This winter seems to be never-ending. It continues to be so cold and snowy. So finally, this past weekend we bundled up and went sledding. It wasn't TOO terribly cold out...around 25 degrees I think, which compared to the zero and negative temps we've had, that felt pretty good.
We went to the Battelle Darby Creek park and it was great. Not too crowded. We hadn't been there in years.
Ella started off wanting to stand on her board going down. She actually did a pretty great job!
We ended up in the van for a hot cocoa break. Good thinking Dad!
I even went down the hill a few times, mostly with Justin but with Ella and Silas too.
The scenery was pretty.
Ella's wipe-outs weren't so pretty.
I wish I had gotten Silas going down on his belly in a Superman pose. It was pretty good.
I think we're going to try our hand at Mad River Mountain this weekend. That may be a bit much...for me at least!!
21 days into the new year and not one blog post. It's been awhile. I struggle to find the time and energy to keep it updated.
We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. This winter has been crazy with so much snow and Arctic vortex weather. What the hell is that all about!?
Silas turned 8!!! Like always, there were a number of birthday celebrations and finally this coming weekend he will have a few friends sleep over.
I have been working like a maniac to get things cleared out of the house. I went thru round 1 of the crawl space. As in the stuff piled in the center that made walking in there near impossible. I've trashed, donated, sold, repurposed...it feels great to finally get to it. I bought this beautiful table to put in the entry way.
I love it!
And then found these 2 tables for $10 for the pair so i replaced my big white bedside tables. It looks so much less cluttered!
I found the floor again in my office and am excited to go down there and work now. Which is good, because there are a lot of changes going on at work and I will be down there a lot!
Silas has been building lots of stuff to knock down with dominos and spending much less time on the games. He is a builder and will spend hours building just to knock it all down.
I've been doing a photo challenge called 100 Happy Days. 100 posts on random things that make me happy.
And Silas just woke up puking...to be continued :(
There is no doubt that I've missed a ton of things since the middle/end of summer...so a few catch up items.
1. In August, Mason had knee surgery. A little cyst on his knee that was rubbing against his IT band. Not really that noteworthy except that I like him in his little hospital cap and gown :)
He was on crutches for a week, the cyst was benign and he milked it as much as he could for that recovery week.
2. In August we also managed to squeeze in one camping trip. We had hoped to go more this summer but with soccer, surgeries, work, etc...it just didn't happen. We headed up to Dillon State park for a Saturday night trip. It was quick but we still had a lot of fun. It was MUCH closer quarters than what we were used to - that wasn't as cool. Especially when the neighbor spouses started screaming at each other.
We used our new orange tent from Sam's that we got in the spring. Justin hates the tent. and it's kinda awkward to get in and out of. But I like orange.
Sitting around...
Bored and playing with the metal roasting skewers...probably not a good idea.
Family walk. Nice way to end the superfast trip before heading home.
3. And then it was Back To School. Wow, the summer flew by!
5th grade for Ella and 2nd grade for Silas.
They are getting way too big...and beautiful/handsome.
As many times as I see this throughout the school year, I never tire of seeing them holding their daddy's hands walking to school.
This will be Ella's last year at Darby Creek and that makes me VERY sad. I love my munchkins being 2 minutes away from me during the day. I think it will be a big adjustment for both next year not being in the same school.
4. And speaking of SCHOOL - Mason had his orientation at Capital in August (seems like a million years ago now). Dad and Margie went with him and both loved being on campus with him and seeing all the school stuff with him!
And he officially became a College Student on August 26th - and I warned him that as long as he's living at home, he'll get 1st day of school pictures! (Same grouchy morning face that I've gotten since 6th grade!!).
Elijah Ryan Michael Love, 9, son of James and Amanda Love, has gone home
to be with Jesus on September 8, 2013. He was born in Columbus, OH on
December 15, 2003.
He was a 4th grader at Beacon Elementary
School in Hilliard. Elijah enjoyed the outdoors. He was a child of God
who loved everything that God created. He enjoyed fishing, swimming
and riding his bike. Elijah was always curious about the world around
him, asking questions and taking in information. His big brown eyes and
beautiful smile will be forever missed by all who loved him.
Other
family includes, siblings, Aliyah and Jordan, maternal grandfather,
Ryan J. Casey, maternal grandmother, Lisa (Mark) Ridings, paternal
grandparents, Sharon and Donald Parker, great-grandparents, Frank and
Patricia Kennis, John and Patricia Casey, Bonnie Lou Bowles, uncle and
aunt, Greg and Tracy Miller, cousins, Brooklyn and Jaden Miller, Casey
Mers, many other aunts, uncles and cousins who he loved dearly.
Visitation
will be held from 10:00am to 12:00pm, Monday, September 16, 2013 at the
Potters House, 3220 Lowell Drive, Columbus, OH 43204, where a funeral
service will begin at 12:00pm, following the visitation.
Burial will follow in Hampton Cemetery, West Jefferson, OH.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Love Family Fund at any Huntington Bank.
__________________________________
On Saturday night, September 7th, Justin and I were coming home from my 25th class reunion. About 2 minutes into our drive home, he told me he had gotten a call from Margie, and there had been a terrible accident involving Mandy, Jimbo and the kids...and that Elijah hadn't made it. Impossible words to comprehend - I was still feeling festive after a wonderful evening with many friends that I hadn't seen in years and years. And while I was laughing, hugging, toasting, chatting and having fun - Mandy's family had been hit head-on...and Elijah didn't make it. "No" and "impossible" were the only words I could manage, over and over.
And it still doesn't seem possible. Over a month later - Mandy just got out of the hospital, we've packed and moved them out of their house, Aliyah is with Lisa, Mandy and Jimbo with friends, Jordan with his mom.
Impossible.
Community support, family and friend support - has all been tremendous. Beacon Elementary has had fundraisers, a few of Mandy's high school friends have arranged fundraisers and the Angels for Elijah page. Beacon had a little memorial for Elijah after their walk-a-thon. All the kids from the school blew bubbles up to the skies. It was beautiful and heartbreaking.
A brief video of the bubble blowing :)
We made picture boards for the funeral - and then another set so that Manda and Aliyah could both have copies of them with them.
I'm sad...so sad to think about what Mandy, Jimbo, Jordan, Aliyah, Lisa, Mark, Ryan...are all going through especially. I'm sad to think about Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, first days of school, last days of school, birthdays, bedtime tucking in, and everything else that will make everyone's hearts ache.
We made it back to the OBX this summer (in July) and we were so happy to be back! Missing last year made for a LONG wait but it was worth it.
It got off to a slightly rocky start because a) the traffic was terrible getting into Corolla...and b) I had to get into it with the cleaners about an overflowing toilet and the general state of "cleanliness" of the house. But after that, we moved along and had a great trip.
The weather was very nice all days except one. We got our ocean time, our beach time...ice cream, shopping, crabbing, and some great dinners as always.
Ella and Silas both are now fearless in the water. They go out and ride the waves, dive in, flail and swim. I love that all 3 kids are strong swimmers and enjoy it.
We were super close to the grocery stores and shopping as well as the multiple ice cream stores and wine shop with a wine tasting :)
We got a lot of use out of the pool, as usual. The kids loved it as did most of the adults too!
This year we added Sarah, Brian, Barrett and Tara and Steve to the trip - so we bumped it up to a 6 bedroom house. Plenty of room for everyone though.
I miss the days when I had the energy to stay up blogging the trips in more detail...guess I'm old and tired now. It's still wonderful to get to spend a week with the family and relax and just hang out.
Much has happened since my last post in June...but I want to go in order on updates - so you'll just have to wait with bated breath...unless you are my friend on Facebook - and then you know everything already!!
A couple random picutes...
Like this - showing how my kids likely break arms...
And this one - Justin had to cut down our Ash tree (which makes me VERY VERY sad) and I'm lucky that HE didn't break an arm or leg doing it. I really don't like our yard now without the tree :(
And we were excited in June to see Andrea, Lucy and Jack when the visited from Chicago for Sarah's graduation party!! As all these kids get older and busier, we don't get to see them nearly as much as we used to.
(Sarah, Ella, Alison, Lucy, Abbi and Zoe)
Since last post when Silas broke his arm - he adjusted pretty well to that and on July 3rd got a half-arm, waterproof cast. It worked out great because we had the whole Juenger family coming for Mason's graduation and birthday party. I was adamant that we got the waterproof cast on before the cousins' arrival so that Silas could swim and have fun with them - so happy that it worked out!
This is Hudson and Silas at COSI - being way too cool...
We had Juengers from all over the U.S. start rolling in the last week of June - from Arizona, Nevada, Rhode Island, New York and from around the corner. It was such a fantastic time to see all the cousins have fun and play until they were so exhausted that they couldn't see straight!
All the kids (except Mason) at COSI. What a cute bunch!!
(James, Molly, Ella, Silas, Myles, Hudson, Trent, Will and Jefferson)
We ended up with Cousins in a Box upon the arrival of the NV Juenger Bennetts...this kept them busy for quite a long time!
The James' were crazy and invited us ALL over for their July 4th party...I tried to warn them!
A great time was had by all - especially the kids who got to swim all day and then see the fireworks.
We had a super fantastic (with some bouts of downpour) on July 6th for Mason's graduation and 18th Birthday party! It was wonderful to see some great friends and old neighbors come by to visit.
LOOK at those boys down in front...could the be any more related?!?
It was a wonderful visit and I wish we could do it so much more often!!
Love to see them enjoying each other!
We got to go to the Star Liner - one of Grandpa J's favorites!!
(Mason and Molly)
(Baby Jeff and Ella)
And since the NV Juengers/Bennetts left OHIO...they have added to the ranks! Carolynn Olivia was born on July 26th. She is SOOO cute!!
It's been such a fun (and exhausting!) summer so far. We just got back from our OBX trip on Saturday, so that needs to be blogged next. But wow, feeling so blessed to spend time with the family this summer!!
For our far away families to keep up with the gang, and so that I can look back at all the fun of life with 3 kids :) This is my rememberer. We are: Mason (20), Ella (12), Silas (9), Dad/Justin (old), Mom/Christa (older)
Words to Live by...
“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” Anna Quindlen (Loud and Clear, 2004)
Mom of three, wife, sister, friend. Love being with family and friends, having a cup of coffee with sunrise and a glass of wine with sunset. Life is Good.
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