half gone or half full . . .

Rabbit, rabbit!  It's hard to believe it's July 1st and we're halfway through the year already!

June was busy, but good.  We got the very good news that the PET scan images were good, so Todd was cleared for surgery.  That will happen on July 5th ... in four days.  It's a major surgery.  They'll remove the right lobe of his liver, his gallbladder, and ablate any mets they find on the left lobe.  They think there might be one, but they've never been able to get a good look at it, so that's the first thing the surgeon will do.  Todd will be in the STICU for three days post surgery, and then moved to a regular room for another seven.  BUT, if it means he'll come home cancer-free, then hallelujah!

We started June by celebrating Edith's graduation from Kindergarten.  

She's a rock star!

Next, we celebrated Olivia's NINTH birthday (from afar, which I hate, but I'm so glad for technology that allows us to be in on the fun, even if it's from afar)!

The sweet birthday girl enjoying one of our gifts.  She's a rock star, too!

We're both really enjoying the time off from chemo.  He's starting to be back to his old self!  We were able to enjoy a week on the lake, which was really nice!  

We've rented this same home for several years now — in June and then last year we added October.  It's a beautiful location, a simple home, and a terrific boat house.  It's really lovely.

Todd did a lot of fishing . . . 

I did a lot of project prepping (so I have plenty of things to keep my hands busy during surgery and hospital stay) . . .

This is a UFO from 2010 - Jaybird Quilts Hexagon Quilt Along - that I *remembered*.

And some fabric/scissor shopping (would you believe I forgot to pack a pair of scissors????) . . . 

Yes, lots of reds, whites, and blues (but, true to form, also some pumpkins—who am I, right?)!  I saw some really cute patriotic bowl fillers in the Summer 2023 issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects, and I knew I wanted to play around with them.

And so far, so good!  They may not be completely finished by the 4th holiday, but it'll be close!  This will be my Slow Sunday Stitching, for sure!  :)

We also had the grandgirls over one day to play and splash!  

We celebrated our anniversary while we were at the lake ... but no pics.  I was so sick!  It went from a stomach virus to a gastrointestinal virus and I'm still not quite fully recovered!  Yuck!

Things at the camp are going well . . . turtles are out and about (and starting to lay eggs!) and things are blooming! We had a wet June ... things are green and gorgeous!

And I'll leave on this sweet note . . .

Hard to believe this sweet (and saucy) baby boy will be TWO in just a few months!

Happy July!  Happy Slow Stitching Day! Happy Independence Day!  

:)