Life With the Norman's: Birthdays, Family and Goodbyes

The month of May was crazy busy, so that's why this post is coming now and not then. Isaac took leave again, which was wonderful. I could really get used to him taking a week of leave every month. After a year and a half of not seeing much of him and spending about half our nights away from each other, these April and May leave periods were much needed.

Isaac's family came to visit, which was wonderful as usual. I love seeing our boys bond with family, especially when they don't get to physically be with them very often, it's great to see them having fun, smiling and laughing, and freely giving hugs and kisses. It was a busy week with them here, not quite as we planned. Isaac and his dad spent the week redoing our deck, which was much needed. It's pretty much been a hazard ever since we moved in, nails coming out of it, warped boards and weather worn, splinters all over the place. With Judah refusing to keep shoes on outside, it couldn't have come at a better time and we are so thankful for his dad being willing to help. So most of the week, me and the boys got to hang out with Lisa. We did a few fun outings, the children's museum and the zoo. Mostly, we hung out at home since the boys naps rarely lined up with each other. It's hard to find time to get out of the house when that happens. Thankfully, Lisa was very understanding and enjoyed playing with the boys. Judah was too cute, going right to Lisa as soon as he saw her. He really loved her, which isn't like him. He doesn't go to anyone very well, so it was nice that he seemed perfectly fine with Lisa, gave my arms a break for a bit.

At the end of their trip, we celebrated Judah's first birthday and Isaac's 30th birthday with a cookout with Isaac's friends from work. I've heard stories about these guys for years, but never gotten to meet them. One family, I did meet a few months ago when we went shooting at their place, but the other 2, I hadn't met. It was so nice to finally meet his friends, put faces with names. And after the week of hard work that Isaac put in, it was nice to just get to relax and hang out with my husband. I'm so thankful for this past year of Judah's life and am always thankful to celebrate a birthday with Isaac, especially considering the first 2 he had, we celebrated on the phone due to deployments. I know he liked having an actual cake this year, rather than a very disgusting cake in a jar (never try that if your going to send a gift overseas, apparently they don't travel well).

That night, after Isaac's friends left, I got a text that my oldest and one of my dearest friends dad had passed away. Karlie was my best friend growing up and her family was my second family, her house my home away from home. So as soon as I could get me and the boys packed on Monday, we got on the road and headed to NC, I had to be with my best friend. It was a long week, and definitely not an easy week, but I am glad I was able to go, glad I was able to be with Karlie and say goodbye to her dad. It was pretty awesome to hear about the life of Thom, how much he loved his family and loved Jesus. I learned things I never knew, and definitely know I was blessed to know him.

Since then, we have been trying to get back to our normal routine. I've gone back to my normal one day a week at the clinic and had some difficult days, hard and sad patients. And I know the closer to going on staff I get, that will be more of my reality as Satan tries to stop me from doing what God wants, but my God is much bigger than that, so I will follow him and not give in to Satan's tactics. Isaac has been on his more difficult shifts so we haven't seen much of him. And this past weekend, he took Curtis to Oklahoma for the weekend to go to a wedding reception, so it's been just Judah and me, which has been a nice little break. But I am ready to have my boys back and ready to finally get back to a normal routine.

Here's a few pictures from the month:

My Mother's Day picture with my boys