30 days

Usually the span of 30 days doesn't hold much. There are normal days at home, maybe a fun activity here or there but usually not THAT much happens in the span of just one month.

My last 30 days have been intense and anything but normal. SO much happened in the span of a month it's hard to put it into words. Everything from the celebration of my son turning 1 to the sad news that my grandpa had passed away. Throw in a mission trip, our anniversary, and our house guests moving out and you have the last 30 days of my life. I'll start with the most recent and then skip around after that:

Last Tuesday, my grandpa passed away peacefully while reading his Bible. It was a sweet way to meet Jesus but it was still very hard since we were all close to him. I had the great honor to know both of my grandpas well and have a close relationship with them. My other grandpa died before this blog but maybe someday I will write about him as well but really, I had 2 fantastic grandpas. They loved to play with us and both loved to read and study the Bible. They left incredible legacies.

2 months ago, my aunts, uncles, and cousins decided to meet at their house for a reunion. Right before I left, I snapped this quick picture of my Grandpa. So glad to have this memory of him and that weekend will always hold a special place in my heart.

The Bible that he studied from and the flag that was handed to my grandma thanking him for serving our country during WWII.

All 13 of the grandchildren! We haven't ALL been together since 1999 so a picture to document this was just mandatory :) We lined up in birth order!

 A picture of our entire family (minus my grandparents) in front of the house that my grandpa fixed up over the years. He loved to garden and woodwork and always had a project that he was working on.

 

So, that was just last weekend. Before that, we had:

 

July 18th: My dad's 60th birthday party!! Thankful for him and my mom! We went to the Zoo and then enjoyed time together at my brother's house.

July 19th: Connor's First Birthday Party. We had family and friends over and enjoyed a fun afternoon with them.

July 20th: My dear friend, Kelly, moved to Kansas. :( Our husbands were gone to work/school a lot when we first had kids so we had SO many adventures while we were solo parenting. I will miss her spontaneity and fun!

Our house guests also moved out this day since they found a home! We moved everything back over to the mother-in-law suite this week and I have no excuse now to not work on projects since my craft area is up and running again :)

 

July 22: Our 9th anniversary!!

We went to our favorite Mediterranean restaurant and then walked downtown Mankato. They have a fun art sculpture walking tour that is new every year and we haven't had the time to check it out so we took a walk and saw all the cool art!

 

July 24th: Connor's First Birthday!

 We went to a new Children's Museum and had SO much fun playing for the afternoon! This kid is so very close to walking but he's following in his siblings' footsteps by teasing us into thinking he'll walk before a year and then waiting until at least 13 months :) He just stands and plays and has taken 1-2 steps :)

 

The next day, I was packing all day long because on Sunday, July 26th, I went on a mission trip to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with our youth group. It was a great trip and I was so proud of all the students who went and served.

A special little boy that started the week bouncing off the walls and half way through the week, he asked a question about heaven and I was able to share Christ with him. Seeds planted.

2 of my small group girls that are just so great!!

Our group!

38 foot cross...we watched the sunset and had a service out here. It was just beautiful.

One of our work projects cleaning out a trailer and moving brush.

 

*whew* That is what my last 30 days have looked like. I'm pretty drained and hope to have a little break before starting school in 2 short weeks. I'll be doing home preschool with Tristen and Aubrey this next year...we're taking it one year at a time deciding where they will go to school but for the time being, homeschooling seems to fit for this year. I'm excited to get a little school area in order soon! Maybe after a nap this afternoon :)

 

Thanks for reading this LONG post!