Update 5/25/26: Catching Up

Psalm 104:24 “O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your possessions.”

I decided it was time to give an update. We have been busy with school ending and some fun activities. I was able to attend my first KY derby in Lexington. It was a fun experience and made me feel like I’m really from KY now.

Micaela flew to Florida for a few days. She practiced ASL and surprised her friend for their birthday. She navigated switching flights in Atlanta and used all her travel skills we learned last year in China.

I cannot believe another school year has concluded. Next year, I will only have kids in high school and college! Where does time go?

We celebrated Mother’s Day early due to our trip.  We enjoyed having some extra company. Naomi and her friends competed in a Tough Mudder in Georgia. Naomi enjoyed it, but she said it was bitter-sweet since Wayne had told her years ago he’d run it with her.

A sprained ankle almost sidelined Joella, but thankfully, it was just a slight sprain.

Moana enjoys going to counseling with me. 

Our small group had an outing to end our session. We did an escape room and had shave ice. It was a great evening!!

May has been a busy month. It started out with me attending a widows retreat in Indiana. I almost bailed out, because the introvert in me wasn’t looking forward to hanging out with complete strangers. What started as an evening with strangers turned into a beautiful weekend of friendships made. Different stories, but shared tragedy of being a widow. They understand the dual reality we live in each day…trying to live life without our other half. I have noticed that one of the hardest things for me is missing Wayne’s hugs and just being able to chat with him about everything. He had a way of making my nervous system relax. I’m still trying how to navigate that missing piece.

Part of the retreat included taking a hike. It was beautiful and exhilarating!

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The next part of our update covers a few days of our epic trip out west. One of Wayne’s last requests was for me to take the kids out west for his cousin’s wedding and to visit family. He also wanted me to finally visit the Utah National Parks that we had tried 2 times to visit. 

Day 1: We left May 6th and headed for Omaha, Nebraska. We stayed with our Moody friends, the Shada family. 🩷

We saw a few of these on our trip. It made me feel closer to Wayne. He loved to take road trips and drive for hours. Remembering all the many hours we spent in the open road together made me happy and sad at the same time.

Day 2: We headed west through Nebraska and into Colorado. We stayed with other Moody friends, the Clauss family. On our way to their house, we stopped for a quick hike at Garden of the Gods. It was beautiful and we were able to watch mountain goats traverse the rocks.

Day 3: We headed southwest the next day. We explored and hiked the sand dunes at Great Sand Dunes NP. We saw many antelope in the vast Colorado fields.

From the dunes we headed to the Black Canyon of Gunnison NP. It was a unique national park. 

We saw beautiful scenery along the way as we drove from Colorado to Moab. 

I will cover the Utah portion of our trip next time. Please pray for us as we continue our journey home this week. So thankful for those covering the home front.