On Monday morning, October 8th, it was life as usual.  After a series of phone calls, Israel came into our bedroom and asked, “What do you think about all of us driving to California?”  After about 30 minutes of deliberation, I said, “Okay.”  It was the craziest, most impulsive decision of my life.  I immediately started the 2 loads of laundry, packed up our clothes and belongings, packed up Bentley’s things, made phone calls to cancel or reschedule appointments, asked Alanna to watch our cats every few days, gathered DVDs/CDs and toys to keep the boys occupied in the car, packed food and snacks, cleaned up the house, and prayed that we weren’t forgetting something important.  Within a few hours, we were saying good-bye to our cats and our home and we wouldn’t be back for 3 and a half weeks. 

It had been much too long since we were able to spend time with Israel’s family.  While my brain was shooting out a million reasons why this would be a ridiculous and even irresponsible decision, my heart was telling me to go…that it would be well worth it.  After all, there aren’t many things in life that are more important than family.  My heart was right.  It was such a wonderful trip.  God really blessed us.

I tend to be a doer, especially on vacations.  But this trip has taught me to appreciate just being, and finding value in just living out our lives together.  I will treasure all of the authentic conversations and hearing so many life stories and experiences.  It was a time of refreshing and happiness for us.   

Here is a slideshow that I pulled together from our trip.  It is especially dedicated to Israel’s mom who has been and continues to be the rock of this family.  Lala, we are so blessed to have such a beautiful, strong, and Christ-like woman in our lives.  Your 7 boys love and respect you so much and so do I!