busy summer things

It's been so long since I've been here.  Blogger has even changed its site - I logged on and it took me a minute to find my blog and figure out how to post something!

There are big things happening around my house... things I am not quite ready to talk about here just yet.  Which is mainly why I've been absent.  Soon, I will be ready, but I'll leave it at that for the moment.

In the meantime, we've had lots of family time lately.  We had a big picnic in our backyard in June with about 60 family & friends, which was wonderful despite the stifling heat.  We went to a baseball game with Mike's family and Emmett had playtime with Alli & Aaron.

We went up to Vermont for a family reunion with my Dad's family and had a great time with cousins, playing games, swimming and catching up.

In the past week, we've had an overnight visit from Katherine, Julia & Sam and then a 2 day visit from Maresi & Maria.  These were both so great.  I had lots of time to catch up with Kat & Maresi, and Emmett had plenty of cousin time.  Both Julia & Maria had sleepovers in his room with him, and they did a great job.  It was such a joy to have them!

Sadly, on Monday we lost Mike's Grandma Violet.  She was a really special lady, and we miss her.  We'll be driving down to PA tomorrow so that we can celebrate her life with family there on Friday.  It is a sad occasion, but we will be glad to see cousins and family there.

Saturday, we begin our summer vacation with my family.  Gram & Grandpa used to own a house on a lake, close to their home.  It was their summer house, and my mom & her siblings grew up there, spending summers from the day school closed each year.  They sold it many years ago when Grandpa was sick.  The current owner of the house invited Gram and her children to come and see the place last summer.  It turns out she rents it occasionally - and offered to give members of our family first option for renting it.  We'll be there next week with my parents and Gram and Grandfather.  It is a special place and I am really looking forward to spending the week there.  Mike will unfortunately have to work during the week next week but is going to join us as much as he can.

It's a busy summer, as usual!