Christmas Letter 2022

 To all our dear friends & family,

A very Merry Christmas to you! It's been quite a year, to say the least. The year has been filled with visits from family and friends, which is always a highlight for us. We also were visited by lots of dolphins and manatee. We had chocolate swims (night swimming), loads of ice cream, not to mention all of our first cases of Covid (minus K who had gotten Covid back in 2020). I spent some time with my dear friend for a girls' weekend in Naples, the kids made lots of movies, L captured some amazing images with his drone, and H learned to do back handsprings in gymnastics. We spent a neat weekend in St. Augustine with our homeschool group as well as overnights in St. Petersburg and of course Legoland...some of our favorite FL spots. H was in performances of The Lion King and Annie at the local theater.

We spent spring break in Iceland, which was absolutely amazing. So many amazing people and vistas to experience. We saw black beaches, a glacier, geysers, whales, a volcano, and even a few northern lights, not to mention some excellent museums. We celebrated (with a few tears on my part) the end of our homeschooling experience, bittersweet to be sure. We transitioned quickly into summer with trips to Indiana and Michigan, New York City with most of my side of the family, and North Carolina where we all experienced our first alpine roller coaster, tree-to-tree zipline experience, and hikes up to waterfalls and on to rock plateaus. All three of our kids decided to get baptized this summer at my folks' lake house, which is super special. We love that they each made this decision for their own reasons. Being at the lake with both of our sets of parents and lots of family made it extra special. L also celebrated the big 1-3 at the lake (and at the farm). It was a very exciting trip to be sure! K & I enjoyed a trip to Louisville with his brothers and wives for a few days. I have learned that I definitely do like Louisville but don't like bourbon. So lots of fun trips this year.

All three kids started school this year and are doing really great. I will be the first to admit that they run a much tighter ship than I did in our homeschool, thankfully, which made the transition for R into second grade tough. But all three kids have proven their strength and grit through some tough things this year, and we're really proud of each one of them. 

Quick kid updates:

L is 13 and finding he has quite a knack for all things techie. He's proving to be quite good at filmmaking and photography, an interest he's had for a while now but has become much more sophisticated in this year. He's still an avid reader and pianist and has chosen cross-country and tennis for his school sports. We've also added golf to that list this winter. He is kind and thoughtful and has a huge heart for the wanting to help many global issues. Eighth grade is proving to be much harder than seventh as they get the kids ready for high school next year (!!). He's looking forward to his DC trip at the end of this school year.

H is 11 and is beautiful and creative and a peacemaker. She has transitioned into 6th grade wonderfully. She loved cheerleading this fall and is trying to decide between lacrosse & track and field for her spring sport. (She and L are doing golf and tennis on the side since they didn't choose a winter sport at school.) She chose trumpet for her instrument this year and is starting to enjoy playing it now that she's figured out the "buzz." She's finding an interest in theater and enjoying doing that with friends.

R is 8 and doing great in his new school environment, especially now that he's figured out the 2nd grade classroom rhythms. He's a great friend to his buddies and enjoys seeing them every day. I'm learning a lot about him and his preferences. For instance, he likes to be on time and prepared, and he is very organized. His reading is coming along really well, and we are so thankful for his teachers and reading specialist who got him over the hump of "learning to read" and into "reading to learn." He's playing tennis and golf; I thinks he likes golf best.  

They're all doing great, and we're so thankful for that. Our last trip this fall was to Disney World. It was our first trip there, and it was definitely a memorable experience. We had to cut our trip a day short because Tropical Storm Ian was turning into a hurricane, and we wanted to get home to do some hurricane prep. We spent Monday of that week securing the chickens' food & water, getting the guineas all settled inside, bringing in outdoor furniture, taking down the hammocks, filling jugs of water, and making sure our little generators were all charged. We were just going to ride out the storm because, really, how bad could this hurricane be? We woke up Tuesday morning to an evacuation notice. Mandatory evacuation for the whole island. So we packed our duffels for about 3 days and headed to Naples, hoping it would be far enough away from the worst of the storm.

You all know the rest of the story. (If you don't, go back in this blog history and you can read our account of Hurricane Ian.) September 28 changed everyone's life in SW Florida. That hurricane upended our lives and so many lives around us. Three days away from Sanibel has turned into two months and counting. We thank God for his protection of our family and of our home and it's most precious contents. But the layers of loss are so, so staggering. We are still reeling from the weight of it all, still trying to learn from it all, still trying to find the goodness in it (and there is goodness). Earlier this week, I was on the phone with a power washing company, and the woman I was talking to was so concerned when she learned the job was on Sanibel. She asked how we were doing, and I said "ok." And she said, "There's nothing ok about this." And she's right. I've told a few folks, "I'm fine but not ok," which actually says it better. 

After Hurricane Ian, we were overwhelmed by friends from Indy and around the country and around the world, reaching out to us & sending us prayers, encouragement, gifts. It was incredible. Neighbors of some of our extended family sent our kids presents (and we have never met those neighbors!). Friends sent our kids gift cards and Lego and food. Restaurants gave us free food. It was humbling and overwhelming. And it made us very thankful and made us feel very loved.

We don't know when we'll move back to Sanibel. We are living in Ft Myers a few minutes from the kids' school and will stay until we feel it makes sense for us to go back to Sanibel. While our house is now livable and a few friends are moving back and some businesses are starting to open again (all wonderful), we still don't feel it's time for us to go back. We are waiting.

In my favorite Advent book, Watch for the Light, Henri Nouwen writes about "Waiting for God." He writes, "Waiting is not a very popular attitude. Waiting is not something that people think about with great sympathy. In fact, most people consider waiting a waste of time. Perhaps this is because the culture in which we live is basically saying, 'Get going! Do something! Show you are able to make a difference! Don't just sit there and wait!' For many people, waiting is an awful desert between where they are and where they want to go. And people do not like such a place. They want to get out of it by doing something. In our particular historical situation, waiting is even more difficult because we are so fearful. [...] The more afraid we are, the harder waiting becomes. [...] It impresses me, therefore, that all the figures who appear on the first pages of Luke's Gospel are waiting. Zechariah and Elizabeth are waiting. Mary is waiting. Simeon and Anna, who were there at the temple when Jesus was brought in, are waiting. [...] And right at the beginning all those people in some way or another hear the words, 'Do not be afraid. I have something to say to you.'"

We are waiting, and listening, and paying attention, trying to live expectantly. We have received the promise that God loves us and cares for us and wants the best for us. So we wait with a sense of promise that God is doing something bigger than what we can see. In this way, these promises allow us to wait. Not just for wisdom on when to move back to Sanibel. But for wisdom regarding our role in it all, what it means for our family & our kids. As Nouwen continues, he describes waiting as active. "Active waiting means to be present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it." He also describes waiting as open-ended: "Open-ended waiting is hard for us because we tend to wait for something very concrete, for something that we wish to have. Much of our waiting is filled with wishes. [...] We are full of wishes, and our waiting easily gets entangled in those wishes. [...] We want the future to go in a very specific direction, and if this does not happen we are disappointed and can even slip into despair. [...] But Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary were not filled with wishes. They were filled with hope. Hope is something very different. Hope is trusting that something will be fulfilled, but fulfilled not just according to our wishes." 

This is all not only highly applicable to this post-hurricane season we are in but to all of life. It's how we want to live our lives. Expectant of what God has in store, seeing the blessings around us, being thankful for those blessings, and knowing He is at work at doing what is more magnificent than our minds can imagine. We wait, we watch, and we send our kids to school and make meal plans for the week and have coffees with friends and clean up the muck and mire that this hurricane has left behind. And we do it together. And it's really hard work and I sometimes cry when I least expect it. And I laugh when I sometimes least expect it. And that's life, right? 

So, as we celebrate Advent and live with joy in anticipation of all that God has in store for us, we remember you, our family and friends, who have walked faithfully beside us through these tough days. I wrote so much about the good that has happened this year because I need to remember the good; it's been a really good year. I don't want to lose sight of that in the wake of the hurricane. Your prayers, cards, gifts, and conversations have been life-giving, breath-giving on the days when I feel the breath has completely left me. Thank you for your love. 

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Blessings to you all as we finish 2022 and enter a brand new year. Godspeed, be thankful and keep up the good work.

All our love,

K, M, L, H, R and the Wonderdogs and the Guineas

(First six photos are from Iceland. The rest are from everything else.)

Hurricane Update #7

Life continues to move forward here in Florida. We hear more and more stories of devastation and sadness. But we also hear more and more stories of hope and restoration. This is good. We are trying to focus on the positive! 

Speaking of positive, we have power back at our house! Our amazing friend, T, is here helping so many of us. He was over at our house on November 5 and texted this photo of our meter running. He wrote, "And we have power!" H and I were at a play watching her friend perform. I received his text during intermission and just started crying right there and then. Again, another level of relief overcame me. He then sent a photo of the back of our house lit up. It's one of the more beautiful sights I've seen lately.

These photos come to us a week after K and I went back to our Palm Lake house to do a walk-through after another amazing friend, Y, cleared all of the furniture and debris and mud out of the house and from around the property, no small job. With everything out of the house, we were able to see that the foundation did indeed shift, in some places as much as six inches. It's unbelievable to us. We knew it was a tear-down, but this confirmed it for me. This is a photo from our guest room of the floor... and another of the guest bedroom...the towel is still hanging!

I'm going to close with two things: 

First, I have been doing the first two lessons of The Viewfinder Project, What is Ugly and What is Beautiful, with some of my friends here as we process all that has transpired. I know it's been good for me, and I hope it's been good for them. We're finishing up on Monday with a writing session led by my very talented cousin, Kelsea. There are so many layers of emotions, so many layers of loss and grief. So we're trying to name some of that and work through it to the other side. It's hard work. Continue to keep us all in your prayers.

Second, I've been reading an Anne Lamott book called, Stitches, which K gave me years ago but I pulled off the shelf because it seemed timely. Here's an excerpt that has been meaningful for me:

"[...] most of us have figured out that we have to do what's in front of us and keep doing it. We clean up beaches after oil spills. We rebuild whole towns after hurricanes and tornadoes. We return calls and library books. We get people water. Some of us even pray. Every time we choose the good action or response, the decent, the valuable, it builds, incrementally, to renewal, resurrection, the place of newness, freedom, justice. The equation is: life, death, resurrection, hope. The horror is real, and so you make casseroles for your neighbor, organize an overseas clothing drive, and do your laundry. You can also offer to do other people's laundry, if they have recently had any random babies or surgeries. We live stitch by stitch, when we're lucky."

Love to you all.

Hurricane Update #6

 Hi everyone,

It's been a minute since I've posted because it's been a whirlwind of days that met into weeks. The kids went back to school on October 17 after an almost 3-week hiatus. The city opened the causeway up to residents earlier than planned on October 19. That day, we dropped the kids at school and drove over. I took video footage of it all. This was only my second time to the island after the hurricane, my first time to see first hand what Sanibel really looks like. (The first time, we boated straight to our dock, went into the house, got back on the boat. And at that stage, most people hadn't started remediation at all.) The little bridge going over a canal between the causeway and our house is broken in two spots, so we had to go the long way around. Truly, the photos don't do it justice. To see every house...every house...with most of its contents out on the curb is haunting. Roofs were stuck in trees. Everything was where it wasn't supposed to be. It reminds me of a twisted version of that Dr. Seuss story, Wacky Wednesday. 

That Saturday, we decided to drive the kids over to see Sanibel and see our house. We were all heeding Mr. Roger's mother's words and were looking for the helpers. (They were everywhere.) We couldn't help but marvel at how cars got where they were, how entire houses shifted to new locations. They loved being back at our house with their things. With the car, we were all able to gather more clothes and personal belongings. It was good for all of us to see exactly why we can't move back to Sanibel right now and probably not for a while. 

The good news is that the water is back on most places for cleaning/washing. We can even flush toilets and wash hands, which feels remarkable to me. We keep hearing reports that various friends have power to their homes already too, which is also great. We're anxiously awaiting news that our electrical system at the house is in good enough shape to reconnect to the grid. Hopefully that will happen next week. 

On Tuesday morning, K and I got in the car and drove back to Sanibel. This time, though, we headed to our home on Palm Lake Drive. We were meeting the flood insurance adjuster there. This would be our first time to see firsthand how that house had fared. I'm so thankful we saw it together because it was terrible. Tears just started flowing as we approached Bailey's and headed south on Tarpon Bay Rd. More tears as we turned onto West Gulf Drive. Tears as we drove by Shalimar, which is no longer there. Tears as we drove by the little church on the corner of Palm Lake, which didn't make it. And tears as we turned the corner onto our street and saw so much of Island Inn Resort from across the street in our front yard. We couldn't walk to the front door. So much mud. Still. And now, nearly a month after the hurricane and no open windows, mold growing up our walls. The house literally is falling apart inside. I don't want to post many photos of all of that because so many of you have been to that house and I don't want to spoil the memory you have of it. The foundation of the house actually cracked. And shifted about 1/2 inch. It will need to come down. Soon, I'm going to ask any of you who spent time in that house to send me a few photos of you there...I'm going to put together a photo album of that special spot that has always been a thin place for us, a sanctuary. L had his first Christmas there, all the kids learned to ride their bikes on that loop, H recovered from her skull surgery there...so, so many memories. And the memories go back even farther than us. We bought that house from our friends, the Fishers, who filled it with friends and family and memories too. I'm so sad it's gone.

In closing for now, I'm posting a photo of one of the many bizarre things we saw at that house. The book laying in the mud was on the far side of the living room, away from the kitchen. Somehow, that spatula got itself stuck in the book and landed upright. And there is sits. I couldn't resist snapping a photo. I’m also including a photo of our banyan tree at our house...it’s already sprouting new leaves! 

Thanks to all for your continued prayers and texts and emails checking in. We are finding our footing in our new digs and are thankful school is back in session. These are bringing stability and a sense of place.

Hugs,
mb&k

Hurricane Ian Update #5

Things seem to be moving so fast. They opened up the Causeway on Tuesday for a million repair trucks. It's pretty unbelievable. And they are scheduled to open up the Causeway to residents on October 21, which is also unbelievable. We are so thankful. In case you haven't seen the footage on social media or in the news, here are some links if you want to see the video footage of the convoy arriving on Sanibel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVx9x49EFNc

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqZmsM6fYwg

We are tired but hopeful. There are still so many families in need of help, so many families still in Hertz arena waiting for direction on what to do next. Keep praying for all involved.

Hugs to you all.

Hurricane Ian Update #4

Thank you, thank you, thank you to each and every one of you that made R's 8th birthday so very special!! It was such a sweet day! He started receiving packages and cards before his birthday, then on his birthday, then yesterday too. Wow. We made pancakes for breakfast. He then went on his scavenger hunt for his gifts, a tradition in our house (though the clues were made by a very tired momma), opened gifts, then went to look at a house in Fort Myers that might be ours to live in until we can move back home to Sanibel. Then back to Naples for pizza dinner and cookie cake with friends. It was a good day. He/we felt so loved on and showered by gifts (for L & H & us too!) and calls. He even received lots of video messages and photos of handmade cards from his friends at school! I've posted a few photos from the day at the bottom of this post.

It feels like months since the hurricane, not weeks. Every day is long and full of changing information and plans. We're hoping to be settled into a new place by the end of the month. So much to do before that, though. School starts on October 17, which will be good...get those routines going again. We're so thankful for the school community, for the administration and teachers who, despite going through their own craziness, are there for our kids. It's all so amazing. So thankful for all of the helpers.

I'm feeling a deep sense of weariness setting in...so I'm praying for the energy to get through the days ahead. We also have a sick dog, though we don't know what's wrong. She has had a bad cough since mid-August and has been on a cough med and an antibiotic in addition to her normal allergy meds. But the medicine has run out, our vet on Sanibel is unreachable, and I can't get her meds refilled without being seen. There are so many animals that need more immediate attention, so it's been difficult to get her in to see anyone. Praying about all of that too. 

Thanks for all of your continued prayers and support. We're hanging in there and will be fine. K keeps reminding me that it's a marathon not a sprint...Hugs to all of you!

Hurricane Ian Update #3

Thanks to all of you who were praying as we went over to Sanibel today. It was an early start. No problems getting on the island. Just showed our driver's license to the police stationed by our canal entrance and headed in. I had seen lots of photos of everything thanks to K, so I wasn't too shocked by what I saw. A thin layer of mud over the entire lower level. Mold already starting inside drawers and toy containers with anything wood. It's crazy. I'm thankful K and Todd are working so hard over there to remove the wet & rotting materials. My main job was to attack the playroom...keep as much Lego as possible. And if you know us, we have a lot of Lego. (Such teeny, tiny pieces!!) The Critters all pretty much had to be tossed. The costume bin miraculously remained bone dry as did a few other bins.

The hardest part of this whole thing is really the displaced feeling. We feel we are camping out, trying to unpack, trying to settle, all the while not knowing how long we'll really be out of our home. The stuff in the house is just that...stuff. And we can replace lots of the ruined things. But it's the feeling of losing home. K always has said, "Home is where the hounds are." And we have our hounds and guineas and of course our three awesome kids. So I know "home" is where they are. But I've always been a person whose physical space and place can be a "thin place." And our home on Sanibel is just that. We moved in to this house just over a year ago. Did some work inside. Built a dock outside. We literally just finished our big landscape project the week before the hurricane. I don't think I was holding on to it all too tightly. But sometimes I wonder.

We're hearing lots of encouraging reports that there will soon be a temporary bridge for residents and workers who will get to work rebuilding and getting power and water on. It all just takes time, we know. And we're thankful for the movement in this direction. K has been a machine...getting so much done for us, for our house, for our friends. I admire him and love him so very much. I'm so thankful I have a steady partner through this.

My dad has this saying: Absorb chaos, give back calm, provide hope. We are trying to live that. Big time. But it's very, very tiring absorbing all the chaos while remaining calm and giving back hope.

So that's where I am tonight. I'm tired yet encouraged yet left wondering at it all. So many have lost so much more. I try to see the beauty in things. I try to see the good. I definitely see God. My friend L texted me, "I'm glad you are seeing the beauty in all of this." I told her I didn't really see the beauty but I can definitely see God at work. And she responded, "God is beauty, and you are seeing Him." Made me cry.

Hugs to you all tonight. We look forward to seeing you sometime soon and once again be able to host you in our Sanibel home.

Hurricane Ian Update #2

It's been six days since Hurricane Ian visited us here in SW Florida. It's been a crazy roller coaster of a week. The short of it is that residents are allowed on to the island by private vessel starting tomorrow, curfew of 7am to 7pm. Praise God. K and I are heading there tomorrow, possibly accompanied by our talented & generous builder of a friend, TW. I'll try to post a few photos once I get to lay eyes on everything myself. But we'll be working hard to rid the lower level of anything that mold likes...

Going backwards for a minute...During the storm, we played games, read stories, hooked a portable DVD player up to our little generator and watched a movie. But in the end, K just couldn't focus and just sat by the front door watching the water rise. He was watching and waiting, watching the levels to see when we'd need to move to the next level up because the water might come into the house. The water flooded the street, crept up the mailbox posts, entered the driveway and eventually into the garage. Up the first step to the front door. It was rising so fast. Then it stopped. Then it receded. Then we could actually see the grass again, proof that my eyes weren't deceiving me.

We got power back here at the house in Naples Thursday late afternoon. K immediately went to the back patio and raised the hurricane shutters. The light of the beautiful sunset poured into the room that had been the darkest during the storm. I delighted in it then immediately started weeping. Weeping with relief; weeping with grief. 

I've often thought of the Bible story of Noah and the flood, and especially thought of it during this hurricane. One of our good friends and favorite musicians, Jeff Black, wrote a song called "Noah's Ark." He plays it for me every time he plays at our house concerts. It has always been a favorite of mine, always has moved me. I listened to it this morning and wept. Again. Take a moment and listen. It might just be the theme song for this moment in time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SjfhyDL4z0

We love you and are beyond thankful for all of you and your kind words, your encouragement, your prayers. You have carried us. This would be too heavy without God & you. Bitter. Sweet. They go together. 

To be continued...

Hurricane Ian Update #1 (addendum)

Every day reveals more about all that is happening. I just heard a report from a city meeting that the current plan is to have a plan for the causeway in 30 days, and have the causeway fixed in a year. A year? 

I know Sanibel is a tourist destination where lots of the devastation was to people's second homes. But it's also home to a lot of people whose everything was there. Their livelihood, their only home. So if you know people who may look at the losses on Sanibel and think, well, "it was just a tourist destination" or "if people lived there they can afford to live somewhere else," please remind them that it was so much more for so many people. 

If I'm honest, I fear that Sanibel will be deemed totaled and beyond repair and put out to the curb in order to focus on the losses on the mainland. Please say a prayer that won't happen, if not for us then for all the families who have lost everything and have to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

One more note regarding our family....Our sweet baby, R, turns 8 next Friday. Poor kid is just trying to figure out how to celebrate his birthday and who he can be with. If you want to send him a card, text me and I'll give you the address of where we're staying. Hugs to you all!

Hurricane Ian Update #1

 To our dear friends and family,

Thank you so much to all of you for all of your emails, texts, and phone calls as you check in with us after Hurricane Ian ravaged SW Florida. We evacuated Sanibel on Tuesday afternoon and have been safely hunkered down in Naples, FL at K's parents' house. We have two dogs and three guinea pigs with us. Sadly, we had to leave our four chickens behind. We thought we'd be gone 3, maybe 4 days and packed accordingly. Thankfully, I had the kids pack their most precious lovies; I had the sense somehow to grab the passports, external hard drives, and journals that I've kept for the kids since they were babies.

September 28 was one of the longest days of our lives. We literally sat in the dark watching the streets here in Naples fill with water, slowly making its way into the garage, praying it wouldn't rise the 3-feet into the house, all the while wondering what this hurricane was doing to our community on Sanibel. 

We didn't have power for about 36 hours, which means we had very intermittent satellite connections for our phones. We had no idea about all that was happening in the SW Florida until late yesterday when the power finally came back on and we could finally see images. It's all incredibly heartbreaking and overwhelming.

Late last night, K found out he had an opportunity to get on a boat with a few friends and head over to Sanibel to check on the house. He left here at 6:30am, bringing a short list of things to grab to bring back with him. (FYI, evacuation lists don't generally have "school bags" on them! So some school binders/notebooks were on that list.) While he was gone, some friends sent through the link to satellite images of the damage; I could see that we had a roof, that our boat was still on the lift (we thought all the boats had floated away), and the rv was still in the driveway. We also learned that the Sanibel lighthouse was still standing (we thought it had blown down). All good news.

After a very long day, K returned around 4pm with pictures and news. We learned:

-The lower level of our home flooded and is wrecked; about 4-5 feet of water entered our lower level.
-Our landscaping took a big beating, including our beautiful, ancient banyan tree which has lost at least a third of its mass/branches.
-The upper two floors of the house are totally fine and intact.
-No windows or doors are broken.
-And, miraculously, 3 of 4 chickens survived. They are now free to roam Sanibel to their hearts content...

Unfortunately, our other house (that many of you have been to) over on Palm Lake Drive is ruined, irreparable. At least 5 feet of sea water filled that one-story house. That's our personal bad news. But the bad news continues to come in regarding friends' homes. It's all so terrible. And even what survived is at risk of mold and rot beyond remediation. Sanibel will never be the same.

But we trust that a new Sanibel is coming. I've never seen so many resilient people and spirits. It's awe-inspiring. When I see footage online of all the helpers, I start crying every time. People are bringing food and water to the rescue teams; they are working hard to continue to evacuate people. 

I can't help but count the blessings in our lives despite the tragedy, find the sweet alongside the bitter, as my sister-in-law reminded me.

I'm grateful:
-For the angels who have blessed us immensely (Noah, Todd, Wess, and the countless friends and family who have checked on us and encouraged us)
-That we have a safe place to stay as long as we need to
-That K has such a great sense of humor
-That we're all healthy after a month of struggling with health
-For so many digital photos so I don't need to worry about salvaging paper photos
-That the kids are taking all of this in stride and rolling with the massive changes amazingly well

Thanks for sticking with me through the end of this post. I'm sorry for the impersonal nature of this update. But I am the world's worst and slowest texter and this is the easiest way to give a detailed update to the most people and not be on our phone's all day amidst still-spotty service.

We will be happy to continue to respond personally to texts, emails and phone calls. But wanted to get this update out sooner than later. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. Our prayers continue to go out to our friends and community who were impacted in such tremendous ways.

K wants to add...As the great theologian John Lennon of the Beatles said, "It will be alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end." And as many angels said many times, "Don't be afraid."

All our love,
K, M, L, H, R and the dogs and guineas

A final prayer:
Those who know us well know how much we rely on the strength of God to guide us through the tough stuff and help us focus on the blessings in our lives. Without Christ, we are nothing. I read a beautiful prayer yesterday morning by one of my favorite authors, Shauna Niequist, from her book Savor in a reading called "Scary Headlines." May we all be full of grace, kindness and faith through whatever challenges we face, big or small. Here is the paraphrased version:

"Deep breath. On the days when I'm tempted to lie down on the ground and let the anxiety I feel about our world flatten me like a steamroller, instead I pray. I speak to God, sometimes out loud, often in the car, frequently in the shower. I ask for help about the things I don't understand. I ask for peace, and grace, and the ability to see outside myself. I pray for people who are at the mercy of the scary headlines...And I pray for the people who can solve these problems. I pray for a way through, a light at the end of the tunnel."

Our front yard after...

Our front yard before...

The crazy things that floated into the pool from our pool deck...

Our driveway...