Shamblin Attack!

Story time before bed

Brushing Teeth

At the Children's Museum

The boys, being boys, at the park

Macie giving it a try too

In the sandbox

Who, us? No, we are totally innocent.

Party Hard or don't party at all...
So, we party'd HARD!

Callie, Heath and their three adorable kids came to stay with us. Yes, you heard me right. We put four adults and five kids ages 3 and under into my three bedroom house for 6 days. Jewel was in the room with Jordan and I. Brodie, Callie's 6 month old little boy was in the room with she and Heath. Which left Silas (2.5), Colby (3), and Macie (18 months) all to share Silas' room. We didn't waste a moment of night or day enjoying one anothers' company!

The parents laughed as we listened to the kids over the monitor. First the whispers, then the giggles, then someone is jumping, finally they are in each others beds and not even trying to be quite or sneaky about it. When did Callie and I move from the whisperers to the patrol team? Was it not just a short time ago that we shared late night talks? I can't decide which is more fun, to be the sneaky kids, squeezing every last moment out of the day with the cousins, or the parents who smile as our own kids develop those special relationships through these priceless moments.

Once the kids were in bed, finally the adults (I use this term loosely when referring to Heath and Jordan) could play. I don't think we went to bed before 1 am any of the nights they were here. Between the Wii tournaments and providing a "girls night out" and a "guys night out" we just couldn't get enough! Not to mention Callie and I getting up in the night to feed babies (really in the SUPER early morning) and Jordan having to work at 6 am several days, plus the older kids being up and raring to go by 7:30. By the end of the week, every last one of us was completely wiped out.

How can it be that I was so physically depleted, but so emotionally charged? Even with all the commotion, insane meal times with rowdy kids, toys from one end of the house to the other and back, and Silas wetting his bed pretty much every nap and bed time while they were here, I finished out the week on a total mountain top.

That is what Callie can do for me. The Holy Spirit inside of her is so filling to me. Just being in the same room as her makes me smile. My conversations with her range from side splitting laughter, to quiet thinking, and tears of cleansing. She reflects Jesus to me in a way that no one else does. It's not that she's "better" at being a Christian, just that she is always so fully genuine. I admire her strength and boldness that is wrapped up in unconditional love and overflowing joy. When we went to college together for a couple years in Tennessee, God really developed our relationship. One of my fondest memories of that time was sharing our needs together, praying together, and watching God work together. When we would share our God stories, we would rejoice together saying "Go, God, Go!" When ever God brings Callie and I together for a visit, I find myself delightfully chanting "Go, God, Go!"