I can't believe this summer is coming to an end already, where did the time go?! We had a lot of fun with friends here locally, great neighbors, visits from my mom, friends from 29 Palms, and Chris' brother and his family (pictures from their visit to come). It was also a difficult summer as Chris was gone from the end of April through the end of July. This is the longest amount of time we, as a family have been apart.
Over all it was a great time of growth for me as I learned just how capable I am of handling, well, everything, when Chris is away. I was really dreading him leaving and worried about how I was going to take care of the house, getting groceries, going shopping and basically doing everything I have to do with 4 boys in tow at all times. It was definitely an adjustment and it took a little while to get into a new routine of doing all my mommy duties AND adding the daddy duties in there too, but thanks to the prayers and support of our wonderful friends and family, the "impossibilities" that I had envisioned actually proved to not only be possible, but were actually a lot easier than I thought they would be.
My awesome neighbors, Karina and Michelle, would check in when they were going to the store to see if I needed anything, remind me to get the garbage cans out to the curb when I would forget, and invited the boys and I over for supper a few times. Not to mention the almost daily play dates we had out front letting the kids burn off energy while we had girl talk!
My sweet friend Heidi and her 3 kids brought lunch over one day and we were able to chat while the kids played.
My mom came out in June and stayed for the month which was amazing. I had a rough couple of days of readjusting after she left because she did so much to help me out. I don't think I cooked a single supper or loaded/unloaded the dishwasher the whole time she was here!!
My friend Amber and her 3 girls came for the 4th of July weekend and we had a great time going to the parade and fireworks with all the kids...plus the late night chats after the kids were in bed.
Holly, a friend who I have known since the last time we lived in CA from 2002-2006, came up with her daughter and stayed with the boys one day so I could go to a doctor appointment by myself. She drove over an hour from down in the San Diego area just to help me out!!
Adam and Sarah, dear friends from Iowa who sent me 2 beautiful bouquets of flowers and sent us a box from Omaha Steaks filled with yummy food to thank Chris for his service and for our sacrifice as a military family! They are 2 of the most selfless, giving, caring people I know and they are always showering us with love!
I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who are willing to go out of their way to help me out! Thank you to each and every one of you who helped me out physically, who prayed for me and our family, who sent me words of encouragement on Facebook, through texts and phone calls and with cards. You all were God's hands and feet to me during those 3 months!
So, even though Chris was gone and we missed him terribly, we were still able to have a fun summer and make some great memories. I wanted to share a few of them with you. Without further ado, here is a little collection of pictures of our summer, enjoy!
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