On Sunday morning I found my place at CCC and enjoyed a morning of worship, community, fellowship, and a wonderful sermon about Healthy Relationships (thanks, Bob)!
And, after 3 days of NOT seeing Andi and Ethan, I went to the Keene’s. I purposely did NOT go over to Shannon’s earlier in my visit because I knew that if I went inside, Andi was going to have a hard time with me leaving (going in and out), so I thought it was best not to go over there until I was ready to stay (I stayed 3 nights at Ember’s and 3 nights at Shannon’s).
Here’s a picture of Ember and me.
Ember and me
Andi and I were reunited once again!!
Andi and her “yelling” face….
Queen of her castle
Sunday night I was able to go to Panera Bread and have dinner with Paige. I didn’t take a picture of us together (sad face) but I really enjoyed my visit. We “closed down” Panera–they closed at 8:00PM, but they let us stay until 9:00 and just vacuumed and mopped around us!
Andi drew this picture of us–do you see Paul’s spiky blue hair and his green beard!!
Monday morning we woke up to more snow, and it snowed (HARD) for most of the morning and into early afternoon. It was projected they were going to get 6-8 inches (on top of what they already had on the ground). So….at some point, I measure it and it was about 12-14 inches deep in some places.
Right after lunch Shannon and the kids made cookies (I helped a little bit)!
Ethan and his “Halloween” cookie cutters
Ethan and Andi making cookies
decorating the cookies
Ethan, enjoying the fruits of his labor
I took Ethan and Andi outside to play, and we ended up walking ALL the way down the camp road to Ember’s house. Her kids were headed out the door to go play, so it was perfect!!
Ethan and Andi
Andi took my picture
my FAVORITE picture!!
A funny note about these next 2 pictures:
When I got the car from Bob on Thursday, I asked him if he had a brush/ice scraper in the car. He said he didn’t think there was one in there, but he assured me I wouldn’t need one!! 😉 So, on Monday, I had to implement free child labor to brush off all the snow!
Ethan and Andi brushing off my car
Andi
Ethan and me
Ethan fell in a “hole” and the snow went all the way up to his waist
Jacob
Andi and me eating snow!
All of us walking on the bridge over the pond at camp
Here are some pictures of Jeremiah, as well. He was super sick while I was there, so he didn’t get to play outside with us nor did I really get to play with him because he just wanted “Mommy” most of the time!
playing trains (or eating them, as the case may be for Jeremiah)
Cutie!
playing in Andi’s room
Jeremiah and Andi sitting in the bathroom one morning, while I got ready
On Tuesday I was able to run several errands and just have some “me” time–
I got a haircut on Tuesday….I’m not 100% sure I like it, but oh well, it’ll always grow!
I was also able to have lunch with Bob and get a massage….so yes, definitely a “me” day!
Wednesday was a sad day….it was time to go! 😦 Andi and I were coloring on Wednesday morning, and she was complaining that her stomach hurt. She went and laid down on the couch, covering herself up with a blanket. While she was doing that, I got my suitcase ready and brought it upstairs. Shannon asked Andi if her stomach really hurt or if something else was wrong. She said she was just sad I was leaving–she ended up taking a nap on Wednesday morning, which she NEVER does, because she didn’t want to see me go! 😦
Andi and me on my last morning….
On Wednesday I got to the airport about 12:45 because my flight was leaving at 2:00….
Note to self: Make a better selection (in regards to socks)–otherwise you’ll end up wearing hole-y Christmas socks to walk through airport security!
After a 1.5 hour delay we finally left at 3:20!!
Still managing to make my flight from Chicago to Austin, it was pretty uneventful! Except….two words: EXIT ROW!!
I could stretch my legs ALL THE WAY out!! It was glorious….
Paul picked me up about 8:45 in Austin, and we were home by 9:30ish!
Words cannot describe how good it was for my heart and for my soul to be back in Illinois…..when will I visit again? I don’t know…but hopefully….soon!
Finding Refuge 