Communication

It's been pretty busy around here.  There are many projects going on and we've been trying to pull so many things together, all while continuing school and riding classes.  I'm afraid a few things have fallen through the cracks.  I'm not even sure how many balls I've been juggling, much less how many have dropped... 😜

But we've had some good laughs, too.  I mean, really, you have to laugh, right?  When everything is crazy and no one knows which way is up.  It's not really that bad, but it's been a little hectic.

We have a standing joke in our family about our lack of communication skills.  Expectations and assumptions can sometimes get the best of us.  One of my adult children recently pointed out the lack of skill in that area has never been so glaring as now.  That just means when everything is helter-skelter and I'm not holding "family meetings," the craziness is glaring! 😂 Today we decided that our observation skills are not top notch, either!

But it got me thinking about those in my life outside of my family.  Communication, or the lack thereof, can be a real relationship killer, can't it? As I look back over the last couple of years and I think of all the relationships that have been severed, so much of the damage comes from poor communication.  Expectations by one party, assumptions by another, but not truly knowing what's going on in the mind.  Why can't we all just say what we mean and mean what we say, while being nice, of course.  Where did we get taught to be so reserved?

I'm saddened by the relationships around me that have ended.  I still pray for restoration.  I'm sad for the ones that continue to be strained.  It takes effort to love people.  Sometimes, more effort than I can muster.  Effort and willingness.

I searched for memes on communication as a lighthearted attempt to poke fun at a serious flaw in myself.  I found the next one particularly funny...

I know, I have a warped sense of humor! 😜 Now I'm off to start my day.  I hope you enjoy yours!😍

Two Years

The lead-up to yesterday was difficult, but the day itself...not so much.  There were hard moments, but, all in all, it was good.  Refreshing.  Relaxing.  Fun.  Sweet.  Adventurous.

We did some crazy things...like Michael and I not bringing sleeping bags and half-freezing through the night, and all of us climbing up the side of a cliff to get into a cave, and crossing over the falls fully dressed in very cold water.  But it was all fun.  And if you want in on a family "inside" joke, you'll have to ask one of the older girls about the PDFs that you must always have with you at Turner Falls! 😂

Of course there were some hard times, too, and Michael and I shared some tears.  I kept thinking about how much William would have loved everything about the camping trip.  And how I would have fretted over him.  Then I thought about how difficult some of the things would have been, but how we would have done them because that was just the way we did things.  We would have backpacked him or carried him or something.  Although he and I would have skipped the cave... 😜

It made me think about how our family loved serving him.  Everyone wanted to help him.  I miss that, too.  The truth is, in many of the day-to-day duties, things are easier now.  And that bothers me.  I hate that.  Not better, but easier.  I often feel like my hands are empty when they shouldn't be.  His absence is always felt.

But I do feel like we are starting to pull out of the funk.  Maybe we are beginning to accept our new life without him.  Wow...I hate to even say that.  It still really bothers me that he's not here, but I can also find some beauty in the world again.

We were so grateful to be able to read all of your wonderful messages as a family.  Thank you!  We truly feel blessed and loved and are ever-thankful for dear friends!  Much love to all of you! 💖

Be Mighty!

Camping

Our family has decided to do something fun every year on the anniversary of William's death. This year we decided to go camping in the Arbuckle Mountains. We had so much fun! 

The kids really enjoyed roasting marshmallows around the campfire!

There was an armadillo that kept coming to our camp during the night and waking several people up.  He kept jumping up and hitting his head on the luggage tray for the van and scaring himself!  Despite that we were all packed up and ready to go at a decent time because we wanted to do a little exploring around the site before we headed to our next destination.

I could not get warm! I enjoyed sitting by the fire resting my eyes. :)

Andrew wanted to climb a tree so bad!

Our next stop was unplanned, but we all had a fun time at Little Niagara.

With all the crossing of the falls, we did have just a few slips here and there.  So we hung some pants out the window so they could dry before we got to Turner Falls! 😂

We were laughing about how funny we must look to other people, a great, big van with 5 pair of pants flapping out the window.  Mommy said she's sure it must happen to other people but Abby said that even though it's happened to us on numerous occasions, she's NEVER seen any other car driving down the road with pants hanging out the window!  Hmmmm...

When you're so close who can resist a fried pie?!

We spent the rest of our day at Turner Falls. The first thing the boys wanted to do was hike up to see the "castle" ruins.

The falls are so beautiful and the sound of the rushing water is calming.  It's interesting that last year we picked a place that is usually busy, but we were the ONLY people in the park.  Every time we've been to Turner Falls it's been really busy, but today we only saw people occasionally.  It was nice to have the place almost entirely to ourselves.

I don't know what he was doing at this time... 😳

We spent the rest of the day hiking around the falls and looking for the caves that were nearby.

Daddy found this cave but it was too steep for everyone to make it up.  You can barely see him standing there!

We did find a cave! It was a little difficult to get to and it took a lot of team work, but we all made it (even Bandit & Maya)!

We found a fun playground for the kids to play on after we got back down.

We had to walk through this freezing water to get back to the car! I was so happy that I didn't slip!

Andrew - poor guy skinned his nose last week...

Titus

Adelina

Knox

Calvin

Wallace

Selah

Elly

Sherrod

Sydnee

Abby

Me

Our wonderful parents

Thank you all for the thoughts, prayers, and sweet messages that you've sent today. It's incredibly hard to believe that it's been two years since William flew home. We continue to miss him greatly, but we are grateful for your continued love and support.

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." Eph 6:10

posted by Sarah