Hello Everyone,

We are so close to the end of the school year.  Only 5 days left, but who's counting? The school year has gone by so incredibly fast. We are looking forward to a summer of sports camps, swimming lessons, reading, and most of all, a trip to Glacier National Park with Matt's oldest brother and his family. 

We had two birthdays the last few weeks.  We celebrated Lucy turning 12 with a train ride into Dallas, a trolley ride, and some popsicles. She wanted us to recreate her 1st birthday--but this time we skipped the pitbull encounter of her first birthday. . .  Hard to believe that sweet little Lucy is almost a teenager--and we are grateful that she remains as sweet as ever. The other day in the car, she asked us what empathy means, and the easiest way we could explain it to her was to talk about how empathetic she has always been.  

And before we could even finish celebrating Lucy, Millie turned 4! We celebrated Millie's birthday by taking the girls to the restaurant that serves Millie's favorite queso. We ordered two big bowls, which was a good thing because Millie ate one whole bowl all by herself.  It was the first time we've actually eaten inside the restaurant. Usually we just pick up the queso to go. We can't believe our youngest is 4.  And for some reason 4 just sounds so much older than 3. 

We had the chance to attend a Frisco Rough Riders minor league baseball game last weekend with Carson's Crusaders. They are an organization that focuses on the siblings of children with cancer. The organization was started by an incredible family who turned their grief into helping other families affected by cancer. We were grateful to them and the other families there for both sharing their own stories and listening to ours. Many of the families even had the same doctors and nurses we had, and had similar praise for the care they received throughout their children's treatment. I think we especially enjoy these events because COVID precautions prevented us from meeting other families who were in the hospital going through treatment.  We missed out on the community that is usually built with other families during that time, so it is nice to get some of that sense of community now.  

The baseball field has a lazy river in the outfield, which we enjoyed for a couple hours before the game.  We also got to meet some of the pitchers on the team and hang out with them on the field before the game.  It was especially exciting to meet the pitchers because Sadie was picked to throw out one of the first pitches at the game.  She did great! The girls ended the night by running around the bases in the rain. What a memory! We love how much our girls enjoy sporting events. 

Millie was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma during Childhood Cancer Awareness month and her birthday just happens to be during Brain Tumor Awareness month.  So in honor of Millie and all the other children who have fought and are fighting brain tumors, please wear some gray. #GoGrayinMay 

We are grateful to organizations like the Carson Leslie Foundation #cureMEdullo, the only nonprofit specifically dedicated to funding Medulloblastoma research, that is working tirelessly towards the prevention of the most common cancerous brain tumors in children.  Here is a link to Dr. Michael Taylor explaining how he hopes to do that.  This brings us so much hope for the future.

We hope everyone has a great summer! Enjoy the little things, seek adventure, and make some great memories!

Much love from the Springs