Family Reunion

We got in last night from spending a week in Montana with Billy's side of the family. There were about 30+ members from his mom's side. We did drive up there, our choice, three days up and three days back. We drove to New Mexico, picked up Billy's parents and aunt. We drove just over the Wyoming border the 2nd day and stayed in a hotel. Day three we arrived in Montana. Yes, it was long, but we were able to see so much scenery, talk, sleep, watch movies on portable DVD players and came up on a movie set. While we were there it was in the 40's with rain and the occasional sleet. Wow, Texas is warm today in the 90's, maybe my skin thickened up a bit or maybe there was just so much beauty I didn't care that I was cold after a while! The mountains, lakes, caverns, canyons, trees, waterfalls,and streams were such an amazing example of the beauty of God.


Sight seeing highlights were Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and stopping by Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on the way home. Yellowstone had Old Faithful and many other beautiful geysers as well as an array of animals roaming about freely: we saw bears, moose, buffalo, goats, deer and elk. Mount Rushmore is something you really have to see. The heads are 60 feet tall, the mouths 18 feet wide, it's just huge. I was touched to be there.


I got to know several members of Billy's family much better. We had church together as a family, played card games, trivial pursuit, made s'mores, had tons of delicious food made courtesy of Uncle Frank and Aunt Bellena (gluten free for me and Aunt Saundra), went on hikes, did some shopping, went to a museum, a planetarium, hot springs, celebrated a couple of birthdays. We stayed in a cabin with a phenomenal view:



A couple of the women brought their scrapbook supplies, so I took the adoption profile and am now 97% finished. :-)) Billy's cousin Sherri was wonderful to get to know. She brought her scrapbook things and has a precious 4 year old with the biggest eyes I've ever seen. She was 17 weeks pregnant after having four miscarriages. She was so sweet and sensitive to what we were going through and I was able to understand in a small way her individual struggles of building a family. We both agreed one of the hardest aspects of what we have both been going through was other people's expectations on us. A couple of the relatives asked what our family plan was and were very supportive of our desire to adopt. In fact, two of the cousins were adopted in to the family. I had a wonderful time getting to know her as well as Donna, Diane and Latesha, all cousins as well as the aunts, second cousins and the beautiful children who were all so sweet.



I read quite a bit of the Chronicles of Narnia in my down time. I wanted to refresh on Prince Caspian before seeing the movie and also read Voyage of the Dawn Treader (which I really hope they make into a movie of as well). I went back and watched/ read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Some quotes that struck me were when Aslan talks to the other three children after Edmund's betrayal, says "What's done is done, there is no need to speak about what is past". The others get no reason, no right to an explanation. They must just accept that Aslan has forgiven Edmund and that is enough. I get thoroughly immersed while reading which is why I really only do it on vacation or I'd get nothing done in my every day life. "Evil has it's limits and can be defeated" which such a comfort to me. In Alsan's suffering that evil was around but did not change his worth, character or holiness. I definitely can not say the same about myself. I think I have the tendency when things go wrong to either blame myself or others and it varies how far I can take that. My prayer is to give grace on both sides and simply ask for grace for my part, learn and move forward. I admit to sending the last post and leaving, so the closer I got to back home the more nervous I became about it's reception. Nervous because I've been on the receiving of enough hurt to not ever want to be the giver of that. It's why I don't joke around very much as no laugh to me is worth it if it potentially hurts someone's feelings, it's what people pleasers do. It was not meant to disrespect or judge anyone, but honestly an opportunity to be vulnerable which means exposed which is why it's so hard to do. One more quote from C.S. Lewis is "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at it's testing point." I agree you have to risk to experience courage and I may fall flat on my face, I may expose more complicated issues which I wasn't up to this point aware.