belated 4th of July

so it's been hectic here!  no different than anyone else trudging through mortality but this is a hectic time.

Jeanee arrived, rested up from her Alaskan adventure, awoke and went into her work mode.  She decided the front porch needed to be power-washed and a coat of paint on floor (even if it wasn't sanded etc. etc.)

clearing the porch.  see her injured finger?

She power washed the floor etc. and then things went into hectic mode. She got sick!

Recuperating....Listening to a story about her as a little girl!

oh, how he loves those memories! (she knows this story by heart!!)

They wanted to know if their eyes were the same color....

adorable!!!  both of them!!!

They just love each other so much!!

After this she got sicker, weaker, and has been in bed (which is not like her at all!)  a flu of some sort. So the weather got hotter.  the house got hotter.  Terry had a bloody nose during the night.  He had to come home after Sacrament.  Did I mention our AC is still out but thankfully we live in a wind tunnel with fans all over and we are surviving.  Just a laundry list of irritants!!!

In the midst of this bleakness I decided that the steaks I'd bought for the 4th were still in the fridge waiting to be cooked.  I called our son and said...it may just be us, as Dad and Jeanee aren't doing real swift, but let's cook our special dinner tonight.

And so we did...he came over and BBQ the steaks and we had a delicious dinner celebration!  I set the table with red/white/blue and it looked so festive. so nice. (no picture as I couldn't find my camera!  turned up in my Church bag!)  everything was perfection in how it was cooked.  simply scrumptious.  yes. a bit of bragging!   We have been eating so piece meal, with trying to take care of Terry's problems, so it was a treat to eat a real meal.

I set the table for 4 and 3 made it to the feast.  Jeanee ate hers later, when she woke up and it was still yummy.

There was something so magical about sitting down and visiting and enjoying a meal together that just made me teary.  It felt so great!!  We enjoyed ourselves so much!  You know I'm an advocate for family dinnertime but this took it to a new level to me.  It was comforting on so many levels. familiar.  normal.  bliss.

When Kipper was leaving I told him how incredible the meal event felt to me and he agreed and summed it up by saying...it was like it put everything on pause.  He is well aware of the happenings over here and it did feel like for a bit we had no challenges at all!!  Life felt normal!!!

Tomorrow our life will finally start to move forward.  The AC part should be in and Terry goes to the Dr. to see what is going on and what needs to be done and Jeanee will be better tomorrow (I'm really thinking so!)

Is your life a bit overwhelming...to much going on...feeling challenged...frustrated....at wits end????--  Then take time to set the table as pretty as you can and cook a real favorite meal for your family and sit down and feel the love and the peace in that very deed!