My Summer weekend away...found me Laughter

I'm back! I had a really great weekend away from Lima! For some reason, I came away from this weekend appreciating laughter and summertime even more. I LOVE the summer and the time it gives me to relax. And when we all relax, don't we smile and laugh even more?? :) And I love that I have enough energy to still do some traveling during this cancer process (it's not the motorcycle trip or Hilton Head trip I had planned, but these little trips will work for this summer I guess. :) And it may not be 'full energy' all of the time, but I'm grateful for the moments I do have. I especially love the summer nights. I love taking a car ride in the country (a very Hochstetler thing to do :) when the sun starts to set. I love the color the sun makes on everything, its like a yellowish orange color that should just be called 'Summer SunSet'. It makes everything look so calm, cool, clean, and relaxing. I love driving in the country and seeing all the wildflowers on the side of the road when the grass is really tall and green, and the sky is orange near the sun but still light blue on top of the sky (especially when there is pond water around for reflecting! Not ocean or lake water, ocean has a COMPLETELY different sunset feel :). I love the summer car rides when I feel the cool breeze on my face and Michael Buble singing to me in the background...needless to say, the drive home today was a perfect summer sunset and a great way to end my weekend away. I didn't have my camera with me, but I found this picture I took 5 years ago that helps capture the scene I'm trying so hard to describe right now. If this is earth, Heaven must really be indescribable! Oh, and ice cream from The Creamery in Delphos just tops those summer sunset car ride's right off!! (Thanks Mom and Dad for my first waffle cone in AGES!! And for making me remember memories that make me laugh and smile :)

My summer weekend away started though on Friday with another entertaining day at the Garage Sale with my nephews selling cookies and lemonade. They were hilarious and made us all laugh as my littlest 4 year old nephew tapped on an old man's belly and said, 'hey, wanna buy a cookie?', and then another gentleman said, 'Hi, I haven't had breakfast yet, can I have a cookie?', and my nephew replied 'This is NOT breakfast food!' Good job Julie on raising the kids! So my family is close, we love being together...even at Garage Sales....see the picture to prove it :) The only people missing were the one's that were working! There were so many laughs that I wouldn't want to be anywhere else...well, at least most of the time ;)
My niece is growing too fast!! Slow down Miss Blue Eyes!

So is my Cooper! Stay little forever Cooper! (and thanks for the scarf Natalie!)

A Garage Sale - A Family Affair

Then on Saturday, Andrew, Cooper, and I went to Fort Wayne to see his brother and sister-in-law...ALWAYS a blast going out there! Tim and Andrew went golfing while Beth and I had some girl time and were on the hunt in Fort Wayne for a certain movie..'Hello Puppies!' :) Our time together is just TOO FUN...seriously!! I have the very best sister-in-law anyone could ask for! She makes me laugh just as much as when I'm with my own sister's! Now that's a great in-law!Then we went to Asakusa, another Japanese restaurant and the sushi was to die for! Oh, it is sooo yummy! We went home and just crashed we ate so much (I was exhausted!)...but that didn't stop us from watching another couple episodes of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel! (does anyone else think it is addicting to watch?!) We went to a Greek restaurant called Skyro's for breakfast in the morning...this was a weekend for food for sure! My energy was up most of the time...which I was totally thankful for cause I wouldn't want to miss a minute with these in-laws! Love you guys! The best part of the trip, besides laughing with family of course, was that Cooper got to meet his puppy cousins! We both don't have any kids yet (but we will one day!!), so our dogs are our kids for now :) I was so surprised with how well Cooper did with the other dogs. He played with Mocha and Bear so much, that today...he is exhausted. Cooper thought he could handle Mocha's big bone...not quite yet Cooper! The puppy cousins...Bear, Cooper, and Mocha (it's the best pic we could get with this wild bunch, but look at what a treat-treat can do! :)

The Newest Groman Group (Tim, Beth, Laura, Andrew)

After coming home to Lima, I left again to go down to the lake with my sister and her family because Andrew went to work and why let the fun stop, right?! My parents, both my aunts and uncles who have a place down there too, and my grandparents were there too. Another entertaining, fun, and hilarious time had by all! I tell you what, no one laughs like my family and I wouldn't have it any other way! In Ecclesiates 3:4 it says that 'There is a time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.' My family gives me my time to weep, and definitely make me laugh through this crazy time even more. Luckily, there will be no mourning, and if there is...it better be short. And dance...well, like George says in My Best Friend's Wedding- '...and by God, there will be dancing!!' :) I am so blessed that I am able to go through all of these emotions with my family. They accept me with open arms right now, the broken way I am. I'm lucky. I hope you have something like this in your life. I hope you have someone you can count on always. It doesn't have to be family, because friends can be closer than family sometimes and make you laugh just as much, if not more! But I hope you have some people in your life that you believe in and can without a doubt, count on through thick and thin. If you don't, I encourage you to open yourself up to find it and hang on to it for the rest of your life, because you don't want to miss out on true, meaningful friendship and family...those people who will be there with you through all of Life's emotions--the weeping, laughing, grieving and dancing. Especially the dancing :)