The First Month of Summer

I've done it again...let another month slip by without an update! It's a bit hard to believe that one month of the summer has gone by already, too. We've had some ups and downs this month, but I'll stick to the highlights here.

Most notably, we spent a couple of weeks in May travelling, first to ABQ for Mark's sister's graduation from high school, then in the Denver area to spend time with Damon and Diana. In ABQ, most of our activities revolved around the graduation festivities--honors assembly, party, graduation--but we also, as usual, indulged in all of our favorite foods. In addition to the usual (Dion's Weck's, Blake's, we discovered a new place that's now on our must-do list--Chile Rio. If you live in ABQ and haven't been, go--it's great! And, thanks again to Grandma for taking us there!).

We even made two trips to the mountains--we spent Mother's Day with Mark's family in the Jemez Mountains and, another day, took the tram up to Sandia Peak. Oh, how I miss the mountains! We also spent some time with my side of the family--I especially enjoyed an early b-day shopping trip with Grandma, and we were able to see the condo my sister was in the process of buying (now she's moving in--how exciting!). My Dad returned from Uganda a day or two after we got to ABQ, so I got to go with my mom to pick him up at the airport and greet the rest of the team. Even better, the missionaries we work with in Uganda, Reuben and Florence, were in ABQ too, so a big potluck for everyone who has been to Uganda was organized as well. I was so happy to be able to go and reconnect with the people I traveled with (and others!).

Here are a few pictures:

Group photo from the Uganda dinner.

Katie before her graduation party.

Katie's gift from  us--some "money soap"...could be $50 in there!

After graduation.

At Jemez Falls.

I think I told them to "do something cool"...

The men of the family.

Heidi, Hannah, and Zach when we stopped for fry bread.

At Sandia Peak--what a view!

Katie and I hiked over to the rock house, too!

Me and Grandma on Mom & Dad's back patio.

Mom & Julie.

The stained glass window Grandpa Mike made for us--amazing!

In Colorado, we enjoyed more mountains and beautiful scenery, as well as more relaxation. I love being back in ABQ, and it was a treat to be there in May rather than December (for the first time since we moved out to OH), but we are always super busy when we're there. So it was nice to have a few days to just hang out. It turns out that I basically only took pictures of some food there, but I'll only share this one:

One of the tastiest foods we tried--bacon peanut brittle.

Also since I last posted, two major issues in our life have been resolved: my contract at my current job was unexpectedly renewed, which is a huge blessing, and we finally sold our old car, which is such a relief! Not only am I thankful for those things, but I'm also trying to be more thankful on a day-to-day basis. I seem to struggle with getting bent out of shape when things (even relatively minor ones) don't go my way, and I want to cultivate an attitude that instead recognizes God's provision and acknowledges all I have to be thankful for, even in the midst of a struggle. We've got some family and friends who are going through some seriously difficult times, and I want to get better about not taking things for granted. I also want to find ways to offer my support and love to those around me who are working through challenges.

As for the rest of our summer, I know we'll do a bit more travelling, and I've got lots of ideas about what else should be done (reading, cleaning, cooking, etc.) I'll try to take note of some interesting things to post about as I go!