23 years...and our new "pets!"

These "scrapbook entries" are going to be a little out of order, as I'm feeling most inclined to start from the freshest news and work my way backwards. The girls are playing at Ivy's this afternoon, Jason is working in town and Tala started SPI classes today. So it's one of those rare quiet afternoons at home alone for me (as my parents upstairs aren't nearly as loud as the rest of us!!), and I'm itching to catch up on recent happenings. It seems worth giving a full posting to just yesterday! 

Jason and I marked 23 years of marriage yesterday! Neither of us even wrote a card for the other. No special plans. No gifts. And, at the end of the day, I noted that I think it was one of our best yet! The day was made special just by having lots of time together, some with others and some alone. We splurged and finished the Netflix show Sex Education we've been very into (ok, I've been obsessed with) by watching several episodes during the day. It was nice to give ourselves permission to click "next episode" a few times! We also got to spend time outside, so I'll share a few of the pictures I took throughout the day.

As I think about the day, a good number of highlights come to mind. Here's just a few: 

• walking hand in hand with Jason through the gardens and taking in the lushness
• shedding tears (several times), while marveling on what growth and healing looks and feels like
• eating severals meals as a family, including one made for us by Tala (always a treat!)
• eating a bite of a strawberry
• laying in the grass and being tackled by some of our children
• watching nightfall around us and seeing the bats come out
• looking at the beautiful lines on Jason's face and thinking about all the life we have shared!

It was most definitely the people in my day that made it as special as it was. And it never hurts when I go into something with few to no expectations! My body has been feeling so off that I am never sure what a day will hold. So I felt like I savored many of the precious moments of yesterday even more, all the while holding within me a lot of uncertainty and discomfort.

One of the fun moments of the evening was introducing my parents to the new residents of the seed sanctuary! Jason was hoping to put a toad (or two) into the seed cage to help with bug control of those critters that either come up from the ground or that might be small enough to get in through the wire. Well this week we acquired not one but two toads. We hope they like their new home and can find enough to eat. We'll keep checking on them... We hope the safety we can offer them from predators in the seed cage will be an ok trade for less freedom to roam everywhere - I guess we can't really ask them their opinion so we'll try to make the life there as good as possible. Here they are, if you can find them!

Meet Prince:

Meet Dolly: