Crystal Lake Memories

I have wanted to "post as I go" during this long journey I am on, and now I am finally finding some time. I spent 10 wonderful days in Crystal Lake, Illinois with Jason, Nikki, REbekah (her new preferred name), and James.

A Few Memories with Rebekah (6)

• Graciously, she shared her room with me - giving me the bed while she was on a mattress on the floor. I loved waking up with her close by.
• One morning we studied the Book of Mormon together and I was reminded what a spiritual girl she is.
• Playing school together. On the white board, we wrote about things we like to do, lists of words that she would then underline the vowels, a word game, etc.
• We put on a puppet show - Cinderella, of course.
• Playing Barbies with her cool Barbie house.
• Pushing her on the swing outside.
• Playing together at Chuck E Cheese.
• Learning about clouds from an expert 6 year old.
• Our day together shopping.

A Few Memories with James (1)

• Watching him get the walking thing down more and more.
• Singing songs to him at bedtime - the ones I used to sing to his mother.
• His laugh. His smile. His charm.
• Feeling sad knowing how much he will change before I see him next.

A Few Working Memories

Nikki and Jason have taken a broken house and made it into a wonderful home. With some of the remodeling projects about done, it was time to get organized. First came the kitchen, part of the basement, a closet, and finally the master bedroom. That last one Nikki and I treated like an HGTV show with a deadline of 10:00 PM when Jason would get home. I added the final touches as she left to pick him up at the train station. Along the way came times for good talks and lots of laughs.

Thanks everyone for letting me come and be a part of your lives!