4:54 PM

Family, Catching Up and My New Fence

Hi! I hope you all had a wonderful 250th Anniversary 4th of July!

Pretty exciting, isn’t it?

I am sorry once again for being away for so long. I have been trying for weeks to get a post out and

for one reason or another I have been unable to do so. Some of the reasons are good, some not-so-good, unfortunately.

My family has been going through a lot for the past couple of years. Some of you know my daughter, Brittany, has been battling breast cancer for over a year now. The battle has been up and down and all consuming. It has been very hard for her and heartbreaking for her family and her many, many friends.

But, some good things have come along the way in the last few months, too. We are extremely thankful for them and I would like to share them with you, if you don't mind.

Our granddaughter, Julia, graduated with honors from Fairfield University in Connecticut in May.

Tom and I were blessed to be able to attend her graduation and had a wonderful weekend joining in on the festivities. We are very proud of Julia!

A few weeks after that wonderful event we went on a trip of a lifetime to Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Brittany and her family were gifted a trip to the "happiest place on earth" and since

it has been her wish to have her kids be able to experience Disney with us, the grandparents, and

aunts, uncles and cousins who could come, we made reservations and tagged along! It was a

magical time and one that we will treasure forever.

This was the car loaded to the gills as we tried to get to the airport. You can't see me but

I am in the backseat making sure the stroller doesn't fall out of the car!

This is my husband keeping little James busy at the airport as we waited to board our flight. We were petrified that James would be difficult on the airplane. He has quite the personality!

Going down, he was great. Coming home, not so much :). That was the report we got from his parents. Our seats were not very close so we didn’t hear much. Maybe he wasn’t that bad. 😉 Poor James :).

Here are a few photos of the trip~

Here I am with Donald at a Disney Breakfast

I also have a lovely video of Brittany with her two boys on a Disney ride but

I don't know how to add it here. Just know, we had fun!

As I said, the trip was all we could have hoped for, and Brittany had a great time with

her husband and two boys and us, I think!! We even celebrated Brittany's birthday while we were there! However, as soon as she got home, she was told her current cancer

treatment had stopped working and the doctors needed to find a new way to go. So, it was back to battle mode for Britt, heartbreakingly. You lose track of time when this is going on, and before I knew it, over a month had passed since my last post. Oh well, I wasn’t up to posting and I think you understand.

However, I did manage to put together a small celebration for my husband's birthday. He was celebrating a milestone birthday, and my son and his wife kindly offered their home and pool at which to have the party. I ordered up Tom’s favorite BBQ food and were all set to celebrate Pooba, as the grandkids call him. It was a great day and a nice respite from the worries we were/are facing.

Here is my lovely family. I have to brag because they are :).

And finally, I wanted to show you my new fence. I am very excited about getting it because

it has been something I have really wanted and kind of needed for a while. Gardening has been almost impossible

here in Boxford because of the many, many deer, as well as a woodchuck or two, that live in our

yard.

We ordered the fence in April and expected it to be installed in early May but, you know

how that goes. It didn't go in until mid-June after we returned from Disney and so much was

going on. Therefore, all my plans of creating beds and moving plants went by the wayside.

I have been working on the garden whenever I have a moment and was hoping to show you my

progress such as it is. However, the weather and schedules

have not allowed me to take photos yet. As soon as I can I will post a few. This side garden is

coming along somewhat nicely. We are getting tons of rain today so that should help even more.

I also had the fence company make me this enclosed fence garden in the side backyard. My plan is to move flowers from the bed in the backyard that the deer are ravaging and try to make a spot where they can thrive and be enjoyed. At this point in the summer, I think that dream will have to wait. Maybe I will manage to create the beds and have them ready for next summer to do all that moving and planting.

We will see :).