It hasn’t really snowed much this winter. The small accumulation we awoke to this morning was gone by the end of the church, with the precipitation having turned by then into faint rain. The big kids had a lunch get-together with camp friends at the local Mexican restaurant. The rest of us met up with my in-laws, a weekly post-church activity that’s been part of our family routine for years.

My father-in-law is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Back in September he was diagnosed with stage four cancer, a sarcoma in his leg that had metastasized to his lungs. He travels to St. Louis every three weeks for treatments. His treatments have become a regular topic of conversation, as we catch up on how he’s been doing and feeling. He’s had five of them so far.

Our sis chat has been quieter. We go through these periods every so often where we don’t talk or text as much. We get busy with our families, especially on weekends. I worked on a journal article review that was due Saturday night while Dad and Ethan had a men’s retreat. The other kids joined up with them during meal times, a true perk of living here. After a cleaning time, they played.