June Celebrations

How are we already into the middle of summer?  Whew, the last couple of months have flown by.  It has been a whirlwind, filled with lots of changes and mixed emotions.  June especially was a month filled with happy times and sad, but this post will focus on the happy events that celebrated my mom's retirement from 20+ years as an educator, and my Too-dad's 90th birthday.  With the added bonus of my brother's visit from Japan to help celebrate, too! It is a good thing these two parties sandwiched our move from our beloved home of NYC, as they were joyous moments we were able to look forward to.  Once I get some pictures from a friend, I'll have a post that features many of our most special friends from the city as well as some of our final moments there, but for now, we'll stick to pics with some of our super special family.

The weekend before our move into our new VA home, we were able to toast my mom for her many accomplishments as an educator- from a substitute teacher to a Vice Principal, working in Special Education and as a Reading Specialist in between. Co-workers, friends (old & new!), and family gathered to recognize not just her hard work, but also her kind & cheerful heart and spirit.  She has impacted so many lives and we are so proud of her!  And are looking forward to her retirement :)

 

Sweet Lilee had a bit of a rough evening but wouldn't miss being there for her Nana!

A cane!  As one student told my mom she couldn't retire because she wasn't old enough and didn't have a cane! :)

Sharing sweet memories

A proud daddy with his girl

With "Auntie Coop-" a dear family friends and college roommate of my mom's!

It was a special evening and such a treat for me to see so many of my dad's family, as well as old family friends, that I haven't seen in years, and in some cases, decades.  Such a sweet night.

More pics from June in VA:

The following Wednesday was the big day- moving into our new apartment.  Steve was a champ, finishing up the final details in NYC and driving a u-haul down the night before, and Wednesday was crazy.  Somehow, someway, praise the Lord, it got done. It was quite a day, and also the day my brother came in from Japan! So at least the overwhelming task of a move was a bit tempered with the excitement of seeing family! 

Then the next weekend, we had the super sweet pleasure of celebrating my Too-Daddy for his 90th birthday!!!  I still can't believe he is 90.  I am beyond grateful to have this man in my life and it was so special to get to honor him.  His kids, step-kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids were all there to mark the occasion and we had a blast seeing everyone. 

Our sweet little Lilee can be fickle sometimes but did great with her GREAT Too-dad!

And Maelee was SO thrilled to hang out with her Uncle Dan!

Excited to play with "cousin" Caleb :)

Love the joy on those faces!

Fun with fireflies!

Beautiful Thumbelina... :)

The sweet Thumbprint Tree

The oldest & the youngest of the family

So sweet together!

Happy Birthday to one incredible man!

Smallest print...

So grateful for this family!

These sweet great grand-kiddos did so well!

Uncle Dan with his adoring nieces

Sweet, and classic, daddy/daughter moment

There were precious words spoken and happy tears shed as we all reflected on what a gift Too-dad has been in each of our lives. It was one happy weekend, and so needed after a crazy week filled with so many mixed feelings.

More pics from June in DE:

Here we are almost a month after, and we are just about settled into our new home- still missing our old home but adjusting and figuring out the new normal.  It has been wonderful being closer to family and such a blessing to have my mom around so much to help out!  So we continue to just look at the positives.  More posts to follow documenting this eventful summer - stay tuned!