My time away...

This is where I stayed while in Iowa. It is the home of friends of my parents. We also stayed here when my brother, David, got married several years ago. It is quite nice!! :)

We had a family get together at the hotel where the wedding party stayed. Yeah, Krystal and Ryan!!

Krystal was married in a large church facility. The wedding was in the chapel- shown here- and the reception was in the larger sanctuary.

Ange and her girls ready for the wedding...

I snuck in a picture while the photographer was setting up a pose. They chose a great location for wedding photos!

Minutes before the wedding began...what a beautiful bride!!

The wedding...

Katelyn...isn't she beautiful!!

The father/daughter dance. :) My dad's tuxedo coat is lying on the ground behind him!!

My brother Daniel, wife Cynthia, and baby Jack the morning we all flew home.

It is Tuesday, and I am still adjusting to being home...recuperating physically, mentally trying to figure out when to jump back into school, dealing with a house that was clean when I got home but somehow isn't quite as picked up as it was Sunday night. I am tired, but so glad to be home. No regrets that my time away is over. It was a very good time- peaceful, when I expected hectic. It was so special to be there for Krystal, so special to see my younger sister married and starting out on this journey of marriage. It was nice to see my siblings and some friends from the past. All in all, a great time...but I am glad to be home!

Where do I begin?

3 months. It has been that long since I blogged. I didn't recognize my blog...and couldn't have told you what I last blogged about. Rather than trying to catch you up on my life...I will just let you in on what fills my mind tonight.
Delton is outside with the boys. A sanity move, he called it, as the smallness of the house and the largeness of their energy collided after supper. I hear shrieks and running.
Tomorrow morning, early, I am leaving for 4 days. My sister is getting married on Saturday, and I am flying out to Iowa to be there for the excitement. Just me, for four days. And for Delton, just he and the 3 boys. For 4 days.
My older sister and her two oldest children are flying with me. We leave from Baltimore at 9:45 a.m.,  arriving in Moline, IL by way of Detroit around 12:40 p.m. I get motion sickness, especially when I am pregnant. This makes take offs and landings quite miserable, especially for those sitting around me. Sigh. I just hope there are enough doggy bags in the near vicinity. :)
Bachelorette party (dinner and country line dancing), church set up, family get together, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding....I don't know that this will be a truly relaxing time, but it will be a good time. I don't know quite what it will be like to just have myself to get ready, keep track of, put to bed...what is that like? I think it will be good for me to figure it out...to have a chance to take care of me, especially this close to the end of my pregnancy (I am 32 weeks along---my doctor cleared my to fly!).
I bless Delton for his joy and grace in keeping the boys and sending me. I think he is relieved. The thought of 4 days of driving, then chasing three boys while his exhausted wife recuperates and takes party in wedding events...he said he figured he might as well chase the boys at home! My brother in law had the same thought...he is staying home with his two young boys as well!
My pregnancy, the soon arrival of our little girl, is on my mind. She kicks, and I am delighted. I walk into Colson's room and I marvel at the pink ottoman, the pink clothes in the closet, the pink blankets, that make it her room, and mean that Colson will be moving out sometime soon.

So, that is on my mind. Leaving for a little, and a coming that is forever. I feel blessed.