It's hard to know where to start after a nearly 5 year hiatus of blogging. When I saw that McKay's birth story was the last thing I had written about, I felt instantly completely and overwhelmingly heartbroken.The tragedy is that I just can't make up for it. It's impossible for me to catch up. I can't recall the events, adventures, funny stories, and spiritual milestones that comprise the ins and outs of our family life, at least not in the vibrancy in which they occurred. And so I guess the only thing to do here is to start right where I am. Current events. Recent happenings. And the obvious first thing to make sure I have recorded is that Levi learned to pee in a bottle last week, whilst on a long bus ride in England. We mentioned it mostly joking when he came to us describing his urge, and his eyes lit up with strange enthusiasm. Then he insisted he couldn't wait-and I think what he really meant by that is that he couldn't wait for the chance to pee somewhere novel. When I say he could barely contain himself, that was true in multiple ways. He had barely closed the lid before he bounded down the row to announce to Elise his new skill set. But more on that later. England that is, I think I've covered the public urination adequately.
This week we celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary on the 21st of August. Which, as Braden pointed out, means our marriage is old enough to drink. As luck would have it, we were served booze soaked apples at our lunch, unbeknownst to us. If you're wondering if you should start soaking your apples in alcohol before eating them, I would say definitely yes if you enjoy the smell of Mr. Clean and have ever wanted to drink some. We ate in an old castle, with a great view of Batalha, which was awesome. Then we hiked- turned out to be less awesome, but it's what we do. And then on to the beach to watch the last sixty seconds of daylight quickly fade out of the sky. Being 9 minutes from the beach never disappoints me, but it was an especially wonderful night together. We've been to the beach countless times while living here, but I think this is the first time we've gone without the kids. I just suddenly remembered that we could go there together, but without them. Turns out it was so much fun we did it the next night too. I hope the kids have stored up lots of beach memories here because they may never go again with us. It is precisely 89 times easier without them, bless their hearts. I truly adore watching them at the beach, but it was a super great discovery to realize that sometimes we can go alone and opt out of the sand redistribution program that we are somehow part of, that demands we take 10 kilos of sand with us and then sprinkle it throughout our entire house- beds not to be forgotten. But I digressed-returning now to our romantic day of celebration- I am so grateful for the chance to slow down and remember what a blessing our marriage is. Our lives are busy, full of constant chaos, activities, responsibilities, and pressures. But reflecting on the life we've built together, and looking forward to the love and joy ahead of us was such a gift. I truly am thankful beyond words for Braden and all that he is to me, all that he does for me, all that he pushes me towards, and all the crap he fixes.
