Life goes on

Well, we miss having Andoni around, and we are still adjusting to having one less family member, it will take a while to get used to our house without Andoni in it.

I will try to post once in a while just to keep up a bit with the goings on around the Northrup household.

I flew down to North Carolina on the day that Andoni and Inigo flew back home. My flight was delayed in Atlanta and so I didn't arrive into Asheville until 8pm that night. My sister and I gathered up some things we would need for our ride back to Minneapolis and headed to bed Wednesday night early so that we could get up and start the road trip back north. One of my favorite things in Brevard, North Carolina (where my sister's mother and father-in-law live) is the mountains. Gena and I got up early on Thursday and hiked up a mountain trail behind the house and then essentially got in the car and began our 22 hour drive home. It was a long drive, but we got home safely Friday night and met up with Jeff and the girls returning from a couple of days at the cabin. We drove through 7 states and saw mountains, rivers, farmland, industrial towns, famous cities (Indianapolis, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Knoxville, Tennessee), small towns, many barns, and a lot of road.

I wish Andoni could have met my sister. She will stay with us now for two weeks and then will continue on to Western Montana. We have lots to talk about when we are together and the girls really love being with her. She has also brought her dog, Lucy, which Buddy loves and makes our house sometimes a noisy place with all the barking and playing Buddy wants to do with Lucy, but Lucy will have none of it. She wants a peaceful, quiet spot to lay her head down, but is having a hard time finding it.

Shelby learned to ride a bike this weekend after many many months of talking about it. Jeff worked with her for quite a while yesterday and she had a cheering section of her three sisters and mom watching her so proudly. She only ran into our neighbors garage one time and into the street zero times, which I think is pretty good. No damage to the garage door, but we will probably keep her out of that area and find other places to ride.

Finally, after another hot day (the girls had soccer camp all morning...they all didn't like it a bit: too hot and too boring they said), we ended up once again at the pool. So easy to walk to and we always see friends we know. If Andoni happens to surprise us and come back, he will know where to find us.

Gena and Shelby cuddle at the pool.