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| October 2013 - my one photo of all five kids from our Virginia trip |
A few weeks ago we took a trip back to Northern Virginia to visit my family and for Ben to do some work in DC. On our drive there, Charlie came down with a bad case of croup, and by the end of the week we had five sick kids and one sick adult. At the end of the trip I was so happy to be back home where each of my children had their own bedroom and especially because I had Ben to help out, but I do not regret our trip for one minute.
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| Emaline and Adelaide |
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| Adelaide (4.75 years), Malachi (10.5 months) and Charlie (2.75 years) in the tub |
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| Cousin Desmond, 11.5 months |
I have been reading a book called "Bittersweet" and one chapter is about the importance of face-to-face relationships. I have so many friends and family spread out literally all over the world, and we have travelled a lot as a family this year to see many people. The travel has been hard at times and exhausting all around, but the face-to-face time that we have had with our friends and family - irreplaceable. Our kids may not remember all of these trips, but I will, and so will the people we have seen. I try to do a good job about making phone calls to my family and sending cards in the mail but there is truly nothing like a night spent with loved ones chatting away. While in Virginia, we only had a few nights that Ben was staying with the rest of us and not away working, but there were some beautiful evenings of getting all five kids to bed and the adults spending time laughing about nonsense like essential oil jokes and funny beards seen on TV, or playing a game of Wordament on the phone app. These moments are so rich to me and so necessary in the rush of life. These moments are deep on a spiritual level, and I truly believe that we (I) cannot thrive without them.
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| Uncle Andy teaching Charlie to eat his vegetables "like a robot" |
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| Emaline and Malachi |
Although the kids were sick one after the other for about 10 days, they had such fun playing together. Adelaide is the oldest by two years, but she and Emaline laugh and giggle and act like sweet sisters. Emaline and Charlie are only 4 months apart, and with both of them at 2.5 years old, their little conversations with each other are just beautiful. Malachi and Desmond are a mere 5 weeks apart and are at a perfect age (10.5-12 months) of interacting with each other. Desmond loved to tackle Malachi as he would be crawling away and give him a big squeeze and slobbery kiss. It took Malachi nearly the whole two weeks before he finally got used to his cousin's love and wouldn't cry :) Emaline also loved her time with Malachi. They both have very quiet, sweet spirits. We also got to celebrate Desmond's first birthday while we were there!
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| Desmond preparing to 'attack' Malachi |
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| Going in for the kill! |
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| Ema and Adelaide |
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| Charlie, Adelaide and Emaline, decorating Desmond's birthday cupcakes |
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| Happy Birthday, Desmond! |
With all of the sickness going around, it took a while to arrange days to see some of our friends as we had to be patient for all to get better. We did get to see quite a few people before we left town, which I am so grateful for!
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| Malachi, Adelaide and Charlie with friends Carter and Audrey |
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| Hockey and Kelly children playing at the playground |
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| {Gabby, Adelaide and Esther} |
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| Mama with Charlie and Malachi |
We enjoyed 2.5 years of living close to Andy and Kerry but thankfully, the memories don't have to end there. Since we moved away just over a year ago, we have got to see them 4 times. I'm so thankful for my family and also Ben's family and the closeness that I feel to each one of them, despite all of the miles that separate us. God has been so good and faithful to me and reminds me daily how blessed I am.
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| Desmond and Malachi saying their good-byes :) |
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| A miracle - three sleeping children on the way home! |
