In the Middle

I was home for a few days in the middle of the two trips to my brother's. We did half a week of school, made arrangements for the dogs, ran a bunch of errands, bought some clothes for the funeral, all the details in slow motion. My brother asked me to write Linsey's story, so that became a big focus, interviewing family, trying to get the details straight. She was pretty incredible.

Our NGF's sent flowers. They're so beautiful! When I added water to the soil, I was astounded to see "tear drops" at the ends of the leaves. Who knew that plants could weep with you?





We felt like the kids were feeling kind of homebound--they didn't have karate or work because the studio was moving to a new location. Buck had several days off, and we needed to do something "fun."

 

It was a simple plan. Visit an empty zoo on a cold, but sunny day. We watched a movie about service animals, which was pretty amazing, then walked the deserted grounds. The animals like cool weather and sunshine, so they were busy--the monkeys even pounded on the glass in greeting when we peered in at their new babies. 

After the zoo, we used our Christmas gift cards from Grandma J and got some yummy Chinese food. It was a good day out together, a healthy change of pace. I'm glad God gives us moments like this, and that it is okay to embrace them. I'm very thankful for my family.

Addendum: I keep finding pics in my phone that I forgot about. The kids helped get the new karate studio set up, too. I'd get fun pics like this from time to time :)