and a good book.  I love summer food: hot dogs & hamburgers, potato salad & pasta salad, watermelon & popsicles & smores.  I love warm days & cool nights but I hate the heat, therefore June is my favorite month in the summer   

 Hannah, Kade & I have already enjoyed one of these favorites of summertime when we took a road trip to Helena MT last weekend to meet my best friend, Erika, and her kids, Julia & Logan.  Erika lives in Ohio and her nephew was graduating from Helena High School, so I decided that since we were actually in the same time zone I would make the 7-hour drive to see her.  What a wonderful time I had with this precious friend and her family!  We stayed up late talking (ok, so we only stayed up until 11:00 pm, but for those of you who know me well, that is late for me!), we laughed & we cried, we ate pizza at 10:30 at night. We marveled at how much our kids had grown & changed in the 2 ½ years since we had last been together.  We tried to solve all of the problems that are plaguing our lives & we failed to do so.  I suppose that we need to start planning another trip together in order to try again soon!  Best of all we were able to steal away for a few minutes and pray together, giving all of our stresses and struggles and joys to the Lord.  I tried to savor every minute that I had with Erika because I don’t know how long it’ll be before I see her again.  I don’t have a sister of my own, but God has blessed me with this sister of my spirit.  She's a fellow "Courageous Mommy" and I’d drive another 7 hours or more in order to see her again!

So now I am looking forward to whatever else this summer holds for us.  I do have to say that the snow that we had this weekend is not something that I love to see in the summer, but this is Wyoming and I have not put away our snow boots yet; I think that I'll wait until July for that!

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.”  John Lubbock.    Have a wonderful summer everyone!!