It’s jaw dropping for me to realize that July 2025 is almost over. It’s been a full month so far. We went to L.A. for my cousin’s wedding, spent few days with both sides of the family, celebrated Chris’ mom’s birthday, took a mini vacation to San Diego, came back home, checked off (and still checking off) multiple doctor’s and therapy appointments for Ellis, took Teddy for his second rabbit show last Saturday, Chris and I are almost fully recovered from this exhausting month and Chris’ work schedule, and here we are looking towards the last week of July coming next week.
Thankfully, Ellis has been doing great health wise lately except for 2 instances this July. When we were in L.A., family was surprised at how well she did; eating and sleeping well. On the 8th day, she did wake up crying, overwhelmed with all the socializing we did and more socializing we had that day in meeting Chris’ brother’s family for lunch and my uncle’s family for dinner. It was a good thing that we were driving up to San Jose the next day and we could settle back into our regular routines. Last weekend, her migraine started and she felt uneasy, but her rescue medicine did its thing and it precluded a trip to the ER.
Elliot is also doing well too. He’s been in a good mood lately and gladly joining us on our errand outings, which I appreciate! It makes me sad to think that in a few years he will be grown up and these outings will be less as he does his own thing. In the meantime, we are trying to relish the time together.
This month, Dart, our leopard gecko, turned 2 years old and Teddy, 7 months old. Dart has now graduated to eating larger crickets and is doing his regular resting in his coconut shell or hiding out in a cardboard oatmeal container. The larger crickets make their presence known with the loud chirping, which makes it sound like we are outdoors. Teddy went to his second rabbit show recently and had a full day outdoors with other rabbit competitors and human enthusiasts.
Last month at his first show, Teddy got 4th place out of 8 rabbits. This month, he placed two 5th places and one 6th place out of 6 rabbits. He was the youngest senior buck in his class, thus the smallest. The recurring comment we heard from judges was that Teddy needed more girth, mass, rounding out, and his crown as too narrow and brow too small. I’ve been told that he needs more developing. The best buck in his class seemed to be a solid 4 pound lop, evenly rounded out, and a couple of years old.
Teddy’s next show will be in December! The day was incredibly long, starting with the drive to the show at 7:30 a.m. and coming home at 4 p.m. Outdoors most of the day and I didn’t realize that Chris was getting over chills the night before. He still drove us out there and spent most of the time napping in the car.
Dear readers, I’ve missed being regular about reading your posts and commenting, so I apologize about that. I frequently think about you all everyday as some things remind me of your posts and/or comments. I plan on what I’m going to post, but then that’s as far as it gets. After not posting except for photos for a while, I feel awkward giving an update; that insecurity keeps me from writing. So tonight I just sat down and write it out.
Overall, I thank you all for your support and coming over my blog to see what’s going on with us and for your presence. Also, a big shot out to my recent followers and a big thank you! Thank you, my wonderful readers for being a part of our lives.
28 responses to “This July has flown”
Very nice & interesting you sharing your July activity & program. Beautiful all pics. Nice you attend the cousin’s wedding celebration both family side. Nice weeding, family & house photos. Beautiful Teddy 🧸 with Ellis pic. Thanks, Esther that sharing your July month ending.
Thank you so much, Raj! It was a treat to see family and to celebrate my cousin’s wedding. We don’t have a lot of opportunities to see that many relatives at one time and for such a happy occasion.
Thank you for this update, Esther! It’s great to hear what you and your family have been doing this summer. I’m glad everyone is doing so well. And of course I got a big kick out the photo booth photos.
Thank you, Liz! I’m so glad that that photo booth photos brought you a smile. It’s a fun thing to do with family…they’ve been popping up in malls. It’s called Life4cuts.
We’re doing well and managing this month as well as we can. I still have a bunch of emails to write to doctors for Ellis, and I’m totally procrastinating.
You’re welcome, Esther!
Great update! Glad to hear what’s been happening in July. Sounds like a very full and busy few weeks. It’s no wonder you took a little blog break. You can’t do Everything! 😁
Thank you! I feel like I can do everything, but reality hits hard. I’ve been taking lots of naps and decluttering too. Somehow doing that calms me down. II still can’t part with the Thomas and Friends’ toys or Peppa Pig. lol. We have a lot of them, but they bring those memories of when the kids were little.
I hope you are doing well and having a good summer! Can you believe that we are almost headed into August soon?!
Sounds like quite a fun summer! Thank you for a lovely update 💛
Thank you so much! It’s been a good summer, and we’re trying to live up the most of what we have left. Usually, we stay in town and we dilly dally around town, but going out of town really jolted our summer and made this month go faster.
I hope you are doing well and enjoying summer!
It’s funny how time flies so much faster when you go somewhere else for vacation lol. I hope you all enjoy the last bit of summer!
You’re so right! And when you get back from vacation, you need a few days to decompress.
Thank you…things have slowed down a bit. This morning, I did some mega work with the insurance company and telehealth for Ellis. The remaining of the day is slow, but my body is so used to just going that I’m getting a big restless. Trying to enjoy this quiet!!
Yeah, restless days are a bit hard lol. I hope it went well with the insurance company 💛
Thank you! It took a lot of time holding on the phone and calling multiple places. For now, it’s good. Whew. Never a fun task.
Have a great weekend.
What a happy month! xx
Happy and full month! There have been some off moments too, but so is life.
I hope you are doing well and having a great month too. 🙂
Dreamsycle Teddy is the most adorable one in the middle, five from the left or five from the right! Am I correct?
I am with Ellis on too much socializing for too many days is overwhelming! You would have found me hiding in the broom closet crying…
Your words are wonderful to read, Esther. Sometimes I get anxiety writing a short comment. So, I snap back into my safe hard turtle shell and say nothing at all. I get it!
You are right! He was much more composed at this rabbit show than the first one. Even though he was outdoors and getting pet by a lot of people, he didn’t seem to mind. Don’t you think he’s come a long way from where he started?!
Oh yes, I hear you about socializing. It was a bit much for all of us and I couldn’t sleep at night as my mind was still turning and wired. Going from one family’s house to another brings up a lot of emotional stuff too…family dynamics are different. I’m glad the visits were short and we had a buffer time of 3 days in SD in between. Time to decompress and be in our element before socializing again.
Thank you for your wonderful encouragement! I feel reassured that my sentiments were conveyed well by your comment. Although I know I have a great community here, there is that skeptical side of my mind that tells me that I don’t contribute much and that no one would notice if I didn’t post. All the negative irrational stuff. I’m so glad you do comment! Please continue to…I love to hear from you.
Yes, Teddy has come a long way learning about his rabbit world!
I do understand how family dynamics are all so different and how emotional stuff gets triggered. And everyone has “stuff” they’re dealing with!
I limit myself with how much social media I consume. It takes a lot of time and energy as well as affects how I feel throughout my day. I subscribe to less than ten socials and only comment when I have enough emotional energy left in a day. A-Fib is difficult and Yorkie’s aging health is more challenging. There’s so many responsibilities that I must do in a day to take care of Yorkie, myself and my property.
It’s my pleasure watching you grow, seeing photos, hearing about your family’s activities, getting a text or a butt call. I feel that you are a part of my family as well. ❤️
You’re right…everyone has stuff they’re dealing with! I’m learning how not to take things personally, because sometimes it has nothing to do with me.
I can see how you would be exhausted with all the health challenges going on with you and Yorkie, as well as taking care of your property. Sometimes, doing just one or two things makes the day fly by and you wonder what you did during the day. But if you, Yorkie, and your property are well and intact, I’d say you had a productive and full day!!!
Thank you for your kind comment! It’s so wonderful to know that I can share my life with others and that it brings a smile to them and to you. This is what makes blogging fulfilling for me. BTW, that butt dial call was hilarious. 🙂
Have a great weekend.
Esther
wow great photos – everyone has grown up so much – such great smiles!! Linda xx
Thank you, Linda! Ellis grew 2 inches in the past few months and Elliot is growing too; his goal is to exceed my height, which I hope he does! He faithfully drinks his Orgain protein drink. He was told by a church friend that drinking that particular drink made him grow quickly.
I hope you are doing well and your dissertation writing process is going smoothly!
Thank you – I haven’t spoken about it on my blog yet, but I submitted my PhD dissertation and it is due to be marked and released soon – yay!
As for growing, my two girls (16 and nearly 18) are both taller than me, but thankfully it seems to be slowing down (at least I think so as we aren’t going through shoes every few months!!)
Sending love, always, Linda xx
It does sound like a full July and I’m glad Ellis felt fine for the most part and you could nip the migraine in the bud … that rescue medicine is awesome. No, I couldn’t tell which one was Teddy. I’m glad Elliot is enjoying himself as evident from the big smile with Teddy. The photo booth sounds fun – you should have showed us your mother-in-law’s pic or was she shy?
Thank you, Linda! It is a full month and we’re still going full steam. Things keep popping up and going into our calendar. It’s good that we decided to forego some plans as it was getting too much. I ask the kids and they mainly decide, but they’re like me and like to take it easy. lol
The rescue med is amazing and we are so grateful to have it on hand. We discovered it last year when she was hospitalized so much…seems there was a purpose for all of those stays.
Teddy is the one in the middle; the lightest color one, looking up. I didn’t ask my mil if I could put her picture on my blog and she might feel uncomfortable, so I went with the happy smile. She took Christmas photos at this booth with Chris’ brother’s family 2 Christmases ago, and this was something she really wanted to do with us. There’s a line at this place!
Yes, lots of side trips, family functions … still going strong. Yes, there was a purpose in all the hospital stays to come up with a plan … this plan is good and has allowed Ellis and the rest of the family to get out and enjoy events together with minimal worries. Okay, next time you will ask her if she’s okay with it … that’s a cute idea. I remember the $0.25 photo booths from my youths. You probably don’t get a strip of pics for a quarter any more!
Wow, $.25 was a bargain! A strip of picture costs $8 now.
We started out busy this week, but Thursday and Friday have been mellow. Kids are making bakeless cookies now for our church bible study outing to the beach tomorrow. We’re really going all out!
Our homeschooling teacher just emailed us though asking which books we need for the fall. It means school is next month. Wow, it goes so fast.
Kudos to the kids for these skills, bakeless or not. Look at the other classes they took earlier this year too. My mom never let me cook/bake, so I have become handy with a crockpot and don’t bake or use the oven. School starting in a month – it flew by. I just heard on the news today that people are buying back-to-school items like crazy, thinking the prices will go up. You have to buy books for school too – I never thought of that.
Please don’t stress over not reading our posts. I am sure all your followers understand because we’ve all have been or will be there at some point. The kids are growing up so quickly! Enjoy your time with them. 😊