Hi friends,

This week was such an awesome one for our family! Lots of smiles and tears. 🙂

First, I had an amazing time with my son’s family in Florida and got so much precious play and snuggle time with my granddaughter.

The beach was gorgeous (and HOT!). Plus, we visited Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Center, and our church’s Orlando temple. Thanks for everyone’s suggestions! There wasn’t enough time to get to everything, and we definitely have a great list for our next trip.

The other amazing event this week is the return of my adult daughter who has spent the last year and a half on a mission trip for our church!

The other kids spent the days before making signs, and the 7-year-old picked out balloons, a plastic lei and carried a bouquet of flowers to the airport.

When the day came, we rushed to the airport when the app said the flight was arriving fifteen minutes early.

After standing near the security exit for twenty minutes and watching every person who came around the corner, I checked the app again to find that the plane was now listed at it’s original arrival time. (Apparently, it had to wait in line to taxi to the gate for a while)

Despite being eager to see her arrive, it was pretty fun to watch the other travelers’ responses to our group with our big signs and smiles. We got a lot of encouragement and thumbs ups. One older war veteran in a wheelchair even shouted out his name and asked where his signs were. We gave him a welcome, too. 🙂

When my daughter finally walked around the corner at the airport, she saw us and started running, towing her carry-on behind her. As soon as she passed the “Do Not Enter” security line, my 7-year-old shrieked and raced to wrap herself around her big sister.

The carry-on got dropped to the side, and I got to hug her for the first time in forever. Her little sister wouldn’t budge, so you can see the top of her head and an arm holding the lei squished between us. 🙂

It is such an amazing thing as a parent to see your children grow up into adults you admire and respect, doing hard things and finding success in the world on their own.

She is an amazing woman and we’re all so excited to have her home . . . until she leaves for the fall semester of college. We’ll miss her again. (Though I’ll get her to do the paperback covers for my virus series before she goes. She’s an amazing artist!)

And since this newsletter is supposed to update you on my writing . . . I didn’t do any. LOL.

I took the advice of some of you readers and took a break from writing to spend time with family instead. Thanks!

I think the break and fun time with family will help me come back to writing refreshed and energized.

All the best and thanks so much for your support!

— Misty 🙂