A Visit From the Duells. . .

On Thursday the 9th, we drove to Des Moines, rented a car and drove to Wichita. We stopped in KC for a quick visit with the Largens, which was strangely normal for not seeing them for so long! We love visiting old friends who are comfortable and easy to catch up with! Thanks Largens for a quick, but very real visit! We so enjoyed our hour there! Even if it is another few years, we look forward to seeing you again! Thanks for sharing so much in such a little time! From KC, we drove on to Wichita to stay with our good friends, Ty and Amy. Amy and I stayed up until almost 3am, catching up and chatting about our lives! Their little girl, Avery, was such a sweet little thing and she's grown so much in the few months since we've seen her. It's hard for me to imagine not seeing my friends and their families for another year! Even though I was exhausted all weekend, it was worth every minute past midnight that we stayed awake! Amy and I have a friend in another country and we both know that we'll stay friends, but many things will change. I think we were hanging on to something that's about to change. We've had many hours of what I call "couch time". We sit together for hours, usually on a couch, and we share life deeply, honestly, and without hindrance. In college, our couch time would last for hours and hours. It's changed over the years, but we've adapted and learned to love the precious minutes we have! Funny, though, this time we spent most of the hours on the floor. It was still good couch time! Thanks again, Amy, for the couch time and the perfect going away gift! We left the Kanes Friday morning and visited our friends, Erika and John and their new little boy, Simon. They're another couple we love to catch up with and our times are few and far between, yet very very good! From there we went to see my friend Abbe and her boys, Dakota and Creyton! We spent a short time catching up with them. We were sad to have missed Adam, but Kevin had a good time showing Dakota all the green machines that John Deere makes! Abbe and I got to catch up again and I was thankful she was healthy during our visit. . . Abbe's expecting baby #3 at the end of the year, and she's been sick for the past few weeks, so I was happy to see her looking healthy! Abbe's a friend I can always catch up with and it's just always good! From her house we drove to the airport and dropped off our rental car. Kevin's brother Steve and Maggie picked us up at the airport and we all drove back to Moundridge.

My younger brother Benjamin and his wife Kristin came to Moundridge to see us the Saturday before Easter. Emma and Jaiya had a great time playing together, throwing rocks in the water, and looking at the cows.

We spent a few hours talking with them while Emma napped and then we all played outside. Even though these girls live in town, they are both farm girls at heart! I loved watching them run around the farm! It reminded me so much of Benjamin and me running around our grandparents' farm when we were little. So much to do, so much to see, so many cow patties, so much freedom. . . ah, I miss being little!! Thanks for the visit, Ben and Kristin! It was such a blessing to have you drive down to see us one more time before we leave! It really meant a lot to me. . . I just couldn't put it in words! Hope you enjoy these fun picts of the girls!!