Helloooooooo, DIStown!!! So sorry that we had to take a few days away from the hubbub of activity in town, but we had some hubbub of our own we had to take care of. Jill gave us a huge scare, but things are looking much better now. She still has a slow path to travel for several weeks, and she has to watch for any sign of infection or a setback of any kind. She was a very sick girl, and we are glad that she made it through this traumatic event and is doing well. The first thing she started talking about when she came back to life was our Disney trip. Well, it was second to family, of course.....
I appreciate all of the texts, calls, and FB messages from so many of you throughout those days. It did me good to know that people all over the world were thinking of and praying for my little girl. Things certainly took a different turn than I thought they would. I went to Alabama to take care of Jill and the girls while she took care of her baby. The way things went, I ended up taking care of the girls and a baby, and I had to put Jill's care in the hands of strangers. I had faith that God had it all in His plan, but I will admit to some human fears and human tears a couple of times.
I will always treasure those first days with Sophie. I talked to her a lot in the middle of the night. I cherish the days I was able to see sweet Bella toddle down the hallway in the early morning hours and climb in my lap. I loved conversing with Brooklynn about her school day and listening to her very well thought out ideas on things. She is getting to be such a big girl - a little person, not a baby by any means. BUT, as much as I loved all of those things, my heart ached for their Mommy to be home with them. I remember distinctly praying (in the wee hours of a morning while I was changing a diaper) that Sophie's cord would not fall off until her Mommy was there to make that discovery. I prayed that Brooklynn and Bella would not overhear conversation at school from the teachers or phone calls at home that would frighten them in any way. I recall with tears handing Sophie to Jill in the ICU bed when awesome Nurse Gloria snuck the girls in. If you guys could see the pictures I took, you would probably weep like Jill did. Yet, being the incredible Mom that she is, she sucked in the tears as fast as she could and made things as light and normal as they could possibly be for two little girls and a baby in an ICU room. My heart ached for her and exploded with pride all at the same time. I love that girl so much!
I have now had the opportunity of seeing all three of my children in serious situations like this. Not sure what the chances are of that, and as much as it hurt to see it all unfold each time, I think it has also been a blessing. It has made me even more appreciative of each of them, and if I think I loved them before - more than any Mom has ever loved any kid, as it is supposed to be - I am sure I came out loving them even more. Impossible, yet true.
We
all thank you from the very bottom of our hearts for all that you meant to us last week.
Now, let's get back to Disney things, which is why and how we all met each other!
I think we last left you when we were threatening to sneak into Le Cellier as the Anderson party.
We decided to meet them over there and not really follow through with that.
I had to take this picture of the backside of John with the ponchos stuffed into his pockets.
Such a pretty place!
This may be Anita chastising us for trying to steal her seats in The Cellar.

Baylor thought it was kinda funny. Jen was probably very afraid she was not going to get her lunch!
This is Marc in his beekeeper hat, and Jill looks like she's about to spit something out.

No idea what she was doing, but she sure looks GREAT to me in that picture right now.
We left our pals and went into France,
where we had just missed the entertainment.
Passing Morocco
and Japan
and on to America.
What will you order?