I feel like everytime that I get around to blogging these days I'm writing about "where does the time go?" I guess that is just the season of life that I am in. It's go, go, go. All of the go, go, go stuff is good so I can't complain. It's just a period of life where we are less likely to be home and more likely to be on the road shuttling between various activities. 

So, where has the time gone? Well, some of it was for visiting with family, including a lovely visit with my parents towards the end of August. Dad took the kids out for a happy trip to the tennis courts, as seen in the picture above, and we took many beautiful walks on various trails throughout the city. We walked the Coastal Trail, the Campbell Creek Trail, and the University Lake trail to name just a few. 

I also spent a few weekends in a row in Seattle. The first was a joyful time with Greg where a highlight was spending an evening at a jazz club listening to Bela Fleck -- world famous banjo player. Cool, cool stuff. The next weekend it was time with my girlies from Redlands. I am blessed, blessed, blessed to have such a variety of friends whom I love so dearly. Truly, we have such different personalities but all love each other so dearly. I came home refreshed despite the lack of sleep. 

Shortly after all of those trips we celebrated  Cate's 9 year old birthday. She chose to head to the Imaginarium with her cousin Ellie, friend Ava, and Grace our 15 year old neighbor/babysitter. It was a very intimate gathering that was a ton of fun. I made homemade pizza, then we did gifts and the museum, and then we followed up with frozen yogurt. Cate's idea was that she wanted the large frozen yogurt without anybody telling her to stop putting more toppings or to not fill the cup. She wanted to fill it to her heart's content. And that is what she did.

With the kids in school I'm busying myself with work around the home and yard. We're preparing for the snow with raking and yard work. I'm working hard to clear the house of clutter one closet at a time. I spent a fruitful day clearing all kinds of things out of Christopher's bedroom this week while he was at school. I'm also busy with things at the school, including the school auction. I know that in a few years I will no longer be needed at school very much so I'm trying to enjoy the time I have now. Despite the busy-ness of it all, it is all still pretty sweet and I feel blessed that I can make these choices to use my time in a way that feels fulfilling.

The one sad way we've been spending some of our time is in saying good bye to our dear friends the VanDoorne's. They are moving to Washington in a week and we are still in a bit of shock that they won't be here. The kids have grown up together and Lisa is most definitely somebody you want on your cancer posse, should you ever need one. This week I'm going to host a good bye gathering of friends at the house, which should be a bittersweet time. I'm so pleased for them for the next leg of their journey, but man oh man, will they be missed!