As soon as I saw this dollhouse by Lia Griffith as I was scrolling through Pinterest one day, I knew I wanted to create something similar for Lanie for Christmas. I love that Lia's site has plans to build the dollhouse as well as recommendations for furniture and bunnies to inhabit it. I used my miter saw to cut the pieces (and Shawn and a friend cut the house shape for the backing with a circular saw), and I've listed most of my sources at the bottom in case you want to make something similar. I absolutely love the Hape dollhouse furniture as it's the perfect size to actually play with without risking breaking tiny parts, and it was easy to paint certain pieces. There are still some things I want to do like make more bedding and rugs, and I've ordered a little baby bunny to add to our family. :) But for now, it's the perfect little bunny cottage for Lanie Lou. I hope you enjoy, too!

The kids' room

The master bedroom

The bathroom

The kitchen

The living/dining room

Kids' room:
Vinyl wood flooring on top level from Lowe's (for under a dollar) - just cut, peel, and stick
Hape children's furniture from Amazon
White brick scrapbook paper from Michael's
Bunnies from Calico Critters rabbit family on Amazon
Free printables on Pinterest (shrunk down to bunny size), taped on with washi tape

Roof: 
Shingles from Hobby Lobby. One of my favorite parts of this whole project!

Master bedroom:
Flooring from Hobby Lobby dollhouse supplies, cut and glued on
Hape bedroom furniture on Amazon
Tiny planters from Hobby Lobby, filled with faux leaves
Bedding made with scrap fabric from my stash
Art was made with wood tiles from Hobby Lobby with scrapbook paper glued on

Bathroom:
Floor tile from Hobby Lobby dollhouse supplies, cut and glued on
Hexagon mirrors are scrapbooking stickers from Hobby Lobby
Hape family bathroom furniture
Botanical prints found on Pinterest

Kitchen:
Prints found on Pinterest
Tiny planter and flour sacks from Hobby Lobby dollhouse supplies
Wood flooring from Hobby Lobby dollhouse supplies, cut and glued on
Hape kitchen furniture and Hape dining room furniture

Living room:
Flooring from Hobby Lobby dollhouse supplies, cut and glued on
Hape dining room furniture and Hape media room furniture, painted
Tiny fur and pillow from my fabric stash
Prints found on Pinterest
Hexagon mirrors are scrapbooking stickers from Hobby Lobby

All floorboards and crown molding from Hobby Lobby dollhouse supplies
Annie Sloan chalk paint in Paris Grey used for the outside of the dollhouse

Broken for us.

As I walked into our house after work last Saturday, I heard Liam whimpering upstairs in his room and Shawn came to tell me that he had just hurt his leg. Being a super active four-year-old, this isn't out of the norm. But when I got to him, I knew this was more than his typical boo-boo. Hot tears streaked down his snow-pale face as he trembled and pulled his knee to his chest. I asked him what hurt and he pointed to just below his left knee. I asked him to stretch his leg out or put weight on it, and he screeched, "No, Momma! It hurts!" and burst into another round of sobs. I'd never seen him in such agony and knew we needed to see a doctor.

Within the hour, we landed at an orthopedic urgent care clinic nearby. I carried Liam inside like a baby, wrapped in a blanket, as he shivered and cried. He had multiple x-rays done and then we waited for the doctor. At the very worst, I thought he might have sprained his knee.

As the doctor walked into the room with x-rays in hand, he asked, "Liam, can you point to where it's hurting?"

"Right here," he winced.

"I bet it's hurting right there, because you broke your leg," the doctor said calmly.

My heart must have skipped three beats. He broke his leg?

"Yes, so you can see here, he has a closed fracture of the proximal end of his left tibia" the doctor said as he turned to me. "We see these kinds of fractures in kids his age all the time. Weekly, even. Most of the time they're caused by jumping on a trampoline and not bending the knees. This isn't uncommon at all."

Within 10 minutes after that, still feeling the weight of the news, we were in the casting room and Liam was choosing a color for his toe-to-thigh cast that would stay on for 4 weeks. It's hard to explain what it feels like to watch your four-year-old's entire leg be wrapped up in a cast. I stroked his tiny leg one more time, knowing it would be covered in fiberglass for weeks. My mind wandered to the many activities he wouldn't be able to participate in for 4 to 8 weeks or more. I thought of the tiny baby growing inside me and the possible strain of carrying Liam around the house with this heavy cast.

Then I looked at Liam, who was perfectly calm. "Look at my Spiderman sticker, Momma. Isn't it awesome?"

After his cast dried, I brought Liam home to his waiting Daddy and Suzu (his grandma). Besides being in pain in the first couple days, he hasn't complained once about his new limitations. On the morning after the break, I lifted him into the dining room chair and gave him some markers as he exclaimed, "Since I can't walk now, I can draw lots and lots of pictures!" He now drives a tiny yellow wheelchair and he's become quite the expert at rounding corners.

Since last Saturday, our once chaotic Christmas season slowed to a screeching halt. We cancelled plans because of Liam's pain and limitations. We spent more time reading books together, lighting candles, admiring the Christmas tree. I get to hold him like my little baby again, his arms dangling around my neck, each time he has to use the bathroom or change locations in the house. I think this is going to be one of our very sweetest Christmases yet, even with our little guy looking like Tiny Tim.

Something special always hits me each Christmas, and it's exactly what I pray for. "Lord, give me eyes to see your glory in a fresh way. Dazzle me with the truth of your coming."

This year, as I saw that jagged grey line through Liam's tibia on the x-ray, it nearly broke my heart. A four-year-old with a broken leg just feels so unnatural, and my mama heart just breaks at the thought of him feeling pain. Then I thought about our God on the very first Christmas. The Father sent His perfect, holy Son into our dirtiest, darkest world and He knew that His Son would be broken. He'd be beaten and spit on and mocked and tortured and ultimately killed in the most humiliating way. And even knowing all of that, He sent Jesus and celebrated His arrival on the earth. He had joyfully foretold His birth for centuries before the time would come. And then the moment His Son was birthed into the world to walk among us, there was so much joy in God's heart that all of Heaven exploded in celebration. The Light had come to shatter the darkness, both now and forever. But how? And why? Because He loves us that much. You and me - sinners who deserve nothing but death. God came for us, and He didn't drag His feet about it. He lit up all of Heaven and the skies over Bethlehem that night like a proud Daddy just wanting to tell the world about His boy.

I see Liam's broken leg this Christmas and am reminded that Christ was broken for us, and willingly so. Whether you have a boy with a broken leg in your house as a reminder or not, I pray this Christmas is full of hope, knowing just how loved you are. Jesus came for you and God celebrated His coming because He knew that Jesus would bridge the gap to Himself. Let us never forget that.

Thank you, King Jesus, for gifts in such unexpected places.

Our tiny rainbow.

Just a quick note to say we are *thrilled* to be adding to our family in June 2017! (Liam is probably the most excited about the baby and will tell you it's a "baby bruhver," though we aren't finding out the gender this time around. Just wishful thinking!)

As you probably remember, we lost a baby in March (and another between Liam and Lanie), so I know the sting these announcements and inflict on those suffering through infertility or loss. Please know that I am praying today that our Redeemer God moves in your story as He has in ours.

To God be the glory, great and miraculous things He has done!

Thanksgiving this year.

“The worst illness of our time is that so many people have to suffer from never being loved.” - Princess Diana

We spent Thanksgiving morning in our sunlit living room, watching our kids read and play and destroy the house. I'd mentioned to Shawn, "We don't really have any Thanksgiving traditions yet, do we?" He agreed, and we somewhat aimlessly headed to our favorite park to take a walk. On our way there, we stopped at the Starbucks drive thru and decided we could get Any Drink We Want. I ordered a decaf coconut milk chestnut praline latte, Shawn got a PSL, and the kids had apple juice boxes. As we pulled up to the window and waited for our grand total, the cashier said, "The gentleman in front of you just paid for your order. Happy Thanksgiving!" It made me want to cry. What a generous, random act of kindness from a complete stranger on a holiday that should be full of just that. We paid for the car behind us and our first Thanksgiving tradition was born. How kind of the Lord.

Later in the day, Liam and I took a special trip to the hospital where I work. Earlier in the week, I had cared for one patient on our floor for several days in a row who's been hospitalized for weeks. He's a pleasant man, and we spent the week talking about Thanksgiving traditions and favorite foods. He mentioned that his favorite dish was to carve out the inside of a sugar pumpkin, fill it with stuffing, then bake it. Personal-sized stuffing-filled sugar pumpkins for all! I also knew from conversations with him that he'd be alone on Thanksgiving. There would be no family and no friends to visit him this year. He seemed nonchalant about it all, but the thought just wouldn't leave me. To me, it doesn't matter if you're the cruelest curmudgeon that ever breathed air... no one should be alone on Thanksgiving.

So I told Liam about my friend at the hospital and we decided to make a visit. Liam made him a card and filled it with every sticker he could find. And I found a little sugar pumpkin.

As Liam walked into the patient's room - a tiny pumpkin in one arm, a handmade card dangling from the other - he looked up shyly and said, "Happy Fanksgiving, sir. I hope you have a great day."

The man was visibly moved. A smile enraptured his face as he held up the card with scraggly writing and said, "You know? I think this might be my favorite Thanksgiving ever."

My heart sang. I felt such a mixture of pride over this brave, beautiful little boy combined with deep sadness when I put myself in the patient's shoes. The one where a mostly bed-bound, mostly alone man orders a tray from a hospital kitchen on what's supposed to be a family- and food-stuffed holiday.

I don't share this story to boast about what we did. I share it because it humbles me. Because I can picture myself in that bed, sick and alone, and I hope that someone might take notice.

As Liam and I got in the car, he was quiet. I asked him, "Do you know why we care about people who are alone?"
"No, why?"
"Because those are the people Jesus calls the poor in spirit: those who are discouraged or sad or alone. And those are the people Jesus loves, and He asks us to love and help them, too."

I remember watching Princess Diana from afar as a little girl and noticing how, in so much of the charity work she invested in, she brought along her two little boys. They visited AIDS clinics and gave hugs. Held knobby hands of lepers. Cuddled children whose limbs had been ravaged by land mines. It would have been so much easier to stay home - in a palace, mind you - and remain untouched by such flagrant suffering. Instead, she chose to step out and has left such a legacy of kindness, for her children and for the world.

When Liam finally answered from the backseat, he only had a few words: "Can we go back tomorrow?"

I hope that your Thanksgiving was marked with a simple act of kindness, either given or received. And I hope this holiday season is marked by even more of the same.

Happy birthday, Liam Worth!

Happy fourth birthday, my sweet boy!

I've had way too many favorite moments this year to recount, but one stands out in my mind.

You'd been participating in a weekly sports camp at the YMCA, and following instructions within a large group of four-year-olds wasn't exactly your strong suit. You loved when you actually got to play with a soccer ball, but drills? Nah. You'd rather run laps around the other kids or roll around on the floor.

So on the final day of camp, all the families gathered around to watch as each child received a special award. I cringed a little at the thought... what award would you be getting? Most energy? Most distracted? I felt guilty for signing you up too early for this. You just didn't seem ready.

A few awards in, they called your name. "Liam Newby, will you please come up?"

You stepped onto the podium as Lanie followed closely behind and stepped up next to you.

"Liam gets the 'Best Bro Award' because he's such a caring big brother and always wants to include his little sister. Way to go, Liam!"

Tears filled my eyes as you beamed, holding your certificate with one hand and throwing your other arm proudly around Lanie. As your mom, I loved that others recognized one of my very favorite things about you. Something that matters more to me than how well you perform on the sports field. You truly care for and champion others - especially that feisty sister of yours - and my heart swelled at the mention of it.


On your birthday - October 27 - we got to celebrate you. We also celebrated God's faithfulness to us over this past year. As you've neared four years old, you've hit such a sweet spot. You're one smart cookie: you're able to sound out words, memorize your weekly Bible verse with ease, and ask inquisitive questions with surprisingly rich vocabulary. The other day, when I told you the mail hadn't come yet, you responded, "Well, that's unfortunate." Sometimes I call you The Professor because you become so engrossed in one topic and will spend an entire day talking about it. Some days it's bull sharks. Other days it's spoilers. You teach me so much.


You adore your family and love nothing more than for us to all be at home, together. The other night, I asked you to come up with a word that described each of us. You said Mommy was "good," Lanie was "silly," Daddy was "brave," and Liam was "fast." I love that you love us. You tell me often how beautiful I look, and Lanie too. I don't take it for granted for a second that you'd rather be with me on a date to Target than just about anywhere in the world. Stay my best friend forever?

Since day one, I've seen a fiery passion in you that I just adore. Some days, it's pretty challenging. But you're becoming easier to reason with (most times), and less prone to tantrums. When you get excited about something, you get really excited. You love a good dance party in the living room or a sprint around the "loop park" near our house.


You aren't afraid to just be you. You're obsessed with the movie Cars, so much so that you've given all of your closest family and friends "Cars" names. I'm Dinoco, Daddy is Ramone, and Lanie is Chick Hicks. You are, of course, Lightning McQueen. I made you a Lightning McQueen cape with #95 on the back in gold glitter letters and I caught you sleeping in it one time, you love it that much. You wear it out and about and ask members of the public to only call you Lightning, please.


Sweet Liam, I'm beginning to see a tenderness toward your sin and it blesses me. A year ago, if I corrected you, you'd often keep doing exactly what I'd just asked you to stop doing. Now, you often say, "Oh! I'm sorry Mommy," and stop doing whatever it is. I'm seeing Jesus work in your heart, from the deep questions you ask during our nightly Bible time to the way you care for Lanie. I pray this is the year that you begin to know Jesus as the Savior of your soul.

Happy birthday, Liam Worth!

You are my treasure.

Love,
Mommy

Justified.

Yesterday, Shawn's first album, Justified, was released! Cue the angel choir! This project has been a labor of love (and also a lot of fun), and we're elated to finally hold it in our hands.

Our church's pastoral team commissioned Shawn to write these songs and to create a project that would encourage our church body. He's done that and so much more, and I honestly think this is an album that anyone would enjoy. For me, it's been even more special because my dad served as producer, my mom as vocal producer, and I had the privilege of singing background vocals and being the photographer. But mostly, I've enjoyed having a front row seat to the writing of these songs, the wrestling through arrangements, and now enjoying the final product.

I wanted to give a little snapshot of each song from my perspective, in case you're interested...

1// You Call Me Justified - This is where it all started: a congregational song Shawn wrote that has become one of our church's favorites to sing on Sunday morning. Rich lyrics, singable melody. It'll be stuck in your head (in the best way).

2// Behold, Your King Is Come - Hands down, my kids' favorite song on the CD. Has an Irish jig kind of feel to it. We blast it in the living room and have a dance party. :)

3// The Fight - For most who have heard the album, this one is their favorite. My favorite line: "When mountains of failure are all that I see, remind me to think of the mountain you climbed for me."

4// One Hope For the World - Shawn wrote this for our church's missions conference a couple years ago, but it's an anthem that's more appropriate than ever in our very divided and divisive world. As believers, we can sing together, "There is one faith, one Savior, one Hope for the world."

5// Only You Know Why - This might be my personal favorite. I get to sing background vocals, and I love the sound of the guitars, the duet style, the truth behind it. Shawn wrote it as he struggled to grasp the sovereignty of God.

6// The Lord Is On My Side - "The Lord is on my side. He will not hold back or hide. I won't be moved, I will not be moved." Yes!

7// Shield About Me - The chorus is taken straight from Psalm 3. I love hearing Liam sing the lyrics to this one in the backseat: "You, oh Lord, are a shield about me. My glory and the lifter of my head. I need not fear for my enemies around me. I lay my head in peace upon my bed."

8// Your Spirit Moved - In last night's concert, this was a powerful moment: just Shawn, his guitar, and gospel-saturated lyrics. Yes.

9// Mysterious Wonder - A gorgeous Christmas song with the most exquisite strings arrangement (by my own dad!).

10// Jesus Is Coming Again - A celebration song because He's coming back! This will make you want to dance.

11// There Is A Fountain - Since Liam was born, this hymn has been on my lips as I've sung it to both babies many nights before bed. When we thought about incorporating a hymn onto the album, I was thrilled when Shawn decided for it to be this one. The words hold such a special place in my heart, and it has a very Appalachian feel. Delightful.

12// Faithful To Me - I tear up listening to this one and making it personal: He's been so faithful to me, to you, to us. This one focuses on several precious attributes of God.

I say this with complete honesty: I would love this album even if I wasn't married to the artist. I'd play it in my car, listen to it with my kids, put it in my ear buds as I walked into a busy day at work. But knowing the heart behind these songs makes it even sweeter, and I know you who have read my blog for years will find it so special as you "know" us in a way. We hope and pray these songs are a true blessing to your soul and that through them, you experience Christ in a fresh way.

You can purchase the album on iTunes!

He who watches over you will not slumber.

Yesterday, on a gorgeous, autumn-lit afternoon, Liam and Lanie and I took a walk to the park at the end of our street. Liam has become adept at stopping at cross streets on his tricycle and waiting for me, so I let him ride a few dozen feet ahead. I can still see him and talk to him, but he isn't within reach.

Just before we turned into the park, Lanie slipped on a crack in the sidewalk and scraped her knees. I saw Liam zip into the park on his bike, then I scooped Lanie up and rounded the corner into the park, expecting to see Liam.

About 50 feet ahead of me, in the middle of the sidewalk, I saw a tricycle. An empty tricycle. I picked up my pace and looked around. No sign of Liam anywhere.

"Liam?" I called, hoping I'd hear an immediate, "Yes, Mommy?" Instead, I was met with silence.

"LIIIIAAAAMMMM!" I screamed, a primal cry from a mom who had to find her boy. A man with his headphones on was walking past, but no one else was in sight. No one who could help me find my son. My heart beat behind my eyes as the world grew silent. I could barely take a breath.

I yelled one more time - a sound he would have to hear if he was anywhere close - and suddenly I heard giggles from the bushes. "Come get me, Mommy!" More giggles. I pulled down one branch and saw his smiling eyes. "I was jus' hiding from you!" Not funny, buddy. Not funny at all. 

The episode stuck with me for the rest of the day (and hopefully with him, after some discipline). To have my heart walking outside my body, as someone has said of children, is one thing. To have my heart lost outside my body is another. The day could have turned out so differently. I took my eyes off of him for all of 10 seconds and suddenly he'd gone missing. Our neighborhood isn't exactly Pleasantville, so anything was possible.

Before bed last night, I opened my Bible to the Psalms. Liam and I have been memorizing Scripture together, and yesterday's verse was this one:

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. - Psalm 121: 2

I wanted to read that verse in context, so I kept going.

v. 3 - He will not let your foot slip -
he who watches over you will not slumber;
v. 4 - indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I read truths about God, they simply feel too good to be true. Too extravagant to actually believe. He never sleeps? Never turns his back from me, or from any of the goings-on of our broken world? My mind can't wrap itself around that one, but I take such solace in the piece of it I do grasp. I can try to hide in the bushes - and I have certainly tried - but I am never hidden from his ever-vigilant watch. My life - your life - is never forgotten, never turned away from.

I remember sitting in a summer class in college on the Psalms, and we were dissecting Psalm 37. Psalm 37:4 struck me because it was one of my favorite verses during my high school years:

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

I'd heard a pastor once explain that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, he will create desires in our hearts that align with his will, and then he will fulfill those desires that he's placed in us. Makes sense, doesn't it? I spouted off that information to the class.

I'll never forget my professor's response. He said, "What if God, by his grace, gave us what we desired because he loves us? Sure, he always gives us desires that align with his will, but I don't believe that's the point of this verse. I think that view of God is too limited, too safe."

What I had believed of God had been true, but my view of him was too small. Too stingy. Too much like a business transaction: I delight myself in him, he places desires in me and then fulfills them. My view didn't account for the lavishness with which he loves me, as his child. The word "desires" can also be translated "petitions." Petitions have a deeper meaning than just a petty request. They are the deepest, prayerful yearnings of the heart.

As John Calvin wrote about this verse, "We must therefore constantly recall to our minds this truth, that it can never be well with us except in so far as God is gracious to us, so that the joy we derive from his paternal favor towards us may surpass all the pleasures of the world. To this injunction a promise is added, that, if we are satisfied in the enjoyment of God alone, he will liberally bestow upon us all that we shall desire: He will give thee the desires of thy heart. This does not imply that the godly immediately obtain whatever their fancy may suggest to them; nor would it be for their profit that God should grant them all their vain desires. The meaning simply is, that if we stay our minds wholly upon God, instead of allowing our imaginations like others to roam after idle and frivolous fancies, all other things will be bestowed upon us in due season." (John Calvin's Commentary on the Psalms)

In two days, I would have been due with the baby we lost in March. September 30th has been looming large in my mind for months, and I've hoped that I would be pregnant again by now to lessen the sting of this day. It's never taken long for us to get pregnant with any of our four pregnancies, but for whatever reason, this time it's taking longer. Perhaps another pregnancy isn't what he has for us. Maybe it's adoption. Maybe it's just waiting a while longer. But I have to tell you, I believe more than ever in a vigilant God who never slumbers nor sleeps. An omniscient God who is intimately aware of the comings and goings of my life. A gracious Father God who knows the desires of his daughter's heart and loves to lavishly bestow them. He knows we desire another baby, and we trust that in time, he may fulfill that desire. In the meantime, we pray for grace to trust him more.

Preschooling at home.

Homeschooling is one of the three things I said I'd never do. But here we are. The almost four-year-old in my house is a bona fide preschooler (how?!) and is itching to read. We've always read dozens of books each day together, but now, he's starting to sound out words on his own. It's incredible to watch his little mind stretch and grow.

He and Lanie spend two mornings a week at a Bible study that's structured like preschool. Between that, church activities, and play dates with friends, they have plenty of social interaction throughout the week. But I've found that on their days home, I crave a little more structure with Liam. Because each of our days is so different (my work schedule changes from week to week), it's been nice to be intentional about school time - which really just feels like quality time. 

Through a friend's recommendation, we landed on The Peaceful Preschool curriculum and it's been a perfect fit for us. Liam looks forward to the mix of literature, projects, art, and memorization. I highly recommend it. It's even giving me the itch to consider homeschooling Liam for kindergarten, depending on our school options when that time comes. But don't tell 12-year-old Whitney I told you so... she wouldn't exactly know what to do.

True comfort

During the long evening hours at work, this image often comes to mind: my littlest in the comforts of our home, helping prepare for a family birthday dinner. It's the culmination of some of my favorite bits of motherhood and of life: my tiny shadow trailing my every step, watching as I carefully place each plate and napkin and hopefully letting the memory seep into her heart like it does mine. It's in our home that we enjoy the good gifts of the Father, like beeswax candles and grilled corn and clean cotton sheets and laughter. The most mundane and most important moments of our lives happen inside these walls.

There are nights at the hospital when I wish this - my home - could be the backdrop of all my hours, a place I never had to drive away from. Many days, I justify working by remembering that I'm earning much needed money for our family and I'm serving the weakest of the weak, and thereby serving Jesus. 

The other day, I had a young patient who was severely autistic, but you could tell that his mind processed much more than he could communicate. I'm sure he felt trapped inside his own body. He passed away a few nights ago and my very first thought was, "Freedom! What freedom!" He's walking and talking and moving his limbs on command and glorifying God with every step. It made me wonder if Heaven is even sweeter for those who have endured the confines of a body riddled with disease on earth. 

In a much smaller way, you know how a hot shower feels even more luxurious if your toes are bone cold? How you just melt under the comfort? In a similar way, when I walk into the doors of my home after peeling off layers of hospital grime and into the embraces of my family, into the lavish gift of a full fridge, a cup of hot tea, the sound of worship music... it's even richer than if I'd been here all along. The contrast makes me even more grateful. 

Comfort is my drug of choice. I'm always seeking it, and I'm always left wanting. Aren't we all? But the truth is, we will never find lasting comfort apart from Jesus. We will always be searching for it in our stuff, our people, our paychecks. And we will always come up short. The stuff breaks. The people fail us. The paycheck is spent on car repairs and water bills. 

But in Christ, he promises to give us living water so we will never thirst again. There is nothing outside him that we need. He is our perfect righteousness, our perfect peace, our only hope for true rest. The Savior endured the most unimaginable discomfort - separation from his Father - in order to spare us from eternal separation from God and to bring us into his perfect comfort. He surely didn't have to do this. But in his mercy and his grace, he chose us to share with him the eternal inheritance we never deserved. This is what I hope my children can someday grasp in the temporary comforts surrounding them in our home: I pray they see Jesus. 

Weekend at Washington

For weeks, we'd planned to spend a sunny Labor Day weekend with our dear friends in their hometown of Washington, NC. And then Hurricane Hermine decided to blow through. So instead of taking the boat out onto the river or spending the day in the hammock, we resorted to other things. Simpler joys. Walking out onto the pier as it drizzled rain. Slow lunches on the screened-in porch. Chocolate ice cream in downtown Washington. 

Our friends, the Watsons, have been true friends since the moment we landed in Raleigh. They have loved us lavishly with their time, their incredible cooking, their wisdom. So to be in their hometown, staying with their family, was a privilege in and of itself. We certainly hope to be back one day soon, maybe when the sun decides to shine.