Saying Goodbye

I have said more good-byes in the last 8 years, than I ever did growing up. It is hard. Really hard. Being in a military community is so great for many reasons. I get to meet people from all over the world, and form amazing friendships. It's so tempting to hold back from friendships when you know people will only be here for a short time, but I never want to hold back. I don't want to miss the relationships and experiences. 

Tonight we said bye to the Beans. I met Sheena when Piper was two weeks old. I was feeling a bit lonely and joined a local playgroup. She had just moved from Hawaii and I was drawn to her. We became fast friends, and our families hung out a lot. Over the last 6 years we have spent countless meals together, and beach trips. We have laughed, and cried, and argued. Dreams have been achieved, and new ones were made. About two years ago God really spoke to their hearts about getting out of the Coast Guard. Tomorrow they move back to Hawaii and Austin will begin a job as a youth pastor. They have big big dreams for doing ministry in the place they love. 

My heart aches. I will miss the friend who I can truly tell anything to. She doesn't judge, and always helps me laugh. God did a fine job the day he made her.  

I guess we need to start saving for our Hawaiian vacation!

Winter Weather

Sorry for the lack of posts. I just can't seem to find my motivation to blog. I really want to. I'd love to take this blog in new directions and write more of my voice. Hopefully the inspiration will come and I won't give in to distractions (having three months of free HBO isn't helping). 

The weather has been awesome this week. It's been mostly in the 60's and the kids have been outside a lot. I am not jealous of the snowy weather our families are getting right now. 

 It's hard to get her to stop long enough to snap a few photos.

I hope this southern winter weather continues.

Back at it

We recently got back from a two week trip to PA to see our families. Other than the kids getting ear infections and my in-laws getting the flu it was a really good trip. The older ones were bummed that there wasn't any snow, but it did mean we got to be outside for extended periods of time. 

Nate and I took the big kids to Hershey Park. The weather was perfect and we got to stay for about 5 hours. I love going there in the winter. Tickets are only $12, and all the kids rides and a lot of the adult rides are open. 

 We had them all do a few rides together, and then Nate took Asher off to do some of the bigger rides.

 My brother is a math teacher in Virginia, so he also gets a lot of time off in December. My kids LOVE uncle Matty. If he is awake there is at least one kid trying to play with him.

 All of Nate's siblings were at his parents for Christmas. It was noisy, and crowded, and a lot of fun. Asher and Piper really liked being around their cousins. We took them to a nature center one morning. The science and engineering (as well as stubborn and wild) genes run strong in these boys. They both had a lot of fun with the microscopes.

Visiting our families was a great way to spend our holiday break.