We're ba-ack

Can you tell they're related?

The boys prepare for a wild ride

Jacob lends a hand

Helping out with chores :-)

A serious game of Life with gramma

Chillaxin' with Papa

Daddy and Micah on the jet ski!

Enjoying the warm water

"Where are my juice and my magazine?"

Time for a swim!

"Hmmm, do you think we can share this one?"

Jacob and Daddy, two peas in a pod.

Getting ready for the food!

The boys' first pontoon ride!

Jacob wants to steer, Uncle Randy!

We had a great time in Wisconsin this last week, visiting Gramma Lynn, Papa Roger and family! (Thank you for having us--we know it can be crazy at times!) We spent time taking walks, playing board games, hanging out at the cousins' house, and spent several days at Uncle Randy and Aunt Joyce's cabin on the lake where we ate terriyaki, fished, took a pontoon ride, and jet skied. We got to spend some quality time with the whole Inouye clan. (And we even got a much coveted date-night--twice.) Micah can't stop talking about it all :-) We skipped naps stayed up late, ate ice cream cones, and had a wonderful time just relaxing in that unique space outside of normal routine, that is, vacation. I'm glad we had this chance before the semester starts up again and we are at it full blast. We rolled in about 10:30 p.m. last night after 13 hours of travel. Just to be clear, the travel is not the fun part. But our flights were generally on time coming and going, we made our connections and nobody got sick, so all in all it went pretty smoothly. There was a small incident last night with some very sugary (possibly caffeinated) lemonade and two very rowdy boys who would not sleep in the car until well after bedtime. But we survived :-) And it's a good thing, because Dan starts back with faculty meetings tomorrow, and we also have open house night for Micah's kindergarten that night.

It would be great to have more regular contact with everyone in our family, but for now, these moments are like gold. When it comes right down to it, we can either spend time lamenting the things we don't have or enjoying the ones we do. I don't know whether we'll be here in Arkansas another year or another 10, but I just have a feeling that the story isn't over yet. When you do a lot of travel, you come to realize that there are many things out of your control. I can purchase a ticket to ride, but I can't make the weather great, or ensure that we don't get sick or even completely corral two very excited boys (or prevent flat tires). Prayers help. To be honest, I'm not very good at embracing that lack of control. But there comes a point when you know it's futile and you just have to let go. I'm not quite at "zen" level yet, but I'm taking suggestions if you have any.

So, if you think of us, and the many other students and faculty members who are gearing up for another scary-wonderful year, say a prayer to the one who can hold all of these threads together.