Back to School

When I started homeschooling Nadia in 2013, she was my only student. Starting in 2015 I had two children I was homeschooling, and from August 2017 to May 2026, I was writing lesson plans for three students. Nadia moved to Virginia last week and started her college classes on Monday. Ian worked at the kennel Monday morning and started his college classes that afternoon. Yesterday was the first day of school for Oliver and for Ian's homeschool classes.

Nadia is taking 18 credits this semester. Four of her credits will be completed within the first 8 weeks of the semester (History of Life and University Seminar), and three of her credits will be completed during the last eight weeks of the semester (Technology). The remaining three classes (11 credits) will last the entire semester - biology, chemistry, and probability and statistics. She doesn't have any classes on Wednesdays or Fridays. She only has labs on Mondays. She had originally registered to take the University Seminar at 8:00 on Mondays, but this past weekend she asked me to switch her to an online section. She also chose an online section for the technology class. The rest are in person.

Ian is taking two classes through Cedarville (5 credits) - a C++ programming class and a health class. On the way back home on Friday we stopped at York Barbell to buy 210 pounds of weights as Ian wants to do more weightlifting. We split the cost with him. Other goals I have for him are preparing to take two CLEP tests and the ACT in the spring. He's studying calculus in math this year and also taking piano and voice lessons. He plans to be in the spring musical (Newsies), continue working at the kennel, and get his learner's permit.

Both boys will be studying biology (doing the labs in co-op). It's been a LONG time since they had science together. For social studies they are studying geography together. They are also doing a Career Discovery class together (Dave Ramsey). They are both studying John for Bible quizzing. Ian has already memorized all of the first two chapters of John plus part of chapter three. Some parts of English they will have the same assignments (reading some of the same books and doing some of the same writing assignments). Ian got a head start in English this summer by reading Screwtape Letters and Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde as well as part of Joni. Both boys will also be taking art at MCS and participating in a chess club here.

Oliver is taking pre-algebra through Teaching Textbooks and working through Easy Grammar Plus and Wordly Wise 7. Both boys are using different books of Life of Fred. Oliver is also doing an Entrepreneurship class through Dave Ramsey. The first book I am having Oliver read for English is Five Children and It, which was one of my favorite books I read to the kids, but he was very young when I read it to them. He had his physical on Monday. He weighs 112 pounds (49th percentile) and is 5 ft. 8.75 inches tall (91st percentile) which puts his BMI in the 11th percentile (same as last year). In the past year he gained 17 pounds and grew 4.25 inches. He's 6.25 inches taller than Ian was when he turned fourteen, and he weighs 22 more pounds than Ian did at that age.

Maritime Provinces

I usually have my laptop with me on vacation, but I haven't been able to close my lid since it was broken in August 2025. So instead of writing a post for each day of our recent trip to Canada, I'm going to just summarize the whole trip in one post.

On this trip we went to many National Parks. Our pass had expired in May, so we purchased a new annual pass at the Vanderbilt Mansion. Our purchase paid for itself on the first day we had the pass because the tours at Vanderbilt and FDR's home cost money for those over the age of fifteen. No tickets were needed to tour Eleanor Roosevelt's home. The kids each earned seven Junior Ranger badges during the trip as we also visited Saint Croix Island International Historic Site in Maine on the way to New Brunswick as well as Salem Maritime, Saugus Iron Works, and JFK's birthplace in Massachusetts on the way home. I had included an eighth US National Park site in the itinerary (Frederick Law Olmstead), but we skipped it so we could get home a little earlier on Sunday night. We didn't need to buy an annual pass for the Canadian national parks because they are free for everyone from June 19- September 7. The only exception was we did pay for a guided tour at the Fortress of Louisbourg. While we were in Canada the kids also earned some Xplorers dog tags. This is the Canadian version of the Junior Ranger program. In 2018 the kids completed the Xplorers program at Fort George in Ontario. On this trip they earned one at Fundy National Park (New Brunswick), Alexander Graham Bell (Nova Scotia), Signal Hill (Newfoundland), and Green Gables Heritage (Prince Edward Island). We had to pay $4 each for the kids to do the one on PEI. There have been a few times over the years that we've had to pay for the kids to do one in the US. At several sites the Xplorers program has been eliminated in Canada so the kids were not able to earn a dog tag at the Citadel in Halifax, the Fortress of Louisbourg, or Gros Morne National Park. We didn't end up hiking at Terra Nova National Park or Cape Breton as planned, and we were at Cape Spear before the visitor center opened. Of all the National Park sites we visited, Gros Morne was my favorite. We went on several hikes there and also took a two-hour boat tour of the Western Brook Pond, which is a gorgeous site (reminded us of Alaska). On one of the hikes we were walking on the mantle. Just counting US National Park sites, our family has now been to 182 of them (out of 433 total). Nadia has earned 238 Junior Ranger badges, Ian has earned 237, and Oliver has earned 226. 

We also enjoyed some beautiful places that were not part of a National Park. We hiked to the Hopewell Rocks. Unfortunately, it was at high tide. I wish it had worked out to visit there at low tide like we did when I went with my family 25+ years ago. We walked on the rocks near the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, saw the sea arch and Spillars Cove in Bonavista, walked between Cavendish Beach and the Cliffs on PEI, and hiked the gorgeous Skerwink Tral in Port Rexton. That hike was one of my most favorite experiences of the vacation. In terms of animals, the highlights were seeing many puffins, seagulls, and cormorants near the shore of Newfoundland and also kayaking near a harbor seal colony off the coast of Nova Scotia. Paul has the most diverse interests of anyone in our family, so I think he enjoyed almost all of the activities. Some of his favorite historical sites were the Maritime Museum in Halifax, Halifax Citadel, Fortress of Louisbourg, Signal Hill, and Saugus Iron Works. 

We were gone for twelve nights. Two of those were spent on an overnight ferry going between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Seven nights we stayed at a hotel, and five of those mornings we enjoyed a free breakfast. Two of us could have had a free breakfast at The Guv'nor in St. John's, but since it was only for two people and the restaurant didn't open until 8:00 am, none of us had breakfast there. Three nights we stayed at an Airbnb. The mattress that Paul and I found to be the most comfortable was the one in Rocky Harbour, NL. At two of the hotels, I was able to book a room that had three queen beds, which was nice as typically Nadia sleeps on a couch. One Airbnb I booked had three bedrooms, so Nadia got her own bedroom that night, and Oliver slept on a couch so downstairs so that he and Ian didn't need to share a bed. On Cape Breton I had to book two separate rooms, so Nadia got her own bed that night as well. Ian slept well on the ferry going in both directions, but most of us got more sleep on the ferry back to Nova Scotia. I definitely got more sleep on the ferry than I do on a red-eye flight. I was able to do two loads of laundry at the Airbnb in Bonavista on the evening of our 25th wedding anniversary. 

Not counting the two ferry rides, we had three other outings that involved being on the water. The first was a four-hour kayaking trip off of Nova Scotia. The second was the boat tour of the Western Brook Pond that was almost cancelled due to fog. I'm very glad it actually took place. The third was what Oliver chose since we were on vacation on his 14th birthday. We took a two-hour tidal bore rapids tour that included mud sliding. I wish I had photos of the kids covered in mud. I was especially surprised that Ian changed his mind and participated in that part of the outing because since he was a toddler he has never liked getting dirty/messy. The tides change more dramatically in the Bay of Fundy than anywhere on the planet. Thankfully the titanium in the sand keeps the water nice and warm. 

Since we were traveling in our own vehicle, we were able to bring along more food from home. In general, we tried to save money when it came to food expenses. Some highlights included the soft ice cream that we had near the entrance to Fundy National Park, eating a donair in Halifax (I was the only one who tried one), getting sandwiches from a grocery store multiple times, getting breakfast sandwiches and/or donuts at Tim Hortons and Robin's Donuts multiple times. eating pizza twice (Paul's favorite) and eating a meal at Market Family Cafe in St. John's. The food there was amazing and reasonably priced. Four of us thought we had our best meal on the trip at that restaurant. The boys really enjoyed eating at A&W one time as they loved the root beer served in a chilled glass mug. The most frustrating evening for eating was on August 10 because a crow damaged a transformer and caused a power outage that lasted 44 hours. The restaurants were all closed, and everyone was buying the food at the gas station and pharmacy so there wasn't much available. 

In general, my least two favorite aspects of a vacation are #1 not getting much sleep due to all different mattresses and #2 how exhausting and unpleasant it is to spend many hours in an airplane, ferry, or van. Not counting the nights on the ferry, I think the night we had the hardest time sleeping was the Airbnb we stayed in on August 7 because it was way too hot inside. I slept on the couch because I couldn't sleep upstairs due to the heat. As far as time spent traveling, we drove a little over 4K miles in 13 days. Eek! Then when we came home, we were home for less than 48 hours before we drove to Yvonne's house in Maryland and then on to Virginia to take Nadia to college. That round trip was a little shy of 1K miles, so we drove a little over 5K miles in 17 days. Our odometer turned over to 100,000 miles near the end of our trip home from Maryland this morning. We've had the vehicle for 5 years. I'm hoping to do VERY little driving in the coming months. I had finished the license plate game at the end of July, but Oliver wanted us to start again. So far in the month of August, we saw license plates for all ten provinces of Canada. Nine of the provinces we saw multiple license plantes, but we only spotted Saskatchewan one time. By the end of our vacation, we had seen plates from 40 of the 50 states (plus we saw DC). By the time we came home from taking Nadia to college, we had seen 46 of them. The ones we are still looking for are Arkansas, Kansas, North Dakota, and New Mexico. Paul and I shared the driving. As was the case in Europe, we encountered a lot more roundabouts than we do here in the US. We were in three different time zones. Atlantic is one hour ahead of Eastern, and Newfoundland is 1/2 an hour ahead of Atlantic. During the drives Nadia read many books (some on her Kindle as well as some physical books that she brought). Ian, Oliver, Paul, and I listened to all of Priest and part of Warrior by Jared Dodd. Ian played a LOT of chess on his phone. Both boys also played with the Nintendo Switch. Thanks to a free trial of SiriusXM, we also listened to some music although it was challenging to get a signal on Newfoundland. 

I have now been to 8 of Canada's 10 provinces as I went to 7 of them with my parents. Paul and the kids have now been to 5 of the provinces as they've spent time in Ontario on more than one occasion. If all goes as planned, we will travel to British Columbia and Alberta next summer with Nadia after she finishes her internship. Our next vacation will probably be to Utah (with a little time in NV, CA, and ID) without Nadia in the spring. We're planning to fly for both of those trips, so I hope those trips involve a lot less than 4K miles of driving, but I'm glad I finally made it to Newfoundland for the first time. It's my favorite province of the five that the kids have visited. 

Fifty Nifty

 

In July 2017, I started keeping track of license plates I saw to see if I could spot one from every state. Some years I have achieved the goal. Some years I found 47-49 of them. I usually start over at the beginning of each new year. Last year I didn't find my last one (Wyoming) until the end of December, when we were driving in Illinois to celebrate Christmas with my extended family. Because our vacation in May was in Europe, I had decided in January to take the year off. Then in the spring I saw a Hawaii license plate when I was parking for the boys' orthodontist appointment. Hawaii is typically one of the hardest ones for me to find (not counting last year when we traveled there). I thought maybe I should play the game this year after all, but then again didn't actually start making a list. Over the next couple of months I continued to spot some of the hardest ones (North Dakota and Wyoming), so at that point I felt I must play the game again this year. Even though I didn't start until late in the spring, I was down to only needing eight more states by early June. The last seven were Kentucky, Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas, Alabama, Montana, and South Dakota. I figured the hardest one would be South Dakota, and that was my 48th one to spot. Ironically, I saw that one in our church parking lot when I was picking up Nadia after she attended a camp at Messiah University with our youth group in July. I knew at that point it would not be hard to see all fifty this year because I've never had trouble finding Arkansas or Alabama before. I spotted the last one (Alabama) on our drive down to Maryland on July 31, so this was by far the quickest I finished the game, considering I didn't even start in January as I usually have. On the way home from Maryland on August 2, Oliver decided to start playing the game again. Time will tell if we really do try to see them all again over the next five months. It's funny how something so simple can bring me such joy, but spotting those last few really puts a big smile on my face. 

It's been almost four weeks since I wrote a gratitude list, and I won't have a laptop while we're on vacation in Canada, so I will write one today. 

1. The boys enjoyed their free slurpees at 7-Eleven on July 11. I also enjoyed a lunch date at Panera with Ian that day before he played D&D at the library with some friends from church. 

2. My favorite ice cream is chocolate/peanut butter twist (soft serve). I never had any in 2025. I was thrilled to discover in July that a place in Lewisburg was selling it. I had it twice last month after not having any for two years. Yum! One of the visits was with Ian, and the other visit was with both boys. Oliver's top choice is a peanut butter milkshake. Ian's favorite is a peanut butter cup "blizzard" (every place has a different name for that type of treat). 

3. I enjoyed teaching from Zechariah 5-10 in our Sunday School class on July 12 and 19. 

4. Everything went pretty smoothly when we watched Cooper for about a week in July. 

5. Paul only had to spend one day at the courthouse for jury duty since he wasn't one of the 14 chosen for the jury. Cheri helped out with bringing Paul home when we only had one car due to Nadia having the Subaru at camp. 

6. The boys enjoyed doing Stronghold camp for the fourth year in a row. They'd like to join a club. We shall see if Ian actually has time for that or not.

7. The boys and I were able to go Christmas caroling in July at a nursing home. I was the pianist. 

8. Ian has been enjoying his voice lessons. I enjoy hearing him practice at home. He's had five lessons so far. He wants to continue taking lessons during the school year. We haven't worked out what day/time those will take place yet. 

9. Nadia enjoyed spending time with Faith and Abby at Generate Camp. We paid for 50% of the cost. Nadia was supposed to cover the other 50%, but someone else paid for her portion of the cost.

10. Paul took the boys bowling on July 22. 

11. Dad and Karen got married on July 18, and they had a lovely honeymoon in North Carolina. Paul, Oliver, Milo, and I met Karen at Yvonne's house on August 1.

12. Yvonne gave birth to Trevor James (her 8th son) on July 16. We met Trevor on July 31.

13. Ian had fun at Toby's grandparents' river house from July 31 - August 2. Joel and Nathan were also there in addition to some of Toby's siblings and friends. 

14. Nadia worked at Camp Susque for six weeks this summer. She came home on August 1 while the rest of us were in Maryland. She served as substitute head cook for a day a few times and did well at the job, so they asked her if she'd be willing to serve as head cook in the future. The head cook is paid more than the other support staff. She said she would be willing to be head cook for the winter camp Ian plans to attend in December, and if she ends up working at Camp Susque next summer, she is willing to be the head cook then. She's not sure at this point if she'll have an internship next summer or work at Camp Susque one last summer. She received a free hat as that is the gift they give staff who have worked there three years. A different gift is given to those who work there for five years, but I doubt she'll work there five years in a row. 

15. Our van barely passed the annual inspection this summer because the tires were very close to the minimum tread depth. I had seen that Bastian would periodically have a special where if you buy three tires, you get one free. I was hoping to take advantage of that deal, but I also knew we needed to get new tires before our trip to Canada, as we'll be driving thousands of miles. Thankfully, they issued the deal last Tuesday, and I was one of the first 25 customers to claim it. We got our four new tires yesterday and only paid for three of them (which meant we saved a little over $200). Paul took the van to the appointment because I had a committee meeting at MCS yesterday morning. 

What a week!

 Last Friday, while Nadia and Ian were at work, we learned two things. First, Paul needed to show up for jury duty on Monday morning, and Oliver discovered that our basement had flooded. This meant that the boys and I had to leave at 8:00am on Monday morning to take Paul to the courthouse in Sunbury before I took the boys to their Stronghold foam sword-fighting camp in Danville. Although Paul had to stay at the courthouse until 4:00, we were very grateful that he wasn't one of the fourteen people selected to serve on the jury for a murder trial. 

The boys enjoyed their camp. It was the fourth consecutive year that they participated in this half-day camp. The first two days, I walked while the kids were in the camp at a playground. The director decided that they should spend part of the time indoors on Wednesday because the temperatures got above 90. So we were told to take the kids to a church that morning. Cheri planned to spend time with me on Wednesday and Friday while the boys were at the camp. Typically we've walked in the past, but this year we had a late breakfast at one of her favorite restaurants on Wednesday due to the heat. On Thursday, the campers stayed inside the entire time because the air quality was awful due to the fires in Minnesota and Ontario. The air quality was much better on Friday, but it still wasn't normal, so the campers were inside for at least 2/3 of the time on Friday. Cheri asked me to come to her house on Friday due to the air quality. She lives about 15 minutes from where the camp was held. On Thursday, I read The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau in the public library while waiting for the boys. It wasn't as good as Theo of Golden (best book I've read so far this year) or The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife, but I did like the book. 

Every year while he's in this camp, Ian talks about joining a Stronghold club. This year is no exception. We discussed purchasing more equipment so it could be one of the electives in the co-op that meets at our home, but Ian really wants to join a club so he can learn more from Sir Estivan. Paul and I are not sure this is a good idea because Ian wasn't successful in keeping up with all his schoolwork in tenth grade, and he's already added three new things to his schedule for the upcoming year: voice lessons, chess club, and a job. Ian has no lack of ideas about what he'd like to do. For example, in the last couple of weeks, he asked me to get him some books so he could learn more about other religions (I got him three books on Mormonism, Islam, and Jehovah's Witnesses). He also mentioned he wanted to get back to learning a second language (which is a wonderful idea, but again I think he might be biting off more than he can chew). I don't plan on signing him up for a Stronghold club until I see he can successfully keep up with everything else. He's gotten off to a good start with John as he's memorized all of the first chapter (51 verses) and has started memorizing chapter two. He's also finished one book from his list for 11th grade English (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) and has begun reading Screwtape Letters, which is also on his list for next school year.  He's also been practicing for his piano and voice lessons as well as playing a lot of chess and Fall Guys, which is currently his favorite video game. He has improved a LOT in chess over the last several months, but he still hasn't beat Paul. 

Last Saturday I enjoyed a lunch date with Ian prior to taking him to the library to play D&D with some friends from church. On Monday night, the boys joined me in singing Christmas carols at a nursing home. I was the pianist for the group. Another mom brought four of her kids along, but mostly it was adults from the choir at our church who were singing Christmas carols (Christmas in July). On the way home, I treated the boys to some ice cream. Yum! Oliver enjoyed attending youth group on Wednesday night while Ian was at work. On Thursday, our new garage door openers were installed. We also enjoyed a movie together through Prime that I would recommend - Sheep Detectives. Wendy had suggested that one. I assisted a doctoral student with the survey instrument she's going to use in her pilot study, and I was asked to join the board of a local homeschool organization. 

All this to say it was a busy week. It was definitely busier than normal and involved more driving than normal. But for two members of my extended family, it was a VERY special week. My sister gave birth to her eighth son (Trevor James) this week. All ten of her kids have either a first or middle name that starts with "J." And my dad married Karen today. Wendy played a violin duet with Karen's daughter. Yvonne and I weren't able to attend the wedding. Paul and I are looking forward to meeting Karen next month when we help Nadia move into her dorm.  Not counting Karen or Margie's grandchildren, my dad now has 17 grandchildren from his three daughters. My mom never met three of her grandchildren (Wesley, Brendan, or Trevor). We'll probably also meet Trevor that same week because we are planning on dropping the boys off at Yvonne's house before heading down to Liberty.

Thankful Thursday

It's been exactly one month since my last gratitude post so here are some things I've been thankful for over the last month.

1. Ian enjoyed the cybersecurity camp at Messiah University as well as the time spent with Nathan, Jenna, and Toby.

2. Oliver enjoyed having time with Micah, Julianna, and Wesley at our house for several days. Micah, Julianna, and Oliver enjoyed bowling with our youth group on June 10. 

3. I was very relieved that the it was a simple fix to eliminate the strange noise the van was making that week.

4. Ian has been enjoying his job at the kennel and earning money. He spent most of what he made the first few weeks when he bought himself a Nintendo Switch 2. 

5. The boys and I enjoyed helping with VBS at our church from June 16-19. 

6. I am grateful to be able to serve on the board of Meadowbrook Christian School. My first meeting was on June 16. 

7. In June I managed to escape the bug that the rest of the family had. Nadia had the mildest case. Oliver and Paul were each sick for about two weeks. Thankfully we're all healthy again.

8. Paul was able to attend his Aunt and Uncle's 50th anniversary vow renewal ceremony and lunch. 

9. I'm very, very thankful that Nadia was born eighteen years ago on June 24! Four of Nadia's friends joined her at an art studio to celebrate Nadia's birthday on June 23. The staff member was so impressed with Faith's artistic skills that night that they hired her and she started working there on July 6!

10. I'm very thankful that Milo is fully recovered from his anal gland problems. It was such a relief when he finally ate some dog food (after 4 days of not doing so) and started walking again. The vet bills were over $600 which we weren't anticipating, but we've saved a lot of money over the years by me being his groomer and trading dog sitting duties with the Seiberts. Hopefully it will be a long time until we enounter another large vet bill.

11. Bible quizzing went well in New York last month. Ian's team finished in second place. They won seven of eight matches. Nadia's team finished in third place. They won four of eight matches. Nadia finished in 10th place in the individual competition, and Ian finished in seventh place. Ian has been listening to the whole book of John two times every day he works at the kennel. He's also memorized the first 40 verses of John chapter one so far. Hopefully he will continue to stay motivated!

12. Amazon offered us a deal of paying $3.50 per month for three months of Amazon Prime and then it is $6.99/ month after that. We usually only have Amazon for a month every now and then throughout the year, but at $3.50/ month I plan to keep it for at least three months. 

13. I found out rececntly that the place where I've had my mammogram done lately isn't doing them any more. I picked them because they only charged $200, which is much less than most places. Thankfully, I found a place in Williamsport that does them for $55 for two days in October. I'm hoping to get an appointment on one of those days.

14. Our kitchen sink faucet has been leaking for a few months. Paul replaced it last week. This new faucet has a lifetime warranty. I was happy to see that because our last one only lasted nine years.

15. On Sunday morning we weren't sure we were going to make it to church because we couldn't get the garage door to open. Thankfully, Paul was able to get it open eventually. We parked the van in the driveway when we came home. We got new garage doors in September 2020, but the garage door openers are about 27 years old. Lowe's delivered new ones today, and they are supposed to be installed next week. Since our other car is at Camp Susque right now, I've been parking the van where we usually park the Subaru since that garage door opener is still working. 

16. Oliver and Xandir had a great week of camp at PMBC. 

17. Ian has enjoyed his first two voice lessons. He's been working on Olaf's song "In Summer" from Frozen. Thankfully, his voice teacher lives only five minutes away from our home.

18. Ian really enjoyed playing cornhole with the Creegers at Ben's graduation party.

19. In light of Amazon offering us a deal on Prime, Paul and I watched the movie Sarah's Oil last night. Movies based on a true story are typically my favorite genre, and this one did not disappoint!

20. I *think* we've done all the paperwork and such for Nadia to start at Liberty this fall. Recently her PCP signed the immunization form for LU, and I requested that LU send LU her transcript (for the third time in 13 months) as ridiculous as that might sound. I also had to remind them that MCS doesn't issue transcripts for homeschoolers (as they requested that again, even though MCS sent them a letter last year saying that ). She got her ID, requested a loft kit for her bed, and completed a new student orientation course online. The only thing I'm not positive that she has completed is the technology assessment. It's all very, very bittersweet. We want our kids to become independent, but at the same time it's hard to let them go! I'm very thankful I'll still have two boys at home with us. 

Travel Agent

Ian with most of the employees at Joyful Petcare

Years ago, the earliest I would begin planning a vacation would be about one year in advance. Once I had the goal for our family to visit all fifty states, I started sketching out possible future vacations much farther in advance. In 2021, we had our longest vacation (25 days), and I tweaked the plans for that vacation many times over a few years. A month ago, I only had planned out two more trips for the future - one to four of the eastern provinces of Canada for August 2026 and a short trip to Quebec that I was thinking we'd take in August 2027. Over the past month, I've sketched out some more trips to possibly take in the coming years. If these trips actually happen, we will have visited all ten Canadian provinces and visited at least one National Park site in all fifty states. At the moment, the kids have only been to Ontario, and we've been to an NPS site in forty-five states (plus DC) so far. If we visit the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin, City of Rocks in Idaho, Little River Canyon in Alabama, Lake Mead in Nevada, and Indiana Dunes National Park, we will achieve the goal of visiting an NPS site in all fifty states. These plans also include almost all of the national park sites that caught my attention while I was listening to the Dear Bob and Sue books. I *think* the only two national parks that aren't included in these plans that I had hoped we could visit together sometime are Big Bend in Texas and Glacier in Montana. I went to Glacier with my family decades ago, but I don't think I've ever been to Big Bend.

I think that for most members of our family, a ten-day vacation is the ideal length. With that in mind, I have come up with several vacations, five of which are about ten days long. These are listed in no particular order, as I'm not even sure which of these we might go on next year. Ian and Paul's first choice includes Michigan. Nadia's first choice is Western Canada, and Oliver's first choice includes Utah. If there's a chance Nadia will join us for a vacation next summer, I'll probably have to wait longer than usual to plan the trip, as I need a better idea of what she'll be doing next summer. For quite a few years we've been going on a trip in May, and many times we've gone on another one in August or September. If we end up picking Michigan and Western Canada for our trips next year, I don't think we would go in May because the insects are really bad in the Upper Peninsula in May and June, and some of the lakes are still frozen in British Columbia and Alberta. Time will tell. Ian's request for several years has been to go to Japan in 2028. I'm still not sure about that.

Years ago, I used to take the kids on about 80 field trips a year. That number has drastically decreased for a variety of reasons such as having more weekly commitments (co-op, art at MCS, piano lessons), there are more programs available for elementary students than high schoolers, the naturalist at R.B. Winter state park retired, and we've now visited many different sites in Pennsylvania. That doesn't mean we've been to every possible field trip site in the state. The Harley Davidson tour has been closed in York ever since COVID. I keep hoping that one will reopen as my students enjoyed going there decades ago. I didn't take the kids prior to 2020 because I was waiting for Oliver to be old enough to participate in the tour. Two state parks have been on the back on my mind - Kinzua and Sinnemahoning. I could have made it a goal to visit every state park in Pennsylvania, but I've not done that. I think I've only taken the kids to seven state parks (Black Moshannan, Bald Eagle, R.B. Winter, Ricketts Glen, Nescopeck, Milton, and Leonard Harrison). Not counting places we will visit on vacation, I only have four field trips planned so far for the 2026-27 school year - Army Expo in Carlisle on September 12, Elk Country Visitor Center on September 24, Kinzua Bridge State Park on September 25, and seeing a performance of Treasure Island in Lewisburg on October 11. I am particularly excited about hopefully seeing the herd of wild elk during mating season. I booked one night at an Airbnb so that we could go to a viewing area at dusk one night and at dawn the next morning. That is something I've wanted to do for quite a few years, and I'm happy I finally made a reservation (which greatly increases the odds it will actually take place). 

Ian, Ben, John, Randy, Julia, Leila, and Nadia in an individual round

1. Western Canada - Granville Island, Stanley Park, Vancouver Aquarium. Capilano Suspension Bridge, Butchart Gardens, Pacific Rim National Park, Wild Pacific Trail, Cathedral Grove, Peak 2 Peak Gondola, Banff Gondola, Yoho National Park, Columbia Icefields Skywalk, Mistaya Canyon, Emerald Lake, Moraine Lake, Abraham Lake, Maligne Lake, Peyto Lake, and Lake Louise- flying and renting a vehicle

2. Michigan - Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island, Sault Ste. Marie, Picture Rocks, Apostle Islands, Perry's Victory (OH), Milwaukee, Chicago, and Indiana Dunes (if we wanted to visit Isle Royale National Park, this would be the trip to do it, but I'm leaning against including it at the moment) - driving in our vehicle

3. South Dakota/Saskatchewan/Manitoba - Hy-Wire Zipline, Tunnels of Moose Jaw, Stone Hall Castle, Mount Rushmore (again), Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Custer State Park, Minuteman Missile, Badlands (again), and Falls Park  - flying and renting a vehicle

4. Quebec (less than a week) - Watkins Glen, Women's Rights, Harriet Tubman, Parliament buildings in Ottowa, Byward Market, Canadian War Museum, Rideau Canal, white water rafting and zipline tour in Quebec, La Citadelle, Plains of Abraham, Terrass Dufferin, Montmorency Falls, Montreal Botanical Garden, Saint Joseph's Oratory, Mount Royal Park, Notre Dame Basilica, Utica Zoo, and Fort Stanwix - driving in our car 

5. California - Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks - flying and renting a vehicle

6. Utah - Las Vegas, Death Valley National Park, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Valley of Fire State Park, Grand Staircase Escalante, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, and City of Rocks National Reserve - flying and renting a vehicle with 4WD

7. If the Nationals for Bible quizzing are held in South Carolina in 2027 or 2028, I'd like to visit these places either before or after the quizzing - Billy Graham Library, Biltmore Estate, Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, and Little River Canyon National Preserve - driving in our car

Nationals times three

Nadia joined our church's Bible quizzing team in January 2020. Nationals were cancelled that year. I don't regret that I didn't join the team when they went to Oklahoma in 2021 as that is a very long drive, but if I had to do it over again, I'd have traveled to South Carolina in 2022 and Indiana in 2023. Both of those times the drive plus what to do with Milo and Oliver factored into my decision. All five of us attended Nationals in New York in 2024 and in Indiana in 2025. I thought the same would be true last week, but due to Milo and Paul being under the weather, only four of us were at Houghton last week. It was the third time Oliver and I were at Nationals, and the first (and only) time that that all three of my kids were participating. This was the sixth time Nadia competed at Nationals, first time for Oliver, and fifth time for Ian. Nadia was the captain of the B team. Her teammates were Lucy, Daniel, and Alex. Ben was the captain of the A team. His teammates were Ian, Leila, and Joey. This was Ian's third year in a row of being on the A team with Ben and Leila. The fourth member of the team was different each year (Faith, Isaiah, and Joey). Jillian was the captain of the C team. Her teammates were Isaac, Abby, and Oliver. 

A team

In the six preliminary rounds of team quizzing on Thursday and Friday, Ian's team was undefeated, North Rome A only lost one match, and Nadia's team only lost two matches. There were supposed to be eight teams competing, but at the last minute one team from Indiana changed their mind and did not attend. Our C team was technically the fourth seed, but they were beaten by large margins when going against the top three teams, and the matches were neck and neck when they went against the bottom three teams. So, the decision was made to have only three teams in the A division for the final found on Saturday. Nadia's team lost both of their matches, so they finished in third place. Oliver's team won all of their matches on Saturday (by 5-10 points each time); they finished in fourth place. Ian's team beat Nadia's team but lost to North Rome A. Looking at the three days of quizzing, North Rome A and Milton A each had only one loss, but because they lost in the preliminary round and we lost in the final round, it meant that they were the champions and we finished in second place. 

Boys

In 2024 North Rome entered the finals as the second seed, but they ended in third place behind our team and Sweetser. Last year North Rome entered the finals as the second seed, but a loss to our B team during the finals meant that they didn't compete in the championship round. Our A team won the championship from 2021-2025. Last year there was a three-way tie for second place, and the tiebreaker was the score on the writtens, which meant North Rome was in second place and our B and C teams were in third and fourth places. Three members of North Rome's A team this year had memorized all of I and II Corinthians. I am guessing our coach wouldn't share my sentiment, but I honestly felt like North Rome deserved to win as I feel their team was more prepared as a whole than our team was. Ruth scored a perfect on the writtens (answered 110 questions correctly). Her sister, Julia, answered 109 of the questions correctly, and one of their teammates answered 104 of them correctly. There were two reasons why some didn't feel the match was totally fair. First, of all they had six kids on their team, whereas we only had four on ours. If one or two of their quizzers quizzed out, they would still have four kids on their team, whereas if one of our kids quizzed out, we'd only have three kids left. Secondly, part way through the second half of the championship round, their team began eating up the clock. If they buzzed in first, instead of quickly giving the answer to the question, they would keep quoting from the appropriate passage until time expired. I don't think the outcome would have been different even if they hadn't worked to use up as much time off the clock. Daniel was one of our top quizzers, but our coach put him on the B team so that team would also be competitive. The coach of North Rome put all his best quizzers on his A team. 

C team

Ian listened to the whole book of John twice while he was at work this morning. If he continues to do that, I think he will be a much stronger quizzer next year. He, Joey, and Daniel have made plans to work on memorizing all of the book of John together over the next year. I hope they all achieve that goal! If they do, I think we will be better prepared to quiz against North Rome A next year. I think the fact they did not win first place the sixth year in a row will help at least some members of the team to be more motivated to study over the next twelve months. In 2024 Ian finished in 8th place in both the writtens and individuals. In 2025 and 2026 he finished in 7th place in the individuals. Last year he was in 9th place for the writtens. He wasn't in the top ten this year for writtens. Nadia finished in the top ten once in the writtens (tied for 10th in 2025) and twice in the individuals (tied for 9th place in 2025 and tied for 10th place in 2026). The plan is that Nationals will be held in South Carolina in 2027 and Indiana in 2028. I hope it is held in South Carolina one of the next two years as I have some places I'd like to visit in connection with Nationals such as the Biltmore Estate and Billy Graham Library. For five months Oliver kept asking Paul and I if he could stop participating in Bible quizzing. At the beginning of June I fnally agreed to his request, and then last week he told me he wants to stay on the team. Go figure. He told me he will memorize at least forty of the memory verses, which would be a lot more than he learned this year. 

A team vs. B team

June 21 was Father's Day. Paul's dad came up to spend several hours with us. Nadia made oatmeal raisin cookies the previous night as they are one of Pop Pop's favorites. Ian (using our handy dandy Walmart+ membership) bought Paul a jar of peanuts and Pop Pop a jar of cashews. Oliver made them each a card. I had some of Pop Pop's favorite ice cream in our freezer and bought shrimp for Oliver and Pop Pop to share. I also defrosted two ribeye steaks that Paul grilled for Ian, Pop Pop, and himself to share. I also served watermelon, corn on the cob, and mashed potatoes. The six of us played SkyJo together. Ian and Pop Pop played chess while Paul and Oliver played each other. Those four also played some Mario game on the Switch. I called my dad, and I also grieved a little for the baby we lost in 2005. I used a Father's Day card to tell Paul that I was pregnant, so I always remember our first baby at Father's Day each year. 

Unfortunately, Paul and Ian were a bit under the weather on Father's Day. Ian had started not feeling well the previous night. Oliver, Nadia, and I were the only ones who went to church that morning. That evening Nadia also started to not feel well. Thankfully hers was just a 24-hour bug. She called off sick on Monday, but I think she could have worked that day. Ian went to work on Monday even though he was sicker than Nadia. Thankfully, all of the kids were feeling fine by Wednesday. Nadia had a physical on Tuesday. The doctor's office is less than a mile from our home so we drove it two cars so I could sign Nadia in and pay the bill. Mostly she just needed the doctor to sign her immunization record for Liberty. I was gone for less than ten minutes, but during that time Milo was biting at his butt and caused it to bleed. I called the vet to ask if I should just clean him up or bring him in. They thought I should bring him in. They sedated him because they thought one of his anal glands was abscessed. There was inflammation but that was about it. Unfortunately, Milo takes after me (ha ha) and doesn't do well with sedation. Even though they gave him an anti-nausea medication, he threw up for the next almost 24 hours. He wouldn't eat or drink. I spent a couple more hours with him at the vet the next day. They gave him a shot of antibiotics since he wouldn't take any oral medications, and they gave him fluids under his skin. His behavior continued to get worse. He wouldn't even walk one tiny step. Paul had to carry him in the house. Thankfully, he finally peed on Thursday, and he pooped for the first time in five days on Saturday morning. He also started walking (at least some of the time) that morning, and when I came home on Saturday night from Houghton, he ate dog food for the first time in five days. I managed to escape the respiratory bug, and the kids are all healthy again. Milo is definitely on the mend. Paul didn't go to church again yesterday, but he is feeling a bit better today. Hopefully by next Sunday he'll be back to normal.

B team

We had booked an Airbnb (same one that Oliver, Paul, and I stayed at two years ago), but this time we thought we'd have it to ourselves as Oliver would be in the dorm with the team. It was very strange staying in an Airbnb by myself. My lodging in the dorm would have been free since I was an official, so had we known Paul wouldn't be able to come, I wouldn't have paid for that expense. My meals were free. I was supposed to get two t-shirts, but I wasn't present on Wednesday night when Houghton gave out free shirts (which would have been special to me because my mom attended Houghton in 1963), and some of the kids took a different size quizzing shirt than the one their parents had ordered for them so all that were left were two size small, and I had asked for size large. Sometimes I can wear a medium, but I know from experience that these particular ones run small. Either way, I knew I couldn't wear a size small. I'm hoping it works out for Nadia to be a coach or an official the next two years so that all five of us can be at Nationals again. Time will tell if she'll be able to do that or not. 

Since I drove a little less than three hours on Saturday night, I would have loved to stay home on Sunday afternoon, but Paul didn't feel up to driving Oliver and Xandir to camp in the Poconos. Thankfully, I stayed awake. That was not an easy task as I was very tired as I was driving out there. I ate a little something at PMBC, so I had an easy time staying awake on the drive home. Faith (and Melinda) will be driving out there on Saturday to pick the boys up. Nadia is at Camp Susque until July 18 so Ian had to ride his bike to and from work yesterday due to me driving to PMBC. The kennel is a little less than 3 miles from our home. 

Ian only had one piano lesson in May and one piano lesson in June, but I think he'll have five piano lessons in July. He's having his first voice lesson tomorrow. 

My dad also had a tough week last week physically. He fell on Thursday night and broke his back. Thankfully, it was "only" a compression fracture - no brace or surgery necessary. He still plans to get married on July 18. Praying for a swift recovery! 

Milo has been in our family since December 12, 2020. Prior to last week, the only times we took him to the vet were for his annual physical, immunizations, and to be neutered. Last week we spent a little shy of $600 at the vet which was definitely unexpected. However, when I consider that we have only had to pay for him to be at the kennel once in the last two years (due to swapping dog sitting with the Seiberts) and we only paid for him to be groomed once (I've done it myself since then), we have spent a lot less money on Milo than most dog owners probably spend over a 5.5 year period. Hoping we can go a long time before we encounter another vet bill that large. 

Oliver and Xandir eating dinner on Saturday night at camp

18 years old!

The age one is considered to be an "adult" seems a bit up for grabs. You can legally vote once you're 18, and you can get an unrestricted driver's license in Pennsylvania when you turn 18. You have to be 21 to purchase alcohol or cigarettes. I hope our kids never purchase cigarettes! Sometimes you need to be 25 to rent a vehicle.  Sometimes you need to be at least 21 to check into a hotel. In my mind, you're an adult when you're no longer a dependent, which for many is probably closer to age 21 than age 18, but maybe the reason it's hard to nail down exactly when someone becomes an adult is because it's a gradual process of moving towards independence. Although Nadia certainly isn't financially independent, I realize that her days of living here under are roof are definitely numbered as she plans to spend several weeks at Camp Susque this summer before moving to Virginia in August.

Over the last twelve months she had many first-time experiences including visiting Hawaii (the fiftieth state she's traveled to), learned how to parallel park and got her driver's license, swam with dolphins, sea turtles, and manta rays for the first time, had her first surfing lesson, went parasailing (1,000 feet) for the first time, traveled to Europe for the first time (Dublin, Paris, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland), played the part of Aquata in The Little Mermaid at MCS and of Wendy in our homeschool production of Peter Pan, was in her first car accident, saw Joshua at Sight and Sound, saw Phantom of the Opera and Paddington the Musical in London, got her first Kindle, graduated from high school, earned sixteen more college credits through Liberty University, went to a Josiah Queen concert with Maddie, and began connecting with other incoming freshmen at LU including her future roommate, Carolina. 

Nadia received her main birthday gift from us a few months early - a new cell phone. The new phone came with an international plan, which she greatly appreciated using in Europe. I also got her a memory foam mattress topper for her to use in her dorm and an attractive hamper that she had on her wish list for her dorm room. She has more t-shirts than she knows what to do with, but still I got her two t-shirts. She wanted one from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and her I've traveled 50 states got a hole in it (not on a seam) after the first time she wore it. I got her a replacement as she had been the one to pick out those shirts last year. She invited five girls to celebrate her eighteenth birthday with her. Four of them joined her for a painting night in Williamsport last night. We planned to celebrate her birthday (as a family) at Olive Garden on Monday, but Nadia, Paul, and Ian weren't feeling well that day so that outing has been postponed. The kids traveled to Houghton today for Nationals. I will join them tomorrow morning. Paul planned to go with me, but due to the fact that he and Milo aren't feeling well, they are staying home.

Here are eighteen ways I'd describe Nadia:

1. Brave - ever since she was very young, she's wanted to try new experiences whether that be an amusement park ride, going to summer camp, being on stage, etc. She'd like to go sky diving, and she plans on learning how to scuba dive while she's in college.

2. Although I wouldn't always label her as being super competitive, it most regards I'd say she fits the "Type A" personality, which is very typical for firstborn children. Since she was very young, she has been very focused on schedules, calendars, and such, which is not true for her dad or brothers. She had a very smooth transition to taking online college classes because she was easily able to meet the deadlines without any encouragement from me. Similarly, she began interviewing for her first job a few weeks before she turned fifteen. She worked for Reptiland in the summer of 2023 and has worked at Camp Susque and Joyful Petcare from 2024 to the present. 

3. She greatly values her friendships. She's been close with her cousin, Rachel, for many years. At the moment I think her closest friends are Faith, Abby, Leila, and Maddie. She's made friends through working at Camp Susque and at church. Many of her friends are in Bible Bowl and our homeschool co-op. She enjoys talking, texting, shopping, playing games, and having coffee or a smoothie with her friends. 

4. She prefers colder temperatures, so it makes sense that two of her most favorite activities are ice skating and skiing. She hopes to live in a colder climate after she graduates from college. I'm hoping that means the northeast rather than Alaska. Time will tell!

5. She remembers Bible verses she memorized many years ago in AWANA. Her long-term retention of Bible verses amazes me. Over the last six years she has grown in her skill with Bible quizzing. I look forward to seeing her compete Thursday-Saturday in New York for the last time. She is the captain of the B team (other members are Lucy, Daniel, and Alex). I expect they will compete in the A division.

6. She loves animals! I look forward to seeing what pets she will have once she's living on her own. She's the reason we had guinea pigs from 2016-2026 and a big part of the reason we have had Milo since 2020. I look forward to seeing exactly what type of job she'll end up having after she earns her degree in zoology and wildlife biology. She is currently leaning toward marine conservation. Her favorite animal is still a sea turtle. I didn't find that option for painting a canvas, so she chose to paint an orca last night.

7. She is very close with Ian. They are going to miss each other! I hope the two of them stay close friends for the rest of their lives. Just looking at how many pictures of Ian are on her phone is proof of their strong bond.

8. She really enjoys reading whether that means listening to an audiobook, reading a physical book, or reading on her Kindle

9. She has done a great job of saving money over the years. If she spends her money, it has typically been for clothing, a coffee, or an energy drink.

10. She loves listening to music. Two items that she's had to replace MANY times over the years have been watches and earbuds. She currently pays for a Spotify subscription. Personally, I enjoy wearing earbuds to listen to something while I'm mowing the lawn or going on a walk by myself, but I have to say I think that many teenagers tend to wear their earbuds too much when they're around other people. Because she *always* wants to have carry around her phone and earbuds, it's a requirement that all of her pants and shorts have pockets. The only time I've seen her use a purse was when her prom dress didn't have a pocket. 

11. She loves doing jigsaw puzzles. The kids and I spent many hours in 2020 doing puzzles, but it was a temporary thing for some of us. It hasn't been temporary for Nadia. Earlier this month I organized the cabinets that contain our games and puzzles. During that process I discovered that Nadia owns seventy puzzles that each contain at least 1,000 pieces. She plans to take a few of them with her to college, and I think once she moves out on her own after college she will take far more of the puzzles with her. Many times, after lunch and dinner she would spend time working on a jigsaw puzzle in the dining room.

12. She's what I would call a Messy Marvin. I'm hoping that this won't be a problem with her roommate and suitemates. They have dorm inspections twice a week which should be helpful. 

13. She loves to eat fruit and baby carrots. She typically eats at least one apple a day, and she enjoys just about every kind of fruit except for bananas. Some of her favorites include pink lady apples, clementines, red grapes, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, plums, peaches, and nectarines.

14. Her favorite restaurant is Olive Garden. She loves their salad, breadsticks, and five cheese ziti al forno.

15. She uses her cell phone a lot. She's not into video games, but she likes word games, Sudoku, texting friends, listening to music or audiobooks, etc. On a larger screen (ex. Chromebook or laptop) she enjoys watching shows such as Boy Meets World or Full House. 

16. She loves to drink vanilla lattes and if given the choice will choose an iced coffee over a hot one. Ian hadn't gotten her a birthday gift, so I suggested to him that he treat her to coffee at Wagging Tail as her birthday present. He liked the idea, and that is what they did this morning. They also stopped at Dollar General to buy some energy drinks to take with them to Houghton.

17. Her least favorite subject is math. She has two required math classes for her major. Her score on their math assessment was high enough for her to register to take the statistics class this fall. Her SAT score was not high enough for her to take Calculus next spring. If she doesn't take the College Algebra CLEP test, she will need to take College Algebra at Liberty prior to taking Calculus. She also wasn't a fan of physics, so she has opted to take other classes which isn't a problem as long as she doesn't want to get a master's degree. I'm hoping that she will excel in ALL of her classes at Liberty - including math. I know she's definitely capable! 

18. She rarely eats breakfast, and when she's at home she almost always has a grilled cheese sandwich on Italian bread that she makes using a panini press. She also usually makes Ian's sandwich. Her sandwich usually contains a slice of provolone cheese and a slice of ham. She has been doing most of the baking in our house for at least the past year. She has been dubbed the "dish fairy" at Camp Susque. I haven't seen evidence of that at home. I clean up in the kitchen after she's done baking. Between her experience with cooking dinners and baking at home plus her experience in the kitchen at Camp Susque, I think she's gained a lot of skills that should come in handy the rest of her life!

Bye bye bunk bed

 

Nadia and her cousin, Rachel, had a photoshoot last week

For four days we had four kids in the house, but only one was our own child (Oliver). Yesterday I drove to Messiah to pick up Ian and give Nathan three of his siblings. It doesn't feel normal yet to be a family of four, but for most of the year that will be the new normal. At least I keep in touch with Nadia via texting almost every day. Ian had a good time at the cybersecurity camp, and he also enjoyed spending time with Jenna, Toby, and Nathan. He and Jenna played multiple games of chess. I think she's the most skilled chess player when it comes to my nieces, nephews, and kids. Ian never beat her, but he said they got to an endgame several times, and Jenna said some of the games were close, which was an encouragement to Ian. He played video games and board games like Exploding Kittens with Toby and Nathan. Now that Ian is back, he needs to focus on finishing precalculus, finishing memorizing I Corinthians chapters 7-8, and working. He worked for over 5 hours today at the kennel, and including today he's working 9 of the next 12 days. Nathan isn't a morning person, and Ian usually relies on me to get him up in the morning. I was impressed that Ian used an alarm and got Nathan up each morning in time for them to arrive at Messiah by 8:30 each morning. Similarly, I was surprised that Ian was already up when I went to get him up this morning for work. 

Blackhead Coastal Path, Northern Ireland

Many of the Towfighis were sick last week, and some were still under the weather when they arrived last weekend for Nadia's graduation party. Oliver has come down sick, but so far, the rest of us are healthy. Hoping he feels better soon! 

Our van has been making a strange clanking sound since last Friday night when Paul drove us home from ballroom dancing lessons (which as a side note were cancelled for the rest of the summer, so sad). I was very nervous about driving it for over three hours round trip yesterday, but everything went smoothly. I usually do all the car appointments, but I was nervous they'd try to take advantage of me. The van had a safety recall, and it was due for an inspection by the end of July. I never take it to a dealership for the inspections, but since that's where you need to go for a recall and we thought if a part was needed to fix whatever was causing the sound, they were most likely to have it. So, Paul took the van for all three reasons today. They wanted him to replace the tires, but since they technically passed, we got our inspection sticker without buying them. I'll get new tires elsewhere this summer. Paul had hit a curb on Friday night, and when he did it had dislodged a cap or cover or some sort. They just fastened the cap back on, and Paul didn't hear any clanking on the way home. PTL! That was a big relief.

Milo used to alternate between sleeping with Nadia (on her loft bed) and Ian (on his top bunk). Last summer that came to a grinding halt. He slept with Paul and I for a couple of months, and then we gradually and painfully transitioned him to sleeping in his crate in Oliver's room, which is what he's been doing ever since. For whatever reason, when we got back from Europe, Ian started having Milo sleep with him again. Milo was back in the crate the last several nights while Ian was in Dillsburg, but yesterday he and Paul took the top bunk to the basement as Ian said he would just sleep on a bed at a normal height for Milo's sake. So, it seems that whenever is at home over the next two years, Milo will be sleeping with him. I had suggested this idea to Ian last summer, but for whatever reason he didn't want to do that last summer, but he did want to do it now. I'm sure Milo likes it better than being locked in his crate.

I'm continuing to make progress with the license plate game even though I had decided not to play it this year, ha ha! I saw New Mexico yesterday, which like Hawaii and Wyoming is usually one of the hardest ones to find. I have eight states left to find, and I think the hardest one on my list is South Dakota. 

I tried to call the IRS ten times over the past two days regarding a tax issue with the trust, and when I called at 4:48 yesterday afternoon, I was put on hold for the first time. The other nine times the call was disconnected due to high call volume. I even tried at 7:00 am on the dot as I had read online that was the best time to call, but there was already too high of a call volume at that time. When I finally got through, I was on hold for over two hours, but I finally actually spoke to a human shortly before 7:00 pm, and at 7:10 pm she told me the matter had been taken care of. Mission accomplished! I hope that I don't need to call the IRS again any time soon.

Eilean Donan Castle (Scotland)

Graduation Party

It's been a month since I wrote a gratitude list. Here are some things I've been thankful for over the past month.

1. I am thankful that we have all been healthy for more than a month, and considering we were on several flights during that time (which seem to be an easy place for germs to spread), I am very grateful for good health. 

2. After the panic over needing to adjust plans when one of our flights was cancelled about a week before we left, I am grateful that nothing else was cancelled on our trip (except by us). 

3. Aside from a downpour when we were at the Arc de Triomphe and a mist being blown onto us (which caused us to be rather soaked) when we hiked on the Isle of Skye, we didn't experience any rain, which is quite amazing for that area of the world. The temperatures went from unseasonably cold at the beginning of our trip to a record-breaking heat wave at the end of the trip.

4. Although renting vehicles was more expensive and stressful than anticipated, I am very grateful that Paul was able to navigate driving on the "wrong" side of the road, endless roundabouts, and very narrow roads, parking garages, and parking spots without incident.

5. Our accommodations were very nice during the entire trip. Typically, I use Priceline.com, hotels.com, Airbnb, and VRBO to find places to stay. The website that was the biggest help for this trip was Booking.com. 

6. We had some amazing experiences on the trip. If each member of our family was asked what their top 3-5 experiences were, here are some of the answers that would be given: Alnwick Castle, Phantom of the Opera, Paddington the Musical, Conwy Castle, Snowdon Mountain, Caerphilly Castle, Big Ben, Camera Obscura, Arthur's Seat, Quiraing, and the coast of Northern Ireland.

7. Milo was well cared for by the Seiberts while we were gone.

8. Xandir spent some time with my boys at our house on May 9, and Abby and Faith spent some time with Nadia at our house on May 28-29. 

9. Ian started his first job on May 28.

10. The Schrecks came over for dinner on June 4. 

11. Rachel spent a few days with Nadia. She flew here on June 4 and returned back home on June 7.

12. Paul and I started another eight-week session of dance lessons on June 5. This is the first time we're taking two classes at one time (two hours each night).

13. We had Nadia's graduation party at an indoor roller-skating rink on June 6. Based on the RSVP's, we anticipated over 70 people attending. The amount who came was much less than that, but Nadia had a good time. Our neighbors won the prize for having the very best reason for not attending. Shortly before they were about to leave to come to the party, the wife was struck by lightning. I'm sure they would rather have been at the party than the hospital! Thankfully, she is fine. We had a lot of extra food, drinks, and paper products, but they will be used eventually. I don't think I'll rent an entire roller-skating rink again, but I think it made for a special graduation party for Nadia. I made a 17-minute slideshow that was playing on our television that we brought from home during the party. If any of you want to see it, let me know. I can't post it on YouTube or anything like that because I used some of her favorite songs as the background music, but I can send the link to the file on my Google drive by text or email.

14. Nathan and Wesley arrived at our home on June 5, and the rest of the Towfighis (plus Jenna and Toby but not including Andrew) arrived on June 6. Most of them left on June 7, but Wesley, Micah, and Julianna are still with us. I'll be driving them to Messiah University on Thursday afternoon, which is also when I'll be picking Ian up to bring him back home.

15. Ian has been attending a cybersecurity camp at Messiah University this week. He's staying at Jenna and Toby's home, and Nathan is also staying with Jenna and Toby and is driving Ian to and from Messiah.

16. Micah, Wesley, Oliver, and Julianna have been enjoying having a free lunch at the park each day this week (starting on Monday). 

17. Aside from a dress I got for Jenna's wedding, it had been nine years since I got myself a new dress. My dad gave me money for my birthday that he wanted me to use toward a new dress. I got myself two new dresses, and I wore one of them this past Sunday. I got the WORST haircut of my life on Thursday so it helped to at least have a pretty new dress to wear when I was feeling self-conscious about my hair. Ian's reaction when I first came home after my haircut was that he was very grateful that I cut his hair (because he thought I do a much better job than the woman who botched my hair). Yvonne's first reaction when she walked in our house was "I'm so sorry" when she saw my hair, and that was after I snipped some more to try to even it out. In addition to being 2-3 inches shorter than I requested, the sides were very uneven. I am determined to not be in any photographs until it grows out and doesn't look so embarrassing. I'm hoping that will be true in August when we are in Canada, but time will tell. The good news is that it's just hair, and it will grow back. I wish I liked wearing hats as that would be a great way to cover it up. 

18. Yvonne gave me money towards a new ski coat for my birthday. She knew I haven't ever liked my 1980's ski coat. Instead of getting a ski coat, I recently got a longer really warm coat that I plan to wear when we walk Milo and it's very, very cold outside. I donated my 1980's ski coat to Goodwill on Thursday. It was still in great shape as most years I only wore it when I went skiing. 

19. This recent vacation was definitely not one of my favorite vacations, partially because I kept waking up too early the entire trip. A few days ago, I had my best night of sleep in over a month. It felt heavenly. Also, my right knee was in a lot of pain during the trip, which was problematic given we were typically climbing hundreds of very narrow, spiral staircases on many days (in castles, Big Ben, National Wallace Memorial, etc.). Thankfully, I've been wearing a knee brace, and my knee is doing much better. I've decided that in the future I should always bring a knee brace with me on vacations just in case it's needed. My right elbow has been in pain for months, and I haven't found a way to reduce that pain yet, but that doesn't slow me down when walking. I'm having serious doubts about the idea of going to Japan (Ian's request) in 2028 due to how long the flight would be and also how significant the jet lag would be (13 time zones away). I have two future trips planned - an 11-night trip to Canada this August and a 5-night trip to Canada in August 2027. I've begun working on a trip (I'm guessing it will be about 9 nights long) to Utah and Nevada for May 2027. I'm trying to make the trip a loop so that we can rent a vehicle through Turo. I don't have anything planned beyond August 2027. At one point I said I wanted to visit Australia and Africa at some point, but right now I'm content to stay in North America.

20. I've enjoyed listening to the series The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion the last few weeks.