Blast From the Past

This past week, our friends, the Costellos, were visiting. We were blessed to have them for a whole week, and today was a bit hard without them. All of a sudden, the house was too quiet, and I found myself with tears running down my cheeks. Drew, Jamie, Sam, and Riley lived down the street from us in Memphis. It was truly a treat to live a few houses down from like minded people that we all got along with. Jamie and I got together nearly every day, and would often take turns having dinner at our houses when the guys got home from school. I knew this was such a blessing at the time, but hadn't quite realized just how much I missed it until today. It was an emotional trip all together. We were all longing for the future when they could (Lord willing) move here, while simultaneously wishing there was some way to prolong the next few weeks. Drew is leaving for Iraq on the 18th for twelve months. Although we didn't dwell on this, the reality of what this trip was (a stop on the way to Pennsylvania, where Jamie will live with her family until Drew returns) was still there. My heart hurts for them. We know the Lord has them in the palm of His hand, that He will give Jamie strength to raise her children without Drew, that He will use this situation for good in their lives. They have worked hard to instill values in their children. They have been consistent to teach them about the Lord, and will now be able to teach them that even though parents have to leave sometimes, He never leaves.

On a happier note, the visit was wonderful. The Costello kids fell right into stride and acted like they owned the place. Those of you with babies know that this is often not the case when traveling. We went on walks, went swimming, went to the zoo, grilled out, etc. Micah loved having his friends in town. Lately we have had lots of visitors, and thankfully Micah has started to accept and love this. For those of you who don't know Micah, he hated visitors when he was a baby. He would seriously cry the entire time. This visit, he laughed most of the time. He thought Sam was a riot (I thought so too!) She was often in her bathing suit (just because) and would tell the funniest stories. Micah loved jumping, kissing, and tackling her. Riley was adorable. I think his favorite was Ellie. Every morning he would yell "a da" which meant "a dog." Owen loved watching and tried to play with the "big kids." We even got one night out without the children because Matt's parents were so kind to babysit. Enjoy some of the pictures from our trip. Of course, I didn't have the camera out nearly enough. Costellos, we miss you guys already. Standfast and hold onto His promise that He will never leave you or forsake you.