Friends...

Wednesday we had the privilege of meeting our good friend Jamie Steele and her two kids in Cedar Falls. Jamie and her husband Micah were in town (they live in Dubuque) for business and when Jamie called I jumped at the chance to get away for some girl time. We came to their hotel on Wednesday night and ate dinner (see the photo of the kids having a picnic on the hotel floor) and then swam until Kezzie needed to go to bed. I then headed over to my parents' for the night since Jamie and I wanted to get together the next morning also. Austin had school obviously so he wasn't able to come with me. Adah just slept while we were at the pool, as you can see in the photo. Keziah had a blast with Naomi and Isaiah. I thought it would take her a while to warm up on Wednesday night but she just wanted right in the water. Before I knew it she was jumping to me from the side and before we left she was begging me not to put my arms out to catch her (which I refused to do). She knows how to hold her breath, she just does it at the wrong time. When we went back in the morning we swam until the kids looked like they had enough. By the time Kezzie was ready to get out she had learned how to keep her body straight and let the life jacket do its job. I got to a point where I didn't feel like I always had to have a hand on her. She kept yelling 'I'm foating. Look I'm foating.' It was adorable to see her excitement. After swimming, we just hung out in the hotel room and the kids had a snack and vegged out on the bed watching cartoons. Jamie and I had great conversation. Even though it had been 2 years since I last saw her, it was like we had just seen each other the day before. She is such a blessing in my life...I just hope it isn't another two years before I get to see her again! Thanks for the mini retreat, Jamie!