Sweet Summer where did you go?

Sweet Summer full of fun and catnaps where did you go?? Well It has been a VERY long time since I have blogged...and A LOT has happened!!(Please excuse any typo's or misspellings..when I WRITE a lot I tend to have many errors.) So get cozy and be prepared to read and read and read. lol..Just kidding, I will do my best at keeping this short and simple as to not bore anyone. Well school came to a close with my oldest daughter graduating high school. WOW! As she walked across the stage in her cap and gown, reflections of that first day of school entered my mind and the tears again were pouring. Could she really be 18 years old and have already completed 12 years of schooling!!!??? I looked over at my sweet husband and saw that not only I was welling up with pride but he was too. NOBODY was more excited however than she was about it! She looked beautiful and had a GLOW on her face and a twinkle in her eye that was just so beautiful to see. A few weeks following that night was her Graduation party. WHAT A PARTY!!!! It was AMAZING!!! So many friends and family joined us in our huge celebration. My Mom and Dad came to help us decorate and please allow me to brag when I say the place looked magnificent!!! <3 Lots of love was put into her party and when you add the remarkable people that came you have ONE FESTIVE, UNFORGETTABLE, and AMAZINGLY GREAT EVENT! I had to take a moment during the party to THANK MY GOD for BLESSING me with a great family and great group of friends! Glenn and I went to bed that night smiling,laughing and talking about how happy we were that our party was a success and thanking God that it would be 3 years before having another! HAHAHAHAHA...I think there were more than us in that room laughing...GOD, no doubt knew what was ahead and had to be laughing at our conversation. (this part will continue later in the story) We had many trips planned and one was to go rafting in the Colorado Rockies. Sadly, this would have to wait since Glenn had a project at work in FULL SWING and it was not allowing him to leave for the amount of days we needed. However, LOTS OF TRIPS were still in store. Many to Padre Island, local hot spots (Fiesta Tx, Schlitterbaun, Gruene for rafting,kayaking ect.)Glenn put up a screen for outside movies, and that became a summer hit!!! Our outside movie nights while swimming and grilling are some of the BEST SUMMER NIGHTS EVER!! The summer was definitely a HOT one, and swimming in the pool at times felt more like taking a bath lol...but it was FUN! Our summer vacations mostly this year were spent here at home. My children would rather be here than anywhere else..and for this I am THANKFUL. Our house is not a mansion, nor is it extravagant or huge but is our home. It is a home filled with LOVE and JOY. It may not always be perfect and Lord only knows that we have our moments...but at the end of the day, we go to bed still feeling BLESSED!!! The summer days brought BEE STINGS, LOTS and LOTS of BEE STINGS for my son Peyton. Poor baby was stung AT LEAST 10 times with one of those times landing us in the ER!! However not one of those stings was so bad that he retired himself from shooting bee's nest with his BB gun! I still laugh at the sight of waking up and looking outside to see my cotton head, dressed in his boxers, no shoes or shirt, but sporting his bb gun and hunting for bees! The summer brought victories as well for us! My son Trevor will leave this summer a WINNER!! He brought home a State Win in the State Shoot. This will forever be molded in his mind as a WONDERFUL MEMORY!!! To watch a dad beam with pride and his Son more than happy to please his father is forever a WONDERFUL MEMORY burned in my heart as well as my mind! I too will be leaving this summer with some GREAT memories. I had some great times reconnecting with friends!! I wont soon be forgetting a coast trip with friends of my past!! Lacey, Stacy, Tracey, Julie and I had one of the best times on the beach. We LAUGHED, LAUGHED and LAUGHED some more!! We shared stories of the past and brought home new ones to share with others! Reconnecting was fabulous and getting away was such a nice break!!! Sharing moments with my little brother, watching fireworks on the beach for the 4th of July was a precious memory and one that almost never took place. Thank you God for sparing him..and know that we will forever be grateful!!! My family and I had a great time at Inks Lake as well. Unforgettable moments of being towed on a raft behind a kayak as onlookers watched and giggled. LOL. FUN TIMES!!!! Upon returning from our Inks adventure is when I realized that not only Glenn and I were in that room laughing about not hosting a party like that for a super long time. You see as soon as I returned home and turned on my computer, I found where a old friend of mine had emailed me. Mister Mike Cantu was informing me that a few of my past classmates over dinner one evening had mentioned maybe having our TWENTY (yes, I said twenty) YEAR class reunion at my house. I was immediately proud to be asked but very unsure! I called up my sweet friend Lacey who of course said, "Why not? How flattering, and you have a great place for it!"!! So my next task at hand was to confront my husband with this grand idea!!! His first words were.."Shannon, what is going through your mind right now???" LOL I responded with.."Karma babe, good deeds only bring on better things for us!" Being the supportive husband that he is, he quickly told me it would be fine with him..as long as I wouldn't stress to much over it! So the plans were in motion, and the reunion was set for the end of the summer! Lots of planning was involved, but NOT the stressful kind. We held Margarita parties with everybody who was helping put this reunion on. We entered a Margarita Pour off (in which we didn't win) and had THE BEST TIME just having fun with friends! The reunion went perfect and how great it was to reconnect with friends we had lost touch with twenty years ago!! We had a slideshow that brought back past memories, and a dinner fit for a KING!! I am pretty sure EVERYBODY there including children had a VERY GOOD TIME! The last of the guests didn't leave until 3am the next morning!! As you can see my summer was full of fun, parties, and adventure! BUT..Right when we thought we had been Blessed with the best summer, God had yet one last reward for my family! The week before school started we received the call that had been a year in waiting. My little brother Lawrence who had been long anticipating a cadaver bone received the news that it was IN, and the bone had tested positive for a match!!!! WOW!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!!! My husband asked me, "Is this the karma you spoke of, if so when is the next huge party?" HAHA!!!! He now has the bone and is in the middle of physical therapy...LIFE should be back to NORMAL for him by the time his baby comes in the spring! YES, HE ALSO HEARD HE IS GOING TO BECOME A DADDY!!!!!! My family is a true believer that Good Deeds and The Glory of God go hand in hand!!!!! We say goodbye to a AMAZINGLY, FANTASTIC summer and cannot wait to see what our Fall holds for us!! Thank you GOD for GREAT FAMILY, FRIENDS, FUN and LAUGHTER!!!!!