It's been a long time. A True Friend

I know we haven't written in a long time so here's the run down, with pics to follow.
My Side
Jed was able to escape the doom and gloom at work and the Rhien family took the longest vacation we've ever taken.
We drove to Arizona and was able to see my mom, sister, bro in-law, neices and nephews, and my oldest brother. We originally planned a trip to Wisconsin to see my mom, but she moved to AZ. After a week there and swimming every day, we spent 4 hours at the Grand Canyon. Gorgeous.

Jed's side
We then stopped by Jed's family for a weekend, and we were able to see most of his cousins, Aunts and Uncles too, including the one that lives in England. We were also able to see his grandparents, which is always a joy. Too bad we were unable to go up to Utah and see his other grandparents too.

School
When we got back, we only had a few days before school started for Alli. She loves school and is doing so well. My father was able to stop by for two days during a business trip accompanied by two of his good buddies. It was fun to have them at our house.
The Next Run
I'm training for a half marathon to be run at the end of the month. Although, I seem to only manage one long run a week, so I don't feel like I am really training, and I don't expect to do well. But I enjoy running, and a nice relaxing 13.1 miles is more what I am in the mood for.

A GOOD FRIEND

So I have noticed that I have been blessed with a lot of good people around me. Each has done almost surprisingly kind things for me. I guess what is at the front of my mind is something that happened yesterday. I won't really go into detail, because it is personal. However, I received a call yesterday morning that had pretty good timing. I wasn't in some emotional struggle or anything. Still this call was from a long-time friend. She had heard of something that happened, and just called to see how I was doing. I know that sounds simple, but when I heard what she had to say I felt good. I felt like despite that my mind was busy thinking about my tasks of the day, I really needed that call from her. It meant a lot to me. What was unique about the call was, how did she know that the night before I was having a rough time? How did she connect the two events? I have no idea, her reply was, "I'm your friend."

This is not the first time someone has been there when I least expect it, but when I need it most. I only hope I can be a similar friend.



p.s. just realized i downloaded my pictures to the other computer, so I will put them up in a bit
Thanks to all my friends. I feel too often that my friends are better friends to me than I am to them