Over President's Day Ramin and Isaiah had a guys weekend in Colorado while I went to Oxford, OH (the home of our alma mater, Miami University) to spend time with nine of my dear friends from college. We were graciously invited to stay in the home of Win and Nancy Clark (Win was the pastor of a church most of us attended in college and they are the in laws of my best friend, Erin who was also on the trip). It was so nice to be in a home during that time and not stuffed into a hotel room. We spent most of our time talking and catching up, but we did make it out for a walk around campus, a couple of stops at our favorite bagel place in town and to UDF for ice cream. My favorite part of the weekend, besides cracking up, was our time on Sunday night when we each talked about what's going on in our lives and prayed for each other. It was truly remarkable to feel that deeply connected after almost 8 years of living apart.
Here's a snap shot of a few of my friends who were there. They are, from the left: Kari, Kristin, Katie and Kate.
This is a picture of another one of my joys of the weekend. I flew into Indianapolis and was able to spend the night and the first part of the next morning with Erin, her husband Brian and their little man, Brett. He is nearly two and is such a precious boy. He was showing me his dinosaur. How cute is he?!
I got a lot done while I was in the midwest! I also got to spend most of the day Monday with my parents, my sister, and brother (I forgot to take a picture when we were all together, so Jordan got left out...sorry brother!). We had a nice lunch together and just enjoyed being in the same space for a few hours. It's always so good to be with them.
And, last but not least, it's impossible for me to post a blog without including a current picture of my favorite little man. This particular day he couldn't get enough of pulling around a circus train that his great Aunt Bruni got for him. The smile is an authentic outpouring of how pleased he was with his life at that moment. This was taken a couple of days after his 18 month appointment where we learned that he had crossed the threshold and made it to 20 lbs! He is so overjoyed to be facing the front in his car seat. There's much more to talk about when it comes to this 30 inch toddler, but I'll save some for another day.