Day 44

Currently, I am blogging in my favorite chair.  My mom is relaxing with her feet up on the couch.  My daughter and my sister are laughing and talking in the living room.  All three boys are asleep.  My husband and brother-in-law are on their way to the airport to pick up my other sister and her 14-month-old baby girl. 
My sister began her journey this morning.  She was supposed to arrive in NY at 7:40PM.  It is almost midnight and her plane should be arriving in the next few minutes.
Due to the storms, her plane was rerouted, then delayed, then cancelled; she ended up finding another flight. 
I know this day has been extremely stressful for her.  It breaks my heart.  She has been such a trooper. 
All of this...just to come and spend time with my family and I.

Originally, she wasn't supposed to come on this visit.  My mom, sister, brother-in-law and nephews had planned a trip.  My little sister decided if we were all getting together, she had to get in on the action.  I'm so glad that she did!

It breaks my heart that she has had this sort of day; however, I know that once she arrives, this party bus will get right back on track!

Waking up this morning with all of my family here was amazing!  My mom and I  got coffee and breakfast and then I went to Target with my sister.  Oh, happy day!  I have missed shopping with my sisters!  I have missed being in a store and having a companion! 

We all wen to a massive mall about nine miles away.  While there, we ate at the Cheesecake Factory, and brought an entire cheesecake home with us!  What were we thinking? 

In the early evening, my mom swam with the boys and my daughter, sister, husband, and brother-in-law went out to our pond.  One of the ducks has seven ducklings.  We took bread out to them and fed them.  I caught a few toads and scared my sister with them.  It was just like when we were kids!

It began to storm, so we all came inside.  We sat around and enjoyed ourselves immensely.  We laughed, told stories, and ATE!  We got that darn cheesecake out.  We got leftover pizza out.  We were consuming some major cals, and loving every second of it.

The boys were busy dressing up as construction workers and building train tracks all throughout the living room and dining room.  The were begging us to let them stay up all night.  It was just like things were when we lived in Illinois just a mile away from my mom and sister.

As I type, sadness tries its best to work its way in.  Why can't this last forever?  I know...lots of people don't live near their family.  Those people don't whine about it or blog about it.  I guess I'm just not "those people."
This is day 44.  I still miss my family terribly, and I am already dreading them leaving!   My baby sister hasn't even arrived yet, and I'm already anticipating their departure!
I can't do this!  I refuse to let "goodbye anticipation" fill my mind and the precious time that I have with my family!

It is 12:19AM.  We just got the text.  It read, "We have them!" 
Praise the Lord! 
My sister and her amazing baby girl will be here in approximately fifteen minutes!

It's 12:23AM and my daughter is taking cookies out of the oven.  We are ready for them to walk through the door!

Right now I am just praising the Lord for this time.  I am thanking Him for these amazing people I have in my life. 

I'm cherishing every second of this and making memories.