August 22, 2020

It was a normal Saturday...and then it wasn't.  

My Dad was gone in a matter of hours.

  

He had a heart attack...his first one...then his life was over.

I didn't get to say good-bye.  I didn't get to see him one last time.  I didn't get time to prepare.  

He was just gone. 

And my world will never be the same again. 

Oh, how I love you Dad.

This is the last picture I took of my Dad.  It was February 2020, the last time I saw him.  He came to the van to say goodbye, as he always did when we left their house.

High Adventure--Tyson AND Mike addition

 High Adventure 2020 was a sensitive topic for me from the start.  There was talk about whether this was going to even happen because of Covid, but they charged on through with the planning and preparations, and luckily the park opened up for camping right before their scheduled dates.  The older boys wanted to do a super-risky, ultra-intense, crazy long...and in my opinion, insanely dangerous, hike through the Olympic mountains.  I won't get into all the details, but the leaders decided to split the boys into two groups, letting them pick between summiting Mount Olympus or the 7 Lakes Basin hike.  Mike and Tyson decided to go on the less intense version (7 Lakes Basin) with most of the boys who were Tyson's age and younger.  (You don't even want to know all the crazy stories from the other hike...including multiple occasions that participants thought their lives were at risk--yikes.)

They hiked 30ish miles over 3 days, carrying all their food and supplies on their backs!  They all survived and nobody got Covid, so I would call it a success.  It was quite an accomplishment and I am proud of my boys!  

Kya's Growing UP:)

This second child growing up thing just kind of sneaks up on you.  I cannot believe Kya is SEVENTEEN!!!!  And that she is going into her last year at home!!!  

We planned a day of canoeing, followed by an outdoor movie with a few friends.  Well, in true PNW fashion, the weather didn't cooperate.  So I took Kya and Delilah to get their nails done, played a few games, and headed to Olive Garden for dinner.  The weather cleared up so we played volleyball in the backyard, she had a few friends over to play games and we made brownie sundaes.  

I think she had a fun day.

A few weeks after Kya's birthday, we headed out to get her Senior Photos done.  It was such a fun time and the pictures turned out beautifully....and the weather even cooperated for us!

Not sure how we'll handle only one more year with this girl!!  We love her so much.