How Do You ....?

How do you say Good-Bye to your "almost-adult" daughter, who's flying off to Nicaragua for 3 months? How do you console her 10 year old sister, who just can't stop the tears? How do you stop your heart from almost bursting with pride at her maturity, and yet almost breaking in half with what is sure to be times of loneliness?





Here are some pictures of her last evening at home. Her belongings from the college totally exploded in her room upstairs, with spill-over into Abbi's room (Alli's old room), as she began to sort into piles what she wanted to pack.



"How much does this suitcase have to weigh??? Guess I'll need to take some heavy books, and several pairs of flip-flops out, and take a duffel."







So my Wednesday morning started at 6:00am. Since I ended up sleeping with one eye open, so I wouldn't oversleep, I pulled myself off the couch at 5:45am to begin waking our sleepy household to get ready for the big send-off. And I do mean BIG! I have never been a part of an SST send-off, but I believe it must be bigger than college graduation itself at GC. Many people, many tears, much anticipation and excitement. By the way, for the curious, SST stands for Study Service Term. Basically a semester of foreign study and service.




After all the good-byes were said, Abbi & I left with Alli's car and made a quick stop at McDonald's for breakfast and then after drying both of our tears I dropped Abbi off at school. The "men" in the family went to Waterford Mill Inn for breakfast before the school-men had to be at Bethany.



















Adios my precious child!


After dropping Abbi off I headed to Village Inn, where I was sure I could find my Mom for a little "Mommy-loving". How strange that at this stage in my life as a Mom, I still need and find comfort in the arms of my own Mom. Life is Precious!


So back to my original question ... "How do you....?" You place her safely in the arms of God!

You can follow Alli's travels by linking to her blog listed at right, and also GC does a wonderful job of posting on their SST website: http://www.goshen.edu/sst/nica08/

A Few Of My Favorite Things

I'm a HUGE Sound Of Music fan, so please hum the tune while browsing the pictures of just a few of my favorite things...

A big sister helping her little sister get ready for the Spring Concert is truly a blessing!

I love it when Abbi "walks" her favorite chicken with a piece of yarn tied to it's one foot,

and it's even better when she can enjoy it with a friend!

(I wonder if the 4-H Poultry Club will have an "obedience"prize ...

you know, like the Dog Club does.)

I share this "Favorite" with my son ... mmmmm, Crab Legs! (yes, I said "son", don't let his long golden locks fool ya') Here we are about to start on our annual Spring Break Crab Leg Contest. There really are no official winners, we just have a fun time "trash talking" while cracking and eating, and showing each other, and anyone else who will look, the large succulent pieces of crab that we're able to retrieve from each leg. Well, I guess we both end up winners, since we enjoy the contest and walk away with our stomachs full of buttery crab! You really have to hear us yacking and cracking to appreciate the contest.

Pillow Fights with cute cousins is way up there on my list of favorite things!

Blowing bubbles on Siesta Beach tops the list for last weeks' favorites. As many of you remember, it was a balmy 35 degrees here in Indiana, so for sure ... bubbles in 80 degree sunshine is a fav!

Favorites about this picture: 1. the green-ing grass 2. the green mower 3. and the mow-ee who is a bit green behind the ears (never mind that she's only 10, and her Dad decided she's old enough for this sort of hard physical labor. And might I point out the bare feet ... or perhaps you already noticed) Truth be told ... Abbi loved this, and told everyone who would listen all about it!

And here's my favorite hubby (actually my only one). I really like this picture because it's him raking and not me! And also he's raking in his good work clothes. That reminds me so much of my Dad! He would often come home from a long day at the office, jump on the mower in his suit and tie, or whatever else official "boss-like" outfit he wore that day, and think nothing of spending the rest of the day on the mower in his suits that were probably hand-tailored in Japan. Now I'm not saying that Dave's clothes are anywhere close to that great, but it does always amuse me that he doesn't take the time to change.

Well, that's it for My Favorite Things ... why don't you all join me in a rousing chorus of Edelweiss, just to humor one of my brothers (who shall remain nameless).