If we told you that we've had an eventful month, would you believe us? Well, it has been busy, crazy, fun, frustrating and wonderful. We kicked off a season of doctors visits and testing when George had a bronchoscopy and MRI last month. After his follow up visit with his pulmonologist, I realized that there was no follow up appointment scheduled with Neurology. I then began a lengthy process of calling each of George's specialists and making sure George was scheduled to visit them before the end of the year. I have developed a system that works well for me and I will never get behind like that again.
We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on May 25th and began a tradition of celebrating our Family Birthday. Jimmy and I took off to Boston on the 26th to visit the temple and celebrate five happy years of marriage by stuffing ourselves with chocolate at Boston's premiere Chocolate buffet. Jimmy spent his Memorial Day like he has most National holidays-- holed up in his office . . . studying. He still managed to throw together a fabulous Memorial Day barbeque! Shortly thereafter Jimmy had his last exam of the school year and began "Dental Summer." I myself have had several summers of serious dental work, but I don't think it's quite the same thing.
Jimmy's brother and his wife, John and Laura came into town in early June . . . well not actually into our town, but they were close-- only a two and a half hour drive away! We drove up to Manchester, NH and visited a children's science museum where we had lots of fun. Then we met John and Laura at Bertucci's and had a wonderful visit. We have missed our family so much living out here in CT, that I must admit to being elated to see them. George really warmed up to Laura-- which was sweet to see, and only to be expected.
Less than a week later, we received some sad news. My dad (Bruce) was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia on June 8th, and although he remains positive and upbeat I have been sad. He is currently touring China and Japan speaking about biofuels, and he when he returns in a week he'll have some more tests done to determine which type of CLL he has.
Jimmy had a crazy time getting to Chicago for his first ASDA Editorial Board meeting, but I am so happy his has been chosen to do this, and I am (as always) very very proud of my husband.
Samuel has a new thing he's been praying for. He's been praying for his Uncle Darl "be a missionary." We were able to be there (thanks to the technology of cellular phones) when Jimy's brother, Darl opened his call to serve as a missionary in the Kennewick, WA. We love you Darl, we miss you so much and we're so happy you're going on a mission!
Last weekend we had a "tag sale". For those of you who don't live in Connecticut, this is an odd synonym for yard or garage sale. I still haven't figured out exactly what the tag in "tag sale" is. As much work as it was to go through our closets, garage and basement, make and post signs, price our sale items, and battle with hagglers, in the end it was worth it. It seems that no matter what time you announce your sale, or how early you start setting out your stuff, the early birds start coming about 30 minutes earlier than you would like them to. Jimmy and I were able to put our Spanish and Portuguese to good use more than once. This has been our second garage sale since we've been married. It never ceases to amaze me the rate at which our personal belongings grow.
We had a happy Father's Day . . . I kept cooking down to a minimum by heating up a delicious apple tart and later we ate dinner at our friends house, the Lindsays. Samuel had made two different hand painted paper ties for Jimmy at school earlier in the week, and George brought one home from nursery. So I guess Jimmy has officially been inducted into the Fatherhood Hall of Fame by owning a collection of homemade paper ties.
Samuel finished his first year of preschool at Aiken School just last Thursday. It has been a wonderful experience for him and us. We both feel that the experiences he gets at school are more than anything we could sanely accomplish here in the home. I taught my last music class to Samuel's preschool the Friday before last, and was given a beautiful bouquet of roses along with a gift card to my favorite store, Trader Joes. Looking back over the past year, we realize that Samuel has grown and developed so much in many areas. He is gaining more confidence and creativity in his art. We are amazed each day at the kind of things he produces. On Monday night we went to Aiken and had a nice ice cream social with his teachers, classmates and their families. We are so grateful for the experiences Samuel has had at school. George usually accompanies me to the music class I teach, and he loves the classroom . . . but at the night of the ice cream social, he found the extra people in the room too overwhelming and he commenced in his usual escape tactics.
That's it for now, but stay tuned. We'll send out another newsletter in July, but we hope to hear from you before then!