Trip Whirlwind

  What a wonderful, refreshing whirlwind the past weeks have been!
First we went on a retreat as a base to Venezuela.

Our team, minus 1 couple and 2 kids

The hotel we stayed in was so cute and had a game area right outside the rooms so we could put the kids to bed and still relax together.  The devotions were encouraging, conversations were refreshing, the cooler mountain weather was greatly appreciated, and we also found out that pizza in Venezuela is much more like the kind in the States...yum!  

I loved the hotel's quaint style and the exchange rate being so favorable to us in Venezuela made it SUPER cheap!

Devotional time...no special speakers, but that gave several of the team members a chance to share

 One day we went to a waterfall that pours into a jasper rock area.  Just beautiful! The rest of the time, we just relaxed.  It was the first time in several years that the whole team has just gotten away to spend time together, and I'm so glad we were able to be part of this spur of the moment get-away.

 Two days after returning from Venezuela, Elijah and I took a trip to AZ to spend some time with my family.  There were so many reasons for the trip, and I'm SO glad I took the opportunity to go.  Elijah was a lap child on the plane, and he did amazingly!!!  We even wound up with an extra seat (or 2!) next to us on 4 of the 7 plane rides that we took in the process of going and coming.  I'm so proud of my little international travel buddy who has now taken off and landed 24 times in his 23 months and I only remember 1 of those flights being really horrible.

Anyway, time with family was what it was all about.  We were able to go visit with Joe about 5 times, including going to parks and out to eat.

And now that my parents are in AZ, I get the added fun of visiting my college room mate, Bekah.  We got together twice, and one of the times it was without kids and we had the most fabulous dinner and side splitting laughs. Truly therapeutic :) 

 Then there was fun with my sister, Jamie, and nephew, Noah.  They came up to Gilbert for a few days and we went down to Tucson overnight.

Playing with G-ma's bowls

The boys fought over toys constantly!  At one point we had to set up separate "slides" for them to send things down and my dad had to act as the dividing line to keep them away from each other!

 Also, my grandma came out from NJ for a visit for a few of the days we were there.  It was very nice to get to see her.

Time to tuck in after a long day of fighting...I mean playing :)  This set up was just for story time since they would never have lasted all night like this!

Also, once of the most exciting parts of the trip was seeing Elijah take off talking!  It seriously was night to day.  When we first got there, Elijah wouldn't say anything.  For example, even though he KNEW the word ball and had said it many times, he wouldn't say it even though he wanted a ball desperately.  He just wouldn't talk on anyone's terms but his.  But during the time there, he suddenly decided it was time and is now repeating almost anything and talking to request things too.  Cup, door, shoes, milk, more, thank you, etc.  It's so fun to see and Jeyson especially noticed the change when we got back.  Oh and he also got his ears checked in the US and is hearing perfectly now.  There definitely could be a connection as well as only hearing English for a few weeks.  We're hoping the ears stay that way and don't clog up again now that he's off meds again.

Anyway, all in all, it was an excellent time.  Refreshing, renewing, meaningful, etc.  I'm so glad I went.  And now, I'm SO glad to be back home and getting myself organized and in a routine again.  With no guests or trips on the horizon, it's time to settle in.