Stranger Things Have Happened

While all we wanted to do this last month was crawl into bed, pull the covers over our heads, and stay there indefinitely... we have kids.  As every parent knows, when you have kids you don't get to wallow in whatever is troubling you for long.  So, in reviewing my iPhone pics I realized I have missed some very blog-worthy moments and now I am going to attempt to catch up.

We went camping.  I realize this may not sound like anything too special but you have to understand that I do not camp.  I certainly do not camp in a tent and I definitely do not camp without running water bathrooms.  But I did it! I seriously almost cried the first time I had to use that glorified outhouse they call "vaulted toilets" but I survived.  The worst part is I drank hardly any wine, and wine would have made the whole outhouse thing more tolerable, but it also would have made me have to use the nasty outhouse more! It was a tragic catch-22.

The purpose of this trip, besides the obvious enjoying the great outdoors stuff, was to celebrate our neighbor/friend's 40th birthday.   Jeff even got to go on a zip line tour of the mountains because he has the most awesome wife ever who stayed back at camp all day with the kids, dirt, and bugs so he could play Tarzan in the trees. 

This was Logan and Emmie's first official camping trip, Joey is a seasoned pro.

Ready to go on our camping adventure!  I even offered to eat a gas station sandwich - cuz I can "rough it"
(thankfully Jeff stopped at Taco Bell for me instead!)

Joey

The view from our campsite at Sly Park

He gets that duck face from me and I got it from my dad...

Daddy & the princess

He loves me!

Emmie loved the dirt!

Tarzan

Cutie pie with curly hair!

He loved playing catch.

And he spent hours collecting pine cones to throw into the fire.

Emmie could spend hours throwing rocks into the stream.

Logan giving his little sister a ride on the trike.



Can you tell these two are siblings??

 

Tough guy checking out his muscles.

Mommy and Joey by the campfire.

 

1,000+ Reasons to Smile

I have been silent on this blog for awhile now.  You see life has thrown me a curve ball, or rather a sucker punch, and I didn't really want to document any of it.  I don't want to remember the last month, it was dark and twisty and terrifying.  The worst part is that it's not over.  We are still riding the shock waves that erupted with a literal knock at our door.  I'm not trying to create dramatic suspense here, but I don't want to get into the details here either.  It is not something I want to remember in depth years from now; and that is what I use this blog for, a virtual diary to catalog the moments in life that slip by too quickly.  Unfortunately this mess is not something I want to refer back to.

Here is what I will say on the topic -
#1 - Having a blended family can be a great joy, but it can also be a source of great heartache.  When another person or another family has influence over yours, they have power to disrupt your life whether you like it or not.  They can violate you, manipulate you, and hurt you in ways you never saw coming. 
#2 - In the epic battle of good versus evil that has raged on in many forms since the beginning of time, good can often lose in the short term because it will not stoop to the levels evil so happily lives in.
#3 - Quotes, cliches, and proverbs are trotted out on parade in times of great struggle. This is our futile attempt to make sense of the senseless, and surprisingly it does help.  It helps to know that others have lived through something trying and horrible and lived to say something quotable about it later.  It is comforting to repeat them in a mantra of hope, to hold on to them as though they were a life raft, and to post them on to a Pinterest board.
#4 - Your true friends are there for you in times like these.  Messy times full of tears and wine and more tears are when real friends show up with more wine.  We have amazing friends.  We have friends who text, call, clean, cook, grocery shop, watch our kids, make us run, make us laugh, send us inspirational quotes, show up to sit in waiting rooms with us, distract us, and support us in any and every way they can.  We are truly blessed.

One friend sent me this quote - "When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile. - Unknown"

I have more than a thousand reasons to smile and it is time to start focusing on that. This isn't over, but while we are riding this roller coaster I choose to focus on the positives as much as possible. I have amazing friends, a wonderful husband, and incredible children.