Visitors

I have been so blessed to have friends visit over the past month!  After Mom left on September 12, my good college friend Megan and her daughter Sela came for 4 days, which was a blessing since we were at the beginning of the whole nursing journey with Zaden.  They returned on September 29 for a long weekend visit.  The weather was horrible--cold and rainy--so we didn't really do much other than hang out around the house, but it was neat for Megan to be able to be here and see the progress that Zaden had made and was making: that was the weekend that he finally got the hang of nursing and I used the SNS for the last time!

Yesterday afternoon my dear friend Mimi and her daughter Krystiana (13) arrived from their road trip from Kansas.  I couldn't believe how tall Krystiana is!  She's beautiful, too, and it's been so fun spending time with both her and Mimi.  Lucan is in love with Krystiana and has to be with her ALL the time; it's amazing how well he pronounces her name, too!  It's very cute.  He seems drawn to older girls, as he also adores Sela, "Miss Jessica" (Stefanie's daughter), and Charis's friends who come to the house.  I may have to watch out for him, LOL!

Since I knew there would be another adult with me, I made plans for us to go to a fall festival yesterday evening at the church where Charis attends her American Heritage Girls meetings.  It was a beautiful day--almost too warm--and the kids enjoyed horse and pony rides (so cute to see Kenna and Lucan on the little ponies!), various inflatables, and lots of free junk food (!).  I never would have navigated something like that on my own!  For example, I stood in line with the stroller and Zaden for the pony rides while the kids went with Mimi to do some of the inflatables and get food.  There were enough people and activities that it would have been too overwhelming for me to try to keep track of everyone without extra eyes and hands.  (Pictures of the festival are here.)

We made it to both services at church this morning, and I had a nice long nap this afternoon while Mimi, Krystiana, and Charis worked on the office--which was a total disaster area from all of Charis's projects!  From the sounds of things, they are making grand progress...we should have taken some "before" pictures so I could post before and after shots!  It was HORRIBLE!  It stressed me out just walking into that room!  Charis informed me she wanted me to wait to see it when it's finished, so after Zaden finishes nursing, I will dutifully go to the kitchen to work on dinner, LOL.

Tomorrow some of my downline members are coming over to meet and visit with Mimi for an informal potluck lunch.  Tuesday I take Zaden for his weight check/follow-up appointment.  Other than that, we don't have plans, and it is SO fun to just hang out with Mimi and catch up.  We were good last night and went to bed at 11:15 after Zaden finished nursing.  (He slept until 6:00 this morning!  Woohoo!)  Usually when we're together we don't get much sleep!  I'm already sad that she'll be leaving Thursday morning to drive back home!  But then I can look forward to Megan's next visit, which is tentatively planned for the last weekend in October, assuming everyone is healthy and the weather is good.  She lives close enough that it's not too bad of a drive, and it's kind of a vacation for her, with only one child of her own to worry about!

Grandma J will then come and spend the week of Thanksgiving with us, which will be SO much fun.  I'm not sure yet when my parents will come for another visit, but I'm hoping sometime in December so we can do a "Christmas" with them, though my dad has to work the week of Christmas itself.  And then in January Ted will be here for 2 weeks of R&R!!!  By that point we will be 8 months into this deployment, so when he goes back to Afghanistan, we'll be on the downhill stretch.  I'm hoping and praying that time speeds by in the meantime!