Last weekend I made a quick 26-hour trip to Boston for a very special event...my dad's retirement/fundraising banquet. It's hard to believe but he actually made the step of officially retiring. His "last sermon" was on Sabbath, April 29. I use quotes because it turns out he didn't even end up preaching. Everything else went so long it was after 1:00 pm by the time he would have preached so he scrapped it. I think that is so funny! In lieu of a party, the church decided to hold a fundraising banquet to help raise money for the non-profit my dad started...The Ken and Mable Brace Foundation which will help fund SDA schools and needy students. The foundation is named after his parents who made a lot of sacrifices so that my dad and his siblings could have a Christian education. Strangers gave money so my dad could attend Greater Boston Academy. It is not lost on me that if it weren't for these people, there is a very good chance I wouldn't be here today.
My flight left Saturday night and ironically, Duncan's flight to Ireland left five minutes earlier. That's right...Ireland for work. It's a tough job but someone has to do it! I was on JetBlue and he was on Aer Lingus. We went separately, of course, but it turned out that our gates were right next to each other so we got to hang out while we waited. When he got on the plane he sent me a text saying he'd text me at 5:20 am (eight plus hours later) when he landed. I told him to stop bragging. I know a lot of people don't like flying or being cooped up on a plane but I am not one of those people. Eight hours of quiet reading time?? Yes, please!!
Meanwhile, Ron and Elaine were at our place with the kids. I felt a little bad because Brady had been battling some sickness for a few days leading up to our departure. Not really bad but some vomiting and a fever here and there that warranted him staying home from church that day. Fortunately, the vomiting had stopped by Sunday.
It was so strange being at my parents' house without the kids especially with Shawn and Camille there with their kids (Ricky couldn't make it do to work). As I was getting ready for bed, it occurred to me that I could basically get up whenever I wanted. I didn't push it too much though since I was there for such a short while and wanted to visit. Also, I noted that I had NO allergy problems at all in the 13 hours I was at their house. That is a huge achievement. We shall see if it can be repeated this summer.
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| Shawn flying his new drone in the front yard. |
The banquet took place at the GBA gym. It was very special getting to see some old friends and church members that I hadn't seen in years. The program went very smoothly and was just the right mixture of humor and poignancy. The best thing was that $28k was raised!! I had no time to linger though as my flight left at 7:10 pm. I landed about 30 minutes early, drove myself home, and the trip was in the books. It all happened that quick!
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| Winnie watching the festivities. |
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| Gigi with Acadia and Finley |
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| A cousin picture that we missed taking at Christmas. |
Brady was finally 100% better on Monday or Tuesday, can't remember exactly which day but I do know that on Wednesday, another kid bit the dust. That afternoon Colby spiked a fever and fell asleep midday just randomly on the ottoman in the family room. I was doing school with the girls at the kitchen table at the time. After a few hours, he woke up and came to sit on my lap and then without any warning started vomiting....all over me. He had a few more bouts of it that night (he slept in Duncan's bed since Duncan was still gone) although those times it fortunately went into a bucket. Thursday his fever was gone and he had no vomiting although he was very tired and slept a good portion of the day. I thought we were good. But nope! More vomiting today. This wouldn't be as big of a deal but as I write this, we are supposed to be at church retreat at Camp Kuluqua. Obviously we didn't go and I have some very sad other children. We hope to go for the day tomorrow if he's feeling better.
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| Brady last Sabbath. You always know when they aren't feeling their best when they fall asleep on the couch like this. |
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| Colby yesterday. |
In other news, if I haven't mentioned it before, I'm part of the Family Ministries department at the church along with Jennifer, Katrina, Gigi (a different one) and a few other ladies. We are responsible for planning activities for families to participate in....which you could probably gather from the title alone. I had an idea for scavenger hunt which we did on Sunday, April 23. We had no idea how many families would show up since it was the first one ever. The answer to that was 14. Not as many as I thought but it was a good start. Everything went off without a hitch and people had a great time. We will definitely do another one perhaps around Christmas. The only downside was that my family wasn't eligible (rightly so) for the prizes (gift cards to Target) so that was disappointing for them, knowing that it didn't count, but they took Grandma and Grandpa along and it still lots of fun.
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| Aubs helped me make signs for the parking lot at the church. |
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| Everyone needed to be in a tree with no feet touching the ground. Grandpa is actually standing on a root. Very clever! |
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| A picture with a redhead wearing glasses... |
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| Me announcing the winners. |
Not too much else here to report. Duncan got back from Ireland on Thursday evening and as you can imagine with a five hour time difference, he's a little jet lagged. We are happy to have him back though!
A few other pictures...
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| We did a bake sale at the scavenger hunt and we ended up with some extra cupcakes that Jennifer made. We went and gave them out to neighbors and the kids loved it so much. |
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| Sabbath without Brady. So sad. |
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| Because Colby still naps for several hours, it takes him quite awhile to fall asleep at night. But he never makes a peep. He is content in his crib, playing or looking at books. I always smile when I see how he falls asleep sometimes. |
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| Another night. |
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| We went to see this play on Thursday. Brady's expression cracks me up. I think he did like the play but was annoyed at having a picture taken. |
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| Homeschool PE starts at age 6 but since Brady is only a month off (and there other kids even younger) we signed him up for May. I was excited he suggested it! Here he is running laps with the girls. |
Happy Sabbath!
