Trip to Virginia

August 20, 2013

Trip to Virginia

Last year, Jack got a call from the Eagle Eyrie Conference Center in Lynchburg, Virginia asking him to be the speaker at their MC2 Mission Camp in July. We were excited about the opportunity for Jack to speak, but also to get to spend some time with friends from the church I grew up in- Warrenton Baptist Church- as they were attending the camp!

Then as the week in July approached, we decided to go up to Virginia and West Virginia the weekend before the camp to visit family and friends we haven't seen for several years. We thought since we were already going to be in the state we should make the most of it.

We started by visiting my Aunt Connie at her new house in Harrisonburg. We had a great evening together. After dinner she took us to the coolest playground I've ever been to! The kids had a blast and we really enjoyed getting to see Aunt Connie's new house and spend some time with her.

Aunt Connie with the kids

Saturday morning after breakfast we drove to West Virginia to spend time with my Mom's side of the family. It's been several years since I've seen most of these Aunts and Uncles. We had a wonderful lunch together. The boys really enjoyed playing outside with their cousin Josh and Eden has fun playing with Ellie, who is 1 month older. I got to eat some of Aunt Donna's amazing chocolate chip cookies, which was a great bonus! And Aunt Diane made goodie bags for all of the kids to have in the car and at the camp. We really had a great time.

The boys playing

The boys with Aunt Tania

Caleb and Josh

My mom and her sisters

Eden and Ellie

My Mom with her brothers and sisters

Eden and I with my Aunt Nikki and Ellie

After lunch we left West Virginia to go to Warrenton to spend the evening with my second mom and my mom's best friend, Janie, and her daughter Amy, a lifelong friend, and Amy's husband and daughter, Abbey and the rest of the family. Eden and Abbey are just two weeks apart so we decided to have a little joint birthday celebration while we were there. We had such fun just spending time together. Amy got a pinata for the party- the boys were beyond thrilled about that! It was really nice to get to spend time with these people- who are family to us.

She's a nut

The kids

Abbey and Eden

After our evening with the Todd's we went to spend the night with my best friend from Middle and High School, Sarah, and her family. We put the kids right to bed when we got there and spent the evening visiting with Jon and Sarah. The thing I think I love most about my friendship with Sarah is that is it is effortless and never awkward. No matter how much time has passed since we last talked or saw each other, it's not weird to be together again. And it's always been that way. Even when we were in college far apart, we would always just pick up where we left off. I'm glad this hasn't changed.

Sunday morning we went to Warrenton Baptist Church and saw lots of old friends. We enjoyed a great burger from Foster's for lunch and then took a little scenic drive around Warrenton. It's the town I was raised in. It's the town my dad was raised in. And his dad. And his dad. Well, you get the idea. I haven't been back for many years and haven't had the chance to show the boys where I lived. We drove passed my house- which looks about the same, if a little run-down- and my high school- which looks completely different!

The house I grew up in. And my dad grew up in.

Fauquier High School- totally different!

Sunday afternoon we spent with Sarah and Jon and their girls. We went to the pool, the boys loved playing with Charlee and Aliza's toys (especially the blow up instruments from Charlee's birthday party- which Sarah happily shipped to our house waiting for us when we got home!), our kids finally got a nap. We had a wonderful afternoon and evening together. Sarah's girls are precious and I loved getting to spend time with them and with Jon and Sarah.

And then Monday morning we got up and went to spend the week at Eagle Eyrie. We had the most wonderful week! There were activities for all four of our kids every morning, so Jack and I got to spend 8 am to noon just hanging out! We went for a hike (oh.my.gosh why did we do that!), played disc golf and went to Starbucks. Our kids LOVED the three college students from WBC serving as summer interns- it's like they can smell a college student from a mile away and are instantly attracted! We took the kids to the really great pool with slides and a splash area. Jack preached every night, which was wonderful- I love hearing that man preach. And we got to spend some nice quality time with my former youth pastor and his wife, Doug and Karen. I loved that so much. They are precious people in my life and I loved getting to just spend time with them. There was an ice cream social, and a talent show. The boys decided they had to enter the talent show at the last minute. They were a hit. It was a wonderful week. I didn't take many pictures, but I got a few with my phone.