Sister time = being thankful and feeling REFRESHED

Our sisters weekend was GOOD for the soul.

Friday morning Vance pulled out of the driveway with the camper and all 4 kids! I waved and blew kisses and was quite certain I had never been at this house all by myself. At least not in years!  They headed to Yakima for camping and baseball. When I learned that the 12 U Chiefs, the team Merit is on, was going to play in an out of town tournament the same weekend I was meeting my sisters in Seattle I thought "oh boy!" But Amy Raymond was awesome and said if Vance wasn't up for taking all four kids there, their family would take Merit. Vance decided, however, that he was up for the adventure! And Amy and Morgan said they would help him and oh my goodness they did! This baseball family is just that; family.

Hazel told me the day before they left that she couldn't wait to sit on Kari Visker's lap. She also loves Emma Vela and Ishmael's sister Vivian. All my kids feel very comfortable around the Raymonds. Morgan likes to cuddle Oren and he relaxes in her arms. So, that was that! I knew everyone was in good hands.

After a wonderful visit with Shannon and then Lisa Friday morning, I loaded up the car, said goodbye to my chicks (no easy task) loaded the dog and took her to the Boarders and hit the road for our SISTERS WEEKEND! 

I picked Natasha up at the airport at 3:30, our first stop was Starbucks, then we met Lesha at the hotel! So fun!! Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory that night and AGAIN the next night. We slow sipped lattes, shopped, enjoyed the free continental breakfast at our hotel, talked about light hearted stuff and giggled and talked about serious stuff too.

IKEA is always fun! 

so often you will find us in the "red zone" 

I wish there weren't so many miles between us but that, quite possibly, is why these weekends are amazing and special and refreshing. I thank God for these courageous, brave, fun girls!!! And just an important side note: Natasha flew to San Diego after our girls weekend and met with heart specialists there. This was something her Anchorage heart failure specialist requested she do. The appointment was good. They were hopeful and there is so much now that can be done to help someone with heart issues. I pray we all grow to be old women. And that we can all watch our own children and each other's children grow up. Our mom never got to experience being a grandma, I hope we get this chance... and all the while I want to trust God's plan.