My parents flew into Austin on Thursday night and flew out this morning. Sometimes I wonder what our pioneer ancestors think about how fast we can visit each other. We loved having them here. When we told Levi that they were going back home he started packing his suitcase and carrying it around—he didn’t want to miss them! They left about 4 a.m., though, so he slept through it. Lincoln must have had a premonition; he awoke at 4:30! Ha!

We love having visitors. It was nice to spend some time with my parents playing pinochle, seeing Austin (okay: me getting over excited and losing my sense of direction which really shouldn’t surprise anyone especially me!), and watching the boys. They didn’t want to go to bed because they wanted to play more. They snuggled right up. Lincoln has a soft spot for Pop Corrie. He has never sat on anyone’s lap that long without constraint! We played at the park, drove through the Mueller development (the houses that Wes has data on for modeling), and partied boy style—blowing bubbles, basketball, bikes, random candy, the works. I’m usually very content in our life even farther away from family, but then they come! And leave! And I remember that we can’t just zip up there if we feel like it. As my parents say, though, there is a lot of comfort knowing that you’re doing the right thing at the right time. Nothing can change that. So away we go. Plus, we’ll probably be closerish for the summer.

The boys crack me up. One day they spent over a half an hour pretending to be birds. They flapped, cawed, sang, and ran into each other full of glee. Birds—even with collisions—make dinner preparation much more efficient. I rubbed Levi’s tummy for a minute, then he said, “More rub! Both hands!” Silly billy goat. While working on lowercase letters, he realized that the Joseph in his name matches the Joseph in Wesley’s and that Pop Corrie and Lincoln share names too. “MATCH!” I think this word is pretty much equal with “EXALTATION!” Lincoln very clearly says, “MomMomMomMom!” now and then laughs. He likes bending his lips. He carries things all over. He prefers this little dog and horse figurine, but rocks fill in occasionally. He started a full on hide-and-seek chase game (multiple times) and has figured out how to stack the bread pans and cake pans. The boys actively “cook,” then climb up their creations. They do offer me “birthday cake” sometimes. Today they took turns being Santa Claus. We don’t even talk about Santa! Smart bugs.

That will sum it up for the week. They told Wesley he doesn’t need to come to mutual—what will we do with all this time? He feels like he’s in limbo. Our washer died and we’re trying to decide if it’s worth fixing it since it’s not ours and it has never been awesome. But, do we really buy one right before moving? Eh. I had another epiphany (that I’ve had before!) while reading Miss Rumphius with the boys. It’s one of my favorites; Levi claims it, too, now. Miss Rumphius tells her grandfather that she will grow up and travel the world then come back and live by the sea. He responds, “That is all very well, little Alice, but you must do one more thing….You must do something to make the world more beautiful.” I sat there acting out the book with my boys and saw that I am doing that “third most difficult thing of all.” Wesley and I have learned intimately (and infinitely) more about repenting and growing through parenting. Cool and humbling.