The very next morning, after we had left Jonathan at Ft. Lee, we took Rachel to the Richmond airport so she could fly home. She had previous commitments and chose to fly back home rather than continue the road trip all the way back.............imagine that! Poor Isaac and Joshua were getting very concerned; we seemed to be dropping siblings off at just about every stop!
In the adoption community, friendships develop all over the country, whether you have actually met a family or not. Cheri and I met in China back in 2010 when we were there for Isaac's adoption. We stayed at the same hotel in Guangzhou and we seemed to run in to each other every morning for breakfast. Ivy, who was seven at the time, was their third Chinese adoption. We had much in common: three children by birth and three by adoption, being a Christian homeschooling family, and older sons who were interested in the military. So we have kept up with each other's blogs and it's been fun to see Ivy blossom in their family. Soooooooooo, when Cheri found out we would be in Virginia for Jonathan, she invited us to come by! Fortunately their home was on the way as we headed down south to see Courtney in Huntsville again. I told her we might only be able to stay for an hour just to stretch our legs..................but we had such a great time visiting that we stayed much longer!
David and their son, Jack, had fun playing basketball and then setting fire to a brush pile! Two fourteen year old boys with a blow torch - what could be more fun?
Ivy, now ten, took charge of our little boys and they had a great time with her, Joy and Eva. What beautiful and sweet girls!
After all the driving we had done at this point, it was really great for everyone to get out and run around a little and burn off some energy.
What special little treasures we have in our families!
Bad picture, I know, but we were so busy talking and my camera battery was near death so this was the best I could do in trying to get Joe and Mike in the picture!
Yes, our "one-hour maximum" visit turned into three hours. Thanks so much Cheri and Mike for having us! It was wonderful to meet the rest of your family in person and our visit gave us a much needed break in a beautiful part of the country!
Next stop, Huntsville, Alabama, again...........to see Courtney!
Aw! Your phone took great pictures! I hadn't realized you took all of them. Thanks for sharing those sweet words.
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