My newest angel

This is my friend, Lisa. She is 6 months older than I am. She got married a year after Mark and I did. Her oldest boys are the same ages as Annie and Sam. We met for breakfasts early on Saturday mornings and would laugh and share our souls over coffee. We would meet with our kids in tow to Chuck E. Cheese throughout the year, collecting tickets and coins and smiling over how good the pizza actually is.

She is a kindred spirit. One of the few friends I have met as an adult that is as awesome as my girlfriends in high school. We shared stories about our kids. We shared tales about our husbands. We shared our thoughts on God and often gave each other prayer requests. I had always known that Lisa would be a lifelong friend.

Lisa passed away on Friday afternoon.

She had been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer when she was nursing her youngest son. I had hoped and prayed she would still be with us for at least a couple more years. God had other plans.

Lisa was a fighter. Even in her last weeks she brought peace and serenity to those who came to see her. She never believed that cancer would win.

As you read this, please say a prayer for her family.

As for me, I am struggling to say good bye.

In denial that our Saturday breakfasts and Chuck E Cheese days are over.

But also feeling blessed that I have a personal angel watching over me.

Rest in peace, Lisa.

Give Jesus a big hug for me.

I will miss you dearly.

Weekend with Kathy and Gabe

A couple weekends ago in May, we got to have Kathy and Gabe sleepover since Kim and Kaylee had a lock-in at Kaylee's school. Kim and I met at California Pizza Kitchen in Oak Brook (yummy Baja Fish Taco by the way!). The cousins were very excited to see each other! We started out the weekend by giving Kathy her 7 year old birthday present- a snow cone maker. We of course needed to freeze the ice container right away so we could try out the gift before the night ended!

Our kids love when we have a fire in the back yard. I think because it brings all of the neighbors over to socialize at our house and the kids (like their parents) love to host a good party! So, it was a perfect night for the fire pit, 60 degrees and smore ingredients in the pantry. The neighbor kids came over to enjoy the fire and the smores too!

In the Flory house, we always read books before bedtime. Each kid was able to pick one and we read them all on our bed. We even ventured onto new territory by letting Sam have Gabe sleep in his room (Sam is very chatty and has a hard time being quiet if there is someone to talk to. Once on vacation he was still up at midnight because we let Annie sleep in the bed next to his).

Surprisingly, the boys fell asleep within 5 minutes (by 8:30pm) and the girls fell asleep in the same bed by 9:15. We had to take this picture of Annie and Kathy cuddled up together- they are only 8 days apart and truly kindred spirits!