So this happened upon our return from Annual Conference!
One of Eva's classmates announced surprise kittens on June 3rd, and all four of the kittens were ''adopted'' by classmates within a day!!! We were thrilled to receive one once she was old enough to be ours. The kids named her Tiger Lily.
Eva found the following picture in my childhood family album and was so excited that I also had a kitten like Tiger Lily!
GEM's Annual Conference (AC) this year had to be held virtually. The AC team did a great job putting together something with flexibility and intentionality. Our family really really really missed being with friends. That was really hard to give up. And I personally really missed the experience of having others grocery shop, cook and clean for me! Haha!
We as a family tried to make the most of the five days and decided to drive to the mountains for a more retreat-like experience. We had amazing family hikes, enjoyed some intentional time in nature to experience God in a different place, ate an amazing meal out one day, and played a lot together. The weather was warm the day we arrived but really chilly and rainy the rest of the time. Not ideal, but we still had some fun and lots of silliness. And we had lots of opportunities to talk about walking in disappointments.
Gregory and I went out for steak for our 15 year anniversary! It was such a blessing that the one week this summer during which the kids had a summer program was our anniversary week! We took advantage of the opportunity to celebrate with a big lunch one day. It was special to have that time together. Kid-free time has been almost non-existent since March 13th!
You may recall that Eva's birthday party in June had to be cancelled when she woke with a fever in the middle of the night. She simply couldn't handle the excitement, sweet girl. Well, we managed to pull together a last minute party for her at the end of July when we realized all of her friends were available on the same afternoon! So, Sunday night, we decided to throw her a party on Monday! How is that for spontaneous?! Eva awoke Monday morning to a birthday cake on the counter, decorations, and the news that we were throwing her a party! What a special time it was to celebrate Eva and play with classmates!
It was also nice to have leftover cake the next day!
