 |
| Convincing Kayla that brothers aren't all bad; they didn't know if they were having a boy or girl |
Slowly but surely I will get all this recorded! After staying with the Cotters, we hit the road Sunday morning in time to get to our church in Toledo, OH. Actually, we were a couple minutes late, but hey, I think we did pretty good. On the way from Columbus, Milo talked about seeing Miss Jackie and Kayla, and then totally fixated on our friends' kids Isaac and Eddie: were they going to be in Sunday School, was he going to get to play with them, were we going to there house?!? Yes, Eddie was in Sunday School, though he didn't get to go to their house.
After church, we mingled and saw so many missed friends, too many to mention for sure, but Jude and Milo both kinda melted down, Jude was tired, Milo had a nasty run-in with a dollhouse in Sunday School and had a pretty good scrape up his leg, so with the beloved assistance of Miss Sarah and Miss Miriam, we made it to our car and headed to Miss Jackie and Kayla's house.
 |
| Thank you Bryan!! |
As some of you may remember, I referenced Jackie in an earlier post about the art of "dating" a new friend. And she's a winner. Now one of my closest friends, we shared in each other's lives at a crucial point after randomly meeting at a toddler library time. She was exactly what I needed and I hope I gave to her in a similar way. And Kayla and Milo are months apart, and now Jude and Claire are also months apart. Can we say double arranged marriages? ;) Milo and Jude took short rests while Jackie and I caught up, and her sweet husband Bryan fixed us an amazing roasted chicken dinner from his British roots complete with Yorkshire pudding! Yum! At the time, Jackie was very pregnant with Claire, and it was so fun to share once again with this new stage in life, me with Jude and her preparing for Claire.
Sunday evening, Mike and I's small group from church got together a potluck dinner and spoiled me and the boys with attention, great food, and lots of love. Mike and I both miss this great group of people, and though we only spent a few precious months with them, we feel like they are family. Amazing what busting into the Word will do for deepening relationships quickly and effectively.
 |
| Singing with Brother Hammond at Arts Camp |
And from that night on, we spent our sleeping hours, and quite a few waking hours too, with the Trumbull family. My sweet friend and mentor Sue, the children's minister at our church, sort of took me under her wing while I was there, and I am forever grateful for her attention and friendship. Sue opened doors for ministry options for me while I was there, but most importantly to me, just spoke kind, wise words into my life. And Sue's family, her amazing husband Mike, and her quality 4 kids, made my visit to Toledo unforgettable! Together, along with countless other souls, worked our little tails off at Sue's brainchild, Arts Camp, where our church partnered with the intercity Toledo Y to teach and expose kids to all kinds of great forms of art; this year they had the incredible opportunity to see an actual potter throw pots, try their hands at painting, drawing, singing, general creating, pottery, drumming, all while hearing the Gospel at every turn. Ask me some time to expand and tell you more, but for now, I want to tell you about the Trumbulls in all this.
 |
| A drum corp came in and taught the kids and brought enough drum sets for everyone to actually play, even the leaders :) |
Sue is the head honcho: she does it all, sees it all, and hilariously, needs to know about all (try surprising her for her birthday Tuesday that week, but nosey leader that she is... :) Mike, in and amongst working full-time, did a little bit of everything, but was a huge part in allowing me to be part of this whole thing. Sue let me be a "leader" meaning I was ultimately in charge of a group of 10-15 kids, sometimes more, sometimes less. Oh yeah, and I had 12 wk old Jude with me, nursing, bjorned and sometimes napping, sometimes in the nursery, but mostly with me. So Mike and also her amazingly mature and fantastic daughter Jessica were with me, leading these kids, bonding with them, keeping them in line, but also making sure they were having an incredible time. Her oldest son Daniel was also a leader in another group, Andrew came up with projects for and taught painting everyday to all of the approximately 100 kids there, and Nathan also helped lead groups. Her whole family was there from start to finish every day, and then went home to laugh and tell stories. Tuesday night, Sue's birthday, we ended up staying up until well past midnight, opening gifts, them telling hilarious family stories, and cutting out these amazingly intricate shoes for kids to use in a painting project in Andrew's classes the next day. Ridiculous side note: all of Sue's kids are incredible with children, but the two oldest boys have this thing with babies and were just lovin' on Jude. That Tuesday night, Daniel rocked Jude to sleep, and then just sat holding him in his lap for about 2 hours while we all chatted; Jude slept until 5am the next morning, thank you Daniel-voodoo! There's nothing like staying with a family to really see them for what they are, and I'm only sorry that it took us moving halfway across the country for me to know all of them like that. I miss the whole family and hope any of them come see us sometime.
 |
| Kendra's daughter Layla sharing her beloved giraffe with Jude |
Where was Milo in all this, you ask? He stayed in Toledo Sunday and Monday, then Monday night, Sue and I and the boys (the only time during the week Sue and I could actually get real face-time) drove down into IN and met up with my dad. Heather, Dad, and Mom rotated Milo patrol and working so that he wouldn't have so many long days and nights at church. Considering all he went through in the weeks to come, I think this was good; he got some QT with the 3 of them, and I didn't feel so guilty.
While in Toledo, when not at Arts Camp, I also got to catch up with my gardening guru friend Alison, my dear kindred spirit Kendra from church, and Eddie and Isaac and their parents Blythe and Pete. I miss all of these friends more than I ever anticipated when we moved to Toledo. Who knew I would make such strong bonds in such a short time. I love all these people, and as with the Trumbulls, only hope and pray that they might find their ways to our area of the country so we might love on them as they have loved on us.
Thursday was a tough day for Jude at Arts Camp, and though we had planned to stay for dinner and the closing program that night, we hit the road earlier to head to IN. After getting there and getting the boys to bed, went through and repacked and shuffled everything in our car so Dad could leave in my car at about 4am on Friday to drive it to the Des Moines Airport. At about 7am Friday morning, Heather drove Mom and me with Milo and Jude to the Indy Airport to fly to Seattle, WA to hook up with the Cudas for a couple of days. But that's the next part of this adventure!
