Meet me in Montana

Mom, Susan and I hit the road at 6:00 this morning for Montana. It is my first trip. to see Dad's family since he has been gone. The drive went quickly and we were a little shook up by the fact that we came across two car accidents. One had just happened and aid hadn't even arrived yet. The second one had I-90 shut down and a helicopter had landed on the road to transport. I pray that everyone is OK. We are staying in a bed and breakfast just outside of town. We stopped in and saw my cousin Donny and his wife Cookie as well as Dad's good friend Billy and his wife T.J. Tomorrow will be spent at Aunt Donna's. I am very excited to see her and hopeful she wants to share some Dad stories. I miss him so much, but feel so close to him here in this state that he loved so much.

And she's off!

I just booked Makayla a flight to Colorado for the first week of August. She is flying down to stay with our old neighbor and her BFF Jaden. Jaden's dad is serving in the Air Force and they got moved to Colorado Springs last July. The girls have been plotting this trip since they left. Makayla is earning the cost of her ticket by babysitting her brother over the summer. It is a huge help to me to have her do that. I feel like it is a pretty good deal for both of us. She has told Jaden that she is not going to be able to come. Mak will fly in on her birthday and surprise her. They are going to have such a great time!

Shrimp & Crawdads & Crab, Oh My!

Today was the annual Monaghan-Bergson Crawdad Extravaganza. Our whole family looks forward to it every year. The kids and I went early in the day to help with some of the last minute set up. Jeff worked this morning and came early in the afternoon. The rain held off and we had a beautiful afternoon of gluttony. As is the normal routine there was more to eat than could ever be finished. We all ate our weight in yummy seafood cooked cajun boil style. There was a great selection of sweets for desert, and of course awesome company! I look forward to this day all year, and it never disappoints. Makayla had my camera all day and took some fantastic pictures. I think she may have a natural eye for it!

School's out for summer!

The kids finally finished up their school year with a half day on Monday. I know! A half day on Monday??? I still don't know who's bright idea that was, but that was the big finish for the kid's year. I actually told them they didn't have to go. Mak asked me if I was feeling OK. :) I have a pretty firm rule about attendance at school. We call it the three B's. The kids have to be bleedin', barfin', or burnin' up to get to stay home. I just figured they wouldn't be doing anything anyway, so why make them go? They actually chose to go! It was Makayla's last day of middle school, some of her friends are off to different high schools. She wanted the opportunity to say good-bye. Yes, you read that right. My baby girl is in HIGH SCHOOL! I still can not believe it. She seems to be growing up at a rate I can't keep up with. I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming. She is doing well in school, participating in sports, band and other clubs. I hope she continues to make smart decisions as she heads off to high school. We had a pretty relaxed first week of summer. I worked Tuesday and Thursday mornings and was home by early afternoon. Wednesday Susan, the kids and I hiked Mt. Peak in Enumclaw. It dang near killed me. I had forgotten how steep that trail is! The kids RAN to the top and had to wait on us old people. We finished it and then headed out to Mom's for the afternoon. She cooked us dinner and we visited until 6:30 before heading for home. Poor Jeff is still working two jobs. He was home long enough to shower and sleep this week. I am anxious for our trip to get here so he can relax for a whole week. I am so thankful he is willing to work so hard to provide for us. Garrett told me on the way to school one day last week how much he liked that I could drop him off and pick him up every day. I told him to tell his Dad thank-you too.

Father's Day

Today is such a day of mixed emotions. It's hard to believe that Dad has been gone over two years. I miss him everyday. It makes me angry that he was stolen from me, when so many men choose to have children and then NOT be fathers to them. He was always there for me, and I miss that. Then I try to remind myself how lucky I was to have had him to begin with. All those kids that grow up with dads that are not around. They never get to have what I had. I spend today trying to be grateful. I spend today trying hard not to be sad. I need to make this a special day for Jeff. I chose as wisely as my Mom when I picked a man to be a father to my children. Jeff is an amazing Dad. I should have known sooner, oddly enough, MY Dad knew what kind of man Jeff would be. I think the only person happier than Jeff and I the day we married was my Dad......

Well that was fun.

We have spent the last few days with the stomach flu. It hit like a freight train Sunday night. Mak and I were both down for the count. As it turns out, it hit half of our guests from Saturday as well. I was truly afraid I had served something that was contaminated, until I found out several of our neighbors had it too. I also talked to a work acquaintance today who had it and knew of several others as well. Boogie thinks it is the norovirus. I guess there is a high probability one of us picked it up in the hospital. Grandma PeeWee was released on Friday after they determined she is cancer FREE!

Surprise!

JuJu's 70th surprise party went off without a hitch. The weather, which has been TERRIBLE all spring was a sunny beautiful 70 degrees! JuJu was shocked to arrive by limo to a house full of her family and friends. We had told her we were taking her to a restaurant she really doesn't like! It was so sweet to watch her fight tears of happiness all day. I am completely exhausted after all the cooking, cleaning and decorating, but it was worth it!