Saturday morning I woke up with a happy smile. ?Even though I had gone to bed at 1am and now the kids were up at 6am requesting tv privileges, it was okay. ?Because there were Habels in my house!
Can I just tell you how exciting and surreal it was to have their family of 7 walk through my front door the night before? ?Strange, because here we are in a new state. ?But at the same time it felt so familiar and homey, as if we had just taken a little trip and nothing had really changed.
That's what friendship feels like, right?
Well, we were just over the moon excited for their short visit. ?We were lucky enough to be their pit-stop on their way to Thanksgiving with family in St. George, Utah.
Saturday morning - the girls room. ?Josie was a little afraid of the dark so they slept with the lamp on all night.
The boys found something to watch -- Home Alone 3
We cooked breakfast: ?cinnamon rolls, pumpkin muffins, sausage, eggs, hot chocolate, orange juice
Everyone got dressed.
The kids ran around playing.
Jenn and I chatted in my bathroom while applying make-up and fixing our hair.
And I just kept pinching myself.
We took them on a walk to see the neighborhood and the kids' school. ?The weather was absolutely amazing and we basked in the sunshine and pleasant temperatures. ?At this time of year good weather & sunshine is non-existent in Oregon. ?I think I even heard Calvin ask Mark & Jenn if they could please move here. ?:)
Then 1 or 2 or 7 kids convinced the dads to take them through the tunnel under the road. ?Twice.
No trolls!
Yep, Payton is still wearing sunglasses.
Nerf battles were the main attraction for the kids. ?I wish I had a better photo, because the kids went nuts. ?They battled all morning and all morning (11pm - 1am) long.
I happened upon Belle and Anna playing Headbandz, just the two of them . . . it was so cute.
Meanwhile the dads were doing this
One thing that made me just so heart-happy, almost more than getting to see and hangout with Jenn, was watching my kids play with their friends. ?The kind of play where everyone gets along, they "get" each other, they can come up with crazy ideas and everyone follows along, running around the house, getting toys out, without any parental worry, lots of laughter and acceptance . . . . just plain kid fun with good kids. ?It's been a long time since they have had that. ?A long time. ?It opened my eyes to just how lucky we were to have a group of families that could get together, the kids could run wild, and everyone would have a good time. ?It's hard to find matches like that.
?
I just can't describe how good it felt to have friends in our home! ?People who know us, and know our kids. ?We became friends before Payton, Calvin, Belle, Anna, and Josie were even born.
Strangely enough, their visit made me feel a little more settled. ?And at home. ?The house doesn't feel so foreign because people we care about have slept, ate, laughed, and visited within these walls.
In a way it was like we were able to transplant those years of memories and connections into our home. ?And learn that they can live and flow between two places - Oregon and Nevada - and it will all be okay.
Like the way the dad's groan & moan when we whip out our cameras.
Or when I get teased about my love of Twilight.
Or hearing stories about Calvin's love of buses
Or watching Conner & Josie's cute, playful connection
It is still hard knowing that our friends are so far away, but I'm assured that we will find ways like this to gather here and there over the years.
Thank you thank you Mark, Jenn, Alyna, Caleb, Calvin, Belle, & Josie for visiting us!!
P.S. ? Calvin forgot his coat. ?Don't worry, though. ?I'll bring it with me when I come visit in just a couple weeks! ?
P.P.S. ? Thank you for the Burgerville spread!
Source: http://shannonbrown.typepad.com/life_in_general/2012/11/party-of-12.html
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