After Ted and I returned (with Zaden) from our hotel getaway, he headed out again to take care of some boring business, such as renewing his driver's license and our Suburban registration--AFTER getting an emissions test, of course, which was much easier than the hoops I had to jump through last year to renew the registration and get an emissions test waiver while Ted was deployed. He ended up being gone about 4 hours, which probably wasn't as horrible as it could have seemed, since he was able to take his Kindle and pretty much sit and read. (Frankly, that sounds like heaven to me!)
Lucan got a great nap in the afternoon; Zaden did not, but we had plans, so we pressed on anyway! We left around 4:30 to visit our friends Bill and Mellisa B and their children, Jessica, Liam, and Kyla. Bill and Ted have been best friends since high school (yes, Bill and Ted HAVE had excellent adventures, why do you ask?!), and we've always gotten together with our families when we've been in Colorado. Charis and Jessica are just weeks apart in age, and Liam is always happy to have other boys to play Legos and Star Wars with. All the kids had a blast running around while we grown-ups caught up.
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| Kyla, Charis, and Jessica |
The one bad thing to happen was a playtime accident involving Lucan, a picnic table, and a slab of concrete. :-( He got a pretty good-sized goose egg on his forehead. Thankfully he let Ted hold an ice pack on it for awhile, and he cheered up considerably after having 3 slices of watermelon. Three days later, I am pleased to report that he seems to be doing just fine! But ouch, it certainly hurt to even look at his poor little head that evening!
One of the fun things we talked about was Bill and Mellisa's decision to really downsize and simplify--to the point of selling most of their personal possessions and purchasing an RV to live in. They moved out of a nice, large house in a rural area and tried to sell it. Currently they have some good renters in it, so things have worked out well. Their dream is to purchase land sometime down the road, but a short-term goal is to be able to do more traveling with the RV. Mellisa homeschools the kids (they are going to use Sonlight next year--woohoo!), and she and the children spent a couple of months last year in Indiana visiting family. Since we're in the midst of preparing for an overseas move, I am definitely all over the simplify-one's-life thing! It does get difficult the more people you add to the family. We don't really buy a lot of stuff, but somehow stuff just walks into our home and multiplies. I've broadly hinted to some wonderful and well-meaning family members (who probably know who they are, LOL) that we don't really need or want any more STUFF! :-) Instead, save the money and come visit us in Italy!
Anyway, it was fun to see where the B family is now and hear what God has been teaching them during their recent transitions. Also, their RV is set up pretty similarly to what we'll be staying in while we're in Yellowstone, so it gave the kids an idea of what to expect (although I suspect "ours" will be quite a bit smaller...or at least feel like it with 8 people inside!).
We're thankful God has allowed us to keep up with good friends over the years!
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