Missy & Becky teaching Ellie a Palm Sunday song

3 Birthday Celebrations and a New Family Member

Tomorrow, it'll be a week since I returned from my trip to Pace, FL (outside of Pensacola) where Paul, Missy and their girls live. I had driven to Indianapolis and then flew to Pensacola by way of Atlanta the previous Tuesday. Ellie's 3rd birthday was a couple of days (3/31) before and Aimee's 1st birthday was on April 4th while I was there. It was so fun to spend a week with the von Herrmanns, experiencing their routine, seeing their new house, meeting their new cat, Piper and just spending time with them.



Becky drove to ATL from Augusta and then flew to Pensacola the day before Aimee's birthday, so she got to be there for Ellie & Aimee's joint birthday party.





Becky's birthday was April 8th, so we also celebrated "the National Holiday" a couple of days early.



Ellie & Aimee are so adorable & precious. Of course a Grandma would say that! It was so nice to be able to be with them in person for the better part of a week. I get to see them on Skype, which really helps, but nothing beats the personal touch. Paul & Missy are such good parents and have a nice house and good church. It was a blessing to be able to experience it all. I was wishing Rick could've been there. I hope we can get back during the summer.



It was special that I got to be with Becky on Palm Sunday. Becky is our Palm Sunday girl, because we have memories of her at age 3 or so in our background in Lake Worth, FL, waving a palm branch and saying "Honanna, honanna!" We got to tell Ellie about the meaning of Palm Sunday and teach her a song about it.





As such trips go, time flew by much too quickly. Becky & I flew to ATL on separate flights and had lunch together before she drove home & I flew on to Indy. I'm thankful for the opportunity to go and for the Lord's protection.



3 days later, Rick & I traveled to Michigan to look at a dog that had been rescued from a pound & fostered by a Boston Terrier rescue group. His name was Danny Devito and he's a year old. He's a sweet dog and we adopted him that day! Rick likes the name Mr. Bean, since he's lanky and has buggy eyes. I think Danny fits him (minus the Devito), so I guess he's Mr. Danny Bean. It's nice having a dog again after losing 14 year old Kayla 6 months ago. Rick had said at the time that we didn't need any more dogs, but we missed the companionship that they bring. Love takes work, but it's worth it!