Finally, a little explanation to go along with all the pictures. My very precious friends, whom we met in China and whom live in California, made a trip to Ohio between their trip to Florida and Washington DC (wow - that sounded crazy, didn't it?). Evan and Christy adopted their daughter, Faith. Faith and Elizabeth were "sisters" for 10 1/2 months in the orphanage. We have kept in touch and have become very close friends. We hope that Faith and Elizabeth will always stay close. Our week has been very chaotic, but oh so precious. It was such a joy to be with Christy and just share the simple things of being a mother together. We were not able to see the sights of Ohio like we both wish we could have, but we were able to spend time together (which we NEVER get to do). I got to hold Luke for the very first time, that was pure joy! He is even more adorable in person then in pictures. We missed her husband dearly. He was unable to make the trip. He and Mark have a wonderful friendship as well. Both enjoy spending time together, which made it even more sad to not have him with us.

Today, my house is quiet. It is an odd sound; with having 11 kids underfoot for the past 3 days and 9 for the 3 days before that, quiet is something I didn't experience. Mark and I had to say goodbye to Christy and the kids earlier then we had hoped. We had a wedding to attend and Erin had a tournament that we needed to get to. It was not that we needed to see her play, but we realized that she needed to be put in a spotlight game. I tried to get the coach to take care of it, but he hadn't a clue how to help, so we needed to go in person. Unfortunately, we could not find the director of the tournament, so she was not able to be put in it. It was hard to say goodbye and very, very rushed. I think I am glad it was rushed simply because it made saying goodbye much easier. As usual, Emily took over and finished all that I would have done. She spent the rest of the day with them and then took them to the airport. She is an amazing young woman. I can't believe all that she does!

Between she and my mother-in-law, they have taken everyone away so that Mark and I could have some much needed alone time. I was gone for nearly 2 weeks with the kids and then 2 days later, our friends came.