survived another first...

We had a blessed weekend with Hal and Jenny a few weeks ago.  As I mentioned before, it was the first time that we had all been together in their home since Craig passed away.  It was a good visit filled with memories and laughter but at the same time it was sad and there were tears.  Death can be such a difficult thing.  You expect the person to walk through the door at any moment all the while knowing that the door will never open again.

What made things even better were all of the loved ones who were present.

Elease, her cousin Kayla (who just so happens to be married to Craig's best friend, Joe), and their baby girl, Jadyn were all there to share in the evening with us.  

Seriously, how cute is she?!  I love her chubby cheeks.

Just precious. 

The boys stayed back at the house (with the exception of Landon who wasn't going to miss a chance to ride his bike)...

and the girls enjoyed walking and talking as the sun set.
There was only one down side to our walk and that was the INSANE spiders that seem to be taking over the neighborhood...
This picture doesn't really do justice to the true size of this spider.  It was speedily creating a massive web that spanned the entire entrance of the gate leading into this yard.  I truly hope the person who lives here is paying attention the next time they got to walk through the gate.  

Creepy right?  Seriously, I feel like they are on me.  Gives me the heebie-jeebies!

When we got back from our walk the kids got out their kites.  Ashlyn is a pro and can have her kite flying high within minutes.  I don't know where she learned how but my mommy heart swells with pride every time I see her beaming smile as her kite lifts higher and higher.

Ashlyn even handed off kites to people as she eased the other kites up into the sky.

Beautiful night.

The following day we woke up and Jenny, the kids and I drove down to the river for a walk.

The kids were very interested in the river and watching all of the boats.  

On the way back to the car Ashlyn was pouting about something so she chose to walk way ahead of us...

Seriously, if it isn't one kid then it's the other.  I don't buy into pouting so they don't get a lot of sympathy from me in that area.  Sometimes in life you don't get what you want.  Sometimes we have to consider other people's interests instead of just our own.  Enough said.

We stopped by the park on the way home.  Visiting a park that you have never been to is like a discovering a hidden treasure.  There is so much to see and do.


The kids were itching to get back to the house so they could go swimming.  

Ashlyn performed her own mini-Olympics and had Emay announcing her events.
 

Landon is slowly increasing in his swimming ability and becoming more confident.  Not only that but it is already mid-August and I haven't had to jump in the pool to save him yet!

I mentioned before that Hal and Jenny had a mother bird who built a nest and decided to lay her eggs on the pillar by their garage.  The babies had just hatched a few days before our visit and we got to see them up close and personal...

The mother bird was never far away and was always protectively watching over her babies.

The other big excitement of the weekend was when Hal got out the box of Craig's LEGOs.  He has so many that he carefully put together and they have all been saved in a giant box.

Landon loved all of the models and was very careful not to break them.
Craig always spent a little time playing LEGOs with Landon.  I know Landon will always look back on those times with happiness.

We survived another first this week with Craig's birthday on August 15th.  Many of us chose to celebrate the life of Craig and thank God for blessing us with the time we had to know and love him.  Thank you to all of you for your continued prayers.