Day Three Hundred and Eighty-Nine

The Lord is Good and His Love Endures Forever

                                   -Psalm 100:5

It's been only one day since Adam's been away from baseball, and already, he's found a way to get in some quality pitches. With a two-year-old, that is. And no, it doesn't surprise me! I don't think I'll ever quite get a day away from the sport Adam loves dearly, but then again, I don't know if I'd ever want to either. He loves his passion and I admire his dedication greatly. What I'd also admire is Adam coaching BigBoy to the Big Leagues. If for that, I would have absolutely zero qualms with Adam spending every single day with Hunter, outside in the freezing cold, teaching him how to throw nasty changeups. For now though, we'll just stick with trying to get Hunter to understand that he's supposed to throw the ball TO the catcher, and not behind his back to the ground. It's a work in progress.

Hunter knows exactly who Uncle Adam is; he talks about Adam all the time. We ask, "Hunter, where is Uncle Adam?" And he'll tell us, "He's in Florida pitching baseball!" Well, when Hunter walked into the real Uncle Adam today, and not just his face on the computer, he was a bit confused and a lot shy. The 3D version of Adam apparently is a bit more daunting than the 3-inch 2-D one he's grown used to. But sure enough, Hunter warmed up to Uncle again, and they picked up right where they left off in July, playing with each other and enjoying each other's company. Hunter especially loves when Adam throws him into the air....he's the tallest guy around and that means Hunter gets to fly the highest off the ground!

Oh, and I thought this was cute tonight:

Adam went up to my mom and said, "You know, usually babies have a birth control type effect on me. But Hunter, he has the opposite effect. I just want a cool baby like him."

Uhm? Honey? Was this something you were planning on telling me?!

When we all made the decision to have Dad, Grandma Lolly, and Jake move to Spokane, we were anticipating good things to come out of it. Naturally. With all the kids in one place (minus me, of course), it would prove to be an easier way to provide extra care for them. AND, just the fact that we'd all be in one place, in general, had the potential to begin bringing our family closer together...both a geographically and emotionally. Tonight, I think we've begun that process. With Adam finally here, Grama had the great idea to get everyone together for a BBQ. So, we invited everyone. And everyone showed up. It was the first time that all of us...kids, aunts, uncles, exes, and cousins were in the same room together in...I don't know how long. There were no fights. Only the occasional bantering from the 5 freckle-faced siblings. And really really good food. It was maybe a little strange having everyone together again, but more than that, it was a blessing and answered prayer that I've been looking forward to for quite some time now. I'm excited to see the lines of communication open up between the group of people here, and eventually, I hope and pray that we'll all find a genuine peace about the crazy family dynamic that is the Mays/Conley/Weitman/Schend/D'Alessandro clan.

All five of us together, in one place, for the first time in 2 years. Jacob is the oldest. Followed by me, then Ellie (green), Shelby (crimson), and Morgan (black). It's proven to be VERY difficult to get a picture of the 5 of us, all looking nice, in less than 10 shots. I think this was attempt #9. And I blame that on the three trouble makers in the middle!

I can't even begin to describe just how wonderful it is to have my Husband back. I am so incredibly thankful for him. These past 2 weeks apart have brought a considerable amount of clarity into our marriage, and for that, we are tremendously grateful. BUT, now that we're back together, I'm not letting him go for any amount of time ever again!! Ok, that might be unreasonable. Not for now though.