journey on

It has been a FULL summer...

we have baseball'ed, gymnastic'ed, Meekerpalooza'ed, and mini-golf'ed:

there have been various entrepreneurial adventures such as lemonade stands and carwashes...

we made time for ice cream when it got hot...

we made the annual trip to the Craig Wave Pool with friends...

we hiked in and camped at Mirror Lake...

we took a horseback trail ride to Slide Lake...

we made several afternoon trips to Avery Lake...

And that's just the little things... more monumentally:

 ~  Hamp spent 12 days in June on a European tour with the High School Travel Club

~  all 3 of us went to the beach for a week in July

~  and best of all, the Hightower extended family spent a week with us in Meeker in July, where we were then joined by the Etheridge family and so many friends to celebrate in fine fashion the life of our beloved Jason

photo credit snap.click.design

And so tonight, on the eve of the first day of school with the lunch bags at the ready and the boys scrubbed clean and in bed before 9pm for the first time in months, I think about what an eventful and joyful summer we have spent - despite the nagging feeling that something is missing, that something is not quite right. That constant feeling of loss accompanies me everywhere we go, but it also pushes me to continue making life an adventure for Hamp & Sam and cherishing every moment, monumental and mundane.

I can't help but wonder what the road ahead will be like...

Miller Creek - Sunday, August 16th