The Sprinkler

This weekend was designated as "Yard work" weekend. Last year we did NOTHING in our back yard, and man does it show this spring! Flower beds all overgrown, the big pond so lovingly built 6 years ago now taken over by duck weed, stray water plants, and trees growing between the rocks. (and seriously, after only one year some of them are over our heads!)

We did several projects back there today, all while trying to keep Angela occupied, AND outside. (because she has anhidrosis and doesn't sweat, she prefers to be inside on any day over 70*, and it was 85* plus here today.)

After awhile the sprinkler came out, and minutes later so did Angela donning her swimming suit. Dean and I took a break in the shade as we watched Angela enjoying the sprinkler and the beautiful day.

As I looked around the yard, then back to Angela, I realized this was something Ianna has never experienced. She has never put on a swimming suit and ran through a sprinkler in the summer sun. She has probably never walked through a garden quite like ours and smelled a flower. Or laid on the grass and had 1, 2, 3, or even 4 dogs lay around her, protecting her from the world. She has never had the freedom to play in a yard that is "hers", with a mom and a dad to watch over her, delighting in her joy.

Every day we pray that next summer Ianna will have all of these things, and so will we.