While Dad's Away...

Randy left on January 2nd to lead a team from our church to Cambodia, and he wasn't home until the 14th. That's a looooong time for this mama of three! We missed him so much and were super thankful for how far technology has come and for how often we were able to talk to him. When he started making this trip in 2008, we were not able to talk very much, and when we were able to, it was expensive. Now we can face time anytime he is on wifi, which sometimes meant when he was in the van driving out to the village! Crazy! The girls looked forward to talking to him most mornings and evenings, and they commented all the time about how he was awake when we were asleep and how he was asleep when we were awake - like in China. :) I'm so thankful that they are already beginning to have a world view that includes other people and places, and that they are seeing their Daddy model how we are to love our neighbors - even those on the other side of the world. We have such sweet conversations with the girls surrounding Randy's trips: why he is going, who he is meeting where he goes, how things are different in other parts of the world, what all we have to be thankful for, and how we are required to be responsible with what we have been given. Big conversations for such little girls!

So we had a lot of time to fill just the four of us girls. We were so thankful that Mom came to spend a few days with us on the front end of the trip. She came the first three nights Randy was gone and she spoiled me! I was so thankful to have her help and her company, and none of us were happy to see her go!

Mom left on Sunday, Kendall had Monday off still, but then she started back to school on Tuesday. She was excited to go back after Christmas break, and couldn't wait to see her teacher. I'm so thankful for how she loves school! Definitely something we have prayed for! One day she asked me to come eat lunch with her, so while Cooper was at preschool on Thursday, Calli and I came and ate with her.

We played a lot in the afternoons with Sarah, Caleb, and Mary, and we had a couple of dinners with Kathy because Greg was on the trip, too. One night we went to her house, where the girls love playing, and then another night we met at Chick fil A. Great, fun ways to pass the time! Friday, I got a sitter for Cooper and Calli, and I got to go to Houston with Mary to see her sweet baby on sonogram. Such a fun day out with her! The girls had been asking to have a slumber party with me, so that night, I let them sleep in bed with me and we stayed up watching TV. They think that is so much fun and they looked forward to it all week.

Saturday, I wanted to plan something fun (Randy wasn't coming home until Tuesday), and I knew the weekend would feel long with only church planned for Sunday morning. So, I decided to use our zoo passes and take the girls to the zoo! I thought it might be a little crazy, but decided it would be nice to get out of the house, and the weather was supposed to be gorgeous, so we just went for it. I figured no one else would think to go to the zoo in January...I was wrong! It was more crowded than I've ever seen it! Other than the crowds, we had a great time. We got there about 12:30 and left at 4:30 after riding the train, and all of us were worn out. Kendall and Cooper were great and were big helpers...Calli was a little more difficult. She is still such a wanderer and would just take off, not caring if anyone was following her or not. I brought our wagon, but she was in and out of that all day, so we took our time walking through the zoo. I joked that I needed a leash for her! It was a fun day, though, and we all enjoyed riding the train before we went home.

 

Red panda from China! We actually saw these at the Panda World in Fuzhou, but they call them "lesser pandas" there, because they are smaller than the black and white pandas. The ones we saw were trained and put on a show for us. The girls were excited to see this Red Panda from China at the Houston zoo!

Sunday, I took the girls' picture before church because they were wearing some new dresses I bought them. I found a website with great clothing called the Tea Collection. Each season, they pattern their clothes after a particular country, and last season was China! So all of their China clothes were on sale, and I got each of the girls one dress. They look so cute all together!

Randy's flight got in Tuesday afternoon, and I got to go to the airport in Houston to pick him up! The girls were beyond excited to see him, and those hugs that he got when they first got to him were amazing! They love their Daddy and they missed him so much. When we got home, they asked if he would jump on the trampoline with them, and then they jumped around him saying, "Daddy is here! Daddy is here!" So sweet.

 

 

We're ALL so glad he is home! Another big thing happened while he was gone...Calli started school! More on that to come!