8 Things

1. These two.  Gosh, these two.  Aunt Jen and Winter.  They are insanely sweet and Winter knows she will always get all the love and attention and tic tacs from her Aunt Jennifer Lee who’s her namesake.  I love watching them love each other…it’s quite sweet!

2. He’ll be 10 tomorrow.  Another Kelley kid moving into double digits and we seriously love watching Hudson grow and change and be his full self.  He is funny and kind.  He is strong and empathic.  He is a lover and a fighter.  He often comes over and gives me random hugs and reminds me yet again I am the luckiest.  Quit growing man child.

3. For Amon there is nothing much better than his friends.  He thrives on time with them.  Then when his bestie also has a Power Ranger’s suit, his mind is blown.  Watching these three play and run and pose was simply amazing.

Bonus:  When I caught on camera Amon accidentally hitting Winter in the face while trying to rise into an eagle pose.  Hahahahahaha.  🙂

4.  We keep a basket of Everett’s photos on our coffee table.  Everyone looks through them all the time.  They are well loved and a lot of them are bent and worn and sticky.  Sometimes the photos are moved around the house.  Lately Amon has been pulling photos from the basket and sitting them around him while he plays.  I will forever be grateful for how all our children remember Everett and keep his sweet memory alive.

5. The sky renews my hope.  Over and over again.

6.  They make me want to be a better person.  They push me to look beyond myself.  They remind me daily of what truly matters.  They take my mind from grief and push it towards joy.  They make me laugh all the time and drive me bonkers.  They are my greatest honor.

7.  Last weekend was Josh Kelley’s birthday.  He is my most favorite human being on the planet.  Josh is humble and hilarious.  He is constantly picking us up when we are down, he pulls us out into the sunshine on days when we want to hide away and he makes us laugh crazy hard.  I am beyond thankful for his kind, witty and strong self.  We’re the luckiest to have him as ours.

8.  And just a little over 6 years ago…the day before Josh’s birthday…we sent Amon into surgery to have his broken little heart repaired.  We handed him over to Dr. Christian and her team and held onto hope like crazy.  Dr Christian gave Josh the greatest birthday gift that year.  After almost a month in the hospital we finally walked out with Amon and his beautifully patched up heart in our arms and that will never ever be lost on us.  I have the deepest gratitude for this boy and his incredibly special heart.