Wow. . .today is July 28th!Happy Birthday to my brother and to Sarah Crane! Where has the month gone? Actually, we don't want it to end. During the month of July we will have had company all but 5 days. We are enjoying every bit of it. . .storing it up in our cells for later when visits are less frequent. The month started out with a 10 day visit with our friend Liz from Iowa. (a.k.a. Auntie Liz) It was so good to spend time with her. We did so many fun things together. . .exploring Connecticut. Some days were long and crazy while others were spent relaxing. When Liz left we were feeling sad, but not to worry, The Rosenwinkel/Dikelsky van would be pulling into our driveway in just a few hours! The van arrived at about 3:00 p.m. with 2 exhausted moms and 4 very excited boys! In a matter of no time there were 6 great friends up in the newly built pirate ship tree house. All kinds of art supplies were carried up to make signs and flags for the ship. While we all sat on the screened in porch enjoying a beverage, we marveled at how not one of them had skipped a beat. The friendships that they share between them are so part of who they are that they just picked up where they left off over 4 months ago. . .it was awesome! Then we had 3 very full days. Mystic Monday, NYC Tuesday, Beach Day Wednesday. Thursday was the day for a slower start with Miss Carol's famous swedish pancakes and some more time in the tree house. Then we went around Guilford a little bit on our way to New Haven to see the green and go through Yale. We had lunch at Miso and then said our goodbyes. I am not very good at the goodbye part. . .that was a rough day. Since we have moved to CT I have been amazed at how easy the adjustment has been. All of us settled in to our new routines so easily. Larry loves his job, the kids love their school, we all love our neighborhood, the area is beautiful and all of the people we have met have been so welcoming and so friendly. That being said, this is one of the hardest things we have ever done! Leaving our friends behind has left a huge hole in our hearts and in our lives. So much comfort comes from our familiar and well established friendships and relationships. Here we have so may opportunities for new friendships, but right now they are new and a lot of work, which is okay, but it does not bring comfort. It is like we have planted tiny new seeds and now we are waiting for them to grow. They need our time and attention. They will need watering,fertilizing and weeding before the harvest. This takes time. After everyone left we realized that it does not matter where you live, how beautiful your house is, or how beautiful the area is. . .life without your friends and family is not quite as sweet. It was great to see everyone and so hard to see them go.
Then we had 4 days before Karen arrived for a 10 day stay. We ran the washer and dryer 24/7 for 3 of those days and tidied up the house the rest of the time. We went to get Karen at Laguardia on Tuesday in a total downpour and the went back to get Nick from Laguardia on Thursday. . .in a total downpour. Crazy. On Friday we spent the day in Newport, Rhode Island touring mansions and walking along the Cliff walk. It was breathtaking! Newport, we will be back! Saturday we went to Hammonassett for a day at the beach. Nick was recovering from what we think was food poisoning, but everyone seemed to have a great day. When we got home we had a light dinner and played many rounds of Old Maid and Go Fish with the new deck of cards that we got in Newport with all of the mansions on them. Sunday morning Nick made us all breakfast and Larry and Karen took him back to the airport. His original flight was cancelled so he was put on a new flight which left 3 hours late, therefore missing his connection. He ended up landing in Cincinnati and his car was in Indi, so his mom picked him up and he got his car the next day. Moral: never fly in and out of Laguardia if you can help it! So now we have just a few days left with Karen. We will enjoy every moment of it. We are enjoying having all of our kids under one roof! This should bring you a little bit more up to date. . .more stories and pictures to follow.
Love,
Jodi
