4th of July Festivities, and All the While Missing You...

July 11, 2013                                             11:40 a.m

Dear Brynna,

I am finding that life is getting busy again.  Or maybe it’s just that I’m getting to a point where I can better handle how busy it’s been all along, picking my head up slightly from the fog we’ve been in.

Jackson just turned six!  We were up at Uncle Trent and Auntie Andrea’s house for the weekend of the 4^th of July, and we ended up having his “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” party with them on Saturday.  Grandma and Grandpa were there too.  

Jackson had requested homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner and it was delicious!  To me, it always feels like a perfect birthday celebration having good food and being surrounded by those we love.

I made cupcakes to go with the theme and I thought they turned out pretty cute:

The boys had a great time playing with their cousins and running around with Ninja Turtle gear, fighting “bad guys”:

That’s a lot of really tough guys, huh?

A couple days before the birthday party was the 4^th of July, which we all spent at John and Nancy Hinton’s house.  

We started the morning by going to the 4^th of July parade in LaConner.  This was the third time we’ve gone, and it’s the perfect parade because it’s short and they throw TONS of candy at all the kids.  This year, we got to enjoy the parade with Joe and Gina Hinton and their daughter, Hailey (their baby, Harper, was back at her grandma’s taking a nap) and also Jane and Teriann and their daughter, June.  It was especially poignant for me because Joe and Jane are two of the people I grew up going to 4^th of July parades with, and it felt really cool to all be there together with our own children as well.

The rest of the day was filled with wonderful food, including freshly caught crab, beautiful weather, lawn games, fireworks, and some of our most treasured friends and family.

Here’s a picture of me as a little girl on the 4^th, in Sedro Woolley at the Hinton’s house.  It’s Jane, Uncle Trent, Me, Andrew, Joe, and Uncle Conner.  Check out those boots, huh?  Pretty patriotic, right?

And this is what our kids looked like this year, so many years later:

Of course you know how much my heart breaks that you are not in this picture with them…

And in this one with your brothers and cousins…

I miss you.  

I can’t stand the fact that you are not here with us for all of this.  It’s so strange being a parent to the boys here on earth and also to you, in heaven.  My arms still ache to cuddle you and hug you.  What I would have given to dress you up in a red, white and blue dress and watched you toddle around with spunky little piggy tails tied with patriotic ribbon…

I love you.

Always and forever, I love you.

Love, 
Momma