La felicidad que se encuentra: Kyle, Jenny, Alexa, Tyler, Tad, Liam, Nathan, and Audrey

I made an impromptu weekend trip to Indiana for Joel Beasley's funeral.  It was so sad to lose such a good man, but wonderful to be reunited with the Beasley family and celebrate his joy-filled life.  I didn't tell their family I was coming and when I walked into the funeral and Jordan saw me he got emotional and said "Now all my sisters are here."  I'm glad I was able to come and mourn with them, as well as reconnect and catch up on what each of them is doing.  The Beasley girls and I tried to re-create an old photo circa 2002 (?) but we couldn't remember which order everyone was in.  We got close.  And Tressa Slagle was on my same flight coming home, seated right in front of me!  She and I served together in Toronto.  I also finally got to see Anne's studio while I was in Indiana, as well as the updates Adam and Karen have made to their yard. All the siblings got together for dinner Friday night at Mom & Dad's which was so nice.  This w...

We went on family dates to the Arcade and Airborne on our Get Out Passes this month.  The kids loved picking out prizes at the arcade with their tickets.  Liam was Star Student of the Week at school. Tad was excited to have his friend Anders on his rec basketball team.  He celebrated his 10th birthday racing go karts at the Hive.  We got him a remote control car, Lego sports car, slippers, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the switch.  Alexa made the high school softball team!  Everyone we talked to said she needed to play competitive / club softball to even consider trying out, so we didn't think she had a fighting chance.  She was beyond excited to make it onto the high school sophomore team.  She has practice for 3 hours after school every day and loves it.  She is working hard.  She catches every other game and is otherwise in the outfield.   Nathan had a field trip at school and he had to take a paper bag lunch instead of h...

Kyle and I were really excited to cross another World Wonder off the bucket list and go to Peru in February.  Our friends and neighbors, Bobby and Emily Beagley, got passports for the first time and invited us to join them with a tour group.  I have now been able to see Chichen Itza (Mexico), Colosseum (Italy), Machu Picchu (Peru), and the Great Pyramids (Egypt - Ancient Wonder of the World).  We still have the Taj Majal, Great Wall of China, Petra, and Christ the Redeemer to get to someday.  Todd/Melissa and Mike were wonderful to watch our kids while we were gone.  We are so grateful! Day 1: Lima. We spent Valentine's Day walking around the city, Kyle went for a swim in the ocean, and we ended the night with a food tour.  The food tour included local fruit and chocolate, empanadas, beef hearts (which were delicious!), lomo saltado stir fry, causa, ceviche, a famous bar with pisco sours (we got fresh passionfruit juice that was amazing), herbal tea, and ic...