October Snippets

The chickens roaming free means we often have them looking in the window rather disapprovingly. This gal isn't impressed with me on the treadmill. 

 Allie has been working on a college project. She made a tabletop with the maps from her OT class....its cool. 

Thursday and Friday mornings at Sophia's, a local cafe. 

Stacia made these sugar shells and then filled them with a tea bag. Tea Bombs - what a fun idea. 

Michael rearranged our parking set up...I think this is going to work well. 

Edit - well this one is unexpected. I open a post early in the month and throw in photos that I don't use while blogging. This is the point where life changed drastically for our family. The above photos are before Josiah was killed. The following photos are some I haven't got around to blogging from those days immediately following his death. 

Saturday, October 28th, everyone was out doing and going...I suppose. I ended up going for a drive. I didn't have a specific destination in mind. I ended up at MAG's parking lot.  Within minutes the girls, Cory and Arielle and Breanne and Izaak pulled up. 

Five days after our worlds exploded. This is a moment I will remember. Everyone climbed into the van with me. We talked. We cried. We did a bit of laughing. I had so many questions as to what Josiah must have felt and how we were going to get through this. The kids were so helpful. This was in my very broken and angry phase. I wanted to find something to punch, and it was nice to know I wasn't the only one who wanted to break things. 

Oct 31st and Steve and Debbie have flown in. We headed to Walmart as Stacia and I wanted to find flannel for Josiah's Celebration of Life. I remember being so grateful Steve, Debbie and their boys were here...and so overwhelmed that soon we'd be saying "goodbye" to Josiah. Each day felt like living a year or so...

Stacia and I with swollen eyes, but smiles in place...that's how it was. 

At the house people from nearby and far away were sending groceries, cards, flowers and each one was a sweet reminder of dear friends and family...people who had touched our lives and people who had been touched by Josiah's life. Michael's sister, Kathy, sent some lovely chocolate strawberries. Danny is suitably impressed. 

Earl and Jerome, Julie, Don, Beth, Sarah and Cora, Steven, Robert and more all flew in sometime between here and the 1st of Nov.  These were surreal days. Days with those we love dearly nearby, laughter, heartache...we survived. I may find more photos...but I'll get this out of the draft box for now.  My heart is simply too full to do justice to those days. I'll carry the memories of the love and kindness and heartache with me always. 

We began to wade much deeper into grace...intimacy with a God who welcomes our honest emotions, even when others don't.