Family

We have some of the best family ever. Ever.

This past weekend, I took a vacation day and we headed up to Medicine Hat to visit Meg, Matty and the kids. In all honesty, I had one of the best weekends of my life. Growing up without any cousins myself, I have such a deep love and desire for my children to have time with their cousins. Jaxon, Orin and Ami mean EVERYTHING to me. I love them so much and they are getting so darn big! They are the best big cousins my kids could ever ask for. They love Nola and Robbie and it really shows. The Saturday night we were there, Meg, Matt, Doug and I went out for dinner while Jax, Orin and Ami stayed at home and watched the kids for us. They cooked them dinner and had a blast playing together. Later that night, us adults and Jax went to the movies. Orin and Ames stayed home with Nola and Robbie and were the BEST babysitters in the world! Nola and Ames had a bath together and then Nola had a sleep on Ami's floor. Ami took the time to make Nola a bed, shared all her toys and read her stories until she fell asleep. When I heard this, my heart melted :) The girls played SO well together all weekend. When we left, Ames put together some of her toys and wrote a note to Nola saying 'take very good care of these'. She then gave her the toys as we were about to leave. It was so special. My darling Ami, you have turned into such a beautiful girl. Orin and Robbie were best buddies! Orin took Rob everywhere and Robbie was loving the 'guy time'. Rob favourite was when Orin put the matresses on the stairs and made a slide. Orin would lift Robbie up and then they'd slid down together. When they got to the bottom, Rob would run in circles, laughing and screaming, then run back to Orin for more. It was the best thing to watch. Orin has such a special spirit - you can see it in his eyes and feel it in his presence. My Jax - how are you 13? I cannt believe how quickly time is passing. It seems that just yesterday Jaxon was asking me if I could please sleep with him in his bed because all he wanted to do is snuggle. Now that he is a teenager, things change. He doesn't want to snuggle anymore, but he still gives me real, big hugs, and if I am discreet about it, he'll let me give him a kiss :) I am so proud of Jaxon. He is a pillar of light to his friends and an excellent example to his siblings.

Whenever we go to the May's home, I am always touched by the Spirit that dwells within their walls. Theirs truely is a home of love, a home of trust, respect and peace. How grateful I am to enter such a beautiful place! Meg and Matty are very special to us. We have a bond with them, which we do not have with all our siblings. I am not saying that it is better or worse than with our other siblings, it's just different and that makes it special. I am sure it is that both Doug and I and Meg and Matt are Christians. We work hard to stay close to the Lord, we live the same standards and we appreciate the comfort of being able to talk openly about our lives, which is deeply and intimatly intertwined with our faith. I love them.

I thank the Lord for a perfect weekend with our family. And in just a couple weeks, we'll be off to Fernie for a weekend with AJ and Sarah! How blessed we are to be a family!