1266 April 19, 2025 – September 25, 2025 Life

We spent some wonderful time with David and his family from the 18th of April until early May. The boys were so happy to see us and we loved every minute of our time with them. Oliver and Austin were both in school but we picked them up each day. Both boys were on spring soccer teams and we had so much fun watching them play. In the few short weeks that we were there, we were able to see them learn the game and really improve their skills. We spent time walking in the woods, making baked ziti, and baking gingerbread cookies from scratch. The boys are really into video games and we sat with them, as they schooled us in Mario Kart and Minecraft. We went out for ice cream and took them to the park to play basketball. Austin’s 7th birthday party was a sport theme and so we made sugar cookies and decorated them as soccer balls and baseballs and tennis balls and basketballs. We had a big neighborhood birthday bash on May 3rd and then on May 4th, he had a party with his classmates. On May 5th, we started our trip toward home.

Allison was scheduled for gall bladder surgery later that week. We were home to help. She was not able to lift or carry Wade for a couple of weeks. We did lots of caretaking, and meal making and we had loads of fun with Wade; singing and reading and playing and being outside.

We had all of our appointments scheduled while we were home. I had been having some lingering left foot pain and I decided to get checked. I had three stress fractures from overuse and need to be in a boot for 7 weeks followed by many weeks of PT, Tim decided to get his shoulder looked at and he had a tear in his rotator cuff. He elected to have it repaired. He is well on his way to recovery; getting progressively stronger.

Allison turned 30 and we had a surprise party for her.

Allison was scheduled to have her tumor removed on July 22nd. Her surgery was vey successful with fewer complications than the surgical team had anticipated. This was awesome news! Again, she was not able to drive or care for the baby and we were two pairs of extra hands.

In mid August, we took my mom and we flew to Atlanta to see Oliver for his 9th birthday. It was a shorter visit but we squeezed in so many fun things.

For the next weeks, we took care of ourselves and we took care of our family. Tim and I both had PT. We cooked and cleaned and ran errands and mowed and gardened and did some small repairs.

While we were home, we spent more time sifting through our remaining belongings and got rid of a bunch of stuff. It is amazing what traveling in an RV fulltime teaches us about how much we absolutely need.

We got to spend time with my mom and my sister and we got to catch up with a bunch of friends.

We loved being with Kyle and his family and we consider it a privilege that were allowed to stay and help. We have felt very welcome and comfortable here. Our greatest joy in these weeks has been taking care of Wade. We have watched as he has learned so many new words and skills. We watched as he went from scooting to pulling up to cruising to finally walking! We will miss all the baby giggles and hugs and cuddles. More than anything, I will miss the daily busyness. I have always loved being a mom and being a grandma. Everyone here is doing well and it is time for us to go!