The summer has flown by for us in many ways and unfortunately I haven't taken time to write (in my journal or on this blog) or take many pictures for that matter. We spent the summer in Stratford living with Tucker's parents. It afforded us the space to give a room to Naomi (an air conditioned attic) as well as the space in our condo to get it ready for a perspective renter/buyer. In the end it took all summer to pack, clean, fix, buff, dismantle and GET OUT OF THERE but praise to the Lord we have a lovely young couple living there as of Sept 1. We are so thankful to have this huge burden lifted, if just for this year when we look for more renters and/or sell. I am deeply greatful to Tucker for ALL of his hard work and long hours at our place and to our realator Jean for her love and care in the matter! We are also thankful to the Lord for having had such a wonderful first home together. It was sad to pack up and move out and on from that place. There we many happy memories, good meals and dear friends and family to pass through those doors.
I have to say that despite a "heavy" summer we had many moments and memories---mostly of just playing outside with Naomi in the backyard and in the parks of Stratford. Stratford is like old-town America in some ways with places to walk to, a town green with summer concerts outdoors, public beaches and friendly people to talk to. Not as isolated as other towns in Fairfield County. We also enjoyed the month of July spending time with and saying good-bye to our very dear friends Kyle and Beth and Owen Hubbard who all three of us miss deeply. They moved to Chicago on August 1 and it's hard to believe a whole month has gone by for us without a play date, cup of tea and deep conversation with them. We're hoping to plan a road trip out there to celebrate Beth and Tucker's 30th birthdays. July was also the summer of Julia's last French camp (she was Mme Gateau this year) , Tucker's last missions trip with Apostles (PA for a junior high trip) and Naomi's last month without molars. Which leads us to co-hosting a really fun margarita party in the backyard in August with friends and family...grilled shrimp, beef kebabs and lights on the arbor and margaritas too of course. It was a lot of fun to entertain even while walking through a tough season of life. It feels right to do things with and for others even when your own life feels a bit out of sorts. It was a good party. (And Naomi's molars are successfully in!)
So about Naomi. She is definitely almost two. Or thinks she is. She's getting more independent and cuter by the day as she says new things and reacts to new environments---she's been really into cooking in her little kitchen lately. She puts her play tomato in a demi-tasse and passes it to me to have a taste. (She clearly hasn't been paying enough much attention to the way I make coffee!) I tried to put an apron on her but she'd have none of that. I did outfit her kitchen with some French paraphernalia and raided the kitchen for mini whisks and such. We've been sticking with French for the past six months and she's been doing great with it. We've been playing French bingo together and expanding on vocab and comprehension although she is still sort of reluctant to articulate many of her words. Her clearest word is "Agnus"...my aunt's bichon frisee dog whom she adores. Her other clearest word is "No." Typique!
We had a nice weekend up in the Catskills this past weekend....remembering fondly our weeekend with friends in June (my highlight of the summer). We'll be back up there in a week and a half for Jonathan and Charlotte's wedding---for which I am in charge of baking the cake!!
My first try was successfully tasty (mom ate at least a slice a day which says it was pretty good). Need to work on the decorating effort...not my forte.
So now we are temporarily living in Wilton with my folks until we figure out "what next." Most likely a move to the Boston area but we are currently uncertain of when and for what. Huge factors that need to be prayed through. Next time I'll write with more pictures and stories...for now just a summery of where we've been and what's going on.
