Last week I got the kindest message from my dear friend Tamara about an image that I’d posted a few weeks ago of Maggie and Audrey playing on the ground with my dad and Grandpa. Her message, which made me feel very lucky and blessed, was very insightful. Here’s my favorite sentence:
Your children are so blessed to have both grandpa and great grandpa prioritizing them by being on the floor and not while the tv is on. Clearly children are valued and loved in your family.
And it is so true. My children truly are so blessed to have a family that adores them so much and shows it by spending time with them. My girls have such a wide-reaching circle of family members, and close friends that are really like family, that take interest in their lives and show respect. When I sat down tonight to pour over our pictures from a trip to Harrison Hot Springs a few weeks ago, Tamara’s words rang in my ears as I scrolled though picture after picture of the girls with Barry, my parents and my brother. In almost every single picture the girls are beaming, or the person with them is beaming – and not at the camera – at each other.
I always tell Barry that time is more valuable to me than any gift he could ever buy me. I’d rather go on a vacation than have a house full of nick-nacks that I’d hate dusting. (Ummm…, Barry, if you’re reading this, feel free to continue down the road of sentimental jewelry, however.) When the idea came up again to go to Harrison Hot Springs with my parents, after having such a nice time in the Spring, we jumped at the chance.
Last time Audrey fell asleep in the pool and this time she was getting tossed in the air. Maggie got a little one-on-one tea time with Izak last time, this time they drew pictures by the fire in the cabin together. Last time Barry and I took a short walk together for a ‘date’ and this time we dressed up fancy and ate at the resturanty. We learned we don’t need fancy meals together, but it was nice to snuggle close and chat. My dad passed a trinket store and came back excited to take Maggie shopping there, and I had to clean out my ears to make sure I’d heard him right….my dad is NOT the shopping type, especially at a trinket store. Sure enough they went shopping and guess what Maggie picked out? A bookmark because the one we had at home got bent. I love that girl of mine.
I’ve daydreamed about having everybody that we love and adore come with us and rent their own cabin next time we go, and looking at these pictures I can’t help but think about celebrating Maggie Mae’s birthday there next year. This is how memories are made…so get your passports ready, people!!
