May in Thousands of Words

It's a beautiful Sunday evening in May.  The breeze is cool after a hot day and the sun is setting over the neighbor's silos.  I'm sitting outside in my comfy yoga pants and favorite gray hoodie.  My golden retriever is laying faithfully beside me, nipping at the night time bugs and listening to the evening sounds with the cutest perked ears.  As I look at the golden sky and enjoy the gentle breeze, I'm reminded how very much I have to be grateful for.

 Kacia with her baseball right where she plopped it

If you look closely, you can see the silos

This month has been such a mixture of pain and happiness, exhaustion and fun, spiritual and emotional highs and lows.  If there's one thing I'm convinced of it's this: the roller coaster of the past several painful years has made me so eternally grateful that my God NEVER changes.  He is the same.  Every day.  No matter what.  He has no highs or lows.  He remains steady and faithful.

They say pictures are worth a thousand words and there are so many memories from the past few weeks that I don't want to forget.  So below I'm recording thousands and thousands of words.  Words of love, family, friendship, happiness, and joy amidst a life that consists of daily pain and daily choices to choose joy.

 My two Emily's and our red faces after wonderful facials at an Arbonne spa party

(we even have red eyes to match)

 Throwing a baseball in Grandpa & Grandma's backyard in Michigan

 My grandparents sitting by the lake at a cookout

  Hannah taking pictures with Caleb's big camera

  Watching my uncle in his sailboat races

  It was so awesome to be on the water

 Love the sky, love the lake. It was lovely.

  I FINALLY got to go to a Tiger game after twenty-two years of going to Grandpa & Grandma's by Detroit

(And every other family member had already gone)

Walking into the ballpark 

  We got there early so took lots of pictures before the game started

  I happen to love my siblings more than I could ever, ever describe

  They are some of my bestest friends in the whole entire world

 I took this picture on an angle...so have fun cranking your neck

We like being weird

  I like taking random pictures. Like, of my feet.

  We couldn't be too crazy because these wonderful people were sitting above us

  The tiger

  Prince Fielder walking onto the field

  It was weird to cheer for him as something other than a Brewer

  Some of my siblings are more forgiving of him abandoning us than others

(I won't mention any names of the unforgiving ones)

  The last game we saw him in was his three-homer game in Milwaukee

(This game wasn't nearly as exciting)

  Got to meet up with my friend Megan in Holland at Applebees & Walgreens...so great to catch up

 My cousin Mitch got married and it was a gorgeous wedding

  So beautiful!

 

 Erica & Alyssa...two of my favoritest people

  And the whole Haveman gang

  <3 "Twin Cousins" <3

Good looking family ;)

  Susie & Sissy

 Love these girls so much

  I was feeling weird

Yeah. Like I said. Weird.

  We had fun showing Erica how dirty her Yukon was

  Sissy's as tall as Uncle Nevin

  My friend Christy shot a gun for the first time when she was here yesterday...we all had fun doing a little shooting

  I got to hold my friend Leah's little newborn...so so cute & cuddly <3

  This weekend has called for lots and lots of baking...

  ...and I've been loving it!

Delicious manicotti dinner with family & friends

It's almost 9:00 now and the crickets are chirping and the light is turning into dim duskiness.  The mosquitoes are going to drive me inside pretty quick here.  I'm thinking about finances, my upcoming infusion next week, get-togethers with friends this week, challenges with my job, personal and relational struggles, and just how I can't imagine any of this without my Savior by my side.  I'm gratefully reflecting on all those who have fought and continue to fight for freedom in this country as I think about celebrating Memorial Day tomorrow.  The following two pictures are from Facebook and they really touched my heart.

Thank you to all who love and serve this country.  You are heroes.  

It is now 11:20pm.  I've been going through pictures, pictures, and more pictures from four different cameras.  So many fun memories.  I had a bunch more thoughts I was going to share but I am falling asleep so they'll have to wait.  Looking forward to a lovely Memorial Day in the morning and must get some sleep first.

Happy holiday weekend!