Treasured Family And Cherished Friends

The cabin is my slice of earthly heaven and I love spending time amongst the trees and green of Washington, but the real reason we make our yearly summer pilgrimage here is to be with family and friends as much as we can. We had a long weekend with Adam's family and next week we are off to the coast with mine. The boys are having some wonderful kids-only visits with their grandparents on both sides and their Aunt Sara too. We've spent a lot of time with the Browns and Shevitz, our closest friends from our time living here. It's a crazy schedule of running here and running there, making sure we do this and that, and every summer the whole set up of where we stay and what we do is so different. Last year it was hard to get to seeing friends with all that we had planned with our families, but this year we had extended time up in Everett, since Adam had to be close to work, so we've gotten a lot of time with our friends up here, but less time with family. It's crammed and busy, but wonderful and I miss it all so much when we go home.

This summer we made sure to plan a visit with our cousins, the Deputy family. The last time we were able to get together, Mandi's kids were almost the same ages as mine are now, minus her youngest, who was not yet born and I only had Zach and Ben. Mandi and Adam are cousins through her mother and his father, who are siblings. We drove down to their lovely new home in the countryside of Bonney Lake for a Sunday visit. And we thought we had remodel stories to tell! Their building stories trumped ours in the first two minutes. We were going to kind of play how long we stayed by how the little kids were doing. Luke and Tommy were awesome and everyone was having such a fabulous time we ended up staying all day and into the early evening.

What a wonderful family they are. Adam and I enjoyed the easy conversation and relaxed atmosphere we felt being with Mandi and Greg. Their kids are amazing, from Colleen (16-- pretty awesome name, right?), who is such a beautiful young woman inside and out, to Cameron (14) who gave us a glimpse at what is ahead for us in our boys' early teen years, to Keegan (11), who entertained our big boys the whole afternoon, to Atalie (9) who charmed Luke and kept him smiling, to Griffin (5) who could have slipped in with our five and we wouldn't have even noticed, he would have fit so perfectly! We sure love them and this visit was truly a gift for us. We were also able to meet up with a few of our friends from our old Everett ward. Originally we were going to get together at the cabin, but the weather wasn't supposed to be all that warm, so we decided a park would be better. But when we woke up the morning of our playdate it was raining, so Beth kindly volunteered her house to let the kids and mommies pour en masse: me with my five; Beth and her three kids; Kedra with her two kids, Olivia and Nolan, with one on the way next month; Emily N. and her son Jack with one on the way in the winter; Emily S. and her kids Abi, Elyssa, Ammon, and Easton; and Sarah and her daughters Rachel and Jayden. It was a packed house! But the visit was worth the craziness. I just love these ladies and miss being in the same ward as them. We laughed the hours away and the visit was all too quick. The kids thought it ended too quickly as well. They were pretty bummed when it was time to break the party up. The next great visit was with our neighbors from the neighborhood we lived in before we moved to Colorado. It was the first house we owned and we lucked into some amazing neighbors with 2 incredible sons of their own. In an earlier post I mentioned that our friend Ian came up to play at the cabin one day, well, when we dropped Ian off that afternoon, we decided one visit wasn't enough, and the Parkers invited us over for dinner the following week. Luke and I ended up missing the dinner because Luke got a high fever the night before (that lasted three days, he's now on antibiotics for strep throat), but Adam took the other boys. The Parker's backyard is like a little boy heaven. There are tree forts, a trampoline, rope swings, pellet guns to shoot and woods to explore. They did an outdoor weenie and marshmallow roast for dinner. It was a night of perfection.

Evan was still at camp, so, sadly, we didn't get to see him this visit. Jay and Dar are a couple of the kindest of people I've met in my life, and I sure missed being able to visit with them. Fortunately Dar and I had had a chance to talk for a bit when she dropped Ian off at the cabin the previous week. I love listening to their stories of where they've been with their boys and where they are now. They are incredible parents and have raised fine boys, so I like to learn all I can from them!Last night I was able to get together with the women of my first ever playgroup when Zach was an itty bitty newborn. We all delivered within 3 months of each other at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Washington. And we all attended the baby forum the hospital offered for free during your child's first three months of life. So we've been friends for over 9 years now. Wow! Time flies! These women are an ingrained part of my treasured memories from my early days of motherhood, and even though we don't all keep in regular contact, their friendship is priceless to me because of our history and how they have helped me to be the mother I am.

Sometimes not everyone can make it, like last night we were missing Nyree and Lindzie (they weren't just missing, they were missed!), but we try to get at least one gathering together every year since we stopped meeting as a playgroup back when our kids all started preschool and some of us moved here and there. Whenever we meet up it is one big gabfest as we share stories and commiserate and celebrate. Ladies, I love you! (In the picture: Me, Tamara, Becky, Staci, Ashley, Trisha, Pam and Kristina)