We met the Sponheims at the end of 2003 when they moved to Ottumwa. They will forever hold a very special place in my heart! I spent countless hours playing with their kids and listening to Cindy as she taught me so much about being a wife and mom and friend. Paul has an incredible gift for teaching people about Jesus and he's just an all-around awesome guy. We hadn't seen their family for over four years and then I got to see Cindy in July and again in August! What a gift!!
Emma hadn't seen the kids since before she was two, back in 2009!! It didn't take her long to connect with Laurel, which just made my heart happy!!
The kids stayed up late that Friday night and then after they were all in bed, Paul and Cindy and Kevin and I were up until after 1am. I would have pulled an all-nighter with them, but we knew we needed sleep for the drive the next day.
It was so normal and easy to be in Cindy's kitchen with her. In Ottumwa, it's where most of our conversations took place! She's just so easy to reconnect with!
This picture just warms my heart. Kevin has great, great respect for Paul. I do so wish they could live closer to each other. I know Kevin would love that.
That's me just being really happy!
Adri let Laurel carry her around all morning. I was amazed because she doesn't usually let other kids carry her. She was very content with Laurel, though! Again, yay.
Conversations with Isaac have always been intellectual. He's just a really cool kid. It's amazing to me that he's so grown up!!
Then there's Josh. Joshie. I've known him since the day he was born. He made me laugh SO much when he was little. Things haven't changed much! He's definitely the goofy one of the family and just loved the attention we gave him.
He still loves to be tickled!
These girls ran all over that morning!
I love this girl! She warms my heart.
I love this girl, too! She really makes my heart happy. She has always made me want to be a better person. Her friendship is priceless.
When the kids were little, I'd play a game with them called, "Going on a Treasure Hunt." It's just a back-scratching rhyme that I learned from my sisters when I was a kid. Using my nails, I would tickle their backs and pretend I was going on a treasure hunt. It's now one of Emma's favorite games!
This picture makes me happy. I love how much Emma and Adri loved being with Paul and Cindy's kids. It was like they just knew it was a great place to be.
I was dreading the goodbye part of the stay. It's always hard for me to say goodbye when I don't know when the next visit will be. It's over 15 hours from their home to ours, so it's not like we can just visit real quick on the weekend. I was so happy that it worked to stay with them for one night. I wish it could have been longer, but we needed to get on the road to make it back for work. We ended up leaving just before lunch and drove straight through to the QC. The girls slept really well and sometime after 3am, we pulled into the drive. Everyone slept in the next morning and we had part of a day to recover before Kevin headed back to work. We were exhausted from the week at Yellowstone and all the traveling, but so, so happy for all the people we were able to see!
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