Catching up on May

Wow, where did this month go?  Both our jobs have been super busy, which hasn't left a lot of time and energy for blogging lately! But here's a quick catch-up on the happenings in May.

We celebrated our 9th anniversary on May 3rd!  We broke away from tradition and went to dinner at Macaroni Grill instead of the Cheesecake Factory, so we are really shaking things up in our old age.

Ha, just kidding. I couldn't take it and begged Dan to pick up cheesecake for dessert on our way home. :) 

If this is wrong, I don't want to be right.

In other exciting news, Dan finished up the school year last Friday!  It was his 5th year as Principal, and it's probably been his best year yet.  It ended on a great note since all the graduating Seniors have the opportunity to address the rest of the students, and they told them to appreciate every moment they have at Calvary Christian Academy. The teachers & staff truly love those kids, and this class fully appreciated what a blessing it's been to have relationships with teachers/mentors who live out the gospel and love them enough to hold them accountable when it's needed.  It meant a lot to Dan & the rest of his staff to hear that from the Seniors.  They're making a huge impact in the kids' lives!   

The day after graduation, we flew to Williamsburg, VA to visit family!  We arrived late Saturday night, and went to church with Dan's parents on Sunday morning before driving to Fredericksburg, VA to meet Steve and his fiancee, Sheila, for lunch.  Steve's busy finishing his dissertation for his PhD before starting his first full-time job as a college professor in Cedar Rapids, IA.  Sheila works in Washington, DC, so Fredericksburg is the perfect meeting point since it's halfway between them and Williamsburg.

It was great to catch up with them in person while we were in the area!

When we got back to Dan's folks' house, we got to meet this cute guy - our two-month-old nephew Josiah!

He is boy #4 for Tim & Dawn, Dan's brother and sister-in-law. He loved to be held, and he had plenty of people around who were happy to oblige!

Since it was 85 degrees in VA and Dan's parents have a pool in their backyard, we did a lot of swimming with our older nephews.

Aaron loved playing in the shallow water, but he agreed with his Uncle Dan that the water was too cold for actual swimming!

It was no problem for Nathan, though. Within two days, he was ready to shed all his flotation devices! He's going to be swimming like a fish by the end of the summer.

Benjamin got this awesome pirate ship last Christmas that actually floats!  We took turns capsizing it with our best cannonball splashes.  Something tells me he's going to need a new pirate ship by next Christmas.

Okay, one more really cute photo of Josiah and Dan. I love those matching bald heads.

And Uncle Dan & Aunt Debby with our four awesome nephews!

Somehow I managed to not take any pictures of the other adults in the family.  But we had a great time catching up and playing late night games with Dan's parents, Tim, Dawn, and Robin.  My time with them was too short and I wish I could've stayed longer, but alas, vacation time is limited for those of us not in the school system.  I flew back home alone on Wed. night and Dan gets to stay & play at Resort Jester until Sat. night. *jealous*  

As I was waiting for my flight at the Newport News airport, my plane arrived & I watched the passengers de-board.  I noticed a little girl who looked just like our friends' girl, and suddenly I realized it WAS her!  Our friends, Kate and Mike, were just arriving in VA with their kids, Charlotte and Cameron!  It was such a fun surprise to see them there!  Mike's family lives in the Hampton Roads area, and they fly out regularly for 4th of July and Christmas.  It never occurred to us that they'd be there in May while we were visiting! 

After giving them big hugs, I quickly called Dan & his parents so they could come back to the airport and say hi to Mike & Kate, too.  Hopefully we'll get to see them in VA again at Christmastime, but I loved our unexpected meeting!