may, 2020.

Hi there blog readers, if there are any of you left by now! I don’t blame you if there aren’t, I’ve been a fair-weather friend.

Since I have some serious catching up to do, I’ve decided to do it by month. Here goes the end of May:

 

16-year anniversary

Very few restaurants were open for our anniversary on May 22, so David and I decided to celebrate with an at-home date. We shopped together at Whole Foods for ingredients for a fancy dinner: a cheese board, filet mignon with roasted potatoes and salad, and a sampling of dessert from the bakery case. It was delicious, and very relaxing to spend the whole evening on our comfortable back porch rather than in a restaurant (it was, thankfully, before the real heat of summer hit us).

 

 

 

Of course at-home dates mean that there’s a good chance we’ll get some visitors wanting a bite of steak. We’ll take them! Especially since they very kindly did the dishes for us.

 

Gabe’s birthday

On May 27th, Gabe turned 9 years old. We’ve now celebrated 6 birthdays with this boy, and are thankful for him every day.

 

Noah had broken out in some sort of rash from head to toe, which the pediatrician said must have come from a run-in with a poisonous plant. Poor guy was miserably itchy for 2 or 3 days (and we learned the Benadryl makes him grouchy), then bounced back as good as new.

 

We celebrated Gabe’s birthday at Grandpa and Mum-Mum’s with our friends and neighbors, the Palmers. See if you can spot their adorable new puppy! I had an epic cake fail due to a carton of baking soda that had gone flat, so we improvised with Klondike bars, and the birthday guests were great sports about it.

 

 

 

Wedding at Lake Keowee

David performed his third COVID quarantine wedding on the last weekend in May. It was outside Clemson, at Lake Keowee, so Steve and Linda offered to keep the kids and let us drive up a night early and have a getaway. David found a hotel in Clemson. We actually came on their second weekend open! The prices were great since it isn’t football season, and we accidentally got upgraded from a king-sized bed hotel room, to a one-bedroom condo overlooking the lake. It was magical.

 

 

 

CPC members, Davis and Aly, were so thankful to be able to have a wedding, though the limit was 50 people, including the bridal party. The ceremony was lovely, with an outdoor tent reception. David and I had to race home to Columbia to get ready for church the next morning, so the caterers made us to-go boxed dinners.  Wasn’t that sweet?

 

 

 

 

 

First Church Service

I don’t have any pictures of our first service back after quarantine, so this is a picture of what our Sunday mornings looked like all spring. We’d watch the service on YouTube at 9:00, then head to the river or State House until lunchtime.

It was a sweet season for us as a family in many ways, but we are very, very thankful to be worshipping in-person once again. We have two services, spaced-out seating, and face masks for the foreseeable future, and not a large attendance right now. We miss those who can’t be with us, though both services are live-streamed so they can tune in from home.

So no, church is not the same as it was before COVID hit. But it still makes a huge difference to sit and stand together with our church family, singing, listening to the sermon, smiling and looking into one another’s eyes as we chat outside after the service. My heart feels strengthened each Sunday, and I’m reminded why the New Testament teaches that it’s truly impossible to be a follower of Christ without being apart of a local church. We need each other.

 

 

End of school!

We wrapped up our 7th year of homeschooling at the end of May. Due to the aforementioned cake disaster, I decided that we needed a re-do to celebrate the end of school. Thankfully this one turned out to be delicious. Amie got a cake decorating kit for Christmas, and has been enjoying practicing.

 

Other fun.

After a long season of social distancing, she was able to attend a birthday party for two of her friends. This group of girls was so happy to be reunited!

 

The garden is booming right now. In May, we enjoyed the last of our radish, kale and lettuce crop, and a few carrots. Currently we’re getting potatoes, cucumbers, squash, and lots and lots of tomatoes. Stop by if you want some!

 

We continue to love our pets, especially Max the guinea pig. We love both our guinea pigs, of course, but Milo is very active, while Max is a cuddler. He can be found throughout the day (and evening) snuggling with various members of the family . . .