Time with Extended Family

Last weekend after some confusing emails and phone calls, we had a great evening with extended family.  It was great to be reconnecting and meeting the newer members of our extended family...

Conversation and laughs around
the backyard fire pit

Alissa, Thor, Stephen, Mike & John

John, Anthony & Casey

Marsi and Matt

 

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My thoughts after that night



Alissa, Stephen and Thor

We still feel like we are adjusting back into "real" life at home. I am finding that getting settled into a new apartment isn't all there is to being home again.

Yes, falling into a regular daily routine - school, work, meetings and daily errands - is a great part of it all. But this last weekend brought to mind that others have new adventures of their own (I guess the world doesn't really revolve around S&J's Adventures...) and daily challenges we face are the same as others who are on their own adventures.

Stephen Cherry (my cousin-once removed??? - son of my cousin, Ann) got married last year.  He is in the Air Force and has been stationed in Florida (or maybe it was Texas...). Anyway, Stephen's new assignment is in Okinawa, Japan.  He and Alissa have been on a cross country journey before leaving the states.  On this last leg of their journey, they stopped at Mike and Casey's (Stephen's father and step-mother) in La Selva Beach. This was our first opportunity to meet Stephen's bride and their dog, Thor.

Listening to their experiences traveling with their dog across the country and getting ready for a life in another country, it occured to me that they are really having a great time figuring out how to make a "real" life together with a generous future.

I guess that's what we are doing here at "home."  Every day is an adventure with it's routine and challenges that insures that we have a secure and happy future whereever we are.