Tranquility

 A wonderful way to end a terrific vacation - four days spent in a quiet place feeling an awesome sense of peace and joy.   One gem that was shared was when the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, it is time to start watering our own side.  But one of the greatest lessons that I learned was when our daughters went to offer their help.  After being asked to help serve the meals, they were so eager to start despite the fact that they would not be able to stay in the cabin at a nearby campground~something they had been so looking forward to.  Serving was now so much more important to them that they willingly got up (most of the time!) at 6:00 each morning to be in the dining room before the 7:00 breakfast.  Big lessons can come from small people - and they didn't even know how much they gave me to think about.

 My cousin was also at this wonderful place.  This cousin is a pretty neat girl....let me tell you why!  As Erin gets older, I see so much of Laura in her - and the funny thing is, is that Erin only sees Laura once every year or every other year!!  Erin loves to have her own style, she loves to have fun hair styles, she is infatuated with shoes....all in all she is just her own little person.  Just like Laura!!  On Saturday afternoon, she really wanted Laura to do her hair for her....Mom just can't quite match the style she was looking for I guess!  Anyway, Laura offered to comb her hair for after she ran a quick errand.  This errand turned out to take longer than anticipated but Erin quietly waited in the bunks for her hair to be done.  Not only did Laura do her hair, she did it much like she had her own hair!!  Laura~you made a little girl's day when you took this time.  Keep being you - someone in WI thinks you are pretty terrific!

 Sadly, on Sunday morning, Erin woke with the stomach flu.  When I walked into the bunks to make sure they were up on time, I learned that Erin was NOT going to go far.  In tears, she told me that she was missing out on her job.  I assured her that others would help out if needed and she didn't need to worry about that.  The next thing she was sad about was that Laura was going to comb her hair for the day - no hair combing was needed, though, as she slept until noon and we then left for home. 

 So long, South Dakota.....until next time! 

 We had planned to take a picture on Sunday of the three sets of twins that were present.  However, plans got changed when the flu made it's appearance.  Here is a picture of Emily holding Miles and Erin holding Makenzie at feeding time while we were at Erin and Miranda's.  Eric and Miranda have had these 10 month old twins for two weeks through the foster care system.  The girls were quite fascinated and willing to help out whenever they could....except for diaper changes! 

This picture was taken at 1:30 on Monday morning - during our travels home from South Dakota.  We finally arrived home at 3:30 that morning.  This picture just shows that when you are tired....ANYTHING  can be made comfortable!

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