Wishin' for some car a/c

Well, it's been a little while...I've been waiting until I could sit down and write without sounding bummed out. My good friend (love you, S!) is expecting baby #4, and found out last week that she has thyroid cancer. She'll be having surgery in August, the baby is due in January, and on top of plenty of other fun that three young boys provide, her youngest just broke his collarbone yesterday. I know it does no good to question why hard things happen to great people, we just have to trust that God in his wisdom knows the end from the beginning - which WE don't - and can give peace through difficult times. Their family is in our prayers.
My "problems," like the car air conditioning going out last week, seem insignificant compared to that, but am still excited for it to get fixed. Kip's been working on it and we're hoping this weekend it will be back up and running.

So, here, I'm making a list of "happy things" because life really is great:

1. Rachel is a crack-up. Her latest talents: spitting everywhere, raising her head and grabbing her feet. She chews on her clothes, her hands, her blankets, whatever makes it to her mouth. She's 4 months old today! (And filling her diaper loudly as I type.)
2. Our contender for the county's largest zucchini is growing strong. I think I will call her bessie. Grow, bessie, grow! She's got 12 more days...:
3. We had a GREAT fourth of July weekend trip with Mom, visiting"grandma and papa mitchell with the cars" as Caleb says. (Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell in OK are the ones "with the cat Abby.") The kids had a blast, we loved meeting Michelle and all her family, and are excited for the wedding in a few more weeks when we get to see everyone again. Mom, if you've got pictures to share from that, you'll have to send them around because I forgot to pull my camera out. Kip and company got lots of work done on the spare room in GJ, way to go, guys!

4. I can now do post-baby sit-ups without peeing my pants. 'Nuff said.

5. The kids have been doing really well lately playing together and being kind. Love it.

Tomorrow morning is our big Gypsum Daze 5k, and this year we're going to support the firefighters and eat the pancake breakfast afterwards while we wait for the parade. The kids love the parades, mostly for the candy of course, so it's always good fun. Summer is a great time of year, eh? And our parades always start with a blackhawk flyovers - right above the trees. Very cool.