Birthday and Braces

Matt celebrated his 36th birthday by white water rafting in Colorado. He had an amazing day and enjoyed beautiful weather and scenery. The next day we put on Saylor's braces sans professional assistants. It was a family undertaking, that took us on a bit of a wild ride, much like the white water rafting. Saylor did a fabulous job of being patient with her atypical assistants. Tagg attempted to get some practice of being an orthodontist with the office pig-puppet before working on his sister. He took the pig-run through very seriously.

Our family worked really well together, trying to follow instructions and keep our lovely patient distracted.



There were a few tears, but only because of the akward assistant that often became distracted by his rubber gloves and the possibility that they could be filled with water and used as a water balloon.

OK...

So this winter was extremely harsh this past year, and while I was staring at drifts of snow and below zero temperatures, I began to dream.... What if I could take the kids on a huge road trip, one where it was sunny all the time, one where the car ran perfectly, one where we got to spend time with people that we don't see enough. I am a bit of a dreamer and contain more than my fair share of optimism, so I began to plan this dream. I admit, part of me didn't really believe the dream would come alive and I realistically expected some road blocks. But, in the end, the dream ALL came true: My dad drove with the kids and I to the beach and spent some time with us at the beach. Matt took a long weekend and spent time at the beach and returning to Ft. Bragg N.C. to our old apartment and army base. Mimi came to the beach to celebrate Tagg's birthday. Colleen came to the beach to help us drive to Portland, Maine and make a few stop overs to see some wonderful Philadelphia friends. We spent great time in Maine with our family. Matt, the kids and I took the drive home with ease. Sarah, Chris, Lucy and Jude met us in Iowa City to have a swimming get together. We never had to drive in rain, we never had one single day of rain at the beach, nobody had any flight problems and every flight was on time or early for arrival. Perhaps this "dream" went on for too long and I have no idea if I will ever have the chance to dream like this again, but I am so grateful for the people and time I was given for this amazing dream.

Still another Mile

I have a dream

You can take the future

A song to sing

If you see the wonder of a fairytale

I'll cross the stream

I have a dream, a fantasy

And my destination, makes it worth the while.

Something Good in Everything I See

I believe in Angels.

I had a dream.

Mamma Mia is one of my favorite movies, the older I get the more I appreciate the music and storyline. One of my favorite songs is "I Have a Dream" and the more I reflected on this past road trip, this song kept playing in my mind. Hmm, "I have a dream, A song to sing, to help me cope with anything." "If you see the wonder, of a fairytale, you can take the future, even if you fail." "I believe in angels, something good in everything I see." "I believe in angels, when I know the time is right for me, I'll cross the stream, I have a dream."