Where are We NOW?

Jarrett, Avie, and I headed to North Carolina two weeks ago Thursday. We went straight to High Point, where we met up with Jarrett's mom and grandfather for dinner, and were then able to see Stephen later at their mom's house, where we stayed Thursday and Friday nights. On Friday, we were reunited with Elsa over at Jarrett's dad and Susan's house. And I must say -- it was a top highlight of my entire year.

We drove up the street, and from a distance I could see that Elsa was outside, standing in the grass at the side of the road while Susan was unpacking the van from their camping trip. I saw Elsa look our direction, and she started getting wide-eyed. I could read her mouth, as she started saying, "It's the white car!" And then, "Mommy! Mommy! Maaaaaameeeeeee!!!" I turned off the car as quickly as possible and jumped out, running toward her and picking her up off her feet. We gave each other the biggest hug, and it lasted for minutes. It was so sweet to have her in my arms again. Eleven days was a long time.

On Saturday morning, we headed to Charlotte to my parents' house, where we spent one night with them. I think Elsa was wondering if we were going to leave her with them once again, as that was the routine, going back and forth between the grandparents. But we all got in the car Sunday after lunch and headed back "home."

"Home" was Matt and Stacey's house for another week, until the next Saturday evening, when they returned from their vacation. Elsa thoroughly enjoyed playing with all of Cameron and Zoe's toys -- especially all of the princess paraphernalia that we have deprived her of all of these years. She was dressing up in frilly dresses, playing with princess figures, cooking in the Cinderella kitchen, and hiding out in their closet reading area for hours on end.

From there, we headed the house of some other friends from church, where we currently reside and will remain until Monday. David and Rachael have been saints, putting up with our added chaos, considering they have two young boys of their own. We are so lucky to have all of these gracious friends.

On Monday we will likely move in with our good friends, David and Shelly, until the house is finally ready. We would probably go ahead and squat in the house until we close next Friday, but they are doing a lot of touch-up work over there and, thus, it is still very dusty and dirty.

We so hope that everything goes smoothly from here. I have scheduled the delivery of the PODs for this coming Friday, and movers for Saturday afternoon. We ordered a new mattress, which is also supposed to arrive Saturday morning, so we're hoping for a really good night's sleep Saturday night!

At this point, I am not even sure I remember what it is like to have a house of our own. I know many people have it so much worse than we do, and we truly have been so blessed with the graciousness of others. But I would not be honest if I did not say that we are fairly ready for our own space. So to say we are looking forward to moving into the new place is a serious understatement.

But for now we enjoy the company of friends, getting to know them even better, in ways you only get to know someone when you live among them. And for now we continue to be thankful.