Nature Walk

Our loot after a walk home from a friend's house

Normally when we go for walks Jordan rides in the stroller.  She really enjoys it...she really enjoys anything that has to do with the outdoors.  Every once in a great while we will take a little walk either to a friend's house just a block away or sometimes just a little stroll around the block in which Jordan actually gets to walk too.  As I'm sure you can imagine, these walks though short in distance can take nearly as much time as a walk where Jordan rides in the stroller.  Sometimes it is fun to have that change and I can always use this as a reminder to slow down and really appreciate Jordan and life and to discover details of the beauty God has created all around us.

Two days ago Jordan and I were hanging out in the front yard tossing things into the puddle at the curb when we saw a city bus coming down the street.  Jordan LOVES the buses that pass in front of our house (in fact every time we are inside and she hears one she always makes sure to tell me that a bus just drove by) so when she saw it coming she stopped what she was doing and began pointing excitedly at the bus.   To our surprise it stopped right in front of us and the bus driver opened his window and waved to us and said hello.  It was sure an exciting start to our day.  Jordan was thrilled!

Jordan and I planted flowers on Wednesday in the long planter area we've got in the front of our house.  I'm never sure what will and won't come up so I just planted every single seed from every single flower pack I had in the hopes that something will come up!  Jordan was quite the little "helper" digging in the dirt as I planted.  She was digging in the same spot nearly the whole time so I thought I was safe to just go around her until the very end...well...she decided to switch spots after a while...then switched again later.  I might have three bare spots in the planter but I may end up with flowers on the ground right in front of those bare spots!  We've not even had to water our flowers since they've been planted because it has been raining, raining and raining some more.  We are thankful for the rain watering our little seeds!

Jordan in our backyard a couple weeks ago

On another note, I'm beginning to dislike June.  It seems that June is the month that takes all my friends away from me!  Last June my very best friend and her husband and son (who is just a 6 weeks older than Jordan) moved back to Minnesota to be closer to her family.  This June, the military is moving my other very dear friend and her husband and son (who was born on the exact same day as Jordan) to Texas.  I'm very grateful for phones and blogs and Facebook to keep us connected.  My Minnesota friend and I still talk very frequently and follow each other's blogs to keep up with each other but sometimes it really stinks when you just need a friend to call up for any reason such as:  going for a walk together or to swap babysitting so you each have a chance to just sit on your couch and do nothing for a while or to have someone to dog sit when you go out of town or to hug when you are really feeling down and words just aren't enough.  You can't do any of that over the phone.  Ok, I'm sorry to be such a downer and I really need to stop because I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes and wallowing in self pity.  Most of all I am thankful for these friendships and that they are still so strong even with so many miles between us.  I'm so thankful that God has brought these ladies, not just ladies, their families too, into my life!