Summer of 2022

 Every Summer can be wonderful but this one has been particularly long, restful, and fun.  I have realized why personally this one has felt so restful...It is the first one I've had in a while where I didn't have a some major professional or personal changes. 

BJ was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2015. 

In 2016, I had a wonderful summer but the school year started with Anna Cate being sick and BJ's first brain surgery looming ahead of us. The Fall of 2016 is when our life fell apart, and in 2017, we moved here on a shortened summer and I was preparing to teach in a new school. In 2018, I used the summer to prepare to teach a new subject; in 2019, I moved schools again; in 2020, I was the remote teacher preparing to teach 6 subjects to 3 grades ( I left that school in the middle of the year). Last summer, I studied and prepared to teach a new subject (AP Psychology) and spent time preparing to revisit one I haven't taught in a long time (US History). So this year, I am not teaching something new or moving rooms and no family member is in the hospital!  No wonder it has felt so restful! Also, Anna Cate is driving, so while she is busy, it feels weird to not be the one driving her to and fro.

So about the girls' summer...

Last Christmas, it was a family gift for the girls to go to Disney...

So as soon as the school year was over, Aunt Becki provided the trip of a lifetime to Disney. 

They had the trip of a lifetime indeed!!! 

In June.....Molly came back to a summer of school sports practices (we are so thankful for sports since our local pool closed). She and her best friend/cousin Kitty both play basketball and volleyball for the school. 

Anna Cate worked two summer jobs... and two summer beach vacations (one with us and one with her friend Claudia). Before the summer started, she had to make a decision about whether to play basketball again or not. She knew she wanted to be a football manager/trainer with her Career/Technical Education teacher who is the athletic trainer for our high school. 

Last summer she worked across the street as a lifeguard at our local pool and it was closed for maintenance, so this summer she reached out and secured a job at a rec center about 45 minutes away and as a lifeguard at a beautiful campground in the county about 30 minutes a day. At first, she was overwhelmed because the church camp was one of those jobs where they needed someone to pitch in wherever she was needed and she was worried it wasn't as "cut and dry" as the directions she was familiar with as a lifeguard, but by the end of the month of June, she absolutely loved all aspects of it, including the worship experience. You can see from this picture on their social media site she had a lot of fun!

While AC was at the beach Molly and I cleaned out their room! It felt so good!

It was a great summer and upon reflection, it was the most relaxing one I've had for good reason!