The 274th good thing about Lagos: long summer breaks

I've been on a long blog-cation and I've been telling myself for a while that it's time to get back to posting, as the post backlog is growing.  I've been back into Lagos for just over a month now and have been keeping busy and having fun, and I'll get to posting about that soon.  But first, a summer review:  I'm really spoiled here, as because my husband is the one tied down to work, but I am free to take a longer break in the summer.  Brent made it to the States for a couple of weeks, but I took a full 3 months of life in the States.  It was great!  I got acquainted with Mason, my newest grandchild, who was born in May. He is a cutie with a great disposition, a wonderful smile and even a dimple!

 We went to Colorado for a reunion with my family.  Here the two newest grandchildren met for the first time.

And their older brothers and sisters, the cousins, had a fun time together. 

Brent really enjoyed being with his grandkids!

 Here's us with children and grandchildren

 And the big group -- my parents, their 5 children and most of their grandchildren.  We had a wonderful time together and we are all so grateful to my parents for making this happen every other summer.

 Then some of us were able to go directly to Utah for my niece's wedding.  Ally was a beautiful bride -- best wishes to Al and Jack for a joyful life together!  It was wonderful to be here for this special event.

 Of course, before and after these events, there was time in Houston -- for fun in the pool and park with grandkids who live nearby.  And always lots of jobs around the house to take care of.  And some not so fun stuff this summer -- my first ever ambulance ride after I tore my calf muscle on the tennis court, which injury triggered a case of shingles, and then yard work got me an exposure to poison oak.  I felt like I had aged 20 years with all these physical complaints.  But going home is still very worth it!

I extended my summer vacation a bit so I could take an end of summer trip to Boston to help our youngest son, Jordan, get settled into a new life.  He left his job in California, drove cross country and started law school at Harvard.  We're very excited for him and proud of him.

I made great use of Craig's List, which is great in Boston, especially at the end of August when so many students are at the end of their housing contract and there's a lot of furniture free for the taking.  While Jordan was involved in orientation, I went around collecting furniture.  I spent a total of $5 on their furniture for this room -- everything was free except for one table.  The bedroom furniture was only slightly more.  The leather chair and ottoman in the corner was like new -- it was the best find!

 And the extra bonus of going to Boston was spending time with our daughter, Lindsay, and her family.  Austin sharing his popsicle at our picnic and concert in the park.

 We visited a farm and the boys got into sorting the eggs in the chicken house.

Beautiful baby Natalie!

Summer was great!