A Week of Downs and Ups

Last week felt like a roller coaster ride. Monday started off with the horrible news that a longtime friend had suddenly passed away.  I had know Tim for almost 30 years, and practically everyone around Hilliard knew and adored him as well - all of us "old Hilliard" people certainly did.  Sadly, he leaves behind a wife and 10 year old son.

Kym, Tim and Cameron

One of the sweetest things was during the funeral procession - some of the homes on his mail route had signs on their mailboxes and there were a few little old ladies standing out to say a last farewell.  He was buried on their 16th wedding anniversary.

Another emotional ride was seeing my friend Jenny.  She has cancer and our Senior Choir classmates from school arranged for the current Sr. Choir members to come over and sing The Lord Bless You and Keep You to Jenny.  This was the song we sang anytime a member or alum needed prayer and support.  It was wonderful to see all the choir members and Mr. Brenneman and Mrs. Bundy came also.   The news came too and took some footage!  Please keep Jenny in your prayers!



This, coupled with other things that have made my last couple weeks very emotional, created a lot of stress.
Luckily, we had our annual couples' Hocking Hills trip planned and it was the perfect get away - lots of good food, great drinks and being able to hang and talk with the best of the best of friends.  And we actually had a beautiful, sunny weekend!

My husband picked some flowers for me, we got to go on a (kinda muddy) hike to the waterfalls - it was lovely and very theraputic.
We came home on Sunday to more great weather, a soccer game for Ella and some outside playtime.

Ella plays in the All Star soccer game this week and Friday is Si's last day of preschool!  He's on to Kindergarten next year (sniff, sniff!).

Spring Break 2010 = Youngers Gone Wild!

I know I have other updates to post (birthday, new car, etc) but right now - it's SPRING BREAK!!  

We started the trip by driving up to the Finger Lakes (NY) to visit Grandpa J.  We rented a little cabin in Lodi for about the same price as a decent hotel in the area but with more room and a wonderful porch. Much more comfortable!  We've gotten to know the owners of the cabins. They actually purchased the land for the cabins from Jim when he sold the old farm house and land.  They have donated weekends for the CF Wine Opener and Donna, I and some girlfriends have stayed at the cabins during a girls' weekend.

On Sunday we drove around the Ithaca area to see waterfalls.  They were beautiful!  Grandpa J was our guide. He didn't walk the trails much but still hung in there with us all day.  It was the first time that we've spent a weekend in the Finger Lakes and did NOT visit any vineyards!

Grandpa J has had 3 rounds of chemo and it's sapped his energy, he's lost his hair and a lot of weight. The kids (Ella and Si, especially Si) had questions about where his hair went. It didn't take long though for them to adjust and it was business as usual.

One of our first stops was Taughannock Falls - one of the highest falls east of the Mississippi at 215 feet. 

It's never easy to catch all of us with a smile and open eyes!

It was a lot of fun to walk right down beside the falls. A little nerve wracking with Silas running off and all around!

After Taughannock Falls, we went to Treman State park. www.nyfalls.com has a lot of great pictures and information of all the waterfalls in the area.
 

 Ella got misted as we walked the trails closer to the falls.

I can't remember the name of this one but it was one of my better pictures that I took.

The rug rats posing for a picture.

It was a great and tiring day.  The kids slept like the dead that night and on Monday we made the drive to Nags Head. They were zombies most of the 12 hour trip!

The week so far at the beach has been wonderful. A MUCH needed break away. More updates and pictures from Nags Head to come sometime soon!