Late summer visits from Texan friends

We've had some special visitors in the last month or so! We have a few friends, in particular, who we have kept up with from our days of living in Texas (2014-2018). Because it is such a great distance between Indiana and Texas, it always feels extra special to see any of our Texan friends.

First, my friend Rachael came to visit! We used to work together at the hospital, and we've kept up with a book club (a few years back), texts, a little in-person time together when her and her husband hosted us for dinner on our Texas trip, and Marcos (via the Marco Polo app) when we can. But nothing compares to time together, face-to-face.

Her flight arrived midday on a Friday, and since it was lunchtime, we (along with Finn) opted to get lunch in the city, at a sourdough bakery. Then, we drove back to our house. Cooper gave Rachael his official house tour (he is our best tour guide), before we had chicken wild rice soup and sourdough bread for dinner.

On Saturday, we all headed to the beach. It was a beautiful morning, and the boys played in the sand and rocks and water, we all hiked up a sand dune, and we ate sourdough bagel sandwiches on the beach. After a little time at home, Rachael and the boys and I headed to our downtown for coffee and a visit to a local bakery. And for dinner, we had hamburgers on sourdough buns. That evening, it was particularly cool, and after the kids were asleep, Rachael and I sat outside on the deck, sweatshirts on, tea in hand, and had a chance to catch up even more. We parted ways the next morning, as she flew home to her beautiful family.

She brought a beautiful little book set as a gift for the new baby, and Cooper and Finn are very attached to it as well–we have spent a lot of time looking through all the little books in the collection, it's so sweet. I am so thankful for friendships that stand the test of time and the busyness of parenting young children in this life stage. Friends who are consistently encouraging and quick to pray when I need it. Friends who will check back in about prayer requests. Friends like Rachael! Thank you for the sweet gift, for flying all the way up North to us, and for your faithful friendship. We love you, Rachael.

And then a few weeks ago, our friend Andrew came to visit! He's visited us in December the past few years, but since we will likely be rather occupied with a new family member come December, he bumped his visit up to September.

We spent several days together, doing lots of little local things. We went for a hike and (of course) saw the model trains at our local arboretum. Cooper hiked the whole way, and Finn fell asleep in Nicholas' arms. We ate sourdough chicken pot pie and homemade raw milk ice cream. Nicholas and Andrew chopped firewood, while Cooper regularly checked on a toad he was convinced was stuck in a hole in the yard (the toad did come out and an overjoyed Cooper did hold him for awhile).

On Saturday, Cooper was signed up a for a kid's race for a local festival, an event that he annually looks forward to for months in advance. This particular morning, it was pouring rain and rather chilly, but we headed downtown for his race. Cooper held my latte to warm up his hands before the race, and then he had so much fun running his race. We headed back to our house to warm up and dry off after that, and spent most of the day working on a puzzle together, before hosting some family for dinner (burgers on the grill).

Sunday was a rather low-key day, I believe. We went to church in the morning, and then spent most of the day at home, playing Legos and relaxing. And on Monday, Andrew's last full day, we went to a local apple orchard. It was just the beginning of apple picking season, but honeycrisp apples were ripe, so we picked half a bushel of those and (of course) got some donuts while we were there.

What a fun visit! We are so glad that you could come, Andrew.

I am so thankful the gift of time spent together in person, and for friends (local and long-distance). Thank you both for coming to visit our little family!