End of the Year and Start of a New Year

The end of school has come at LONG last. I always get so excited when my kids are finished with school. I get to have a nice break from the carting around factor and I really love having them around. It's going to be a fun summer!

Isaac graduated from Kindergarten. I use the word graduated loosely, because there was a possibility that he would repeat Kindergarten. Isaac's teacher suggested the possibility of his retention and the therapists and counselors at school said it might be beneficial if he could get into all-day Kindergarten; if not, they said half-day would not help. We decided to put his name on the lottery list for all day K, just in case, and then we would make our decision. He didn't make it into the first class so we thought our decision was made (that was easy) and we'd send him on to 1st grade. However, a wrench was thrown in when they added two more all-day classes and Isaac again became eligible....back to a hard decision. We prayed about it and the impression came to us to send him on to 1st grade anyway. If he needs to be retained at the end of 1st grade we will do it then. Until then, this summer will be filled with lots of tutoring for Isaac at the local learning center! It's all good! He's excited to have his own personal teacher.

Olivia and Alex finished 4th and 7th grade respectively. They both did an awesome job with their studies this year and both maintained their piano studies and dance and baseball "professions" and had a lot of fun play-time too (which I think is so important). It was a great year, but they are ready for a well-deserved break!

Martin and I celebrated our 15th Anniversary on June 17th. We decided to spend it in Cannon Beach, our original honeymoon destination. How fun it was to be in the same spot where we started out our journey together. Wow! We have come a long way. At the time of our wedding we had no idea we would end up in the northwest. It's ironic that that is where we chose to go after our wedding. Incidentally, we went there originally because we saw an advertisement in a Bridal magazine and it looked beautiful and fun.

We had an amazing time on our vacation. My niece, Jessica, came to stay with our kids and Martin and I were able to be alone for a few days. We trusted her fully and didn't worry once. We stayed at the same inn we stayed 15 years ago. Back then it was a brand new inn and it was beautiful and luxurious. The Stephanie Inn is still the same. This time we decided to get their best room and that happened to be in the Carriage House right next to the hotel. It turned out to be an AMAZING place. The room was beautiful and had windows everywhere so at any given time we could see and hear the ocean. It was a lot more quiet than the main inn too. We spent 3 days mostly sitting together and reading and talking. We shopped at the cute little shops and had a couple of massages in the hotel's spa. It was so nice to not have the television on, or the phone ringing, or other little interruptions. We truly just relaxed. They also gave us 40% off of everything at the hotel because we were return guests (including the spa treatments and food).


Martin and I have come so far in our marriage. We have our hard times and we aren't perfect but our marriage continues to get stronger everyday. It's the journey that continues to strengthen us. I can't imagine my life without him. He finishes my sentences, knows how I'll react in any given situation and listens to what's going on in my heart. He knows me better than I know myself. He tells me every day, sometimes dozens of times, how much he loves me and how beautiful he thinks I am in, inside and out. He is the father of my children, and is such an amazing dad. I get really emotional when I think about how my kids will remember their dad when they get older. I treasure my memories of my dad and I know how those experiences have shaped my life for the better.


Anyway, we had a great start off to our summer and our 16th year together. It's been an incredible life and I can't wait for the following chapters!