Yes, I am on SUMMER BREAK! Let me scream HIP-HIP HOORAY from the roof tops, please! :) I absolutely LOVE my job and this is most definitely one it's biggest perks! I get to take it easy and be a stay-at-home-mom/wife for 9 FABULOUS WEEKS! Oh, how I love it so! Summertime is so very special to me. Especially now that I am a Mommy. I mean, I loved Summer before, but now I absolutely LOOOVE the Summer! I get to spend my days with my little guy, just being silly, playing until we drop, lying around being lazy and soaking up the sunshine. Seeing Summertime through his eyes, takes me back to childhood and makes my heart smile. It truly is "Sweet Summertime".
We have had a very FUN and BUSY summer, thus far! But, there is a downside to our Summer. Our daddy (Adam) has been missing for much of it. As most of you know, the world (at least the southeastern part of the U.S.) seems to be on fire right now. And since my amazing husband is a Heavy Equipment Operator for the Fire division of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, he is a busy man to say the least! He is currently on a 2 week rotation fighting the GIGANTIC wildfire that is burning in the Okefenokee Swamp This means that he spends 2 weeks down in Folkston, fighting the fire, and 2 weeks here at home. The ONE good thing about the location of this fire is that it is in his hometown (so he gets to stay at his parents house, much better than his usual living arrangements while on a fire) and Jackson and I can go visit him whenever we want! Now that I am on Summer Break, we can load up the car to head to NayNay & Grandaddy's and get to see Daddy all at the same time! But, it has been quite a bummer to our Summer. Adam has already missed our first Summer vacation (which we've had planned for a YEAR) to Panama City Beach to visit some of our dearest, BEST friends Danny, Paige and Fletcher Morris Poor Danny was none too happy about that one. He was stuck at the beach with 3 women and 2 toddlers (my sister, Leah, took Adam's place and was a fabulous "fill-in" ;)) And, he will also be missing Jackson's upcoming 2nd birthday (July 4th) and our SECOND summer beach vacation! But, we are still forging on! Packing up and heading to the beach for a week with NayNay! We're hoping that Adam & Grandaddy (who is also fighting the fire, by the way) can make it for at least the last few days! Fingers crossed! If you have been following my previous posts, you know that Adam has been away A LOT this fire season! And, as always....he is DEARLY, DEARLY, to the depths of my soul, MISSED! Our little family and household is just not complete without him. We really do make a great team and when he is missing, as cliche as it sounds, it truly is like I am missing my "other half". So, I ask for you all to please lift up all of the Firefighters and their families in your prayers. It is not an easy task for any involved. These fires have been burning for so long and these brave men and women are exhausted! The loss of 2 Florida Division of Forestry Firefighters this past Monday, has shaken the Wildland Firefighter Community to the core. And, serves as a tragic reminder of the very REAL danger that these men and women are in. After this being Adam's career for several years, I have somewhat gotten use to it and sometimes forget just how dangerous it really is. When I heard of these men, performing Adam's exact job on a fire, being overrun by the flames....it hit me HARD. I immediately went to my knees and began to pray for their families and all of our men and women out there fighting these outrageous fires. Let's pray that the Lord blesses this region with an abundance of rain, but until then, please keep our firefighters in your prayers.
Now, to the FUN stuff! I am going to leave you with our "Sweet Summertime" in pictures! Stay tuned...we have lots of fun stuff coming up in the upcoming weeks, including a beach vacation and Mr. Jackson's 2nd BIRTHDAY! I can't believe that our baby boy is going to be TWO! HAPPY SUMMER FRIENDS!
