So much to say, So little time...

Usually when I take a break from blog world it's because I can't think of anything to say. This week it has been the complete opposite! Too much to say... Every time I sit down to blog, I don't know where to start and have to get up and go again.. Today has been a bit slower paced.

I've said before I love the lazy days of summer but am not to fond of the heat... I think I need to move to Canada. Do they have heat index of 106 in Canada? Actually it is a bit cloudy today and a little less furnace-like.

Kolby has completed three days of Camp Success and loves it. She is very proud to be a Baylor student telling a new little friend who asked where she goes to school "Right now I go to Baylor but normally I just go to Spring Valley." That girl! She always makes me smile... In between the times she makes me see red and want to pull my hair out! :) I have had many a weepy mommy moment in the past few weeks realizing how much my baby girl has grown up. I would swear she was just learning to walk yesterday...Where does the time go?

As far as the Rhett report goes.. He is happy as a clam! He loves Mothers Day Out, swimming, movies and all the time he gets to spend with his big sister. He is also acting so big lately! Today he called me from my Moms house on the phone by himself. He talked for a minute before I realized it was Rhett not Kolby! They sound just alike on the phone but I clued in when he asked me to bring his trains over. Rhett currently has a black eye. We have no idea how/when he got it. He is such a rough and tumble little guy that it could have happened a dozen different ways! This summer Rhett has fallen in love with traveling! We will take our fourth trip in four weeks this weekend... That is more than we usually average in six months!

Last weekend we went to our big Fort Worth reunion. Saturday night we ate with 6 other families who we met at church when we first moved to Fort Worth. These people became the core of our Fort Worth friends. When we met, our group consisted of 7 couples, a 3 year old, and a new born. Now our group has grown to 7 couples and 18 children- 17 of those are 8 or under! Though some of us had not been together in three years, there were no awkward moments or strange silences. We all just picked up where we left off. It is truly a blessing to have friends like that! Below is a picture of most of the kids (4 are missing).

As I sat there with my best Fort Worth friends I felt like I was home. These ladies and I became mommies together. We were young married career girls when we met. In less than a year we were all stay home Moms. (OK, one friend had a 3 year old when we met but she worked full time. When we were having our first babies, she had her second and stayed home from then on.) Our husbands became daddies and the sole bread winners of our households at the same time. Our kids played together in their cribs and were each others first little friends. I get all teary-eyed just thinking about it.

We weathered pregnancy, playgroups, baby showers, Gymboree sales, photo ops, bunco, BIRTHDAY PARTIES, carnivals, church splits, miscarriages, second babies, and Bible Studies together. When we celebrated, when we mourned, or when life was just ho-hum normal, these friends were there. Our families did guy's nights, date nights, girls nights and family outings together. Four of our families had no family in the Fort Worth area so we were all like a family to each other. It was a very special time in our lives.

I don't think I will ever have another group of friends like that again. Not to say that I don't have great friends now because I do and the circle widens every year we live here. It's just that the Fort Worth group formed at such a formative time in my marriage, my adulthood, my parenthood and in my spiritual walk. I think of Fort Worth as my own private Bethlehem, the place my family was born. We were so blessed to have such a great group of Christian friends at that very unique time in our lives.

And even though we don't live down the road, or get together like we once did, these friends continue to be so important to me. We e-mail and call each other. We pray for each other and marvel at how fast our kids are growing. If I have a deep deep concern I know I can pick up the phone and call one of these friends and they will listen and be there. We keep up with each other through each other. I have no doubt that we will always be connected because of all that we shared and continue to share... Not just in life experience but through Christ. Godly friends. What a blessing!

Lord, Thank you for bringing friends in to my life and planting them firmly in my heart. Thank you for the example and encouragement they are to me. I pray our children will be friends and have the type of friendships we share. May we bring each other closer to you as the years bring us closer to each other! And thank you for all my old and new blog friends. What a blessing they are to me as well! It is so exciting and comforting to think that someday we will all be at home with you!

That's all the time I have for now. Starting tomorrow I'll be out of town again for a few days.. Have a great weekend blog world!