going back

i need to go back in time. there are some events that have yet to be recorded and i have a moment, right now, in the computer/pantry/storage room to take a minute and remember. lets start back in august. august long weekend actually.

what started out as a potential preschool campout at miss diane's lake turned into something else completely. and however painful some of the experiences were that others walked through around this time, i am thankful for the opportunities it gave us as friends and community to draw closer together, to support and encourage one another, to love and be loved by others. this for me was a turning point in our friendships. to see how greatly they cared for one another, to see the thanks that could find no words yet was written across faces, these were the moments that solidified my love. i don't easily say that i love someone, i find it a word that is passed so often it lacks any meaning. i am not one to go there, unless i mean it. if i tell you i love, know that it is true. know that it is a process, grown and tried, it is not just a word to me, it is not something you say to one you merely like, it has power and substance. and so, i began to love these women, their hearts, characters, joys and hurts. it is something that i hope our girls will find in friends one day, friends who stand by, pick up the slack and encourage one another to live better than they are.

all in all, the weekend was not something that needed to happen the way we thought it would. it couldn't. in the meantime, those lovely neighbors of ours, the kellers, invited us to return to the cabin at shuswap with them. and so we did. there was every family member there, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, other friends...and we just slid in as if we were supposed to be there. we were even close to winning the beanbag competition...well sort of. the captain took the girls on tube rides, we slept in the tent, we swam in the lake, ate like kings and queens, played cribbage (i did fairly well if i do say so myself...matt rode my coat tails), and laughed pretty hard alongside some really wonderful people. it was a blessing to be apart of their family (again) for the weekend.

chelly, penelope and i behind the boat scott, sophie and matt our dear friends, crazy but dear before the weekend was over, we headed back to langley, packed up the van for one last camp out and made our way to miss diane's lake with the daveys. we had a fire, sat together telling stories until too late and then woke to beautiful sunshine. we spent the day at the lake, swimming, running, having slurpees (a first for the girls) and just enjoying each other. we read in the shade of the trees on a blanket, it couldn't get much more perfect. the boys headed back to work on a deck and we joined them shortly after to have dinner together. this people mean the world to me, their kindness is one to strive after.

back home, we tucked the girls into bed and gave much thanks for the blessings we have received in life. really, we couldn't ask for much more.